theDreamer

linenoise's Zetec-Powered Caterham Super Seven 5-Speed is now up on BaT. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/caterham-super-seven-10/ This video is from the 2020 BaT auctions. (Yes, was sold twice 5 months apart.) https://youtu.be/SE7zvAsndig

When I had the car certified in March of 2024 I had five brand new Firestone Fire Hawk Indy 500 tires installed and balanced. Four of these tires have travelled a total of only 2,600 very easy miles. The spare has zero miles on it. Only one tire, the left front, is damaged so only it will be replaced. The shop says the rim should not be repaired. I think they and the appraiser are still arguing over this point. Little sense as no new wheel has been located as yet. But when one is the idea is to have the spare and the new wheel tire both on the front and the right front will be used as the spare. The chassis was to have been measured and checked over. I have yet to see any measurements but as far as I know the only chassis related problem found was the upper A arm pick up points were bent. They have been put back into position and the new A arms have been trial fitted. Again, I have not seen any measurements and I am gong by what I’ve been told. Believe me I‘ve been asking questions about every aspect at least once a week. I am not well liked at either shop at this point. There was nothing broken or badly bent so there is no heating or welding to be done. As I said, I’ve been led to believe that the upper A arm and upper ball joint threaded end took the brunt of the force. The tire and wheel rim took the balance. All the other suspension and steering rack parts are being replaced more as a precaution. Or so I’m told. I hear what you are saying. However, at this time I’m at the mercy of the mechanic and the body shop.

I have not posted anything in months because no work was being done on my car. (Long story for another time.) Among the parts to be replaced was the steering rack. My 1993 HPC has a small diameter rack tube. I now understand this original part was a modified Mini rack no longer available. Oddly they also ordered a new right side tie rod end. There is no damage to the right side. So is this common practice or is this a metric rack and therefore needed a metric right side tie rod end? The mechanic has not replied as to whether the threads on the rack are metric or standard. The rack delivered is the newer Caterham cast alloy unit. The mounting brackets for my car won’t fit over this new rack. Emails back and forth and new brackets were dispatched. When they arrived they have an offset mounting hole. They don’t work either. I just learned that new brackets have been dispatched but with no ETA. It seems no one understands or pays attention to tracking numbers. No one seems in a hurry to get my car back on the road. So it’s sitting in a corner of the mechanic’s shop waiting to get put together and a four wheel alignment done. Then it has to go back to the body shop to have the alloy panel and fiberglass fender repaired and painted. For the love of gawd we are now into the 16th week. It should not have taken more than six even with parts taking 10-12 days to arrive from the UK. I am sooo jealous of everyone who is able to enjoy their Sevens so far this season. Here I am well into the fourth month of our short five month season and I got to drive my car about a mile on that Sunday, the first weekend of the season. How screwed up has this been? Well, they haven’t order a tire because according to the body shop the mechanic can’t locate one. I just found this out today. So I Googled the make and size and in 30 seconds had four companies with prices ranging from $150 to $210. Linda forwarded that onto the body shop and about 20 minutes later I had an email saying the tire would be here tomorrow. It’s like when the parts first arrived they didn’t send the car over to the mechanic because “their tow guy’s” flat bed was down and it was going to be two weeks before it would be running again. I saw red when I heard that and explained there are a dozen tow companies in the area so they should CALL ONE OF THEM! A few days later is when we found out that they switched steering racks and that’s when things really went to hell. I must thank IamScotticus for his help, patience and encouragement as I try to get through this mess. Latest photos I shot of the car taken weeks ago when they discovered the rack issue.

Funny, I posted this very info last Friday; “…the close up of the head casting number (image #305) verifies it is a SVT DOHC four valve head. So I would believe it to be the higher horse power engine. How close to the rated numbers is another matter.” I guess I should have included the image as you did to get people’s attention. As for buyer’s fees I tend to agree with you. They claim it’s the price you pay for the auction site to (supposedly) vet items, the sellers and bidders. I’m being particularly nasty here as many have suspected that not all is done fairly and above board on these auction sites. I now know for a fact that sellers have been known to hold multiple accounts or have friends bid to up the price. In the case of no reserve items they will buy it outright if it doesn’t reach the sellers expectations. By “buy” I mean they will pay the buyer’s fee but the ownership will never change hands. It is a small amount to pay when compared to the huge loses if they let it go too cheaply.

Lucky you, I'm so jealous. I know you've had your issues but... Tomorrow begins week 16 of the long sad tale that started early on the morning of Sunday, May 4th. Ever the optimist I’m hoping the correct parts for the mechanical repairs will be here this week. Once the suspension and steering rack are done it will get a four wheel alignment. Then it’s back to the body shop for repair and paint.

SVT stands for Special Vehicle Teams and is one of Ford's performance groups. I’m familiar with this engine in the 2002 Ford Focus SVT. Unfortunately when I look up the remanufactured engine part number it comes up as information no longer available. However, the close up of the head casting number (image #305) verifies it is a SVT DOHC four valve head. So I would believe it to be the higher horse power engine. How close to the rated numbers is another matter. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15138020/ford-svt-focus-first-drive-review/

Back in the 60’s and into the 70’s when I was working in a service station I only remember tires having white dots. The one on the outside sidewall was to be aligned with the valve stem. If there was one on the inside it was an inspection stamp or so I was told. Sometime after I left the auto trade they decided to make things more complicated by introducing colours. I believe you are correct; yellow is for the valve stem but red is for the high spot and it take priority over yellow. But not all rims have balance marks. So that’s why I say use the yellow to align with valve stem. If you do not know where the wheel's balance point is you can end up with more weights then you need. My Caterham had a poor tire tech back in 2004 (date code on tires). One wheel had two strips of weights almost directly across from each other and on another wheel one long strip. Neither of those should have happened.

Modern magnesium does not age well. This fact is even more prominent for magnesium items exposed to the elements and subjected to numerous heat cycles, high G forces and shock loads for example; automotive, motorcycle and aircraft wheels. That is why Porsche recommends that owners of their GT3 RS models should replace the wheels every 10 years or 40,000 miles whichever comes first. Older magnesium wheels are even more suspect. Most vintage racers won’t use real mags but rather opt for a similar looking, almost as light modern alloy rims. I’ve seen the aftermath of old mags that have broken under race conditions. Some sanctioning bodies require wheels to be date coded and/or tested to prevent use of wheels that are suffering from material degradation. NO! Magnesium wheels CANNOT be magnaflux tested because this method is only suitable for ferromagnetic materials. Instead, dye penetrant inspection, X-Ray or other non-destructive testing methods must be used for magnesium wheels. Sorry but just like your old, over inflated tire your wheels are time bombs. I would not use them for anything other than static display. As for mounting tires in your garage here is one trick I learned years ago. After the tire is on the rim and positioned correctly, (alignment dot on tire over the valve stem) wrap a tie down around the center of the tire and tighten it. This is done to draw the center inward and get the tire beads set in or very near the wheel rim lips. Apply air pressure and once the tire beads are sealing, (and before they pop into place) release the tie down. Also, leave the valve core out of the valve stem while you are inflating to seat the tire bead. You can force more air under greater pressure into the tire with the core out. Once the beads seat then place the core into the stem and inflate to proper pressure. (Yes, many people over inflate and let the tires sit for a period to ensure the beads have seated all the way around. BUT, do not leave it overinflated for days. A new tire should take no more than an hour or so to fully seat onto a cleaned wheel rim.)

In the early years of dial-up internet I used Stephen W. as my user name. By the early 90’s as on-line scams started to appear I became known as Ducati Dreamin’ Stephen and later as just The Dreamer. When I signed up on BaT it wouldn’t accept theDreamer so I tried my gaming user name Duke_Audi which I’ve had since the early 2000’s. Yes, it can be problematic when someone is on multiple sites under different names. However, people who frequent the sites usually get know who uses what name on which site. I see you are dfree on BaT and Donnie on USA7’s so I’m getting to know you. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

Ah, w650gb500 states its actually blue-ish. But the odds are good that you will see a purple seven between two red ones if you're ever up our way.

My car came with vintage SPA outside mirrors mounted to the windscreen frames. Also a “Made For 7’s” wide angle that mounts to the top of the windscreen. The “Made For 7’s” is good but not as great as the full size Wink I had in my Europa or my dad had in his Corvair. The problem with it is that I have a very narrow view between the top of the spare and the roll bar that only shows cars close to me. The SPA’s use two screw fasteners to mount to the frame. The dang things will not stay put! I’ve tried everything except drilling and tapping for a little set screw. I have even replaced one with a brand new unit that does the exact same thing. No matter how careful we are getting into and out of the car at some point we'll hit one with the door and it is all downhill from there. Plus at shows people are constantly hitting them when looking at the car. Worst case and it’s happened many times in the first year, is someone who knows they hit the mirror and quickly grabs it and tries to put it back in position which always make it worse. I’ve been looking for motorcycle mirrors that I can use that would put a larger mirror further away from the body. So far no luck. All modern bikes are metric and Harley don’t make anything with a small enough mounting fastener to use the existing holes. I DO NOT want to have to drill more holes. Getting the nuts on the SPA mounts is hard enough.

John Lee Hooker wrote the tune but, that’s not Hooker’s version on this video. I’d say its Big Head Tod and the Monster’s version as used as the theme song for NCIS New Orleans. Take a listen and compare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn6cJtNMPs4

Once the car starts the music should STOP!

No, the only legal plate is one issued by the province. I know several people have had sticker plates made but if you get the wrong COP or one who has had a bad day it can be worse than getting dinged for no plate. A member of the Lotus Club of Canada had specialty plates that read KEVS 7. However, I do not know if he used the real front plate, a sticker or painted on version as I do not recall seeing the car with those plates. When he sold his seven those plates went on his Europa. (see image) In Ontario, the plate is registered to the owner and do not go with the car. Chalk up one for us doing our part for recycling. I believe this front plate was painted on. Still not legal but probably less likely to cause an officer to turn around and pursue the driver.

Today’s photo, left suspension removed and pickup points tweaked into position. A arms took the brunt and they tell me the chassis is fine. New suspension will be going on tomorrow just so they can roll it around the shop. It has to be parked in a corner until the “correct” rack arrives. The one they received is a newer beefy looking alloy unit and our car has a much smaller diameter steel unit.

This was how my car looked last Friday covered in sanding dust from other people's cars. The only repair work done in 80+ days was to rearrange the front fender to as close to the correct original factory shape as possible and then fill the cracks and breaks with goop so it keeps that shape. It has since been moved to the mechanic's shop and he was to start replacing parts this afternoon. Providing he doesn't find any issues and his alignment machine is repaired this week he should be finished his part by the end of next week.

Not all HPC style wheels were created equal. There are at least two, may be three different wheels. The one I’m in need of uses a cast alloy lug nut cover. They did make wheels with a plastic cover that may be a different diameter. It certainly appears that those wheels had a taller threaded perch for the cover lock to mount on. You can see how high the cover mount is on this wheel as opposed to my wheel pictured above.

Front plate? What is this front plate thing you speak of?? hehehehe I have not made a bracket yet but several in our group, (see PM) have. I carry the plate in the map pocket so if I'm stopped I can say; here it is and it just came off... This was Paul's first plate bracket on his SV. He has since removed it because it hung just a little to low. He is working on placing the plate about an inch higher.

Yes, overly optimistic pricing scares away not just the tire kickers but some, perhaps most, legitimate buyers. I’m not sure I’d agree with you on BaT’s decision to put them all up. The Westfield was sold by a well-known dealer and it was their choice to go no reserve. If they needed to hit a particular price point then they would have set a limit. As for the Birkin, it had a reserve that was surpassed. So, the seller got what he thought it was worth. The seller of the Toyota powered Caterham with the Lotus VIN plate sold a MGA last month which had a reserve on it. Looking at that car and the winning bid for it I’d think the high bidder on the 7 if he truly wants it will be able to make a deal. The only outlier is “the green tree frog” Caterham. It may have suffered from the amount of 7’s but then again it may be due to the fast turnaround. Three owners in as many years and only 9 month since the seller bought it. That I think is what spooked buyers more. Also, I did not see bidders who lost out on one car jumping into the next auction. It was very much that bidders picked the car they were interested in and bid on that car.

desr, you didn’t reply to my PM so am I correct that you have purchased the 2016 that is/was in St. Albert, Alberta? Why I ask is that I was trying to verify that this particular ad was genuine and not a scam. There were telltale signs like, two different cars pictured in the ad, selling for the estate of a dead relative and then Jacqueline was being very cagey about what info she gave me. She has since stopped communicating altogether. If you bought this car then that answers those questions. If however you have purchased a different car please, give us the particulars. As they say; Photos or it didn’t happen.

I’d say the Champion Motor Corporation 7 is most similar to the Series 3. However, I’m with Hagerty and they listed my Caterham as just a “Lotus 7 replica”. I do not recall them asking for the specific series number. Actually I was rather upset that they wouldn’t insure it for what it is, a Caterham HPC.

The heater control is just a simple pull/push knob. Most are located on the passenger side under the fuse panel. (see 1st image) It operates a shut off valve which often times sticks due to limited use. (see 2nd image) This causes the cable to not function as required. In my case I had to physically rotate the valve from open to closed many times before it freed up enough to where the cable would open and close it from inside the car.

Well to a point. If I understand correctly the seller paid $26,500 in October so only getting a top bid of $17,750 9 months later might seem like a kick in the teeth but... He's relisted it at $35,000 which is way too far in the other direction. How can the owner think it's appreciated that much? https://www.facebook.com/share/16mJvTRxc1/ A far better presented, better built and documented, well known and admired by so many wonderful lil '62 Lotus S2 sold today for $38,500. I understand it’s his car and he can set the price where ever but, it’s just going to sit there.

Don't forget the graded cheese and a side of sauerkraut.