pethier

I'll try to get to that today!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pethier/albums/72177720334335936/ This should take you to my album of snapshots from this year's Back to the Fifties. The only Seven on it is my for-sale Birkin. I was told that there was a genuine Lotus 7 there on Friday. It must have been miserable with the weather that day, I didn't see it on Saturday, but it is impossible to see all the cars at this event, as many of them move around. It is verboten to attempt to save your parking spot. I got lucky Saturday as I drove to different part of the Fairgrounds to show someone the car, I parked in a different space for a while. When I drove back to where I had been, my original spot was open. It helps to have a small car. Austin/Morris Mini is good. Also, I have seen some King Midget cars and other tiny automobiles.

The conversion of the CSR 260 back into a two-seater is almost complete. A temporary version, until the new seat shows up. Meanwhile, the Birkin abides. Iffy weather tomorrow (Friday), but Saturday looks perfect for a day at the BTTFW with several thousand of my closest friends. Sunday , back to DCTC for a Corvettes of Minnesota autocross.

The Minnesota Street Rod Association Back To The Fifties Weekend. Way back when, it was limited to cars made 1949 and earlier. It eventually became extended to 1964, where is is supposed to stay indefinitely. They grew tired of hearing about 1964-and-a-half Mustangs: The club line is now ABSOLUTELY NO MUSTANGS. Moving the eligible date forward has been deemed verboten because the show still fits in the Fairgrounds. The MSRA rents the entire Minnesota State Fairgrounds right around The Longest Day every year. This year the the weather stank on Friday. Saturday was gorgeous. Sunday too, I bet, but I was autocrossing a half-hour south of there. There are a lot of replicas mixed in and they don't get excited about that. As I say, I will feel guilty about bringing the Birkin when they throw out all the Cobra replicas. My "Big Show" statement was to differentiate it from the check-in for the show at a suburban hotel up on Lexington Avenue. You can only pick up your credentials at this hotel, not at the Fairgrounds. As I say, the show peaked at over 12,000 cars. I don't have the total for this year yet. https://msrabacktothe50s.com/

Today at the big show. I'm not going back tomorrow (going autocrossing instead), so I won't be at the giant door-prize drawing where they will announce the the car total. I didn't spend much of the day researching car numbers. The highest one I saw in my limited sample was in the 7-thousands. I signed up back in January and my number was 00653. They have exceeded 10,000 in the past, but last year was only in the 9-thousands. This is cars entered. Paying spectators is another thing. All-in-all there are fewer folks onsite than at the State Fair, and most of the food concessions are open. Lotus of car-stuff venders who do a brisk business in electric fans since the cruising loop moves slowly. I didn't shoot a lot of photos. I will get them on my BTTFW group on Flickr later. Sleep now.

"the new CSR 200 / 260 talk group"? Are you talking about the thread I started or something else?

So this thread about San Jose was started by someone who is now in Houston? Well, I have taken one of the Sevens out of the San Jose area. Somewhere along that process, I got my first ride in a Waymo.

"A picture is worth a thousand words. A picture and ten words is worth a million." I don't remember who said that.

So far, it looks pretty good. I have both bought and sold cars on BAT.

The conversion of the CSR 260 back into a two-seater is almost complete. A temporary version, until the new seat shows up. Meanwhile, the Birkin abides. Iffy weather tomorrow (Friday), but Saturday looks perfect for a day at the BTTFW with several thousand of my closest friends. Sunday , back to DCTC for a Corvettes of Minnesota autocross.

IMG_1527. you could never try to do this and succeed.HEICIMG_1527. you could never try to do this and succeed.HEIC I got out of the Birkin and felt a pull on my foot. For reasons unknown to me, my cellphone decided to make this a HEIC. I'm trying to figure out how to convert it.

Credentials for the Back to the 50s Weekend can not be picked up at the Minnesota Fairgrounds. They must be picked up a suburban hotel. This circa 10,000-car show is limited to cars 1964 and earlier. I'm bringing the Birkin. I will feel guilty about this five minutes after they throw out all the fiberglass Cobras running around. I have been sending in an entry for a "1963 Lotus Seven" every year for a long time, and never show up with a car. Last time I brought a car it was an actual 1962 TR4. By coincidence, the Birkin I bought from Dean is actually titled as a 1963 Lotus. Of course, you can show up at the hotel with any sort of vehicle, but I decided to bring the Birkin and hang for a couple of hours, buy a burger and pop.

There always seems to be a nearby garbage bin. Lately I find there does not seem be be any fuel left in the nozzle. People have been making sure they get all the fuel they can into their car.

I have the opposite problem. Short legs. My 1700 Super Sprint is OK, probably due to the "Lotus Position" of the seat. CSR has a Tillet seat with a more-upright back. With the seat all the way forward the brake is OK but the clutch and full power are a bit of a stretch. Taking out the removal device saved me 2.5 inches on the steering wheel. Momo brand steering wheels are immune to my "negative spacer" trick with the Moto-Lita in the Super Sprint. It's OK, the CSR has a longer cockpit, so when I move the seat back all the way, i can get around the steering wheel OK. Driving shoes help. I'm thinking of adding pedal blocks to clutch and gas and leaving the brake alone.

With a pure vertical filler, the gas-station setup should work just fine.

Is that like a wrestling mat? (I haven't wrestled on a wrestling mat since high school...)

I don't understand your question. The CSR has a curved filler hose like other Catherham cars. Therefore, the filler neck is not vertical, like a those in a TR4 or a Europa are. What I hear IamScotticus suggesting is removing the standard curved filler hose. I have not had the filler neck off of my CSR, but I have had the filler hose off of other Caterham cars. With these cars (and perhaps with the CSR also) it seems simple to "go vertical" with the hardware already at hand. What I have done in the past: Remove metal cover over filler hose. Remove filler cap from outside of the car; it is essentially only held on by the curved filler hose. Remove filler hose. I have done all that on other cars to take out the boot floor. At this juncture, one could continue on with the IamScotticus mod to go vertical: Procure a short piece of straight filler hose the same diameter as the stock curved hose. Shove it onto the tank. Drop on the two clamps from the stock curved hose. Push in the stock cap assembly. Presumably, you have cut the hose to the correct length to allow the hard bits to butt together. Tighten clamps. What you wind up with is a filler cap inside the boot. When you put on the boot cover, the cap will not be visible. I never considered this with my other Caterham cars because these cars have full hoods, and the idea of having a gas cap inside what is essentially a passenger compartment seems like a bad idea. Remember those cars started out with carbs and had vented caps. On a car that never has a hood, maybe this is an OK idea. Make sure you always have a towel to catch the drips when you remove the gas-station nozzle. It would not do to drip gasoline on the carpet back there. Perhaps a louvered vent could be fashioned to fill the hole left in the back of the car. Louvers would help keep out the rain whilst allowing ventilation in the boot. I realize that fuel cells are often used this way, but that's another kettle of fish altogether.

My money is on Croc’s new CSR Superlight

LOL. On my first 7, a 1600 Caterham with dry sump and live axle, I installed a Quaife LSD and 4.11 gears. Didn't touch the speedo. I'd be cruising down the highway at an indicated 90mph being passed by soccer moms in their minivans.

The Carrousel at Road America?

For some reason, I have been lucky with these red poly cans. I do not possess great grip strength, but if I tighten the cap as hard as I can, I don't get leaks. The seal has to be good for both gasoline and for air. To prevent overfilling, the hose must reach all the way into the car tank, and the only path for air to get into the can has to be via the end of the hose.

Love them. First, remove the part that locks the valve "off". That was not in the original design and is a damned annoyance. Second, to fill a Seven, affix to the nozzle a hose long-enough to reach into the car's tank. Fish the hose into the tank. Hook the tab on the valve to the filler rim. Tilt the can horizontal and press the can towards the car. Gas will flow into the car, Now and again the assembly will burp air from the tank into can. When the fuel reaches to the end of the hose, air can't enter the hose and gas stops flowing. Ease up the pressure to close the valve. Withdraw the hose slowly to break the air seal to allow the gas in the hose to drain into the car tank. I two-step this by using a big can to repeatedly refill a two-gallon can so I don't have to hold a heavy can at the car.

I took my Birkin to a Practice Autocross today. I got more than 20 runs for maybe 60 dollars (I'd have to look that up, but surely was not $100). Didn't sell the car, though. Tomorrow is a more-conventional autocross.

Neither am I. My autocross pick for light cars is Yoko A052. The R888R tires were new on the car when I bought the car.