theDreamer

This just went live of BaT. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2012-caterham-seven/

I must advise that for every problem you find there are three more that you do not know about. The seller maybe a great guy or, a great salesman! I’ve met both types and it has taken me years to develop my senses to the point I can now pick the salesmen out after a few words. Do not let your desire for this car override your gut feelings. If he drives it hard with a potential buyer then you can believe he drives it hard ALL THE TIME! No warm up etc. will have taken its toll and the next owner may be on the hook for some major repairs. If the general appearance is poor, (flaking rust, poor wiring, unkept engine bay, cheap tires) then routine maintenance will be just as poor. It doesn’t take a lot of time or work to keep the engine bay clean. Same for most anything on the car. The guy couldn't be bothered to do a proper detail and vacuuming for the photos. That tells me he really dose not care. There are cars on this site that are run hard in competition and I would pay more for one of them because the owners take pride in their rides. They also spend hours in prep for a few minutes of competition. I’ve been criticized on this and other forums for being too critical of cars for sale and their owners. I do not mean to upset people. My goal is to educate those who have no knowledge of the item they are looking to buy. I am also trying to get sellers to be more open and up front about what they are selling. It is a win, win as the seller usually gets a better price and the buyer knows more about his purchase. Nothing upsets me more than a scammer who takes advantage of others. Only you know what your limits are. Just make sure you keep back enough funds to pay for a worst case scenario like, replacing the clutch, release bearing and milling the fly wheel when the seller tells you that little squeak is nothing to worry about.

As the owner of a BaT auction car I can tell you it was listed as a complete, low mileage, one owner and fully operational vehicle. However, once the car arrived and finding soooo many items amiss I felt it should have been listed, at the very least, as a long time stored vehicle needing recommissioning. Getting and keeping it running has been an on-going project. But, this seems to be a running theme with all Little British Cars.

Pylon toss during an auto slalom.

Me too! Mine went to our oldest grandson to make way for our Caterham.

I remember my first ride in a Canada Class sports racer. Family friend and neighbor designed and built his own race cars. This one started as a tube chassis with an air cooled VW flat four up front and the VW transaxle in the back. He was taking the car for a test drive and said his 6 year old daughter and I (about 4 ½) could ride along. The two of us sat in the passenger seat and he did the lap belt up around us both. He fired it up and off we went. Flying down the country side roads. Later he switch it up by putting a DKW engine in between him and the transaxle. It was at Harewood Acres in Jarvis Ontario around 1959 while watching this person race that I saw my first Lotus sixes and sevens. So I’ve had the hots for a Seven for a very long time. First photo shows the VW version. The second shows the DKW version. The third I think I may have posted before. It is of my father and me in his 1934 La Salle in the parking lot of the Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa Ontario.

On Sunday we took Purple Reign to the Father’s Day car show in Trenton. We made lots of young ones (and their parents) very happy by letting them sit in the car. I overheard more than one point and tell their parents as they walked back; See that car? I sat in that CAR! Remember? I do! A good time was had by all.

My thought exactly!

Which "BIG" show is this????

A 1972 Europa Twin Cam auction just ended on BaT yesterday. Have a look at the text and photos. Then read the comments from bottom up. Pay particular attention to how long the Seller took to make his first post and then how the auction went downhill from there. This is a prime example of how NOT to win friends and influence people. There is a link to an older BaT auction in my comment. It is to one of the best ads I’ve seen on BaT. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-lotus-europa-twin-cam-18/ Bottom line, engage with the bidders and answer all their questions as you are doing. It doesn’t hurt to throw in your own stories. I have also won once on BaT.

ah... What is SOLD???

What a plethora of 7’s. Whatever you want there seems to be a colour, type and price range for anyone interested in owning a se7en right now. I’m surprised that Birkin https://www.facebook.com/share/17rfoY4Lva/ has been up for nearly a year and no takers. I have to wonder how long it took to build if it’s a 2001 kit but only has 500 miles on it. Still it’s the IRS version with a Dunnel Z-Tech which the seller claims is making 215hp.

When our car arrived from Utah it had a number of issues that where not mentioned in the comments or correspondence. An oil leak being one major ones. As I had budgeted for changing all fluids I had thought about the sump gasket but not the cost. The mechanic tried to tighten the sump bolts and then dropped the sump and used a liquid gasket on both sides before refitting. A large amount of expensive oil was on the floor the next morning. So I agree, whenever you drop the sump replace the gasket. The good thing is it shouldn’t need to be removed for some time. Se7en years seems a fitting number.

You need to have a look at what your car has. There is NO cork gasket! There are two rubber (or other flexy material) gaskets held together with rivets. The C20xe has a windage tray the sits between these two gaskets. You can buy the gaskets separately and rivet them yourself, buy them riveted together or pay more and get it complete with a new windage tray as seen in the photos. You cannot use just a liquid type gasket. Sorry I can not find a photo of the foam baffle. it's just pre cut open foam with a cutout for the pick up. You can check with Chris at: https://redlinecomponents.co.uk Phone works better when it works. Yo can also find him via several of the Caterham Facebook pages.

I do not see it listed so am I correct to assume this is using a Cortina solid rear end? Is so what's in the diff?