athens7

Besides my nice Seven watch, some trim pieces: A new, enamel/metal hood badge, in a color better suited to my carhttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1264976957_DSC00883.JPG The old badgehttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/2113367222_DSC00876.JPG An SVT spark plug insert for the valve cover. Thanks to Mike Trendel at Hilbish Ford for the fabrication work!http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1322902810_DSC00889.JPG The old, bare coverhttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1787542128_engine 2.jpg Thanks, Seven Claus!

The holidays, and year end at work got me behind, but here are the results of my last runs. The VCT is restored, the original factory PCM program is restored, the cams have all been timed using factory timing tools. I left the adjustable exhaust cam gear on for future tuning, but it is set to zero. In effect, the car is as it was when I bought it. The first run is in this condition, the second with the performance tune that came from Diablosport when I bought the Predator, not a custom tune. The power output is as good as the custom tune from NC, without the driveability problems. The dip is still there, and the air/fuel ratio is still a little off at the torque peak, but my tuner feels both items can be improved with a little custom tuning. According to Ben at RMSC, limited slip diff equipped Sevens can expect about 19% drive train loss on a Dynojet dyno, so I'm making about 185 hp and 158 lb-ft of torque. This compares favorably with the factory SVT's output of 170 hp and 145 lb-ft torque (and my car's torque peak is achieved at 500 lower rpm). While this is still not 200 hp, as advertised by Caterham, it's pretty good. My choice is now to either install stock SVT cams and re-test, or leave this cam set in and tune for best results. The general consensus has been that the claimed 20 hp increase due to the Kent cams is optimistic, at best, as may be the claimed 10 hp increase from the K&N filter and the Caterham header. Most of the people with whom I've spoken believe 20 hp in total from all 3 mods is probably more realistic. If so, replaceing the stock cams will likely just be money spent to reduce power. Everyone who has looked at the motor agrees it is sound and defect free, and a body of opinion is forming that the dip is the result of the stock cam phasing not being correct for the new cams, a problem which may be addressable through PCM mapping. My guys also believe the smoother and stronger curves (as compared to the original run in NC) are due to the incorrect timing of the Kent cams when they were originally installed on my car, prior to sale. One delightful side effect of the re-installation and timing of the cams is that the engine's cutting off on clutch engagement from higher rpms appears to have stopped! As this problem was the reason this whole quest began, it was indeed an exciting moment when I tested it and the car didn't die. My mechanic indicated that camshaft timing issues could have been the cause. So, tune this set up, or go back to dead stock and start from scratch? As always opinions are welcome. I did pick up a new complete SVT cylinder head, and I have a set of stock cams. I'm playing with the idea (not right away) of porting this head, installing the stock cams, and having a complete second option to bolt on. The guy I bought the head from is an avid SVT buff, as well as a mechanic, and claims 210 hp from his similar setup. Upgraditis is a chronic disease!http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/36573913_Dec 19 2007 chart.jpg

That looks neat. You could also just bolt 'em on, and if they crack, use it as justification to the Mrs. for buying carbon fiber replacement wings (it's helpful to have justifications for upgraditis).

Gotta love thread drift! Is Carroll Shelby's continuation car a clone, or the real thing? (not the fiberglass cars, but the ali cars on serialized frames) What about the Allard J2Xs built by the founder's son? If a car qualifies for its marque's registry, is it the real thing, or a replica? While we're on the subject of simple issues, how about that whole Israel/Palestine thing? Enjoy YOUR car!

My watch arrived today. Thanks to JeanEd and Mazda. Happy new year!

Bernie- I tried to PM you, but I don't know that it took. The kit is available; please PM me for transaction details.

I wound up with 2 of these, due to a lack of time and patience. New in box, with instructions, from Ford Motorsport. $25.00, shipped anywhere in USA.

My exhaust was jet hot coated at assembly. While it only had 100 miles on it when I bought it, it was about 2 years old, so the crack might have been a while in the making. I talked with Ben at RMSC today; they have developed a front exhaust mount that doesn't require new holes in the body. I am looking forward to receiving one-I'll post when it arrives (sometime in January, along with a Soft Bits tunnel bag). As to the breaks, Al, I haven't mentioned the wiring problems, the continuing hard start problems (immobilizer, wiring from ignition to fuel pump relay?), the continuing cut off when clutch engaged, etc. Sure glad I bought a new car! I am up to 150 hp at the wheels, though (dyno chart to follow).

Mazda, it's the 280mm Momo quick release wheel that is optional on all Caterhams. I think Jeff Sloan at British Auto has a couple in stock. www.britauto.net.

At 1500 miles, I have a 4 inch crack in my exhaust, where the collector meets the catalyst. Anyone else have similar problems with the rear exiting Caterham exhaust?

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/2025479462_DSC00656.JPG

That was no goat, that was a Georgia prostitute! (what a lame way to hit "advanced member" status)

Very pretty, but, as usual with Zetec stuff like this, no go for SVT owners unless a hole is cut out for the vct solenoid. I have a contact who is working on a modified SVT insert that will clear the bonnet; pics for any interested SVT owners (all three of us) when I get them.

John- I had no interest in tuning this car when I bought it, and I still don't. In fact, I paid $55,000 for my fully dealer built car with a Caterham USA supplied, new-in-the-crate SVT motor, specifically because I didn't want to deal with this type of thing. My last car (a Beck 550 spyder) had a highly tuned Type 1 VW motor, and I was constantly having to get it fiddled with. I bought my car because it was, according to Caterham USA and the dealer, the last of the new SVT 7's, using factory engine management and a factory wiring loom. I had debated waiting for Caterham UK & USA to get the non CSR Duratec package put together, but Cody at Caterham indicated that after market engine management would be necessary, and I wished to avoid that. He stressed the great deal of development work that they had done on the SVT package. As part of the purchase process, I discussed with both the dealer and Caterham USA the camshaft upgrade. It was presented to me as a bolt on, 20 hp upgrade, sacrificing a small amount of low end torque for more horsepower at the top. I was told in no uncertain terms that no PCM reprogramming would be necessary. From the day I received my car, it has cut off every time I depress the clutch from any revs higher than 3000. Starting at 500 miles, it has developed first a cold hard start, now a hot hard start. All tuning and dyno work was originally intended to address these problems; the power issue is secondary. The issue isn't a pretty dyno chart, the issue is THE CAR DOESN'T WORK. Everyone's got an opinion (Cody, the dealer, blatchat members, USA7s members, etc), most of them conflicting, but no one's here but me, my local resources, and my $$$$. If the engine is sound, then there is no benefit to the cam upgrade, for I will have sacrificed mid range drive ability for no hp gain, and I will remove it, and return to the stock SVT configuration. If there is a separate problem, I need to resolve it, or the car will continue to function badly, regardless of which cams are in it. Unfortunately, the US distributor has basically washed his hands of me, and the dealer is 800 miles away. The engine management for my car is Ford, but has now been reflashed with a custom Diablosport Predator tune. As you so eloquently point out, not designed for my exact configuration. But then my motor was built for a 2900 pound, front wheel drive car with a different transmission, so I don't know that the factory suppositions for my PCM are any better than, or even as good as, my custom tune. As to the adaptability of the Ford PCM, the longer I drove it, the worse it ran.

2nd dyno run at Balanced Performance in Buford, GA. Nice shop, lots of fast Japanese stuff (GTR with 1200 hp!). 1st run was 148.4 hp, 1.8 hp off last run at Focus-Power. 2nd run was without the K&N filter. 4th run was without the exhaust , from the flange back, to check for restrictions. The numbers would seem to indicate Tom's assessment of the car's performance was accurate. Ed Senf (the tuner at BPM) said our drive trains should have about 15% loss on the dyno, so I'm putting out about 174 crank hp. He agrees with Tom that this number is too low, considering a stock SVT does 170, plus, the cat is getting too hot, and the air/fuel is still too lean (red line on the bottom of the chart). Tom had set the air/fuel target at 12.9:1. The exhaust, and the PCM programming, appear not to be causal factors, however, we will probably go back to VCT on the intake, as the low end drive ability should improve. Ed looked at the factory PCM settings, and indicated that the SVT seems to have a volumetric efficiency issue between 2800-3500 rpm that Ford compensated for with ignition and valve timing. It seems the hot cams exacerbate this weakness at the low end, and locking out the VCT makes it even more pronounced. The question now is, what's the cause for the power drop? If it's not an internal engine problem (which appears unlikely), it's either the cams, or air or fuel delivery. I don't have any check engine lights on, other than the usual ones which Cody at Caterham says are normal. The cold hard start is gone, as are the PATS immobilizer codes, but the car has a hard hot start issue. I wonder if the hard start, and the lean a/f ratio are related (note the a/f at idle). Ed says he thinks the car is gasping for air, and one of my mechanics wonders if Cosworth already maxed the airflow through the head, and the hot cams are just reducing dynamic compression by keeping the valves open too long. Cody continues to maintain that the cams up the power, and will do so without PCM mods, so I wonder if something else is causing the problem (TPS, air intake, etc., etc.). Ed is researching head flow rates, and some other things. I expect we will return the engine to it's pre-NC state (stock PCM tune, VCT), and re test. If the hp drops back to 135 range, we will remove the cams, go full SVT stock, and test to make sure the stock motor makes 170 hp. Nothing like throwing $$$$ at a problem to make it go away (hopefully!). Steve, I'd love to see your dyno runs. The a/f seems very high at 17.5 max; where in the power band does this occur? JBH, Tom spent hours timing the cams, he just couldn't flatten the low end dip. Ed says he feels Tom's tune was solid, but this problem goes beyond tuning. I will probably keep the adjustable exhaust cam gear on the car, so that the exhaust cam can be timed, even with the intake VCT. All runs were in 3rd, because Ed said the Dynojet's resistance is high enough that 4th gear runs don't work as well. He said the power loss would be minimal in 3rd as opposed to 4th. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1027191495_Nov 13 2007 chart.jpg

Thanks for all the kind words. I'd be happy to participate in a GA blat, or a track day. I'm currently wrestling with an engine problem I've had pretty much from day 1, so I can't run the car hard until it's resolved, but as soon as it's fixed I'll be ready to go.

The general consensus when I got my car was that the standard bar was a cosmetic item, and offered little in the way of safety. I felt then, and still feel, the FIA bar is a "must have" accessory. It is interesting to hear of the weight difference. How much did it cost to ship the bar from the UK? Mine came from Caterham USA, so I didn't experience the "pound"ing.

Next dyno run Tuesday the 13th. Different shop, also with a Dynojet dynomometer. I think having a 2nd set of numbers will be useful to both verify the curves, and check power. If the 1st dyno was off, or the tune leaves something to be desired, it may become evident here. As to the accuracy of the hp readings, even if they are inaccurate on a specific car, they should be accurate relatively between similar drive lines. Focus-Power had a number of charts for SVT Zetec engines, which with Tom's PCM tunes were putting out 145 hp at the wheels, basically the same as mine WITH the hot cams. The only question remaining there is whether the transverse fwd drive train or the longitudinal rwd drive train has greater power train loss. I emailed Caterham UK asking about any info they had on drive train loss percentages, but I haven't heard back from them. I did have a compression test and cylinder leak down test performed, to check whether an internal problem was at fault, but compression was 13 bar +/- 1/2 bar (182 psi) on each cylinder, spot on for a 10.2:1 compression ratio, and leak down was only 3-4%-good news!

I'll take 1 men's watch. At the price, maybe we should add $5 or so for USA7s operations.

Mazda, I am assuming the mapping is optimized. That said, I am going to a 2nd dyno shop next month, also with a dynojet, for a 2nd opinion. Part of my tune from Focus-Power was a Predator PCM programmer that also functions as a data logger, so I'm going to hook it up and put some miles on the car. Any specific data that would help with diagnosis? Yes, I can feel the dip, when I hit the throttle at 3000 rpm in any gear, the car does not pull strongly until 4000 rpm, then acceleration is much stronger. Drew, yes we were hooked up to the OBDII port, and no codes, other than a PATS code that may be related to the hard starting (immobilizer?) and/or the lack of a key on power signal (the Caterham wiring harness doesn't include that connection, apparently). The VCT was operating correctly, but now it is locked out. The DSI (dual stage intake) is functioning properly, and has been adjusted to switch at 6100 rpm, up from 5100, as this was the spot where power increased, instead of dropping off. WT2K, assuming 20% loss, 146.6 hp at the wheels equals 183 hp at the flywheel. This is AFTER a custom tune, and locking out the vct. Using the numbers on the engine as supplied by Caterham, 129.3 hp=162 hp; not even up to the original Ford factory number of 170 hp, let alone the 200 hp number I was quoted. Al, do you have a Zetec Supersport? Was it supplied by Caterham, and with any mods other than as listed on their website? Kitcat, Tom charges $450 for a full custom tune, plus $375 for the Predator PCM programmer (you keep the Predator, which retains the original factory map, and Tom will give you a copy of the tune he makes for you). Regarding the accuracy of factory hp claims, Ford's experience with late '90s Cobras indicates that traditional manufacturers have a responsibilty to be reasonably accurate, and are actionable if they aren't. Why should Caterham be any different? I paid a lot more for my car than a new Mustang! All of Caterham USA's promotional material represents this motor at 185 hp, 200 with the cams. Is it unreasonable of me to expect that to be correct, at least within some appropriate variance (10%?)? Several people have told me they believe the Caterham chart is actually for a Duratec 2.3, not a Zetec 2.0. Some of the Focus people with whom I've spoken say the SVT can bog down at lower rpms, and that the SVT's vct is designed to compensate. My cams would likely exacerbate this tendency, locking out the vct adding insult to injury. The graph shows the dip is less pronounced in the original form. So: Why is my car down, in Caterham supplied trim, 10 hp from stock when it should be up some percentage of 20 hp? Why does the dip exist? I've seen only one dyno chart with a similar dip, and it was corrected with cam timing, which Tom says he was unable to do on my car, even after multiple attempts. What responsibilty do the sellers have to help me resolve this problem? My plan is to data log some, then get a 2nd dyno run. If no solution is apparent, the next step would seem to be to return the car to stock SVT specs in all regards (cams, programming, vct), then test. It should be at least the same as a stock Focus SVT, if there is nothing wrong with the motor. This will get expensive!

Looking for dyno charts of SVT Zetecs, with or without camshaft upgrades. While trying to solve a problem concerning engine cut off above 3000 rpm when the clutch is depressed, I took the car to Tom Lesperance at Focus-Power in N Belmont, NC. He put the car on his chassis dyno. The first run yielded 129 hp, and had to be aborted at 6000 rpm because the air/fuel ratio was 15:1, and the exhaust gas temperature was 1500 degrees, causing us to fear for the safety of the engine. 9 hours and 25 dyno runs later, with a custom PCM tune, vct eliminator, and adjustable cam gears, the engine put out 147 hp. There is also a good size "hole" in the torque curve between 2700-3700 rpms. As a stock SVT motor puts out 170 hp at the flywheel, and Caterham USA and the Caterham dealer represent that the Kent camshafts will increase hp by 20, my motor's performance seems wholly inadequate. SO: What is a typical percentage for hp drive train loss? Why is my motor down 25 hp from a stock SVT when it should be up 20? How do I eliminate the torque curve hole? Why would the stock PCM allow the car to run so lean? Before I spend yet more money chasing this problem, I sure would like to see some other dyno charts for comparison. Attached are my chart, and a chart from Caterham USA purporting to show what the SVT motor should run like, with and without the cam upgrade. Any insights are appreciated.http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1802166355_small chart.jpg

Yep, much fun. The Avon ZZ3s are enough tire for a novice like me. I look forward to getting much better next year.

I'll try to come by. My car has a couple of bugs to sort out, so I'm going to see Tom at Focus-Power before I put the car on the track/parking lot.

Finally got the October issue. The cover story is titled "Lotus Seven: The Best Ever Sports Car?" It's a very nice article, with driving impressions and specs on the S1, S2, S3 ,and S4 models.

Are there any good zetec specialized shops in the southeast?