EdWills

Just a P.S. Not sure why Mick drew the Series 3 seats without the front wooden seat 'tabs' (and produced them 1 inch shorter) as my Series 3 certainly had the wooden plywood extensions on the front and exposed to the elements. I have seen an alternative type of seat squab on later produced Series 3 cars, so obviously the seat manufacturers at the time made slight design changes. EW

Hi MV8. A very good idea if the seat cover manufacturer has not included mesh vent ports in the sides of the seat squabs. A few years ago, a very helpful Seven owner in the U.K. (via the lotus@se7ens forum) introduced me to a U.K. seat manufacturer called Aldridge, who also produced manufactured seat covers for Europas and Elans. After producing the seat covers for the U.K. Seven owner, and myself, the company advised that due to the time it took to produce them, and the labour involved, they politely advised that they would not be doing it again. But - perhaps they may be persuaded to reconsider? They sourced the identical vented basket weave vinyl as used by Lotus, and hot melted the exact same seams into the material. Round brass vents were added to the squab sides. Failing Aldridge, the Caterham U.K. seat manufacturer - Oxted Trimming - may be a good choice. EW

Your choice of course, but 3/8 inch thick ply may be a tad too thick, and can still warp. To avoid the possibility of warpage (wood has a mind of its own as we have all experienced probably?), you can use varnish or paint to seal the ply, on each side and the edges. No guarantees it won't warp, but worth doing. Water based varnish or paint will raise the surface structure of the wood, so sanding may be required after treatment. Lotus used a black painted thin ply sheet for the boot top also. On my old seats, 1/4 inch ply was used by the Lotus seat manufacturer. The previous owner discarded the wood boot top, and used sheet aluminum instead. I used a hand stapler to reattach my seat covers as the original wooden base was starting to rot and develop mold (mould?). I used 3/8 inch staples through the seat covers into the varnished ply. Scott, on your chassis, and on my new one, Arch welded in a 1 inch square tube at the bottom of where the seat back rests, but Lotus never included this in the Series 2 or 3, so if this extra tube it fitted, it may force the bottom of the seat back forward a little bit. If refitting used seats to a chassis that has this tube added, it will mean that the length of the seat squabs may require adjustment (slight shortening) either at the front 'tabs' or in the total length starting at the back. For all of the suggested 5.7 cm inside radii, a 2 inch hole saw does the trick. EW

Hi. I think you'll find that those measurements came from Mick Beveridge at Xtra Special Sevens (now sadly out of business). Tony Ingram was importing the seat covers in the U.S. sewn up by Mick's wife, but Tony notes on his website that he is out of the covers. Tony would be able to confirm measurements for you though, as he has rebuilt his own Series 2. Cardboard cut-outs are a very good idea, as in some cases Caterham specified slightly different prop shaft tunnel widths from Arch depending on the chassis. In one case the prop shaft tunnel was 6 inches wide (seats were 15-1/2 inches wide + 6 inch tunnel width, and 1 inch x 2 lower side tubes to produce 39 inches wide total chassis width (Imperial Lotus measurement chassis built on original Lotus Seven jig). Arch (Bruce Robinson) advised me that the tunnel could be 5 inches wide (old Lotus chassis measurement) and therefore the seats could be 16 inches wide. Bruce provided another possible measurement that 5-1/2 inch tunnel width had been used, so there seems to have been enough variations for the need to make up a good template for your particular chassis. Don't forget to allow for the thickness of the seat material all around (to fit inside the chassis snuggly) when cutting out the plywood. 5/16 inch thick ply seems to be good, but perhaps 1/4 inch would be o.k.? In Canada we can get nice Baltic ply and also waterproof ply (not just for boat use) but expensive these days. I've asked on another Lotus Seven forum what comes first (not the chicken or the egg!), but does the seat back fit over the seat squab, or does the seat squab go in last to secure the bottom of the seat back in place? If the seat back fits over the seat squab, it might sit too high for seat belt mounts behind the seat back. (61 centimetres in the drawing equal to 24 inches - 60.3 centimetres drops 1/4 inch off this measurement). Mick's 91.5 centimetres seat back width equals 36 inches, so with the chassis rails of 1 inch each side for a total of 39 inches (this measurement was confirmed on my 1969 Lotus Seven chassis as well on various Seven diagrams on the web), there is a slight gap of 1/2 inch each side of the seat back which is o.k. with the seat cover material taking up the gap. Mick used double stacked foam to produce the raised front section of the seat squabs. Lotus had their seat manufacturer produce a one piece wedge for the front, but unless you happen to have a hot wire cutter (or can make one?), stacking 2 foam pieces may be easier. Good luck with your upholstery project. Check Tony Ingram's site as it shows the seat covers that Mick produced for the Series 2. Cheers EW

Hi Steve. According to the Tony Weale book, the 1700 Supersprint (my apologies, I thought that you had the 'Sprint' model with the A2) was fitted with the 'Caterham BCD' camshaft. Years ago I inquired with Caterham and the parts manger advised that the BCD cam was actually a 234 camshaft (Kent Cams product possibly?) with 1300 c.c. pistons fitted to the engine for higher compression ratio and Weale puts this at 9.75:1. The 234 cam is 280 degree inlet and exhaust with valve clearances cold at inlet: 0.022 inches, exhaust: 0.024 inches. The engine capacity is listed as 1690 c.c., and the bhp rpm is as you note, 135 @ 6000 rpm.. Kent describe the 234 as a 'superb sports road cam, flexible enough for use in a lightweight se7en, good for track day use'. Timing 37/63 73/27. Plug type NGK B8ECS. Just an fyi, James Whiting in the U.K. is a great source for NGK plugs for the Seven range. I tried my local auto parts shop, and they couldn't find some of the plugs listed for the original Lotus Seven or the Caterham variants in their NGK booklets. Maybe NAPA or similar can order them? Hope that this helps? Ed.

Hey Steve. According to Tony Weale in his book "Lotus Seven - Restoration - Preparation - Maintenance" the 1600 Caterham Sprint version was fitted with the A2 camshaft with clearances of 0.020/0.022 inches as standard. The h.p. rating for that car was only given as 110 @6000 rpm with 2 Weber 40 DCOE carbs. Weale included a note that the 1600 Sprint engine up to chassis CS3 4099 had clearances of 0.012/0.014 inches.

P.S. An aircraft welder friend recommended LPS3 to spray inside the frame tubes. His aircraft repair company uses this product, and it comes with a long and small diameter nozzle that can easily be inserted in a 1/8" or possibly a 3/32" hole. I purchased mine from a local Grainger store (no connection, just a satisfied customer) W.

Excellent advice from all, and Pegasus is very proactive in their search for handy tools. One way to hold the rivet while drilling is to use a small centre punch (or a sharp pointed nail possibly?), lightly tapped into one side on top of the rivet and angled away from the drill bit, then drill away. The punch should stop the rivet from spinning. Either that, or wedge a flat tipped screwdriver that has been ground down to a sharp edge, as per MV8's suggestion. Don't be too concerned if the hole you are left with is a tad on the large size, as Carroll Smith in his excellent series of books, suggests that a No. 30 drill for 1/8" rivets, or No.20 drill for 5/32" rivets allows for correct expansion and clearance when inserting a 1/8" or 5/32" rivet respectively. A comparison chart that I have from Snap-On shows that 5/32" is 0.1562" and a No.20 drill is 0.1610". If you do happen to drill too much oversize, go to the next size of rivet for replacement, in the case of 5/32" go to 3/16". If, when doing a complete ally body removal and chassis clean-up, you really feel the need to remove those drilled out rivet pieces (tails?) from the chassis inside tubes, a hole can be drilled in the very front square blanking plates top and bottom (I used 1/2", but smaller may be o.k.?), and with the chassis held/propped up at the rear at a good angle, the rivet pieces will roll down the round and square tubes and can be vacuumed up at the very front of the chassis. I did this with my old Lotus Unirad chassis (O.K., anal rules?), and removed most of the rivet pieces as the top and bottom tubes from front to back are mostly open even when 3/4" tube is connected to 1" square tube. The holes in the front can then be welded or brazed shut as they pose no problem to chassis integrity of course. Only the cross and down tubes will retain the rivet 'tails', but there are far fewer than in the main chassis rails. Cheers, Will

Hi Andy. I just checked my parts boxes, and found some original chassis bushes that were intended for repairs on my old Lotus Seven chassis. These bushes are 0.691 inches o.d. (my equivalency chart says 11/16 inches is 0.6875 inches), and the i.d is 1/2 inch (in your original post you mentioned 5/8 inches i.d.?) and a half-inch bolt fits snuggly inside the bush. These bushes are over 1-1/2 inches long so they can be reduced in length for a good fit. They are free if you don't mind paying the postage, but, (here's the big 'but') Canada Post is on strike, and if you are in a rush for them to complete a project, I don't know when they can be posted to you. As the outside diameter is slightly larger than you require, (and also the length of course), a competent machinist can reduce these to your specification. A local high school with students learning the trades may be a possibility if permitted (without incurring legal liability problems?). To do some welding jobs for me, I approached a local high school in my city, and the shop teacher advised that for a box of doughnuts for his students, he would do some work for me for free. Not too bad a deal! Let me know if these would be suitable. Will

Just a note on the bolt type for the water pump pulley (and fan blade attachment fitted by Ford on some of their older Kent engined vehicles). The pulley hub may be threaded for metric bolts not Imperial. A Quinton Hazell manufactured water pump on my 711M engine has a metric thread. It requires metric bolts M8-16. Mine are 8.8 grade nickel/zinc coated, 1/2 inches long (slightly longer if a fan blade is attached). Burton carry a new QH water pump on their site and similarly advise that the required bolts are M8. Will.

Not sure that this will help as the Caterham catalogue I have only goes up to 1991.

The Ford rocker assembly and the Triumph rack assembly are now sold. Thank you to those who replied. The rear radius arms and a few camshaft sprocket lock tabs are still available. W.

Hi All. Many thanks for the responses. Rocker arm and Triumph steering rack SOLD Rocker Assembly and Triumph Spitfire/Herald rack tube and Rack SOLD.

Hi. Is there anyone in the general vicinity of Calgary, Alberta, Canada who is building or repairing a Seven or Locost lookalike who requires some 18 gauge 3/4 inch, 5/8 inch and 1/2 inch round and 3/4 inch square mild steel tubing pieces for extra triangulation on their chassis? Some pieces are already mitred for triangulation and were made to fit an original Lotus chassis (dimensions same as those shown in various web diagrams of the Seven chassis). I also have 2 steering rack strengthening plates used to bridge the original Lotus Seven rack brackets, one with a cutout for the bottom radiator tube (originally from Arch, U.K.) I have already donated some longer mild steel tubing to a local high school welding shop as these are hard (expensive) to ship anywhere. (In exchange, the shop teacher will complete some Tig welding for me - win, win!). I have some small spacer tubes that Lotus/Arch/Caterham weld in the square tubes of the chassis for engine support brackets, wishbone attachment, and various other suspension locations (originally from Arch or Xtra Special Sevens). A piece of 16 gauge 1-1/2 inches by 3/4 inches by 3 feet long will make a good rear chassis seat belt anchor (welded between the upper rear damper towers behind the seat back), or as Arch did on a racing chassis - for the bottom dashboard support tube across the chassis. These are free for anyone who is able to collect them. She who must be obeyed - and especially me - are clearing out aIl of the bits and pieces I/we no longer need, so hard-to-find parts will be sold, others will go into recycling, or to the scrap yard. I note that the Locost USA site seems to have disappeared from the web maybe permanently, so anyone who was on this forum in my area may have transferred to USA7s hopefully? Cheers W.

Hi Pethier. I went across the pond to visit family in the mid 1990s and my brother-in-law and I took a trip from S.W. England to Caterham in Crayford, close to Dartford. I needed some parts, and my brother-in-law had business in the area. Graham Nearn gave us a great tour of the factory (which was so very different from the cramped quarters in Caterham, Surrey), and the staff were very friendly and helpful locating the parts I needed. The parts manager gave me the parts book and some other brochures detailing the new cars. My family and I used to live in Bexleyheath, about a 20 minute drive away from Caterham’s new digs, but it took me a few minutes to get my bearings and it was hard to recognize the Crayford area from when I lived nearby in the 1960s. The parts book does not have a publication date inside, but there is mention of the upcoming 1992 racing season for the 2 racing categories for Caterham cars. The parts book is in good nick and hardly used as many of the parts pictured inside do not apply to my Lotus Seven unfortunately. Just an fyi. When the original Redline took over the parts distribution for the Lotus Seven and early versions of the Caterham models, Mick at Redline did not use the original part numbers to identify the various parts. He just needed a good explanation and possibly a photo to identify what you required. Previously, Alex Davids at Caterham knew all the parts and part numbers off by heart. John Donohoe of Simple Sevens sold me a front licence plate bracket originally from Caterham, that was painted in the graphite colour and still had the paper tag with the Lotus part number on it. This parts book uses Caterham’s part numbers for the newer cars, and some of the original Lotus parts identification numbers along with line drawings. Cheers. Will