reid.duff

@panamericanohahaha, absolutely! The 4 year old is a natural with her Pedal Kart around the sidewalk-chalk circuits we make in the drive-way. The 2 year old is going to be my mechanic buddy. The F20C engine can sound pretty good with the right exhaust (I have a 2005 Honda S2000 with the 2.2 liter F22c motor, header and exhaust). Replied with a PM Charles! Happy to provide any pictures you may like!

Couple interior shots. Nice alcantara Personal steering wheel with quick release.

Selling my 2008 WCM Ultralite S2k. I purchased the car in November of 2021, and have only driven the car in my neighborhood, less than 50 miles. Young daughters and our careers have pushed this project down in our family’s priorities. The WCM is a Texas designed kit that took the 2.0 liter 240-hp F20C engine and 6-speed manual transmission from an 2000-2003 Honda AP1 S2000 through a Subaru WRX rear differential to great effect. This particular car has the Honda S2000 engine and transmission mated to a Ford 8.8 Independent Rear Suspension by a previous owner. The car runs and drives but need the rear suspension reworked to allow for proper suspension travel (the ford uprights don’t align 1:1 with the Subaru). Good: - F20c with good compression and fresh Valvoline VR1 5w-30 oil. - Clean bodywork with minimal wear & tear. - New QA1 8243-5 Rear shocks - New Eibach 225lb/in 8” rear springs - New QA1 450lb/in 8” front springs - New Falken Azenis RT660 225/45R17 200-TW tires - CTEK MXS 5.0 Battery Tender - New RaceQuip Sportsman Camlock 5-Point Harnesses (uninstalled) - New SKP SK698271/SK6928270 (Subaru WRX) Rear Knuckle/Uprights (uninstalled) Bad: - Car does not have a muffler. - Rear geometry does not allow for proper suspension travel as is, the axles interfere with the Ford uprights’ mounting points for the suspension. The 5-link rear design is completely adjustable and can be sorted via either adjusting the current suspension or using the provided Subaru Uprights with custom Ford-to-Subaru axles (not purchased). - Headlights and some suspension components showing some surface corrosion. I had planned to replace all the rear suspension arms once the geometry/alignment was sorted. This car requires some sorting but is a great canvass for someone properly inclined, it was last road registered in Georgia. I would like to get my initial purchase price out of it (not inclusive of ~$2,000 of new tires/parts that are included). Happy to provide any additional photos or discussion with anyone interested. Thanks! Reid Duff

What's up everyone! I'm in search of some professional help. My WCM's previous owner utilized a Ford 8.8" rear diff, beefy Ford axles and uprights. Between the mounting points of the ford uprights (compared to the original subaru ones) and the axles, the rear geometry doesn't allow for adequate suspension travel, and has some big bump steer. The previous owner had used 10" rear springs that made for an odd ride height but allowed for some suspension articulation. My plan is to retain the Ford diff, use the original Subaru uprights (which I've bought), and have some Ford-to-Subaru axles made to mate the two. Issue is my young kids and job take almost all my free time & energy. My preferred fabricator/mechanic (has worked on my S2000) doesn't have availability to take on the job. I'm hopefully there may be a race shop or craftsman somewhere between Birmingham and Nashville that might be able to help. Any recommendations are definitely welcomed!

Also on the To Do list: -Changing the rear brake master cylinder as the sizing causes the rears to lock up way before the fronts. -New / Extending the windshields. Full face helmet for neighborhood drive pictured below. (Lol, no idea why its upside-down)

Well, what a month! I'm slowly learning about the car and getting it roadworthy. Replaced the 17 year old Hankook's with a set of "matching" 225/45R17 Falken RT660 200tw tires at all corners. I use quotes on the matching, as 225 seems to have grown about 1" wider since the early 2000's. Massaged the front fenders a little bit and seems to fit fine, but will likely try and find a set of lightweight 17x8 rims since these roll over the 17x7 Enkeis on the car. After an oil change Valvoline VR1 10w30, the first couple neighborhood test drives were a great success, despite the lack of muffler. First time I took it out of the neighborhood the car seemed mildly psychotic above 30mph. I got some toe plates and sure enough it turns out the rear had around 0.25" toe-in and a similar amount on the front. After adjustment to 0" all around it seems like it will be stable enough to get the 5 miles up the road to my alignment shop. I've ordered some 450lb fr 200lb rear springs to throw on and we hopefully will be aligned soon. Just discovered a small leak from the rear differential and to my surprise there is a ford 8.8 rear end with an open differential... Confirmed in fact with wheels spinning in opposite directions when jacked up. Oops. The diff code is hidden on the top of the unit but it appears to be a 434A 3 27 88 out of maybe a Lincoln MK8. And 3.27 gearing, yikes. So I'll be looking at learning all about limited slip diffs and what may be the best path there. Other thoughts: Stones/Pebbles everywhere! Definitely need to take the PPE seriously with these cars and am looking at eye/head/hand protection options. Will see where the next month gets us, cheers.

Thanks! The to-do list is long and progress is slow, but it's great to have sitting there in the garage regardless. I'd like to be ready to take it with my S2000 buddies to our annual NC/TN Cherohala Skyway & Tail of The Dragon meeting in April. Thanks! I've been sim racing / reading Evo / Pistonheads / following 7's most my formative life, and always found it interesting how the character seems to change as the power varies in these cars. I wanted something that was a significant different from my S2000 in terms of dynamics. Think it should those boxes, but nice to know its got a path for more power. And thanks for the exhaust recommendation!

Gorgeous! I'm sure this will be a long and not inexpensive process, but should be a fun journey. Your dash and interior (and whole car) is stunning. Appreciate everyone's feedback and will try to document as much as I can on here. Thanks!

Well I've got myself a very fun looking new(to me) project. It's in need of TLC and the list of projects is substantial even before reading all the great content in the WCM Manual @Croc was kind enough to share. Up first is getting it running, so the battery is being charged up and I've got new fluids / filters on the way. So far I've: - Insured it through Hagerty after reading USA7s members reporting good experiences with them. - Given it a good wash/clay/single stage polish which seems to have brightened her up quite a bit. - Adjusted the pedals to fit me and found that my 32" waist gets lost in the generously wide driver's seat (the passenger seat fits me well). I've always liked Tillet seats, so those will likely be in the future. - Pulled the highly questionable NOS bottle and disabled the wide-open-throttle sensor that triggered the wet shot (gas/NOS) into the intake. (seems like the last thing a lightweight VTEC enabled car needs is an instant extra 50hp?) - Positioned my workstation in the garage to have a constant view of the 7 in the mirror. I definitely need to find an exhaust. Any insight if someone produced exhaust for these (i.e. commercially available) or an exhaust / fab shop is the best bet? 2021-12-17_14-36-32_150.heic 2021-12-14_09-25-12_888.heic

Good Morning, Went and saw the WCM over the weekend. The engine had good compression, but was throwing a lot of codes related to misfire and the lack of O2 sensors. Additionally the motor was flooding 2 cylinders and we couldn't get the car to turnover (the owner had videos of it running/driving last month). Bummer. The body was in great shape, but overall the car was in fair shape, clean but needed tlc (new CV and steering rack boots), some light corrosion on the headlight chrome, and suspension could benefit from a refresh. Overall I'm not overly concerned with the misfire, I've been running & trouble-shooting Honda motors most my life (getting the injectors serviced and new coils would be job one). I fit well in the car, but without running it there are many questions (transmission, diff, suspension, brakes, steering, electrical) that remain unanswered. Pros: The marketplace here in the SE is few and far between for Se7ens, reasonable price, familiarity with Honda motor/transmission, fit in the car, body in good shape. Cons: Unknowns, motor/ecu could require quite a bit of work, could use new header/exhaust, could use quite a bit of refreshing. Summary, not nice enough to pull the trigger, not bad enough to write-off completely...

Thank you for the feedback, it’s greatly appreciated. No doubt, this isn’t a well sorted example like you made yours, and the ever-tightening inventory of these motors bears repeating (I supposed it’d be a relatively easier to swap a k24 Honda motor should it fail). The Ga kit title process is nutty as well, they go through the rebuilt/salvage dept. This one is written as a 2008 Ultrasport 4dr “*Kit” model with exempt mileage as part of the being identified as rebuilt. I’m also weary of the current state missing a muffler, idle issue, and big nos bottle, but not afraid of a project and figure it’s worth a couple hour drive to check out. thanks, Reid

For sure! Sorry that I may have made it seem like I was leaping. I fully intend to do my due diligence and was initiating this post as part of that. I have been watching the recent BAT auctions including a recent WCM and gathered there was a good amount of information that was perhaps gathered on this site. That said I grew up a fan of Caterhams and Westfields, became a mechanical engineer, got the S2000, took driving schools and track days, and have been reading and learning about these cars for years. Appreciate any and all feedback, thanks!

Evening! I’ve been looking for a 7 of some sort for a few months, to go alongside my 05 Honda S2000 I’ve owned for 11 years. The Caterham 420R is sort of my ideal performance. At 6’2 & 200lb I have been looking for an S3 with lowered floors or something similar more accommodating my frame. I’ve not yet gotten to sit in a 7 and am not in a point in life where building a kit makes sense. I’ve considered the WCM ultralite as I’m fairly well versed on the motor/transmission combo and followed Rahul Nair through his blog while he owned a similar yellow WCM. I stumbled across this car a couple hours from where I live and had a good initial conversation with the owner who bought it as part of an estate sale. The car is a bit of a head scratcher, with a poor idle that shouldn’t be too hard to sort. It’s missing a muffler and the NOS bottle is a big red flag (which I’d remove immediately). The title states rebuilt which is how the owner claims the local dmv insisted a kit car be registered. The price seems fair as the rest of the car seems to be in good shape. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/602082594249779/ I’ve requested to be able to run a compression test as they’re a good baseline for f20c engine health. The car is drivable, but I’d be traileringit home. Anyone have a good what to look for list, either for 7s in general or specific for the WCM? Thanks, Reid

Gorgeous 7, just wish it was an SV/lowered floor chassis. Good luck with the sale!

Interested. You've a very nice looking Caterham, I will reach with a PM for more details. Thanks! Reid Duff