scannon

Gary, Are you in the Denver area? If so, do you want to get together some afternoon or evening before you return to Ohio? I live 25 minutes North of downtown Denver. We might be able to get some other Se7en owners together for an impromtu drive and dinner. Skip

Maybe there IS such a thing as too much horsepower and torque! :ack:

Lula (my '04 Caterham) is back on the road! The wiring has been fixed and the ignition switch moved from the steering column to the dash board. The old column lock and switch are history. I did a 12 mile test blat this evening and NO SMOKE. :hurray: The new speedometer WORKS although I think the calibration is a little off or else I was driving about 5 mph faster than I thought when I was using the tach for a speedometer. After two Electronic Ratio Adjustors (ERAs) that wouldn't pass the signal on to the speedo, I borrowed a new front button adjustable speedometer from Alaskossie and it did the job. Thanks Tom, your new one is on the way. One strange thing happened, the beep on the turn signals is much louder than before. I can now hear it while driving where before I could only hear it while idling at an intersection.

As I was finishing up the interior insulation project, it seemed a good time to install the nut plate brackets that make the windscreen easily removable before I reinstalled the interior parts. The passenger side went well, no problems at all but when I started to remove the black trim piece on the driver side I managed to get one of the headlight wires wedged between it and the body cutting its insulation and creating a massive short. By the time I ran around the car, grabbed a wrench and disconnected the battery the cockpit was full of smoke so I grabbed the fire extinguisher and headed back to the driver side. Fortunately, no flames but when the smoke had cleared I found lots of burned wire insulation, mainly the wires from the headlight switch to the ignition switch and from there on into the main loom headed to the battery. The insulation on other wires close to the burned ones is also damaged and will require replacement. When I started stripping out the damaged wiring loom I discovered that once the burned wire got past the tape wrapping, the heat dissipation was good enough to not damage the wire or its neighbors in the bundle. I will have 8 - 10 wires needing new sections spliced in, none of them over 2' in length. I decided to take this opportunity to get rid of the Caterham steering column mounted ignition switch and lock and bought a simple ignition switch from NAPA that is a replacement for a Chevy truck. I will decide tomorrow just where on the dash panel to mount it. Once that is done it should be a simple task to replace the burned wires and get the car back on the road. I never liked the location of the switch under the dash as you had to insert the key by feel. It was rather stealthy under there but the convenience of the dash mount more than makes up for it. I also plan to install a battery cutout under the bonnet or under the dash. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1479908467_Burnt Wires.JPG

Since it has already been registered under the VIN in another state and they are saying that is acceptable, I'm thinking all you need is a peace officer's verification that the VIN matches the title. Most states have a simple form for that and any peace officer can do it for you. Some states even allow smog inspection stations to do the verification. Keep calling and politely asking if there is a problem or if there is anything you can do to speed along the process. That worked for me. The lady at the county DMV gave me names and numbers of people in the state DMV to call and although it took awhile and a trip to Denver, it finally happened. I think I got off relatively easy. The physical inspection consisded of the highway patrol officer checking the VIN, a very quick look at the car and only asking me to start the engine to see how loud it was. He thought the 3" exhaust system was going to be too loud but said it was no problem. He never looked for DOT logos on the glass or lights (there weren't any) and didn't check the horn or lights or signals.

I had a similar experience with the Colorado DMV on my '04 Caterham. They said the Caterham VIN wasn't acceptable, assigned me a Colorado VIN (six digits on a plastic label secured to the front of the pedal box with 2 pop rivets) and then put the original Caterham VIN on the title! The Colorado VIN does not appear on the title or registration. The car is titled as a 2007 CAT. :crazy: for sure.

:iagree:

That's great! I will have to cook up something similar. I am single but I get telemarketers asking for my wife. I always tell them that she just died yesterday. Ends the call very quickly. I've been on the state and national do not call lists since they started and they have been very effective until lately. I am starting to get a few calls and I checked to see if I am still on the list. I am still on there for another year. You have to renew every 5 years. If you are not on it, I highly recommend it: www.donotcall.gov

I know of two cars that have syncronized reverse gears, the Lambo and the Miata. I have put my Miata into reverse without grinding at 20 mph, however I was not stupid enough to engage the clutch after doing it. It does make it impossible to grind reverse if you happen to be moving forwards when you shift into reverse or if you are trying to rock yourself out of a snow drift.

Toyo's R compound DOT legal tire.

I've let a number of people drive my Caterham. But only those whose driving ability and common sense I trusted. I don't think I would have a problem letting anyone on this forum drive it, even Mazda, afterall, how much trouble can he get into with only 235 RWHP?:lol:

I drove the FM Westfield in August and I liked the steering even better than my Caterham. It was smooth, low effort (but not too low) and seemed to talk to me better than the Caterham. I didn't get to try it on the track so I can't say for sure it is better all around. I put a larger steering wheel on my Caterham to help prevent flareups of the tendonitis in both of my elbows. Having the easier steering of the Westie would be a plus for me. Wish I knew whether it was alignment or steering rack that made the difference. SteveT: See if you can find a Legacy GT with some good aftermarket tires on it to test. I have an '05 GT wagon and I put Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires on it shortly after buying it as the factory tires were CRAP. The Pirellis vasty improved the feel, turn in and ride.

Great, whatever it takes to get the rolling road blocks out of the way. I might just try that myself.

Was that a Jaguar 6 cylinder engine in that A-H 100-4?

OK, who's the wiseguy who added the sci-fi space alien clip on the end of Mazda's video???? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

The Avons should get better after a few hundred miles, new tires generally have mold release on them and are quite slippery at first.

Maverick, Great time for a first time at the strip. Damn few people get under 12 seconds on the first time out, many never make it at all. Congratulations. Like you, I much prefer road courses.

Hoover Dam is a LOOOONG ways South of Montana and S. Dakota. It never gets anywhere near that hot up North. 100+F days are rare even in Colorado although we get a few of them in the Denver area each year.

The exhaust manifold and downpipe are painted with oven cured 1,500F paint, they are holding up well. The only other paint in the area is the frame tubes and I believe they are powdercoated. The louvers in the bonnet have kept the heat from affecting its paint. I put foil/foam insulation on the footwell and the heat quickly delaminated the foil from the foam although the foam seems to be handling the heat quite well.

Do you think it would stand up to the underhood temps generated by a turbo and downpipe about one foot in front of it?

I finally got around to taking some pictures of the signed pedal box cover from LOG27. Emmo & Peter Egan http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/963432091_Emmo Pedal Box 004.jpg Alain de Cadinet http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/65168219_Emmo Pedal Box 002.jpg Peter Darley http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/521222975_Emmo Pedal Box 003.jpg Any suggestions on what to use to preserve these signatures? They were signed with a sharpie type marker with permanent ink.

Probably just suspended because he generates so much revenue for that speed trap town. He deserves much worse.

What about Colorado? It isn't much further from the East coast than SD or Montana and we have some of the best driving roads and scenery in the country. Lots of interesting resorts to base out of that are used to hosting car clubs. AND, although it gets warm, it is a dry heat and it gets cool at night. I'd be willing to take the lead on a Colorado gathering or help out with SD.

That scumbag needs to go to jail, lose his job and take daily anger management courses for the rest of his life. Cops like him reflect poorly on those out there risking their lives for the rest of us.

Yep, the LS7 is the one you want, too much horsepower is just about right, eh Mazda?:hurray: That said, I really like my 1,800 cc Miata engine with turbo. It dyno'd at 235 RWHP and 204 ft lb. The car (Caterham SV) weighs 1,338 with half tank of fuel. If you want more HP, this motor can easily be brought up to 320 RWHP with a few goodies from Flyin Miata, something I intend to do in a year or two. There is one 2 liter version out there in a drag car making 616 RWHP! Miata motors and transmissions are cheap and easy to find.