jordway

a My second attempt at 3D printing a model Seven... Improvement over the first attempt, but my finishing, painting and gluing jobs are horrible. The key is to print the parts individually and then assemble. Someone with steadier hands and more patience than me can find the files here. It's actually a model of the Prisoner car. I'm sure my colors are considered blasphemy! https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6597452 I scaled it up to 150%. I'd recommend scaling it up even more. There is no file for the roll bar. But, if you scale this one down to 30%, it works: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5199444

Ha! Believe it or not, I had to talk my wife down from the edge on that one. She wanted it real bad.

I tried to 3D print a model Seven. I broke the roll bar and the headlights while pulling away the supports. The 3D printer belongs to my 10 year old daughter. She can probably teach me how to use it..

Not a problem at all. No fees involved. What color(s) would you like? Each will be one solid color, but the two can be different colors, if you like. DM me your address, and I'll get it out to you. I printed this larger one over the weekend. Using it as a coaster for my desk.

Not as cool as a steel one, but if you don't mind plastic, I'd be happy to print a couple and mail them to you.

If you have access to a 3D printer, the .stl file can be found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:885858

Yep. Same thing happened to me recently. Easy enough fix. But, it came loose yet again on a long spirited drive over the weekend. I intend to heat shrink it this time.

Good question. That's the before photo. Here's the after, although not the best angle for your point. But, if you zoom in you can see that the two halves of the clamp now meet. The before photo was intended to show how loose it was. I loosened the grub screw/nut first, then torgued the clamp, then retightened the grub screw/nut. Let me know if you see anything suspicious in the after photo. Happy to take better ones. Thanks for your feedback.

Reporting back on this topic... Many thanks to @CarlB, @jbcollier and @theDreamer for the feedback and to @JohnCh for the helpful build link. Indeed, the issue was the clamp connecting the upper and lower columns. The securing bolts were still tight enough to turn the column and wheels, but loose enough to cause the play I was feeling. They were loose enough that it took some time alternating between the two to get them to 14 Nm. I made sure the grub screw and securing bolt were also tight. This totally resolved the play and it's back to the feel I'm used to after test driving. I was surprised that the two securing bolts don't have nuts (although there is not much thread coming out of the clamp to put a nut on anyway). I checked the assembly manual and photos, and this is as it should be. Someone outside this forum suggested that I disassemble it and use blue loctite on the entire length of the securing bolts. I'm not sure that's a good idea for a clamp that might need regular tweaking. Alternatively, I considered getting two longer blots and use nuts. But, I sure don't want to end up with a cross threading issue. I plan to just keep a close eye on it, and if it gets loose again in a short amount of time, I'll consider how to make it more stable. Anyone here had an issue with that clamp frequently getting loose? Of course, correcting my bad habits of yanking on the steering wheel will likely help! To be safe, I got under it and checked the entire steering mechanism using the assembly manual and torque tables as a guide. Splines are all good. The only other thing I found was that the rack clamps needed to be torqued ever so slightly. So slightly that I really doubt that was causing any steering issue, but they are to spec now. Thank you very much!

My Caterham is a 2004 SV Roadsport. I remove the Momo every time I get in and out. I've had the car 2.5 years and put 3K+ miles on it since then. I've gotten into the habit of giving the steering wheel a pretty good jerk when I put it on, to make sure it's seated. A couple days ago, I did this and the post pulled out maybe a half inch or so. The car was parked, of course. I pushed it back in. It feels secure and only pulls out if I jerk it pretty hard (which, of course, I will stop doing!). I've driven it a couple times since then, and it steers fine and it keeps a straight line if I let go of the wheel on a level straight stretch. The only thing I notice is that there now seems to be more play in the steering. Granted, this could be totally in my head following a bit of an "Oh crap!" moment. Now, there is maybe about a 15 degree give in the steering wheel before the wheels respond. I don't recall that being the case before this happened. Other than that, it seems to steer normally on 90 degree turns. Should I be worried? What all should I be checking? Perhaps a bit of guidance from @slngsht to find the lock screw mentioned in the Sep 7, 2007 post below or any insights from @lowflyer regarding the Sep 10, 2007 street rod story might point me in the right direction. Thanks again for any feedback!

By the way, to add to the BaT discussion about wheels... My 2004 SV has the exact same 15" wheels. I've put ~2500 backroad miles on them in the 2 yrs I've had the car. I have no complaints at all. My plan is to enjoy it as-is until it's time for new tires (tires were brand new when I received it). At that point, I'll probably switch to 13". If the handling and feel is even better than the joy I already get on the 15"s, then that's great!

Congrats on the HPC purchase! You're going to love it! I hope you enjoy talking to strangers because this thing is going to draw LOTS of attention.

Closing the loop on the Pinewood Derby... The troop had the fastest 14 cars of the day (~150 cars total) and won 1st and 2nd place overall (only 2 cars per troop could advance to finals). But the slowest car in her troop was faster than the other 18 cars in the finals. Perhaps we over did it a bit. Not sure we'll be invited back again next year.

Nice! The Fire Streaming Wedge is my other daughter's car (1st grade). Different troop, and I only had to help with hers in that troop. Left that out to keep the post from getting too long. I struggle with excessive wordiness.

Ha! Yes, clearly that one leaned more toward aesthetics than functionality. Your comment about a Shelby hits home. I remember when I was looking at the Seven that I ended up purchasing, I thought to myself "I need to factor in a paint job so that it looks like a Seven instead of a Cobra". But, you know, I've grown to love it.

My 3rd grade daughter's Girl Scout Troop was invited to participate in the local Boy Scout Pinewood Derby. I remember doing this with my dad ~45 years ago. I'm guessing it will be obvious which car is my daughter's. She named it "7 Jr." I helped with masking, but otherwise, she did the design and painting herself. Surprisingly, only one other dad had any interest in this. So, he and I ended up helping all 14 girls with their cars (just the power tool parts). Over 3 troop meetings, we worked on the cars and gave the girls 3rd grade-appropriate chalk talks on aerodynamics, friction, camber, toe and speed=distance/time. I was blown away by how eager the girls were to learn. They really got it, and could do the math to prove it. One of the troop leader moms pulled us aside and said, "What the hell?! We've never seen this bunch of girls that engaged in anything!". Just an awesome bunch of kids! For anyone familiar with Pinewood Derby and interested... After a ridiculous amount of time spent reading blogs, we went with the classic "Rail Rider" set up. 2.5 degree negative camber on the back wheels, 1.5 degree toe in on the LH front wheel and a raised RH front wheel. Recessed in zinc wheel weights plus composite weight tape to get to exactly 5.0 oz on the official check-in scale. Front end alignment set to steer slightly right, into the rail. Races start in the morning!

Thanks, Joel. Josh at RMC dug through the back shelves and managed to find one that fit perfectly. I appreciate the reply.

Thanks. Had some email exchanges with Josh last night.

I managed lose one of the cycle wing repeater lenses over the weekend. It was there when I left the garage, but not there when I returned. It's the older yellow lense. Anyone know where I might find a replacement? I was hoping to find just a yellow lense without having to update both repeaters. Found just the lense for the LED repeators, but not for the older yellow ones. Thanks again!

On Tue afternoon (Jul 13) on I64 in St. Louis (near Brentwood exit), I saw what appeared to be a brand new Caterham. First time I've seen another one in STL. Riviera blue with orange noseband and stripe (couldn't get a photo in time). Anyone know who this is? It's possible that the driver was still around after the European car show in STL over the weekend. But, if it's a new STL owner, it would be great to connect.

I second Russ' comments about the Midwest gathering in Jeff City. Chris did an awesome job plotting the routes. Great roads, in great condition, with no unwanted surprises along the way. Getting a chance to chase the Goblins through the twisties was a super fun bonus. I highly recommend keeping an eye out for future Gatherings arranged by these folks. What a great group of people. I dare say that it was the most fun I've had yet in my Caterham! I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks for the tip.

Fantastic! Thanks very much for letting me know. Since we last texted, I confirmed that my key does NOT have a chip... exactly what everyone was telling me from the get-go. So, what you and @IamScotticus were discussing about the transmitter/RFID being taped to the receiver is my situation, too.

Indeed, and thank you. Based on other's comments, I realized today that this is the heater/ventilation system. I'm still very green and have so much to learn. I appreciate the patience of all those giving me feedback here, in spite of dumb questions/comments. I pledge to be better at doing my due diligence before wasting post space with silly questions. Thanks again. I'm very grateful for this forum!

Makes sense. Thank you!