pethier

I put a Quaiffe torque-sensing dif and 411/1 gears in the Ford live axle in my 1979 Caterham. Worked very well. I think my current 1991 Caterham 1700 Super Sprint de Dion has a Sierra diff which I believe came in the kit from Caterham with the plate-style LSD. I t seems to work fine on the road and in autocross.

As Is, it is not drivable yet. But your suggesstion echos Brian's. in fact, when we get it drivable, we will drive it around Isanti without the front fenders, nose or bonnet.

The donor car was apparently a Ford Contour.

I have been wrong. It's actually Suzuki Hayabusa Keihin/Denso injection.

I don't know where the heck I heard Mikuni, but I did. Turns out, it was billed as the hardware off a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle when Steve bought it. So it's Keihin/Denso. Well, this is not the shock that some folks get when they get their DNA results, but it does surprise me.

"keihin and gm spec parts for the msq" Showing my ignorance here. "gm" is General Motors or something or something else? I have no idea what "keihin" might be. Tuesday I need to dive in on the system that I own and do not understand.

I don't have any of the documentation here and can't see it until Tuesday. All I really know right now is that this is supposed to be a Mikuni* injection system meant for a motorcycle and this system has been run by Megasquirt. The whole system, engine and FI, was being run successfully in a Birkin car. One of the reasons I'm talking about his now is packaging. The tech wants to lose the backing plate and airbox/filter. Individual filters seem to be better for the setup in the Caterham. I need for find out more about what is available. I'm not a big fan of oiling filters, although I admit that I had them on the 40 DCOE feeding my Lotus 65 Europa (pushrod Renault). If there are socks for velocity stacks that do not require oil, I'm interested. I think I hear you saying that if the temperature sensor was protected somewhere in the vicinity of ITBs that it ight work. May be a little bracket inside the filter housing for one of the four throttle bodies. * Actually Suzuki Hayabusa Keihin/Denso injection.

IMG_8041 Suzuki Hayabusa Keihin/Denso injection. What does the white sensor measure? My guess is that it is air pressure. Maybe temperature? I would like to go to individual air filters for each intake horn. If that sensor is critical to the operation of the fuel injection by measuring pressure INSIDE THE AIRBOX, that could present a problem.

The clamp is designed to slip.

Whatever you do, made sure that the steering column will telescope if you get in a collision.

[flickr.com/photos/pethier/albums/72177720326088078] For those who have not picked up on this from other posts, here is some background on this project. In the fall of 2023, I bought this 1991 Caterham 1700 Super Sprint from a gentleman in central Illinois. This is one of four Caterham cars he had shipped from England. He had investigated three cars online and engaged an agent in England to inspect the cars and close the deals. The agent informed him that he had room for a fourth car in the shipment. He told the agent to find a fourth car. This is that fourth car. The original owner had ordered it from Caterham as a "complete kit". It seems like a Prisoner car, but not an official one, as it was painted all Ford Moonstone Blue. Specifications include electric windscreen, de Dion rear suspension, plate-style LSD, and swaybars (the rear adjustable). It seems to have spent its life in Northwich, Cheshire. I autocrossed the car in 2024, with a few interruptions. I had autocrossed my previous 1979 live-axle 1600 for three seasons with no body damage at all. Second time out with this car, the right rear fender was destroyed. I got another fender and took the oppertunity to have the fenders and nosecone painted Caterham Firecracker Yellow. Back on the road, I suffered the failure of an oil-pump gasket. I made to the 2024 Lotus Owners gathering in Texas and drove it around the Austin area including around COTA and to (but on on-track) Harris Hill. When I bought the car, I assumed that the 1700 Super Sprint engine would be great fun for track days and twisy-roads driving. I was right. This driveline gives the classic Lotus Seven experience with more kick. Thing is, those activities are not the main reason I have owned Lotus cars. My automotive addiction since 1968 has been USA-style autocross. We called it "Summer Gymkhana" in the rule book for the Twin Cities when I started (before SCCA started Solo II). For this activity, an essentially "Cosworthized" pushrod engine does not give the broad power band in second gear I coveted. From the jump, I had an idea. I have a friend with a Birkin. He came to the autocross community when I was autocrossing my Lotus Europa. He had driving talent and a faster car, but he was not yet beating me. I knew I had to fix that. Each autocross day, I would ask him, is this the day you beat me?" I showed him that he was inflating his tires too high. He soon put his engineering intellect to work on the car and his intelligence to work on the art of autocross driving and began to beat me, as he should. One chilly day at ValleyFair, Steve's Birkin got Fastest Time Of Day, beating the Formula Cars. The secret? Hillclimb tires. Steve is always thinking, always up for something different. When I bought the Super Sprint, I knew that Steve was embarking on a new adventure. He was going to take the Birkin all-electric. I paid Steve cash for all of his gasoline-based Birkin equipment and he graciously allowed me to delay picking it up. It took me a while to track down the motor mounts I would need. Birkin and Caterham have completely-different ideas about motor mounts. I also realized that I was going to need help with the work. I got my foot in the door with Brian, who runs a British-car shop with the specialty of putting GM V6 engines in MGB cars. His crew knows about fuel-injection in cars that were made for carbs. He also has a packed schedule. It all came together suddenly on May 6, even a couple of weeks sooner than I expected. That's when this photo-trail tracks back to. You will probably always see more photographs in the Flickr album than make it here. Along the way, I will try to keep you informed of how it's going, and I look forward to all of your advice. We are none of us as knowledgeable as all of us.

Cover plates for heater ports. Made these today. Tuesday I'll go to Brian's shop and install them, being sure to mark the locations of the chassis tubes that run through the area.

Suzuki Hayabusa Keihin/Denso injection.

Pix so far are at [flickr.com/photos/pethier/albums/72177720326088078]

in Minnesota, you can do that if the car is eligible for Collector plates. It can't be your only car; you need to cite a regular car. I believe I have recounted on USA7s how I registered my current Seven from Illinois for like 218 dollars while it cost thousands to register the Cayman from Iowa.

Been to several places in Montana. Cut Bank. West Yellowstone. Had Chinese food in Bozeman. Camped in Livingston. My dad used to hunt near Judith Gap. I've never been there. They tell me it's nice. Dunno if they still do this, but back in the day a Montana resident could get a big game license with one deer tag and legally sell the deer tag to a non-resident with a Montana big game license. Dad and three of his buddies would tow a trailer to Judith Gap where they knew the locals and buy extra tags. They never got skunked; always came back with 8 mule deer. I ate a lot of that meat as a kid. The memories of Dad's stories from that time... I do know that over my lifetime I have met a lot of people in Montana who came from Minnesota.

Heading to the shop in the rain today. Just about have my waterfowl aligned to show you all what's happening. How did I ever have time to go to a job?

They make you pay for a new housing? What benefit does that give the customer? Maybe right around the boiling point of plain water is a proper temperature for the operation of the engine? I expect you will run it with 50/50 coolant and a pressure cap, so boiling over does not seem to be an issue. I am clearly open to education from all here.

Couple of blank photos there...

Sorry, still sinking. And a sudden contact in genealogy popped up. How did I ever have time to work at a regular job? There are some pictures coming. Honest. It's 2:20 AM again. Good night.

Yeah, I've just been doing nothing for those 14 hours. /s I've staked out the turf: Now I'm off to pay my first-half property tax. Thanks to all for what I have learned in this thread and for your patience with my tangental thinking out loud.

I'm kind of new to the build-thread process. This is going to be somewhat scattergun, to match my ADD brain wiring. I will probably start by collecting comments I have scattered around the net already, and then get down to business with the 1700-Zetec swap that I have long-contemplated and has now suddenly commenced. First, this post is to stake out the turf after a prod by one of our most-helpful (no sarcasm intended) members. I have a lot of irons in the fire just now, separate from the Seven. Much of my house is in a cluttered uproar as I attempt to install a new kitchen sink into a place created by the iconoclast who self-built this domicile in 1950. Some tricky surgery is required. I may document that on shop-talk@autox.team.net. Meanwhile, you can imagine a 75-year-old ADD widower without a working dishwasher. Come back later, there will be Seven words and pictures.

Parts and car are together. Good news, the bell housing is aluminum. The sorting-out process will begin. The heater is out. The front fenders are tucked away in a safe place to give us some fettling room. I know, I need to start my own build thread.

Yeah. I read your April 23 post too-quickly. I see what you mean now. I'd like to have a Duratec, but this Zetec opportunity was too good to pass up. Realistically, I'm building a fun autocross car, not a Nationals winner. I have no intention of putting on very wide wheels and running hillclimb tyres. So a normally-aspirated Zetec on Mikuni* fuel injection may be all I need. Steven DID have wide wheels with hillclimb tyres on the "donor" Birkin. I assume he will still use them when he gets all the electrons working. I might someday consider wider wheels, but I think Yokohama A052 tires will still be the best bet for me. I can run those in XU class. My Cayman is also legal in XU (and not in DM) so I can run in the same class. Good thing, since the Cayman will have to step up during the Zetec-swap on the Seven. If things go well, the Zetec and the Seven should be sleeping under the same roof by this time tomorrow night. * Actually Suzuki Hayabusa Keihin/Denso injection.