Bartman

LMAO I was chatting to a guy in Caterham UK this week and he told me they are expecting some sort of new/revised Federal regulation that would provide relief from this knocked down car loophole they are using. Its the Fed's so I told him no to hold his breath.

Hi Bruce, I am facing the same issue you overcame in CT, did you leave them on the car or remove them? If you took them off would you be interested to sell or rent them to me for a few weeks? Thanks for letting me know. Kind regards, Bart.

This is the initial inspection required by the state of MD whenever a used car or trailer changes ownership, its done by a state licensed mechanic to a state specific set of requirements, which includes front and rear bumpers. These inspections are required in order to tag the car, no inspection = no tag unless you can qualify for exemption under the historical (20 years old minimum) or street rod provisions (25 years old minimum). The guy that did mine is an old friend of a race engineer I am working with and even with the old boys network it's not possible to overcome the state bumper requirement outside of the aforementioned exemptions. In talking to a state trooper he basically said put them on, get the inspection and if they "fall" off 1 mile down the road that's your problem, he went on to say enforcement action is unlikely if I were to be pulled over as most of them have no idea what a Caterham is and, even if I was given a ticket, its a modest fine and a requirement to refit the bumpers until they "fall" off again. They (State of MD) don't have any further inspections after the initial post purchase one other than the emissions. For the emissions all vehicles > 3 years old have the emissions checked every 2 years via the OBD2, there is a way I think (hope) to get a sniffer test done if the car is not OBD2 compliant even if its titled as a post 1996 vehicle, this, I am told, is due to the vagaries of how, when and where a car is initially titled (chassis date versus completions date) . My plan is to have the emissions done before I make the engine swap that's in the works and then worry about it again in two years by then it will not be OBD2 compliant.

And so it continues, the car failed the MD state inspection yesterday because it has not got bumpers. This is all a result of the issue I described regarding the 2000 vs. 2005 title date. I called Caterham in the UK and nope never made a bumper they tell me, accordingly and as far as I can tell Caterham will never be able to sell a new car to be titled in MD. So now I need to fabricate a front and rear bumper and figure a way of fixing to the car or move to PA where my local police say they will put a plate on a shopping cart. Rick from Time Machines was super helpful so with that assistance and some creative metal bending and welding I'll have something that will meet the states requirements soon. I am only posting all this to help anyone who may face a similar situation and maybe avoid the mistakes I've made. Bart.

Hi Croc, Yes its faired in, did you simple cut out a section or fit a rear facing louvre?

So, I finally got on the road in my S3 this weekend for the first time, I planned to use it during the summer while the new engine and gearbox are being built but it has taken a lot of (wasted) time to sort with the MVA thanks to the car being incorrectly titled (as MD see's it) by New York and the original owner. In NY even though the car is a 2000 chassis (according to the VIN) because it was not registered until 2005 it is considered by them (NY) therefore to be a 2005. In my own state of MD it should be considered a 2000 as they go by the chassis build date as detailed in the VIN, but they will not revise the title as the "error" in their view was in NY, I have called NY (more than 200 calls before I got though to be able to organize a call back), and they will not revise the title as they don't see it as an error, its a catch 22 combined with the usual bureaucratic BS. The only reason I care so much is that vehicles older than 20 years can be registered as "Historic" in MD and as a result don't need emissions testing, this is not a factor now but in two years when it needs to be re-tested and with the new engine in place with no cat and no OBD it's a big problem, I'll have to wait a whole year with the car off the road until 2025 before I can title it as a Historic. When I purchased the car it was described as 2000 but the bill of sale which I received by mail and NY title say 2005, and as I'd already parted with my cash and foolishly I thought I'd be able to "correct it" I did not worry about it .....as they say Caveat Emptor. Anyhow I took the freshly tagged S3 on a really good blat through the quietest roads of MD in 90 degrees of sunshine it was wonderful. It is however and as many of you all will know , hot as hell in the footwell and the transmission tunnel got so hot it felt like it would fry eggs, I can manage to keep my calf off it but its shockingly hot when I do inadvertently touch the side, I don't have carpet that would help but I don't want it in there. I have looked about and seen comments on the benefits and risks of insulating the tunnel and wrapping the headers etc but that heat has to go somewhere and god knows how much more heat I will get from an engine making 130 more HP than my current one. This got me thinking about solutions, in a previous life I flew small aircraft and one I had owned had a flap that was manually operated by a cable to open into the airstream to feed fresh air into the plane though some ducting, it was very effective as you might imagine at 160 knots. I wondered if this had ever been done on a 7, perhaps a cutout on the side of the car with this type of deployable flap, I've even seen one that will open forward facing into the air stream and backward facing downwind depending of the position of the control, so if its raining you can reverse it and use Bernoulli's principal to get air pulled out I think this would really provide some much needed cooling airflow I need to take a look more closely at the side of the car next weekend to see if there is space there I would not duct it, just open into the footwell if its doable. Does anyone have other solutions or ideas to consider? Thanks Bart.

Hi, thanks for the info, funny I have my PPL and was thinking the same thing about a checklist I am going for the manual version, I like the idea of it being a step in the process rather than automatic.

I am about to order a 2 quart Accusump, I was advised to get the manual valve and not the electrical one due to reliability issues. Before I go ahead I wondered if anyone had experience good or bad with this setup? Thanks, Bart

I just used the design that cmoist posted to have an emblem cut, it came out perfectly from sendcutsend see pic below. Thankyou cmoist!

Hey Greg, I got ZZR Avons 185& 215 from Roger Kraus Racing in CA, they had them in stock, shipped fast and were super nice to work with, just FYI. Bart.

I got the one directly from Caterham, pretty nice, it was before I knew Simon at Meteor Motorsport otherwise I would for sure have got it from him he's such a nice person to talk to and always ready to talk Caterham.

Thanks for the photos CarlB, I had not seen that mounting arrangement before, all the ones I've seen before are bolted through the side. The more I see of full cages the more I think I do want it to be removable so all ideas and details of what has worked in the past are very welcome. I am really close to getting the car on the road, I plan to use it during the summer with the current engine and gearbox and then do the rebuild over the winter. The last thing to sort before getting the inspection is that I have a warning light on charging circuit, the previous owner said it had been on for the duration of his ownership with no battery issues so I am hoping its just the wrong wattage bulb in there on the exciter circuit, when I get to the car this weekend I have a couple of bulbs 2&3 watt I think that I will try.

Thanks Graham, I may well take you up on that offer

Nice, so 8 or 10 bolts and its off. Dan told me its was a bit of a struggle to get everything right but it looks like it came out great and practical too.

Thanks Graham, Good advice on the screen, Dan told me that you had yours made to be removable, was that tricky to achieve? When I spoke to Dan he was on his way for a night in hospital, apparently he got a nasty infection from a spider bite Once he's on the mend I will follow up with him to get an idea of cost and timing. Mt. Airy is very close to me so if Dan does not work out I will give them a call. KitKats mods are really interesting, I found a company in the UK that makes a low fuel warning light that works off the fuel gauge sender in tandem with the gauge, seems like a very neat little unit to avoid embarrassment on the track. Bart.

The photos are very helpful. Mounting the lights in the grill is interesting, I assume no cooling issues with the slightly restricted air flow? I need to take a good look at the cycle fender mounts I have and see how they mount to the upright, not sure if there is more to it that removing the clams making good then bolting on the fender supports and moving the lights, I like what you did with them, gets the lights out of the field of view and makes you more slippery I imagine . My car is sitting in a warehouse until I have assembled all the pieces and parts for the rebuild and not in my shop so I can't just take a look see.

Quick update on progress:- Thanks to Graham I made contact with Dan @ Raelabz.com, absolutely super guy, I sent him photos of what I am looking for in a roll cage and he is up for the job, I will take the car to him and he will size it all with me in the car, I plan to ask them to make a similar/duplicate version of Kitkats. Wheels and tires are ordered. wheels from Meteor Motorsports in the UK, Compromotive CSX 7" front 8" rear with tires from Roger Kraus, Avon ZZR 185/55/13 and 215/55/13, I discovered too late it was +/- $100 cheaper to have the tires shipped by Caterham but then Roger was great to deal with so its all good. I had a lot of back and forth with Tillet on the B6 seats, finally I decided to give one a go with the sides cut to make it fit in the S3. I tired to buy this locally but it was +/-$500 more for just one seat than buying in the UK and shipping... The gearbox is ordered from France, very nice folks there too and luckily I speak French so easy to communicate with, might be a bit harder if this is not in your skill set as the US distributor is kind of hard to get hold of to talk to, they are super busy with race support activities so not a problem just hard to get the hand holding I needed. I did have some consternation about fitment of the gearbox to the engine, apparently Caterham supplied the T9 with a 30mm spacer between the bell-housing and front of the box, the bell-housing I have (and will re-use) does not have this spacer, after a little research it seems I have a Flowtech housing that was made specifically for Caterhams which is 30mm longer than standard and therefore does away with the spacer. I received and mounted the Momo type 27 wheel onto a quick release hub, not a fan of drilling the holes needed as there is no template supplied so its back to high school geometry and a compass, went just fine and happy with the results. I decided to remove the existing windscreen and replace with an aero screen, again ordered from Simon. Lastly, I have clamshell fenders currently and I have a spare set of cycle fenders and supports, I plan to replace the clamshells, they are in 100% great condition but I'd rather be able to see the wheel directly. I'm not sure what will need to be done to make this happen yet so if anyone has done this it would be a great help to hear how the supports are mounted and what you did with the headlights etc. Any Happy Tuesday. Bart.

Thanks Graham, I think its Racelabz.com, I will give him a call as its pretty close to me (Bethesda). Thanks again for the heads up. Bart.

Hi, Thanks for the photos, my car currently has a track day hoop (not the flimsy Caterham one) an aftermarket one braced as yours but without the side impact and front sections, My plan will be to remove this and add something similar to what you show. It's not planned yet but is on the list with plumbed in fire suppression as well. I ordered the active set up from Simon, not the 3 way R-ACE -2 but the mid level ACE-2, he is suggesting spring rates of 250 front and 150 rear. To get this to fit I am also fitting the wider track front wishbones etc. The wheels will be 8" Rear and 6" front 13" diameter, looking at the tire choices available I will likely use Toyo 205 and 225. The Sadev is due to be ordered today with the geartronix GCU, for the moment I decided not to go paddle shift, although this might come later I want to run the car a bit before adding any more complexity. Best, Bart.

Hi Croc, The visit with Simon must have been great, honestly were it not for COVID I would go see him this summer as I usually spend some time each year in the UK. There are so many really good guys in the UK for Caterham and Motorsport in general. For the car My plan is that it will be a track car and have very little (if any) road use I want to keep it for a number of years and have a car that I can grow into, my local track is Summit Point and I will certainly track it there and others up the east coast. I am spending the 4th in Maine. It’s just like the UK. Cold and Wet.

Hi all and Happy 4th. Even though I'm originally a Brit, I would have wanted independence from the British Crown had I been here in those days. Anyhow, I am working on the suspension of the car now having put to bed engine, clutch & gearbox. I spent a very interesting time on the phone with Simon the owner of Meteorsports in the UK, he is a long time racer of Caterham's and is a suspension specialist, we talked a lot about the merits of one way, 2 way, 3 way, digressive versus linear damping and finally active damping. I was wondering what the good folks of this forum had to say on the subject. For my setup I am leaning towards Nitron 2 way . but I must confess active has me thinking, based on the Tractive controller (used in RUF Porsches and a few others) it certainly has me intrigued, its about the same cost of the 3 way Penske or similar. Glad to hear any thoughts... Bart

Hey Croc, Thanks for the clarification, I was aware of the difference but had not even thought it through properly, Below is a bit of a description that i pulled from an ECU manufacturer's site. I will make sure they are mapping it for UK 98 RON = USA 93 PON. All that from a Pom American fuel vs European fuel – Fuel quality on both sides of the Atlantic explained “Fuel in the US is really bad compared to Europe and the rest of the world” – is a very untrue statement. Fuel in the United States is as good as anywhere else in the world. What changes is how Americans describe their fuels in terms of quality – octane number. They use a different system so their numbers do not translate well into the octane numbers that the rest of the world uses. How is fuel quality measured and rated Gasoline quality is measured experimentally but using different tests. Depending on the test that is done to control fuel quality, we get Research Octane Number (RON) , used in Europe and most of the world Motor Octane Number (MON) Because two different tests define RON and MON, with MON testing done under more difficult conditions, MON number is always lower than RON. Europe vs the States In Europe, gas stations describe different types of gasoline based on their RON rating. It is typical to have 100, 99, 98, 97 or 95 RON with prices varying accordingly. In the States the descriptions look a lot like RON, but they are not. Pump gas In the United States gas stations describe the types of gasoline based on the Pump Octane Number (PON). That number is the average between RON and MON. This causes many problems. If a fuel is 98 RON then it will be 93 PON -> 93 PUMP If a fuel is 95 RON and 87 MON then it will be 91 PON -> 91 PUMP

It was Peter I spoke with originally, and then Chris, as you say they know their stuff. Such a small world we live in. If there are any members interested in the current motor that would be a great outcome. My plan is to make the transition over the winter given the lead times etc its likely 14-16 weeks before I have all the pieces and parts here.

Hi John, As you surmise its a new build coming over more or less complete from the UK, apparently they (Raceline) purchased the last of the remaining UK inventory from Ford of new Zetecs and they build up from there. I had originally planned to work with a US engine builder using the current Zetec as a base but as I understood the costs involved etc it was clear that it was more or less a wash. Having talked to Raceline extensively and given they have been so involved with Zetecs and Caterhams over the years their pedigree was hard to ignore, they are also local to my home town in the UK, the GBP to USD is pretty good and shipping is cheap and easy and of course I dont have any anxiety buying unseen from the UK as its originally my home and my brother lives 5 miles from their office if I need an enforcer I had not given any thought to what to do with the existing Zetec and T9. I will reuse the aluminum belhousing from the current set up for sure though. Other than that I imagine I'd try to find a home for the motor and box. I'm really interested to learn about dampers and options on that front Nitron, Koni, Bilstein etc. I looked at the Nitron ones recently ($$$$'s) but, at least at first glance they fit +2004 and mine is 2000 and I've not really delved into this yet as I wanted to resolve the long lead time items first. Bart.