jordway

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!

My Caterham (Zetec) has an upward-facing cold air intake (upper right of photo... please correct me if I'm wrong). Sits below the center bonnet louvers just in front of the scuttle. After taking the car for what might be the last drive until spring, I made the ill-advised decision to give it a thorough wash in a high pressure manual car wash bay before tucking her away for the winter. Afterwards, there was water pooled in the plastic molding around the intake. Bad idea. In addition to replacing the worn foam around the perimeter of the box, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to fit a rain sock or other water repellant wrap. I never intentionally drive in the rain or leave the car parked in the rain, and I'll cover the intake with a plastic bag while washing the car from now on (at home, no more car wash bays), but a wrap for an upward facing air intake seems like a wise idea. Am I wrong? After searching online, I'm not finding one that is a fit for this sort of square box. I could easily rig one from an appropriately sized Harley rain sock, but wondered if anyone has experience finding one that would be fitted to this box. I'd probably put one on the air filter feeding into the supercharger, too. But, that fit is much easier to find. Thanks again for any feedback. Happy New Year!

Thanks. Great job on those seats and boot cover. Pretty amazing!

Makes sense. Thanks!

Oh yeah... one more thing! Since you're going to be doing some paint touch up, I'll pass on this tip from a car guy friend. Dental applicator brushes. I've found nothing that does a better job of touching up small chips that are inevitable on a Seven. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SBFKFK9/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=dc0269efc40e95a2e1088acde884ef91&content-id=amzn1.sym.552bcbb2-81a1-4e8b-b868-3fba7d5af42a%3Aamzn1.sym.552bcbb2-81a1-4e8b-b868-3fba7d5af42a&hsa_cr_id=4531160770501&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=dd5ceb5a-7c8f-4502-9bf8-446acd549572&pd_rd_w=ZhTr9&pd_rd_wg=g8kst&qid=1670429643&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1_title&sr=1-2-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124&th=1

Some aluminum mesh behind the grill, and a little black and yellow paint can really make the nose pop. Here's mine. Very easy job.

Great. Kindly let me know how it goes and who did it for you. I might do the same. Awesome Caterham, by the way. Love the BRG and yellow noseband/stripe. Enjoy!

@Smithengineered, A while back I went through a long period of testing the usual suspects for a starting problem that went from occasional start fails to the car always failing to start. Finally, after ruling out everything I could, a buddy of my mechanic tipped us off that it was a passive antitheft system problem. This took both my mechanic and me by surprise. My key is the same type as yours, and I too thought there was no way it could have a chip. I tried the key/transceiver reset protocol of disconnecting the battery, turning key to on, reconnect the battery, turning key off and on. After just one attempt, it started right up and I haven't had a start fail since. I haven't dissected the key or gone looking for the transceiver, so I can't absolutely confirm that's what it was. But, seems pretty darn coincidental, if not. I think most Caterham owners with that key either don't have a chip in the key or don't have a PATS/immobilizer on the car (making the chip functionless). But, I think there are some out there who do. Mine is a 2004 Zetec SVT, by the way. If you go the route of removing the immobilizer, please let me know how it goes. To your original question, I'm not sure about getting a blank key. This is precisely why I'm so paranoid about losing track of my single ignition key!

I see. Hmm. Well, I was told that there was a chip in it and that's were the chip is. Perhaps I'm getting a bit ahead of myself because this sounds so similar to my own issue. But, sounds like Hutch may have found the transceiver, so I guess sometimes there is a chip and sometimes not.

Aha! What we have here is the chip key type that was paired to the PATS transceiver used on the 2000-2004 Ford Focus. I have the same key type. See that circle inset in the plastic molding? The chip is under that. I am now even more convinced that your car has PATS, the transceiver is under the scuttle and your problem is that, for whatever reason, the transceiver has stopped recognizing the key. It happens with this PATS system... A LOT! If you read the advice on the focusfanatics.com site, you will see that the reset process sometimes takes several tries before it links up again. Others say that, once the battery is reconnected, it was necessary to leave the key in "ON" position for 15 minutes before trying to start. If you try all of these and are convinced that resetting isn't going to work, I'd recommend finding the transceiver and cleaning all connections. If that doesn't work, I'd recommend talking to someone at a high-end custom car audio/security shop. A buddy told me his story of dealing with this issue. His was a Toyota, but that's beside the point. The car was old, so dealers wouldn't event talk to him about it. Mechanics he reached out to frankly just didn't want to bother with it. He finally went to one of those audio stores and a kid showed him how to bypass it using two resistors and a volt meter. About a $10 fix, and he never had a problem with PATS again. I'll likely try that also just so I can avoid future issues with a PATS that I don't even want on the car.

I'm confused. I assume the "unit" you are referring to is the ECU? Is that right? They inspected the ECU or they inspected the car? A 2002 Zetec SVT most likely has a PATS system. In fact, my 2004 Zetec Caterham also originated from Sevens and Elans (shout out to Chris), and it has PATS. If your key looks something like this, it most likely has a chip. The transceiver is most likely under the scuttle. Look here for photos of what you're looking for: https://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/ford-pats-antitheft-system/. The car was starting at one time, but then began to fail to start, right? Same thing with mine. If the car sat for a long time (as mine had, and I think you mentioned in the beginning that yours also had), it may be as simple as cleaning the connections. Go to https://www.focusfanatics.com/ and search keyword "PATS". You will find a wealth of information on PATS problems and how others have solved them. This saved the day for me, and my Seven starts right up every time now.

I'd been having a similar problem with a 2004 Zetec SVT. I got lots of great guidance from this forum on things to test out, but eventually I ran out of ideas and finally took it to a professional who has some Sevens experience. After thoroughly checking through all the possible culprits, he also came to the conclusion that it was this PATS problem, and we were about to head down the ECU rabbit hole. I followed the advice in this discussion to look on Focus technical forums (thanks, @Tabor10 and @Kitcat). It was certainly not hard to find many examples of Focus PATS problems that sounded far too familiar. One piece of advice that was followed by many Focus owners saying "That Worked!!!" was to disconnect the battery (or in my case just switch off the battery master), put the key in and turn it to on, reconnect the battery and then switch the key off and on again. Apparently, this can reset the connection between the key chip and the module. I'll be damned if it didn't work. Starts right up every time now. But, I do like the idea of taking the chip out of the key and taping it onto the module. So, I'm not saying this will magically fix your problem, but it's free to try it. I honestly didn't think it would work, but it did. At least in my case, @MV8 was spot on about it being a minor thing and easy to "repair". Honestly, I didn't even know the car had a PATS while I was checking fuel pressure, plugs, crank sensor, phantom battery drain.... on and on. Good luck.

Good luck! Thanks for the link on the switch diagnostics. Not sure if you're a Monty Python fan, but after reading it, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Reading from the Book of Armaments.