pethier

I got tired of arguing with Champion Power Equipment. After the remote for their winch failed I consulted their website which informed me that all I had to do was call this phone number to order another keyfob remote. So I called the number and was told they don't stock remotes and can't get them. I needed to buy another entire system including contactor and have it shipped for more than 100 dollars. I bought a another brand of remote system and wired it to Champion contactor (the big relay). Shipped pronto to an Amazon locker. It cost about twenty bucks and included two keyfob remotes that are smaller than the Champion lump. They both work just fine. I tested each at a considerable distance. Belt and braces, though, I wanted to have a fallback. Leary about wiring in the Champion manual switch, I wired it so I can open my Union-Jack-decorated box and unplug the receiver and plug in the switch. Now I can once-again walk my Seven or my Cayman into my trailer with one hand on the the steering wheel, one thumb on the WiFi button, and both eyes on where the tire is tracking.

IMG_9117 Junkyard engine wearing Hayabusa injecton. Ron discovered that the automatic-transmission version has a different mounting than the manual. This makes sense, as a flywheel and a torque converter are different animals. Swapping in the item from Steve's engine worked fine. Photo Copyright RS Motors.

Seven. The foam filters had way too much resistance to air flow. At 5000 RPM under load, the airflow could not keep up and the car started cutting out. I could not find on short notice filter material that flowed. I went with Ron's aluminum-window-screen idea. Hose pieces were formerly used for mounting the velocity stacks. Keeps out the big stuff. I don't sweat the small stuff since this is the junkyard engine. The car now pulls all the way to the rev limiter at 7500. Brian's shop must have unhooked the steering column for access to something else. When they reconnected it, they didn't put it back the way they found it. When driving straight, the steering wheel pointed off to the right. I straightened it by rotating the steering wheel hub two grooves to the left. This has no effect other than changing the positions where the parking lock hits. No effect on the turn signal canceling since these cars don't HAVE turn signal canceling.

Going to try green stuff and Minitex on the front ant leave the rear pads alone.

I used those lighted license-plate bolts on a trailer once.

Prisoner wheel. Can't see the nose, wonder if it is yellow and the car is a Prisoner Special Edition. Interesting dip in the top. Mine runs flat from the top bow to the windshield.

Went to Isanti today to pick up my (sold) 1700 Super Sprint engine and the T9 gearbox that came with it. Came home and started putting into my truck all the peripherals that I had removed from the Isanti shop earlier. Took the Cayman to an autocross practice day in Waterloo IA. The Seven is still in Ron's shop in Lakeville. This is getting close. Seven or no Seven, my truck is going to LOG in Pittsburgh where I hand over the lot to the buyer. The only upside to going to LOG without a Seven is that my F-150 gets massively-better fuel mileage without the trailer (unlike my 496 Suburban did).

I go Hagerty agreed value & full coverage.

So, does XU answer this thread's central questions?

My battery switch is in the Caterham location on the scuttle, so easily reached as long as I don't have the doors on. I have a switch for the fuel pump directly in front of the passenger. I suppose I really ought to put a label on that.

Thanks.

Have not yet received the Mintex pads from Demon Tweeks. Meanwhile, I have received Green Stuff pads via Amazon. I don't have the car here at the moment, as my tuner has not yet stuffed an engine into it. See my build thread.

NOW you tell me!

I can't think of a single advantage to putting a gate on a shifter.

Not my first Caterham. At the 40th-anniversary party weekend for Donnybrooke/BIR in 2008, Bob Cox told me that he had been to see a 1979 Caterham in Appleton Wisconsin. He was very impressed, and recommended it to me. I bought the car directly from the private party. My present Caterham is a 1991 that I got off BAT in the late fall of 2022. When I arrived at the law office of the seller in central Illinois, he offered me several Caterham cars. I drove two candidates and chose to stay with the one from the auction. So far I don't recall that I blame him for any misinformation on this car.

I know that one. When I bought my first Caterham, the seller told me the rear axle was Marina. I bought a Quaife diff and a set of 4.11 gears. Nope. The axle was Ford. The vendors were wonderful; sending out the Ford parts and accepting the Marina parts with a minimum of hassle.

And therefore a Zetec-powered model Mercury had in North America.

Like my photos show.

What about the Mercury Mystique?

What's the URL for looking that up?

In my recent misadventure with oil pump damage on on a 1996 Contour engine in my Caterham, I picked up what purports to be a VCT engine from a 1999 Contour. It has the electrical connection on the cam cover for the cam changeover. I am unlikely to use this engine, since I also picked up what seems to be an identical 1996 Contour engine (without the headwork my ailing engine has had) to get me by for the remainder of the season.. I don't know how to test the solenoid or if there is a market for it.

After consultation, Ron and I have agreed to use both the block and head of the bought engine. This saves Ron from having to clean the head. Alternator and other parts are different in the Birkin. There a few aluminum Ford pieces that are not used, and other pieces have been created to support the different configuration used for the Birkin. The result of using the bought cylinder head is not likely to give as much power and torque. Steve had made some changes to the head to improve the flow. With luck, I will have a useable engine for now and all winter to clean up the "Steve" engine and have it back in the car for next season. Apparently all this is because the other shop missed the importance of the simple clutch-travel limiter right there on the bell housing. Ron spotted it. My guess is that Steve never needed to use it because the pedal layout in the Birkin stopped the travel before the throwout could cause trouble.

IMG_9128 seized oil pump Apparently, the oil pump runs concentric with the crankshaft. It seems to have taken the brunt of the abuse of the unrestricted clutch travel. The original block and head will need to be thoroughly-cleaned to remove all the shrapnel.

Thanks! Not finding anything in the USA, I have filed an order with Demon Tweeks in Wrexham.

Good question. I will soon visit Ron's shop and ask what he knows.