scannon

I've never seen aluminum retainers, the broken one "looks" very thin for the load they take. Did the engine come stock with those? Also, consider the loads applied to the rod and crank when that valve dropped in there at 5k rpm. Something had to give. At a minimum the rod and piston need to be removed and checked for straightness, cracks, etc. It could have even bent the crankshaft.

I talked to the owner this evening and he said the transmission is a T-9. The chassis is a 2012.

Sorry, typo on my part, I listed it as a T-9 in the original post. Is the Mazda box a 5 or 6 speed?

Gert, Sorry to hear that. At least you didn't hit any bears. :jester:

He told me it was a T-5 and we talked for awhile about where it could be leaking from. When did the change over occur? It didn't feel like a Miata transmission when I drove it last November. The car came from Jon Nelson, no idea how long ago it was ordered. The next time I see the car I will have a closer look at the transmission.

You can pay what you owe to Ben and Jon to me and I will be happy to spend it for them since they are incommunicado.:jester:

I don't know if Jon still has any parts. If he has what you need I'm sure he will sell them to you. I would guess that he wouldn't order them from the factory for you. I think he is quite unhappy with Caterham after they took his distributorship away. The second hand info I got a couple of days ago indicated that when the last two cars were gone he was done with Caterham. I bought a Caterham speedometer from the Superformance place in California awhile back, they had it in stock and it was cheaper than the previous one I bought from RMSC and arrived in two days.

He closed up the store awhile back but still has two Caterhams yet to sell. He is very hard to communicate with as he is out of the country quite a bit attending to other businesses he owns.

At least you have a bushel, hole or not. I just have a flat wallet.:willy_nilly:

There is more stylish fiberglass body work coming in the future. Xcarguy, he will put any engine you want in the car, just bring a bushel of money.

I heard from the owner today. He had just finished a 2,800 mile solo trip in the car. He had days of 800 and 1,100 miles! I asked how he felt after the 1,100 mile day. He said it was more comfortable than a similar drive would have been in his other car. He encountered some heavy rain and only complaint was how hot it got in the car with the top and side curtains on. In good weather he had the side curtains on and a tonneau over the passenger seat. His T-5 transmission is leaking, other than that no mechanical problems.

The fuel supply line looked to be about 2" in diameter.

Did you get to take it for a test ride?:jester:

Another time waster for your perusal.

You want I should put "Time Waster" in the subject to save you having to look at my off topic posts? :jester: Being retired I have plenty of time to waste. :hurray:

Have you tried flushing and bleeding the system? I believe the clutch master cylinder on my '04 Caterham is a standard Girling unit. Take it to a foreign car parts store and they can most likely match it for you or sell you a rebuild kit which is much cheaper. http://www.girlingauto.com/en/Products/Master-Cylinders/

Foot size needs considering. Foot boxes are small on the S3 sized cars and if your feet are wide you will not be able to depress one pedal without taking another with it. In Caterhams that means you need an SV or CSR.

Any good radiator shop should be able to repair that. Problem is, finding a real radiator shop. Real ones are usually dark, dingy, smelly places in out of the way places. Most radiator shops only want to sell you a new one.

I think he was mainly pointing to what he was looking at to show us where is attention was going. I doubt he does the finger pointing when not being recorded.

A series of videos from the cockpit of what it takes to start up, take off, land and shut down. http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/this-amazing-first-person-view-shows-every-move-it-take-1698638721#

Yes.

Thanks for the link Maurice. The more I read about the Robin Hood the less likely I am to attempt the build. Hopefully we will be able to find someone willing to take it on. Anyone interested? The owner will take $1,700 for it, as is, where is in Denver. I plan to take a look at it early next week and will post some pictures. There are some other project Lotus cars for sale and I will have a look at those while I am there.

No pictures until I go down there for a look. Not sure about the engine but I think it is a Ford crossflow. I've been to the Rhocar and other sites for a look. I'd like to find a build log to see what is involved.

Pear shaped is exactly what concerns me. I've never worked on, let alone built a monocoque. If it had a tube frame I'd be all over it. I'm also concerned that I wouldn't be able to drive it with my big feet and large body. I am casting about for next winter's project, hence the visit to the Velocity Rail shop.

A friend who passed away last month owned a Robin Hood kit with the monocoque chassis. He bought the kit new many years ago and never got around to assembling it. His wife has offered the kit to me for what appears to be a reasonable price. It has an engine, wheels and such but may be missing some small parts. It comes with assembly DVDs and perhaps manuals. He was a very meticulous person and a Lotus fanatic for many years. The monocoque is not assembled but the pieces are all cut and shaped. Anyone on here actually built one of these or know someone I can talk to about it? If I decide to not take it on I promised to try and sell it for her.