theDreamer

I’m glad you posted my friend Dhanu’s two videos on getting his car from Nova Scotia to Ontario. He sent me links but those where to a site I do not have access to. Shows you what an enthusiast will do to drive his “new to him” Caterham as soon as possible.

As previously stated the term “kit car” congers up images of poorly constructed, weird looking fibreglass bodies bolted to old VW “Bug” floor pans and powered by a Vee Dub air cooled boxer four. To me; Dem is fightin’ words! First, let us clear up the terminology. A “Kit Car” is not a complete car. It is usually just a shell and enough needed parts to get someone started on a build. It will require many components to be sourced from suppliers or junk yards. A “Car Kit” is a complete vehicle that is shipped disassembled. A “Car Kit” is also referred to by the term Compete Knock Down or CKD. General Motors in Oshawa Ontario was known for shipping Chevrolets and Pontiacs to far off places like Australia as CKD automobiles. In some countries like the UK you can buy a Caterham either as a complete car or in CKD form for the home builder. However, in places like North America a completed CKD vehicle has to meet all the safety and emission regs as a factory built vehicle for the year of manufacture. Caterham Sevens do not meet these standards and so most “kits” are brought in minus major items, (like the engine) which are then to be sourced in North American. Another term I loathe is “replica”. The Caterham Seven is not a replica and it never was! It is clearly a continuation of the original Lotus Seven. Many well-known and oft times quoted experts have stated this fact e.g. Chris Rees: “Lotus would design a new badge for the car. This was necessary because, under the terms of the agreement, Caterham was forbidden from using the Lotus name, mainly due to fears over the product liability position of a car bearing the Lotus name but not produced by Lotus. Caterham could call the car Seven, but not Lotus Seven. An artist at Lotus duly came up with a badge design reminiscent of the traditional Lotus badge but bearing the numeral “7”. As such the subliminal association was with Lotus without actually calling it a Lotus. This badge was fitted to the last of the Lotus S4s as was the Caterham built cars to emphasize the continuity of the model.” As to the original question: I have a sign I place on the windscreen under one of the wipers which gives a full description of the make, model, engine, (make, size, BHP) and how this purple beast came to live with us. If people do not have the time to read the sign they just move on. If they spend the time they always have more questions. I have a binder full of documentation I leave on the boot for anyone to look through. Funny, I have a lot of young kids run up saying it’s a Lotus Seven and then getting perplexed when the they read the nose badge. I give them the full story and in most cases they stick around to hear me give it to the next group. Yes, many teens as well as adults ask the; how fast will it go question. That’s when I explain Colin’s theorem on power to weight. I end with: The car weighs about 1400lbs and the engine is rated at 218 BHP. You do the math!

Not to rain on your parade but, It was a 948. It may have been bored over or stroked or both seeing it was race car.

I remember this car from when it was up on BaT. I remember you said you had fixed the exhaust by properly placing the rear bracket above the mount so it no longer is on an angle. You should take new photos to show this as well as the car’s present condition versus how it looked when on BaT. My wife isn’t crazy about orange but it’s a nice spec. If only it was legal to import into Canada at this time. (Has to be over 15 years old.)

There was a company producing just such a mirror years ago. I think it was called Just for Sevens but they went out of business long ago. I’m very fortunate in that my car came with one. Because it's mounted to the windscreen frame it does shake and makes images blurry. I think in the last five years I have seen one come up for sale and there was a long list of buyers wanting it. As MV8 suggests, you should look into some of the smaller convex mirrors that mount to the glass.

I have been told that is was from BMC parts bin as used on the Morris Minor and Austin Mini. Furthermore it was modified from stock with most believing the mod had to do with changing the length of the treaded rods. There may have been other mods performed. No one has submitted documentation for this part or diagrams of actual units. I do know that these units are no longer available.

It bugs the heck out of me and the fenders were very near a perfect match height wise before the crash. I mentioned this to the body shop personnel and was told no problem.

Tuesday after a short drive home from the body shop.

Tuesday we were able to pick up Purple Reign from the body shop. Six months to the day from the accident! Think about that, our entire summer of fun lost. All our trips, big events and small cruise nights just did not happen for us. The Good News: The colour match is super even though its modern paint. Both front fenders look great and the truck bed liner coating the undersides looks fantastic. Hopefully it will stop the star cracks from forming. Bad News: He failed to correct the bent left front fender bracket so the fender sits about 5/8 to 3/4 of an inch higher than the right. There are a few blemishes in the paint and the alloy panel around the lower A Arm still shows a slight ripple. The rear fenders did not get done and there are some bad marks in the PPF on the nose cone from poor storage. It will be going back in the spring to have the fender height corrected and paint imperfections addressed. The body shop still has to close things off with the appraiser because of overages. One item that they are fighting for is to get me some cash to cover the purchase of a “new” rim if/when one is found. I may wait for that before going after the insurance company for all the crap I’ve had to deal with as well as paying full rate for a car I have just got back and will not be driving it now until next year. I should not have to pay PL and PD when the car has been inside shops for all but four days out of the six month driving season. The drive home was funtastic! The sun was shining, it was about 13c and the car ran fine for the most part. While driving north out of the village of Frankford ON and coming up a slight grade a little green Triumph Spitfire convertible popped up over the crest ravelling south. His hand went straight up in the air and waved so I returned the salute. Gee that was a great moment.

Yes it is and that’s because it was the only example of a Super 7 Cars Inc. I could find from on-line “For Sale” ads. There seems to be some dispute as to how many cars were built. Some claim they started at 001 while others say 010. Some think they only built bike engine cars but your car proves those people wrong. It is my understanding that he ordered kits specific to his purpose. Meaning these kits were missing a lot of parts that would have come in a standard Knocked Down Kit. It may be that none of his cars have any factory stampings whether it be a chassis I.D. # or other.

JB, all Caterham built chassis have a VIN stamped on them. The newer cars VIN is stamped on the upper frame rail in front of the pedal box. (See image of blue car.) Earlier Caterhams like mine have the VIN stamped on the rear most upper pedal box cross member. (See image of our Purple Reign) In some cases the pedal box cover has been modified to reveal the VIN without the need to remover the cover. (See Sevens & Classics image) It used to be that if you ordered a replacement frame (like from Arch Motors) you had to send them the pieces that had the stamped VIN number and in some cases the chassis number. You are correct on both counts. I believe that Super 7 Cars Inc. formerly of British Columbia bought parts which included frames that did not have a VIN associated with them. All the cars they built had a VIN stamped onto their own VIN plate. (See Super 7 Cars VIN image.) Those 17 characters are unique to the BC built cars. You should check to see if a matching VIN was stamped on the pedal box, frame rail or some other place. As to Falcouver’s ongoing questions re: bringing a new kit into Canada, it will never happen! As previously stated either buy a car which you can prove has been registered somewhere over 15 years and import it legally. Or, bring in all the parts in small groups and be sure the chassis does not have a VIN associated with it. You can then go through everything that hot rodders do to get a car registered in Ontario. The United States is altogether different. Some States use the year a kit was produced. Some the year it was registered and still others the year it is supposed to replicate. This can cause issues when trying to import a car form the States into Canada. It has to have been first registered for the road over 15 years ago and the information on the documentation must match the description of and VIN on the car. Some authentic vintage Lotus Sevens may be granted exceptions but not Caterhams.

Thanks for catching that. I didn’t notice as I was watching game #4. I slept in this morning as well trying to catch up on all the sleep I lost watching game #3.

Looks to be a nice car. I think the right hand drive is holding it back although some may point to the base engine. Croc listed this car in “New Ads This Week” for the week starting October 19, 2025. He also added it in the new entries for this week. See above. It was also offered on BaT and posted in this thread by wbd back on September 24, 2025. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1998-caterham-super-seven-4/

Many on here have seen the green with yellow Xflow that was up on bat. It has black bed liner coating on the rear fenders that wraps around to the opening. Personally I do not like the look. I much prefer PPF on the exposed area beyond the OEM stone guards to allow the car’s colour to show through. I have seen were an owner used an adhesive backed rubber to cover the majority of the stainless guards but left about an inch of the shiny silver perimeter (where the rivets are) visible. That looks really classy. On another somewhat related subject… My front fenders are out getting the undersides sprayed with truck bed liner. I will do the inside on the inside of the rears myself with a rattle can product if/when I ever get the car home.

HIs bank account? Not so much.

Same issue with over torqued nuts but different results. My oldest grandson is now the owner of my 2018 BRZ tS. I’ve always changed or rotated the tires with a breaker bar and a torque wrench. The car had to have a safety inspection done when transferring it into his name. Come the late fall he came over to our house to change over to the winter tires. We had a devil of a time getting three of the wheels off and the forth we ended up going to a local Canadian Tire store to have them do it. Next two times (following spring and fall) he broke two studs. They just twisted off like old rubber. He was going to get all the studs replaced with some special treated studs the drift guys use but I’m not he has done that yet. This seems to be a failing with many newer cars, not just Subaru.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2025-caterham-seven-620/

Why black and why the complete seats? You can get just leather covers to replace the cloth and save the expense of shipping big, heavy, awkward seats. With what you save you can pay an upholstery shop to make the switch. If you go this route, you can get a fun, light colour that won’t heat up as much as black in the bright sun. We’re very happy with our two tone grey leather. This set was on sale at one of the UK dealers a year or so ago. I liked them and I think they look good in a blue Caterham.

ah... Noway you mistake a Subaru powered 818 roadster for a Ford anything! I agree, see it first, talk later.

Ah... maybe I am misunderstanding but is it possible that a "T65 Ford GT" might mean a Type 65 Daytona Coupe which ran in GT class?.

I've got a little electronic box in my upper left chest that makes sure that doesn't happen to mine.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-caterham-seven-classic/

On coming sporty convertibles like Boxsters or Miatas usually give us a palm forward wave above the windscreen. I will return the gesture. As we run 99% of the time with the doors on oncoming motorcycles get a thumbs up above our windscreen. While motoring on multilane roads people who pass us often have their phones out so I'll turn and give 'em my best Winston Churchill “V” sign held above the door with a big grin.

Would someone be able to give me a cost, (exact or ball park) on replacing a clutch assembly, cable actuation, on my V20xe HPC? I mean, pulling the engine, replacing the clutch disk, pressure plate and clutch release bearing and then putting all back together. I will accept answers from people who's cars have other engines as only the parts prices and labour rates will change slightly. The actual time to do the job should be the very similar. Ta

Bill, I’m not sure what sparked your first post but obviously between writing that and the one you just posted you have had a change of heart. Or at the very least have re-examined your position. Yes, these are frustrating, anxiety inducing times. I am sorry to be the one to break it to you but your own countrymen (and women) are the ones who have brought your country to the brink. I’d like to think a nonviolent solution will be the outcome but… January the 6th has proven that there are those who want just that, a very violent conclusion. Also, as much as you’d like to think this situation is not political the truth is, it is TOTALLY political.