RGTorque

best wishes!

rally drivers get more respect from me then any other driving sport. the balls and skills these drivers have are immense. i have never had the opportunity to see one live but i do always follow WRC on the net. hows does one get the opportunity to become "meat in the seat"? this is one of my life's aspirations

just got word from BJ at classic competition. he says the car now setup as as possible (shocks came in late friday). we swapped out the advanced racing oil shocks and went with a smaller gas shock, which im told is better. a few other things noted was that the rear end is still very stiff and that the 280 spring i have is just to much. he is recommending a 225 spring with a bump stop on the shock to keep it from bottoming out. all in all the best news ive heard in weeks. i am picking the car up at 7am tomorrow and going right to the autox yayayayay.

i generally reply: Its a Super 7 - if i get strange looks i bring up "the prisoner" and usually get an O YEA!. Its a lotus 7 replica - this is generally for the younger peoples.

i would honestly say you are correct, the responsibility falls on the owner. i would however like to point out that, in my case, the issue was to many shops/people working on the car before it was setup correctly. the issues i have experienced are due to non experienced hands trying to accomplish more then they know how to. as i learn i will be able to maintain the car better and recognize issues prior to them cost small fortunes as in the current case. regarding the caterham vs WCM ultralite issue, i would say that the caterham may have the finishing work that the ultralite does not have but the build quality and engineering behind the car is quite good and has proven itself to be on the same level multiple times.

i do know have many miles on the 7, 1000 miles give or take...? the spedo was not hooked up until this past week . i think a lot of the problems came from poor assembly by the previous owner and my ignorance when i bought the car. i just drove it and fixed problems as i found it instead of fixing the entire car at once. also i did not have anyone in my area knowledgeable enough to really tell me what needs to be done until now. shocks are not good - aldan eagle shocks were not great to begin with, which is why WCM no longer uses them heim ends are worn - i imagine this is from the road use in humid weather and bad shocks cause the suspension to move and travel way more then it should. steering rack is worn - this is just bad luck wheel bearing is bad - this was not tightened down correctly to begin with so it has to much play. the cage was broken and the bearings were ROASTED damaged suspension spacers - could have been prevented with 4 washers but i did not know... the spacer was aluminum and one side pressed against the knuckle and the other on the heim end. as i tightened the bolt the aluminum would crash and mushroom which mean the end link on the other side was always moving around (yet another work out heim end) and cause my alignment to change as i go over bumps . i have replaced this spacer with a chomroly piece and added washers. most of these issues could have been prevented if the PO or myself could had capable and knowledgeable techs to spot these issues before the car went on the road.

best wishes to bill and his family!

thats where i was getting my suspension from, i am about 2.5 hr from Baltimore. i dont think tom brings street tire to the autox plus i dont think he would let anyone drive, especially after the flying fender incident.

BEWARE, RANT BELOW :rant: A few weeks ago i dropped my 7 off at Classic Competition in Dublin PA to get the car aligned since i was coming up to my first track day (aug 29th) about half a day later i get a call from BJ McDonald (owner) that my car has... several issues. shocks are not good heim ends are worn steering rack is worn wheel being is bad damaged suspension spacers im asked what id like to do and i tell him to go ahead and do the wheel bearing since it was not safe to be driven. i took the car back and said i will get the other parts while he is on vacation the next week and bring it back for the alignment. the first thing i did when i got the car back was order the steering rack. the first and second place i ordered from both called me back within a day telling me that its out of stock so i ended up paying top dollar and ordered the rack from flaming river direct... ok shit happens while i wait for the rack i count up all the heim ends and figure out what hole/thread/shank i need. i also order shocks and springs from QA1, and spend an hour on the phone with FKrodends regarding what rod ends to use. while i wait i take the suspension rods off the car. 4 days later and i have the rod ends with teflon inserts in my hands, great product. a day or so later i get my shocks/springs from qa1 but my jewish luck steps in... springs are to big. unless i do some fab work, which i dont know how to do, this will have get sent back. the next few days are spent replacing the rod ends and on the phone with qa1, hypercoil, a1racing, Loren and Kevin (mojo) and a few others trying to figure out what shocks/springs i need. we figure it out and i order my new qa1 non adjustable (no adjustable offered in my size). my jewish luck steps in again and i get a call 3 days later only to be told the shock i need is on back order until mid september which is past my race date. a hectic call to advanced racing shocks and Cory says he can have me the same setup as Loren and Kevin use via next day air (today). this is great because BJ said he can align, corner balance, and set up suspension today. so today i got my shocks and springs. i was as happy as a jewish kid getting his first gift on Hanukkah. i quickly got the suspension on the car and drove it to Bj's to get setup for race day (tomorrow). 1 hour after i get back jewish luck sticks again. the shocks are to short, nothing to do now but send them back to Cory at Advanced racing shocks there goes my friday track day and sunday autox live and learn that is all, thanks for reading.

i think some belts are 5 year, and there are also companies out there that will re-certify their dated belts multiple times.

nice truck! and cute daughter... wish you were on the east coast :blueangel:

i finally got the chance to send in money. i was thinking about a change to the forum here. why not under your name it list what car your have (wcm ultralite, caterham 260, etc)

do we have a paypal setup yet so i can send in my $

i spot a rabbit in the garage! a fellow vw/seven guy!

wow, i love that color combo, reminds me of a anniversary caterham in my area. as mentioned above ..... http://www.srt-4mation.com/images/smilies/worthless%20thread%20without%20pics.gif

funny u say that because ive bought many cars from nj and ive noticed the same thing...

right now its just regular pipe hammered down in places to it. i will have the flat/oval nascar type pipe installed soon.

day 2 was different. first run on these tires was great, then they got all hot and greasy, 2nd run i blasted a cone and spun hard, run 3 i was fearful so i lost time, run 4 i got some time back. i was going to run afternoon but my front right tire lost all the air... was coming out between the wheel and tire. i got it home ok but was to upset to drive back and watch the other 7's run. i got it remounted today and its holding air. ill be taking it for a spin in a bit to test it out again. o yea tires are falken rt615's. 10 min after they warm up they toss in enough gravel to to fill all the potholes in my area .

S4 http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/442/cimg1965ts0.jpg http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/6343/cimg1966lv8.jpg S2 ( i think) http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/2504/cimg1969ku6.jpg http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2638/cimg1968cp9.jpg wcm ultralite with new tires! http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/9678/cimg1964pu6.jpg http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4707/cimg1967rv2.jpg

finally updated this thread with working pics!

i have cycle fender on my 7 . i am running a 235/40/17 tire up front now and i dont get much stones in the car when driving or turning. the only way objects get into the car is when they get kicked up , bounce off the ground, hit the rear fender and drop in your lap. and this is coming from a guy with with no real front windshield. http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9246/cimg1671wr1.jpg http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6164/cimg1670qi7.jpg

id like to head up to fortwashington as well but the weather forecast is some crazy stuff... expecting hail in some parts of our area. EDITl: FROM THE HOPE LODGE WEBSITE!!!! "ALERT: The car show, originally scheduled for May 31, has been moved to June 1, due to the weather forecast."

come out to the autocross in warmisnter pa on sunday and you will probably see tom and me in our 7's. it will help u get an idea of what your getting into.

i was just making the point that they are very popular wheels in Europe.

as far as i know the donkervoot or how ever you spell it has a vw 1.8t motor from the 98-2006 mkv golf/jetta/passat