scannon

My Caterham was real foot cooker with the turbo and downpipe just in front of the driver's footwell. I tried the stick on foam with aluminumized foil but the heat delaminated it and the foil went away leaving slightly melted black foam vulcanized to the footwell. I made an aluminum heat shield that mounted about an inch ahead of the footwell. This deflected the flow of hot air and blocked the radiated heat from the turbo and down pipe. The next step was spacecraft multi layer insulation (MLI) which I obtained as scraps from where I used to work. It has to be used inside the car as the direct heat from the turbo would melt it. I patched the scraps together and used spray adhesive to attach it to the back of the carpets. It is very light weight and thin. I did the floor, trans tunnel, behind the seats and the underside of the trans tunnel cover and I doubt it added more than 5 lb to the car. You cut it with a soldering iron with a blade tip and it seals the layers together at the cut. It is not totally cool in the foot wells, but I spent the last week driving around SW Colorado in 90+ temps with sandals and shorts and although my feet were warm, they were not uncomfortable. Before I installed the MLI I taped a couple of pieces of it to the bare aluminum on the side of the trans tunnel. The aluminum would get so hot you could not hold your hand on it but the MLI hardly felt warm. I have enough scraps left to do one or two cars and will send you some if you want to try it.

I've let somewhere between 15 & 20 people drive my Se7en. Always with me in the passenger seat. I warn them about the low sump clearance and not to go over anything. I also stress that they must be pointed straight down the road if they go WOT. I advise them to keep a hand on the gearshift because 1st gear is at redline in about 2 seconds. Only one person has scared me. A few people I have offered to let drive it refused and preferred to have me take them for a ride. Last week, in SW Colorado I let three different people drive it fast on some very twisty roads. All were people I know well and have track experience and each of us hit triple digits numerous times between the twisty parts. The gas milage sucked on that tank. Skip

Only from the passenger seat. That car goes no where without me in it.

I see two bike type engines placed end to end and mounted transversely.

Rob, Which model did you buy? Are some of their lifts from China? I almost bought one from America'a Pride but the Greg Smith website says they went TU awhile back. Skip

I want to know how they got the airplane down off the wires. Did they just cut it loose and let it fall?

Sure makes it easy to ignore until I have to hoist my heavy butt out of the driver seat but the grin doesn't go away.:7fume:

It's been a long summer for me and my Caterham. I started on the conversion from Link to Hydra ECU and Hydramist water injection back in April but fell on my right shoulder, chipping the bone and tearing the rotator cuff. The car hasn't run from April until last week. I only recently began to work on the car as my shoulder healed. I finally got the car running just in time to load it in the trailer to take it to the annual Flyin Miata open house. I got there a day early to have the car dyno tuned and a few bugs worked out. The engine is a bone stock '00 Miata 1.8 motor with a turbo and 550 cc injectors. I was hoping for an increase from 234 hp (at 10 psi) to somewhere around 275. The baseline run on the Hydra with no tuning produced 277 hp at 6 psi. After tuning we ended up with 301 HP and 262 lb ft of torque at 11 psi. We never did get the water injection working so there is another 20 - 25 HP waiting to be added along with the added safety of the water injection. It pulls strong to the 7k redline and goes like a bat out of hell. Needless to say, I am very happy with this conversion. I tried to upload a pdf of the dyno chart but couldn't make it happen. Skip

I think you should look at that overheated coil first. Heat like that usually means it is in melt down mode and could produce the effects you describe. Swap in a known good coil and see if the problem resolves itself. Skip

Yellow, but use the Miata sunburst yellow from '92 (paint code HZ). If I ever paint my Caterham, that is what I will use. Skip

Thats 2.51 lb/hp or 795 hp/ton! You would be hard put to find anything street legal with that kind of power to weight ratio and damn few race cars either. Too much horsepower is just about right. :d:d:d:d How well does it hook up? I want a ride in that bad boy. Skip

Great newsletter. A lot of effort went into making it a classy newsletter, thanks to all who contributed. Skip

I have a Caterham SV with a turbocharged 1.8 Miata engine. It dyno'd at 235 RWHP. It is still faster than I am on the track and faster than most of the other cars I run with. I'm in the process of changing from a Link ECU to a Hydra with Hydramist water injection. Should up the HP to the 275 range with conservative boost. I'm in agreement with davemk1, buy it now, drive the piss out of it and turn it into your dream car over the winter. The orange might grow on you by then. IMHO, the Westfield is a very well built car. If you happen to be out Denver way, stop by for a test drive. Skip

A twenty-something woman asked for a ride in my Se7en as I was leaving a small local cruise in. She hopped in the car and we drove out of the Sonic Drive In, got the car straight on an industrial backstreet and nailed it up through the gears. She started screaming in terror and didn't stop until I drove her around the block at normal speed and she got out of the car. Then she hyperventilated for awhile. I suspect she will never again ride in a Se7en. Skip

I had the same thought. I've seen cracked and broken valve guide tips on 1960s dragster engines with shorty pipes that didn't get the exhausts plugged soon enough after shutdown. It was fun to watch the flames shooting out. I ran a Miata engine briefly that way and it had me LOL at the sound. Skip

Other threads have pretty much defined a Se7en as any car which is inspired by the original Lotus 7 (LSIS). This one looks closer to the original than many of the others considered. Using a ladder frame most likely subtracts lightness but that was the builder's choice. I still say it qualifies as an LSIS. Skip

Yes, it says so on the front. Skip

Wow, I had no idea Chapman lived his life as portrayed in this video. A great man, but alas, human like the rest of us. Thanks for the video. Skip

And right at the top of the ad.

His ad says $33,000.

Here ya go. Boxers

No mention of loading ramps and it looks high enough that you might need very long ramps to get the car over the breakover point. Make sure you test it with your car before buying. Those hubs look like the type that are also the brake drum. Ask if the brakes are inside and functional. Skip

Bomb stated!!! Did you drop cherry bombs down the intake to get it to kick over?:crazy: Skip

Are Se7ens ever not "in Progress"? Seems like there is always something that needs upgrading, replacing or fixing. They are eternal projects. Skip

Chad, Its always good when the first drive is not too exciting. Congrats! Skip