Davemk1

Thanks - I look forward to the Westfield getting here in a big way. I'm getting the Mega S2000 and have the engine and trans sitting here and ready to drop in place but it will be some time still before the big crate arrives..........then starts the assembly! dave

I have a slightly more personal take on this..........I build bicycle frames for a living and work very hard to promote and establish my brand. I've had a few folks ask me for stickers with my logo to put on bikes they own........bikes I didn't make. I understand this is a compliment of sorts in that they want to be associated with my brand but at the same time it can give the wrong impression. If folks look at the brand X bike with my logos on it and aren't impressed that reflects on me and all my hard work is for naught. Combine that with the fact that there is some low level dishonestly with it all IMO. Homage sure........but it's still giving a false impression. I have a Westfield on the way and it will get Westfield badges.....unless i put my brand name on it dave

Thanks for the input. I've had about 1500 pounds of concrete pavers and trailer behind the car and it towed very well around town but never went down the highway with it. Thanks again, dave

Hey ER - How do you feel about folks using a newer Jetta TDi to tow a trailer with a Seven on it......say less than 2000 lbs in total? Thanks for your input. dave

Maybe that it's right have drive? Just my guess. dave

He replaced the rear hatch window in my car so no regulator involved. Dave

I have a 2004 Mini that lives outside year round here in Montana so it sees some real changes in temperature and a lot of sun. One day I started the lawn mower while a few feet to the side if the Mini and a shower or pretty sparkles in the air caught my eye. Now I was off to the side and there was no way anything came out of the mower and hit the rear hatch window but it assploded leaving just a ring of glass around the edge. Glass cubes were a good 8' away from the car. I got a mobile glass guy guy to come by and fix it and he told me he does a lot of Minis and in his opinion the glass is either thinner or brought to a higher temper that the glass is much more prone to fatigue and that they 'spontaneously' fail. He also told be he does a lot of BMW's too for the same reason. Interesting. dave

Thanks for getting back to me. I decided to go with a Westfield Mega S2000 kit and have placed my deposit for it so I'm all set and my Seven needs are taken care of for now at least All the best, dave

I hear what you are saying and at the same time disagree. In the end forums like this are about dealing with other people and nothing else. Sure we all have something in common that draws us to this place but the real attraction is the others that are here and the knowledge, experience and humor those other people have. So if it gets to the point where a given user feels that too many of the others here are not the type of people they want to hang with then there's little attraction. I've had this happen with other forums and it's sad when it happens but it does happen. If it's not controlled and the bickering outweighs the cool content in the eye of the user then they will leave......and if too many of the non-bickerer's leave the balance will quickly slide toward folks arguing about who's the smartest/strongest/fastest and the place will have little redeeming value. This is what makes the job of a mod so difficult IMO. I do not mean to speak for the gentleman who's on his way out the door but just say I can't blame him and would never say he shouldn't leave just because of the others. I hope the tone can return to a healthy one soon. All the best, dave

I'm not a very active member here but I think this place has a lot of value......and I was excited to see a thread with the focus on handling. I have a lot to learn, and some to share and I was looking forward to it. But this thread has been for the most part a waste of bandwidth and if I were a mod I'd close it, delete it and start another handling thread in its place. I would then delete every post that didn't focus on the subject. I fully realize how difficult the job of a mod is and I appreciate the time and effort you put into the forum for all out good.........i would just say that being heavy handed at times can be a good thing. Just my 2 cents.........you can now go back to trying to prove who has the bigger wang. dave

At least they list it as a flood car. dave

Cool - I imagine you can understand why I would ask as someone new, with only one post to their name, shows up and strongly defends a company. So often when this happens it's a rep of some sort or someone with some financial skin in the game. FWIW - I don't know Scannon and feel he needs no defense......that said........I took what he had to say as a pure unadulterated compliment to Caterham. Here is a guy who likes the brand so much that he was willing to take the car he bought and paid for, and bring it some distance to help promote the maker of that car. This tells me he loves the brand and that the only negative is that he laments he didn't get enough warning to be able to volunteer his time and effort to the company. If it were one of my bike customers i'd be thanking him for the desire and willingness to make the effort and not giving him any hard time. Just my 2 cents. Long live the Seven! dave

With all due respect and then some.......can you tell us who you are and who you represent. Screen names are all well and good for chat but when it comes to business it changes in my mind. Turn about being fair play and all - my name is Dave Kirk and I live in Bozeman, MT and run a VERY small bicycle company. dave

Thanks gents - I looked at the Caterham USA site to look for retailers and that tab is gone. I then looked at the Superformance site and they brag that they are the source for Caterham but have no info yet, that I can find, about how to purchase one nor what the models/cost are. I don't mean any disrespect by this but I do not know who the Beachman racing folks are and how they fit into this scheme. I looked for a Beachman racing site and I got a cool blog with Caterham photos but no info on the cars or how to purchase one. So..........I very well could have this wrong but it appears to me that if I had a wad of cash and wanted to go out and buy a new Caterham in the USA right now I couldn't really do it. I'd love to be corrected on this and welcome info and input. Thanks again, Dave

So.......I'm a bit confused. If one wanted to buy a Caterham in the USA in the near future is that possible? If so, from whom? dave

Thanks - I look forward to the process. Now I need to shop for an S2000 drivetrain. dave

I sent off a deposit and order form yesterday for my new Westfield Mega S2000. Should be a fun and interesting spring! dave

I think that could work very well. dave

I'm a bicycle framebuilder by profession and therefore know more than I care to about steel tubes and water. I agree - submersing the chassis is MUCH different than having water splash on it and even when there are holes in the chassis splashing water won't really enter the tube. If this were my car I'd want to drill small holes - say 1/8" (big enough that surface tension won't keep water from moving through them) at each end of every tube in the chassis and then I would want to tip and tilt it to the most extreme angles I can to allow the water to run to the holes and exit. If you are pulling the drivetrain this would be the time. I'd want to winch the front end high in the air so the water runs to the rear holes and out..........and I'd want to lift the rear end the same way. Then tilt it onto both sides to promote the water getting out. I would guess that there are 'gas holes' that were drilled where ever one tube meets another that are now covered by the joined tubes. These allow the hot gases/air to expand and move out of the area and not blow the final weld beads out due to the escaping air pressure. This means that water may be in most ever tube in the chassis..........and if it's left there in the long term it will corrode the ends of the tubes, where they have been welded, the most due to all the mill scale and oils being cleaned and burned off during the welding process. I doubt in the long run there will be rust holes in the middle of the tubes but I would not be surprised to see tubes, or welds, fail at the ends. I think making the chassis safe and durable in the long run is more than doable but that it will require some real effort and if it's just allowed to dry out on it's own that there will be real issues in the future. Dave

That Top Gear with the 3wheeler was great. Any time they made any quick input the can ended up on its side. Good fun.

What could go wrong? dave

It looks like it has both the front and rear windows out of an Elise. Interesting. dave

Any chance this car is still available? If so where is it? Thanks, dave

EVO magazine has a good test of the car in the newest issue - a good read. dave

I'm a professional bicycle framebuilder by trade and have worked more than I care to admit over the years with titanium. It has some wonderful qualities but stiffness isn't one of them. In fact for a given diameter and wall of tube the Ti is about 30% more flexible than steel. The only real way to make this stiffness up would be to make the tube diameters larger. This isn't in most cases a deal breaker but in some places it could be more difficult to package the tube in the small area it needs to reside. By far the bigger concern would be one of cost.........both in terms of the raw material cost and the much great amount of labor to cut, bend, clean and weld Ti as compared to steel. It goes through cuttings MUCH faster and takes much longer to cut and it needs to be welded in an oxygen free environment. This means purging both the inside and the outside of the tube with argon during all the welding. If this doesn't go well the joint can be very brittle and break without warning. Welding a bike frame is pretty simple but a Seven chassis is another level of PITA. This doesn't even take into consideration the greater weld distortion one gets with Ti and the difficulty in making a straight chassis. In the end one might be able to make a chassis that is about 25-30% lighter with Ti but at a great cost. How much can a steel Seven chassis weigh? Taking 25% off that might not be very cost effective and I think bolting lighter stuff to the chassis might be a more cost effective way to cut down the weight. Just my 2 cents. dave