DavidL

If the slave cylinder is external, try adjusting the linkage?

I'll just add that checking the block and head for flattness is straightforward and important. Buy a $25 precision straight edge designed for this (for example this one on Amazon), then use feeler gauges with the bar laying across the head or block in different orientations. On my Acura Integra, the spec was anything more that 0.002 inches out of flat required machining. I've never seen a flatness spec for a X-flow or other older engine, but figure it should be similar. My Integra head was 0.007" out of flat due to an overheat, so I had it machined flat for a modest amount (I think the machine shop quote was under $100).

In 2008, A friend and I picked up my Caterham in Seattle and drove it back to the San Francisco Bay area. This pic is of him driving on I5 in Northern California, with Mount Shasta (?) in the foreground.

err, take the wallets out of your back pockets and get the Soft-Bits-For-Sevens organizer that drapes over the tunnel, that has mesh pockets for wallets, keys, phones, earplugs. They make them for Caterhams, not sure about other sevens. I wear earplugs if going on the highway.

there is also the Hartley H1 V8 made from two Hayabusa engines. Custom machined block, Hayabusa heads but first test fit was in a Caterham (This is probably the same as the blue car above with the red heads): https://www.h1v8.com/page/page/1562068.htm https://www.h1v8.com/page/page/1821906.htm and the Caterham on a chassis dyno, wait to the end to hear ~10k rpm! https://www.h1v8.com/page/page/4553428.htm Cheers..

I like "XFLOW CAT" for a Kent-powered car...

Update: The nittos are working great as a street tire. The car no longer slides with a lane change! I have not tried autocross on them, but may later this summer.

I wouldn't diss young software engineers. A friend of mine is in his 20s, started with a Cross-flow powered Locost he bought from someone, rebuilt the engine, and now has a ferrocious Duratec Caterham (250 hp?) that he works on all the time. He's even got a 2-post lift in his garage! As for electrics, noise isn't the only thing that defines a sports car. I remember talking to Ian Wright of Wrightspeed a few years ago at a car show. He's the ex-Tesla engineer/executive who was doing the rounds here in California with his fantastically fast eletric Ariel Atom, just before Tesla had broken cover. Anyway, he said he didn't miss shifting or engine noise. I'm not sure where I stand, but an Atom is certainly a 7-like open air experience. Carving through turns, wind in your face, hunting apexes, these are some of the rewards of driving a sportscar, the soundtrack isn't the whole deal.

Easy to be at zero if the car has been apart for a few years! I just got back on the road after chasing a clutch problem for a couple of years, culminating in having the engine out for a couple of months.

If it's of any help, here is a screenshot of the Redline invoice, perhaps the part numbers can be of use (the clutch was Helix): Cheers, -David

My last email exchange with Redline was in January for the purchase of a water pump. Chris was on that email thread. The clutch was purchase in August or September. -David

My car is essentually the same as yours, a 1990 DeDion Caterham with the 1700 SuperSprint X-flow and T9 gearbox. In September I pulled the engine and gearbox to replace the clutch and a few other things, and after getting quite confused about what were the correct parts, I just bought everything from RedLine in the UK. I didn't specify part numbers, I just told them the spec of the car, and everything was exactly right. I bought a clutch disk, pressure pate, throw-out bearing, pilot bearing, some gearbox seals, gaskets, a clutch alignment tool, and even a clutch arm fulcrum pin. I got a few other bits and pieces from Burton, but RedLine got me what I needed. I had talked to Dave Bean, who were musing about not being able to supply 71/2" clutches, and Catertham USA didn't have parts either. So kudos to Chris (I think) at Redline. Total price was quite reasonable as well despite shipping to California. I found a local machine shop to reface the flywheel for $40, and I got replacement ARP hi-strength flywheel bolts from Pegasus racing. The engine went back in the car and it works great. I can probably find the part numbers if that would help. Hope that's helpful, -David

If you wanted to just build, rather than manufacture, a modern Seven, I quite like the Midlana, the mid-engine interpretation of a Seven using a FWD complete drivetrain, which is much more available that longitudnal front engine/rear wheeld drive. See Midlana.com, there is a book, a forum, and an engaged designer.

update: I ordered the Nittos... $125 each on Amazon. They were slightly cheaper on TireBuyer.com, but they have so many bad reviews, I stuck to Amazon.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I've also found Nitto NT05 tires in a 205/50/15, which is a tad bigger, but may be fine. Interstingly, Nitto is owned by Toyo. I'll make a final decision soon! -David

Very cool to hear that you guys know Kurt and his projects. I started reading the Midlana blog problably 10 years ago, and eventually bought the Midlana and the Kimini books. I found those books, along with Ron Champion's book, very inspiring. I have all the Carrol Smith books, which are great. I read one of Staniforth's, but I found the writing style really difficult, to the point that the technical point was sometimes lost on me. Maybe that's just me. I've actually got an idea brewing for a build, bit I don't know if I can actually make it happen. I've got a tired 1996 GS-R Integra in my driveway, which I love, who doesn't like a VTEC rev-happy engine with an 8,100 rpm redline. The idea is to put the drivetrain into an S2 Europa, which of course I don't have. But I know Europas very well, having owned, and worked on, a TwinCam Special for over a decade before I got my Caterham.

Here's the deal, after finally solving my very long-running clutch problem on my 1990 Caterham, I decided that I, and the car, deserve new tires to replace the not worn, but now very hard Bridgetones on the car. So, I figured I'd just order some Toyo Proxes R1Rs and be done. Looking at TireRack (and lots of other places), no one has them in 195/50/15 (for street driving, on Prisoner wheels). Not only are there no Toyos, TR is out of anything else in the same category (~200 wear rating). Roger Krauss has the Avon ZZS, but all in, 4 tires is going to be about $1270, a lot for street tires. OK, so I was wandering the internet, and I came across PriorityTire.com.... zillions of tires, and all brands I've never heard of, but all kinda cheap. They carry something called an Otani BM2000, at $85 each, with free shipping! It has a wear rating of 200, and aggressive tread. From what I can tell, Otani is from Thailand, and is one of the larger tire producers in Asia. I actually found a favorable review, but hard to really tell. A second tire is a Zestino Gredge 07RS, wear rating of 140, for $117. Does anyone know anything about these? I'm kinda tempted to try the Otanis as an experiment, but I figured I'd ask the collective. Cheers, -David (1990 Caterham SuperSprint 1700, De Dion)

Do you have the Midlana book? It's not quite a Seven, but is very much on the spectrum, just that it's mid-engine, with a FWD drivetrain. It was a blog that I read, and the builder wrote a book as he built, which he then published. He also maintains a forum for other builders. One other is complete, several others in progress. The original car sold on Bring-a-Trailer, it has a 500 hp turbo Honda drivetrain. I really enjoyed reading the book, well writen and the car design well thought out. It's at midlana.com

Well, it's two years later, but I fixed my clutch problem. This Fall I pulled the engine and gearbox and replaced the clutch with parts from RedLine Components in the UK. I replaced the clutch plate, clutch cover assembly, throw-out bearing, pilot-bearing, and the clutch arm pivot pin, and also had the flywheel refaced. None of the old parts were obviously broken or worn out, but after reassembly (and repalcing a bunch of other items while it was all out), the clutch is fixed, it no longer drags when warm! That was a big relief. As mentioned earlier in the thread, all the hydraulics were replaced first, but that didn't help.

What brand is the lift? I've looked for one, but they all seem too wide, enough to really cramp my decent-sized 2-car garage. I'm in California, so unfortunately not practical to buy yours! Thanks, -David

If you don't know them, BurtonPower.com provides a wealth of info and parts for European Ford engines and gearboxes. The downside is the high cost of shipping from the UK. Their catalog is fun bedtime reading! -David

You could talk to Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham, he's helped me a lot over the years. He might be able to point you to a local shop. http://www.rockymountaincaterham.com/ Having just taken the engine (crossflow) and T9 out of my car to do a clutch, I also replaced front and back gearbox seals. Not easy for an amateur without the specialized tools, but it was doable.

I thought I'd call attention to a car for sale on BaT that although not a Seven, was inspired by them. The car is a scratch-built, mid-engine car called Midlana. I followed the build on the owner's blog for years, and have been very impressed by it. It's powered by a turbo Honda K making 530 Hp, and there are tons of other cool features. Before Youtube was a typical place to put a build, the owner/buidler had a blog, as well as a forum on his website. As he was building the car, he was also writing a how-to book, so there is now at least one other completed car (in the UK), and others close to done. I've read and enjoyed the book, as well as the builder's previous book on building a mid-engined tube-frame Mini. I'm just a fan, so I thought I would share. The forum/blog: www.midlana.com BaT auction: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2014-special-mid-engine-lotus-seven/ cheers.

Popping on the over-run could also indicate avacuum leak in the exhaust.... air gets drawn into the exhaust and any unburnt fuel ignites, creating the pop. My Caterham does this as well, and I'malso trying to solve it.

I have a 1990 Caterham with the 1700 SuperSprint X-flow with Petronix ignition. After I'd had the car for a while, it started missing, then eventually wouldn't start (leaving me stranded an hour from home).... it took me forever to figure out the problem (since it was intermittent), but in the end the problem was that whoever had installed the Petronix and the plate assemby in the distributor had it 180 degreess out (or maybe it was upside down). That caused the sensor wires to have to snake around inside the distributor before exiting. Eventually they wore through (I cant's remember what part they were touching that caused the wear). After much research and help from Petronix, I installed the plate correctly (and ended up buying a new Petronix kit), with the wires exiting the distributor with a much shorter path, and it's been fine for the decade since. I did a quick search of my digital pictures, but unfortunately couldn't find any useful pictures. I may have some notes elsewhere though. Cheers, -David