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That right side port is where my Kent blocks have oil pressure senders. I'm planning on using one of the extra ports on the external oil filter for oil temperature, one of these days.

Wow, an official FoMoCo part. Pretty cool! Sorry but I'm not Kent-savvy enough to help with the technical questions, but there are other forums.

Buy an Elan. They'll get used.

But it’s not a real car. And it does not add lightness! If that’s 1200 pounds I need to add some chimps to my family tree.

On the 3D topic: https://www.czinger.com/model-21c

Yes there is interest but. Why are Caterham seats too wide for your car?

Curious as to what y'all do about all those drilled out rivets jingling around inside the frame tubes.

If the only thing you need is a bolt, any bolt of the appropriate diameter, thread, and length will do. I'm afraid I can't help you with specifics like those but perhaps a fellow 420R owner can. You'll probably want a flat washer and lock washer as well. Also since it seems to like to fall out, perhaps a drop of blue loctite on the threads. EDIT: And, yes, a disconnected ground cable will likely prevent starting. In fact attempting to start the car might fry other wires that may inadvertently be making a ground connection between the battery and the starter.

The problem I see with those toe plates is that they measure one wheel relative to the other wheel only. They'd be okay for quick adjustments on known good frames/chassis. The string method provides measurements relative to the entire chassis and would show issues such as a tweaked frame or a rear (solid) axle that is not in line with the front axle. Illustrating what I mean: As for measuring at the tire -- every instruction set I've ever seen says that the spec is a measurement at the wheel edges, level with the hub. For camber you have tire bulge at the bottom to contend with; for toe you would need to compensate/calculate for the larger circle diameter. (Admittedly a small difference.) Take a look at Hunter or other professional-level systems. They take readings relative to the wheel.

First of all don't measure at the tire, measure at the wheel -- outermost edge, as close to center top-to-bottom as possible. Secondly make sure your wheels are not bent! Raise the car and give them a spin. 1/8" runout is possible.

Great point.

Camber frequently gets blamed for uneven inboard/outboard tread wear but it is also possible that toe is the culprit. Look for feathering at the tread edges. I just did a string alignment on my 7. It's a bit fiddly but one can actually get pretty close. Not laser close, but decent. FCP Euro has a pretty nice video on a low-budget string alignment process. This is what I followed on the 7 and other cars. My starting point for the 7 was a bit odd so I did a couple of things before starting the string process. The first thing I did was to even out the adjustments on the the tie rod ends, because in my case the number of threads showing on one side vs. the other was noticeably different. I also had an offset steering wheel, so after evening up the threads on the tie rods I took the car for a short spin and see where the wheel rested naturally when going straight ahead. I then removed the steering wheel and re-aligned as closely as possible to center as the splines would let me. THEN, finally, I locked the wheel in the straight ahead position and proceeded with the string alignment. I didn't have any official numbers but a wee bit of toe-in is the norm, so that's what it got.

Caterham (post-Lotus) has sold over 22,000 Se7ens during its existence. The great majority of those cars are likely to still exist. That's a healthy population for the aftermarket to consider. My car has an engine that was originally designed 60 years ago; I can buy a brand new one today, assuming my pockets reach that deep. Which is my point. The problem is not going to be lack of support. The problem -- if one chooses to call it that -- is going to be cost. Eventually keeping ICE cars will be an expensive hobby with select participants, like keeping horses is today.

It could be throwout bearing. If the bearng is not fully disengaging from the pressure plate it might keep spinning and make noise. You may be able to determine if it's that by fiddling around with the actuating arm. It could also be the input shaft bearing in the gearbox. With the clutch engaged and the gearbox in neutral, the input shaft still spins. A little bit of noise might be normal but a lot of noise -- or sudden change in sound -- could indicate a worn bearing. 4K miles seems far to soon for that though. They typically last longer than the synchros etc.

It seems like everything you need to know is on the back of the tach. Besides whether or not it works of course! The telltale is a nice thing, never saw one on the Smiths gauges in the BLMC cars I worked on.

Here you go. Yep it's tight, probably 1/3" in there. But no movement of one relative to the other, so, enough. Second pic is of the oil line that needs to clear the same mount in my case. It's the oil pump high pressure inlet so if your tank is behind the pump you will likely have to deal with the same thing.

I was thinking the same thing; it just needs to be big enough to cover the engine block mounting surfaces. Although having something welded on would ease installation a bit, it really isn't that hard to get at so loose parts would be doable.

I'll post up when I get it and let you know what sort of quality it is. It's going in the garage so I'm not horribly fussy TBH, plus I love the colors, so as long as it isn't on newsprint I'll probably be okay with it.

Wow. And I was planning to pop my windscreen off to try out the brooklands screen that came with my car. If all that is involved just to remove and install it, ugh. Is there anything to be gained by installing the stanchions and the glass separately? As for softening the rubber strip, I once put a windshield in a Mini Cooper by immersing the rubber surround in boiling water for a few minutes prior to install. Wear gloves. I'll get a picture of my oil pump vis-a-vis the engine mount. I don't recall it being a tight fit there. The oil line that arcs over it, up and back to the filter, was a bit of trick though. The hose ends are not fixed; they have a built-in swivel joint. I added a wee bit of length to the hose to encourage it to swivel upwards enough to clear the mount. (That was the hose I ended up making twice.)

Thanks! I'd still like to get a few drives in before the snow flies. It's supposed to be in the low 60's early next week, and that's good enough for me. Also a local restoration shop, Ragtops & Roadsters, has a "before we put 'em away' run in a couple of weeks, which would be a fitting end to the season being as that is where I punched the hole in the sump last year. As for other work: I'd like to do something in the way of a skid plate I am looking at fire suppression systems Tires! Real sporty ones this time LF shock is leaking which has me thinking about height adjustable coilovers Brakes should be gone through LSD? Something having to do with seats etc., etc., etc... In the short term I want to get the Elan in a better state. I have RD's CV joint axle kit standing by, and the rear shocks are completely blown on the car so I will be doing something about that too. That car has luxuries such as a top and a heater so it may be a better candidate for opportunistic jaunts over the cold months. Not to mention that my whole reason for buying it was to fully experience a Lotus Elan firsthand, which I have not truly been able to do yet. Sure! I'll try to get some shots over the next week or two. It still looks exactly the same, unless you count the discoloration of the RF tire from me cleaning the mess last fall when it leaked most of its engine oil onto the floor of the garage. Under the hood it looks a bit different though. I have a youtube channel for the car and have been meaning to post an update, so keep an eye out there too. (It's not a monetized channel, just me yammering freely and incessantly into the void.)

Thanks for the reminder! I got a poster.

It's now official, FINALLY. My Caterham is back on the road! Gosh I missed this car. After "First Oil Pressure" I finished buttoning things up sufficiently to take the car out for a few short shakedown runs. There were some issues uncovered, one of which was that the oil pump was not tightened down sufficiently to prevent an oil leak at the gasket (as it turned out). The Allen head bolts holding it are very hard to get at and I did my best, but I ended up having to conjure up a custom tool to tighten them properly. That fixed the leak and also elicited an enormous sigh of relief from me, because taking the pump out again would have meant a metric buttload of disassembly; it was literally the first part I put back on when I began reassembling the car. Shakedowns done, findings noted and corrected, it was time for a proper drive. It was 45F with a sharp breeze but I just had to. Woo-eee! I kept thinking maybe I should turn around and head home, but the road continued to beckon. Finally I made the turn and headed back. I was high from the drive for a good hour after getting back home and putting it away. What fun these are.

A milestone! "First oil pressure", w00t! One oil leak, easily fixed. I still need to do a bit more reassembly before we get to "fire in the hole!" but I suspect it's not far off.

Ooohhhh, that's a Big Valve twincam with Webers.

Not a bad choice! I’d have to do back-to-back. Noted for future reference.