pethier

They paid me 100 bucks to test-drive a Slingshot before they introduced it. Didn't tell me who made it, what engine it had, or what they planned to call it. They probably didn't like what I told them, but the check didn't bounce. The biggest deal-breaker for me was that they are not legal for autocross, having only three wheels. So now there are conversions, eh? Interesting.

I bought a Birkin. I'm a little short in the legs for my 5'8". I moved the pedal as far aft as provided for by the maker and they are still a bit of a reach for me.

I considered a C8. I'd been thinking that it was about time I tried a dual-clutch car. But I'm an autocross freak and it's just too wide. Than I tripped over a great price on a Cayman with the most reliable engine, PDK and Sport Plus. It's my regular 3-season driver and a backup autocross car.

My Porsche has no place for a back seat.

I hear KAYtrim.

Good on you, mate!

Let's not. And NOT say we did.

I slit an old round power cord and used it for edge molding. I had previously made a slitting block out of plywood and a box-knife blade to slit PEX for various reasons. It was a simple matter to drill a smaller hole in it to slit the power cord.

My turntable is only giving me one channel. Good job I also have the album on CD.

The only Lola I ever drove was a Super Vee.

BruceBe is sending me a tank. Price and shipping is reasonable.

Just my own personal way of doing things: Anything heavier than an appliance dolly that goes into my trailer gets seriously strapped down. If I have a car in there, stuff lighter than an appliance dolly, like my Race Ramps, gets strapped down. If I have nothing in my trailer but a lawnmower, the lawnmower gets strapped down.

"but weighs 3165 lbs empty" That's more than my full-width 20-foot-box enclosed trailer! And mine has steel frame, studs, and rafters!

I have a new tank being sent in. Purports to have all the fittings/ports I need. The port for the fuel pump does not include the pickup tube. The pump for which the port is designed may be unobtainium. I have an external pump that should work if we fab a pickup tube and plate. We will see: The tank has shipped.

In October there was a Minnesota Autosports Club autocross at Canterbury park. Original plan was for me to take my Caterham, 74PHIL, there. I had already clinched 2nd place in XU class if the driver of an Exocet showed up, and 1st place if he didn't. The driver of the Honda beat could not catch me on points and no other driver could get the 5 events needed to qualify. Ron the tuner had a workaround idea for the weird fuel-delivery problem on 74PHIL He was sure the problem was something loose in the fuel tank and had a plan to prove it. He said he could cap the pickup tube and build a new one through the plate for the fuel-gauge sender. He was working on it and said he thought he could have the car ready before the autocross event. It was going to be breadboard job and the trunk floor would not fit in the car. Meanwhile, folks here on USA7s were discussing a Birkin that was for sale in Lakeland Minnesota. The ad was placed by a lady who was a friend of the owner I called her the Wednesday before the event . The owner actually lives in a rural area near Mora, a good distance from Lakeland Thursday morning we took KMAN 2.9 for a drive in the country. The Birkin looked OK. It was one of the few Birkin cars I had seen with the long "clamshell" front fenders. It had a Zetec engine with a Raceline water-rail and throttle-bodies that look like they were made to replace Webers. It does have adjustable spring perches on the coilover units. I took it for a drive. The wheels seem to be 15x7. The biggest problem seemed to be that the alignment was wacky and the steering wheel blocked the gauges. We negotiated for a bit and dug around in the machine shed for the spares; a pair cycle fenders without brackets and a mangled spare-tire carrier. I shook hands with the Birkin seller. My cellphone rang. It was Ron to tell me that 74PHIL was ready to go. I told the seller I would be back the next day with a check and a trailer. The lady said she was going to stay at the sellers place instead of going home. I made a beeline for my house, got into my truck, hooked up my trailer and continued to Ron's shop. I took 74PHIL for a test run and Ron was correct: I had full power and no cut-outs. On my way back to the tuner shop, suddenly the windshield and front fender were splattered with oil. This was like deja vu for the failure I'd had with the 1700 engine, except for one thing: This engine does not even HAVE an external oil pump whose gasket could fail. I phoned Ron to came pick me up. There was no point in bringing the Caterham back to his shop now, as we had already planned on which engine he was going to balance this winter, and that one is already at his shop. I got in my rig and stashed the Caterham at home. Friday morning I towed up to Mora to pay for the Birkin and tow it home. Had to straighten out a few things on it. Could not put my autocross tires on it since the Caterham and Birkin have different bolt circles. The front wheels were wildly toed out. I counted threads and got the front wheels closer to facing in the same direction. Then I pulled off the steering wheel and put it back on as close to straight as the splines allowed. To remove the engine cover, one needs to remove the K&N air cleaners because they run so close the fenders. This is a certified pain, because their Phillips-head bolts can only be reached (with some difficulty) using an offset screwdriver. These bolts are difficult to tighten and are quite short, so one can loosen and fall out, causing the loss of the plate. Fortunately, I had some longer hex-head bolts which are easy to reach with a common open-end wrench. Although I figured that I could beat the Beat with KMAN 2.9 as I had before, I decided to autocross the Birkin anyway, just to see what it was like. I brought tools with me to the autocross to move the pedal cluster rearward since the seats do not have tracks. The pedals are still just a tiny bit of a reach for me. The tires on the Birkin were not autocross tires and they were not sticky at all. I finished 4th. I did add some points, but it didn't matter: I was going to win the season anyway, since the Exocet was a no-show So what do you think, should I have another Build Thread for the BIrkin? I don't plan to do a lot of Birkin building, but you know how that goes.

Mostly because putting a car into or onto a trailer backwards is a pain.

I have neglected this thread, partially because of non-Seven factors. Right now, 74PHIL is sleeping peacefully in my heated shop. It's not alone. KMAN 2.9 is snoozing over the Atlas lift, supported by the RaceRamp risers that flank the lift. And there's something else: I bought a Birkin that was discussed elsewhere on USA7s. You can see the album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pethier/albums/72177720330173928/ I'll get to bringing you up-to-date on 74PHIL real soon now.

OK. I understand that I didn't use the word "cornering". As I said, Ron believes the problem is something loose in the tank. It happened when the car was moving, not necessarily while cornering. I tested the car with the workaround in it. Did not drive it gently, did back and forth, and around a traffic circle. Performed without a glitch. As for the build thread. Yes I need to go back to it. Things got complicated, in both Seven and non-Seven ways. Meanwhile, I just ordered a tank from Bruce. It's one he has. Five minutes later I got a message from another vendor who apologized for the delay in answering me and wanted to look at a tank he has. I have told him that I have ordered elsewhere, so he does not need to check on it.

Interesting. Although my engine is a Zetec, the injection is Hayabusa and the electronics is Megasquirt.

What does Caterham use for a tank in new S3 cars with DeDion?

WANTED: Fuel tank for Caterham S3 DeDion fuel injection. I put a fuel-injected engine into a 1700 Super Sprint. Got it running and drove it in autocross at LOG44. After that it had a sudden fuel-cutoff problem. When car is moving a sudden cutoff and sudden return of full power happens. My tuner says there is something loose in the tank that he can not see because it is hidden behind a baffle or the like. He has done a workaround using another tube through the gauge-sender plate, but this screws up the refitting of the boot floor. Also the location of the fuel-return is currently in the filler hose, which does not play well with the trunk floor either. Maybe the easiest way to solve these problems is to get another tank already meant for injection. I have tanks from a Birkin, but there is no way they will fit into a Caterham S3 DeDion.

Pond. POND!

I WISHED there were two bleed screws on my Elise calipers. I had to have the calipers loose so I could invert them back and forth to bleed them. Don't get me started on the dumb place they put the radiator bleed screw.

Oddly enough, my 2005 Lotus Elise did not have a clutch switch. I usually started it in neutral, "no feet".