pethier

To start with, I believe my thermostat housing is from a 1996 Contour. The temperature sender is on the top of the housing. I'm now going back to the video.

I'm sorry if I was unclear. I was not asking if you got air at the the entrance to the Karussell. I only was using the Karussell as a location device. Think back upstream to just after the righthander before the Karussell. You go up a hill, then crest the hill, then downhill, then uphill to the entrance to the Karussell. I was talking about that first crest. There was a meeting for us LOGers at the hotel in Gettysburg the night before the track day. We were told that at that crest to be sure we were far to the left because that if we were to the right and rose into the air that we might not be on pavement when we came back down. I suggested they put out some cones. They agreed that was a good idea. In my case, my Elise in stock trim was not fast enough around that righthander and up the hill to leave the surface at the crest. About the entrance to the Karussell: I had been instructed to aim for the tree, just like at the original in Germany. As soon as a "thin white strip" (the concrete) came into view, I was to place the car at the right end of the strip. It worked perfectly every time.

I drove the Shenandoah circuit in my Elise when it was still stock. Tons of fun. Did you get air at the big drop before the Caracciola Karussell? My Elise was not fast enough to get air there then. I have often wondered if it would have by the time I got done modifying it.

What brake pads will fit the front of my Caterham? I am unsure what calipers these are. The car is a 1991 1700 Super Sprint. It seems to be the same car as a Prisoner Special Edition. I would think maybe they would be the same as a Triumph Spitfire or maybe a Triumph GT6.

At a Corvette-club autocross where they like to run fast sections interrupted by tight hairpin turns I was up in third gear when I approached one of these hairpins. I was getting alarming rear brake lockup. Rather than replumb the brake system (amazingly, the UK let Caterham sell this car in 1991 with single-circuit disc brakes), I would like to try front pads with a higher coeffcient of friction. Any recommendations for front brake pads? I am unsure what calipers these are. The car is a 1700 Super Sprint. It seems to be the same car as a Prisoner Special Edition.

There is an an area on USA7s for autocross discusson. I'd like to see it used more for autocross addicts like I.

I am a fan of available tires. I currently believe the best road and autocross tire easily available in the USA for very light cars is the Yokohama 052. Available in a range of 15" sizes and I have recently learned in a 14" size. Back in 2008 when I bought my 1979 Caterham live-axle car, I bought a set of Panasports in 7x15.* My current 1991 deDion car came to me with 6.5x15 Prisoner wheels. The Yokos come in the Caterham-original 195mm size. I am sure that lighter wheels than either the Panasport or Prisoner are easily-available. I don't have a 2001 Zetec-powered Birkin s3 (do have a lot of the internal workings therefrom installed in my Caterham**) but if I did, I'd go 15". * The gentleman who has (last I heard) my old Caterham never received the Panasports, but still wore the green original Caterham wheels. ** The Birkin which previously contained my Zetec et al is on its way to becoming an all-electric autocross car.

Exactly. That's why I was fishing for anyone who had access to an applicable schematic.

BTW, I agree that the lower hose makes more sense, but a fan running more than needed is not something on the top of my worry list just now.

Thanks, 7Westfield. Not the question I asked, but a useful answer nonetheless. How did you know the the 1975 Rabbit was the first NEW car I ever bought?

The thermostatic radiator-fan switch which came to me in the parts for my Ford Zetec engine swap is apparently inoperative. Mick at Metric Auto sold me the only one he had in stock with the same M22 thread. Of course, the dead one has only two connectors and the new one has three (one physicaly smaller than the other two). Mick says most such switches nowadays have three connections because two-speed radiator fans are now common. I'd be happy to know if anyone has any information about this part. Such as: How is it wired in the original car? Clarification: "original car" means the Volkswagen cars for whom this new 3-connector part was meant, not a Birkin or a Volkswagen with a 2-connector part. As shown in the photo, the new part is meant for a 94 to 03 Eurovan. Is it a solid-state item I can damage with wrong polarity?

Does anyone know what goes on in the black box (both figurative and literal) called "thermostat"? On the Circle 'C" Performance Schematic: Are the thermostat ports, one large and one small, on the upper left of the "black box" schematically the same? I mean is the water for both in the same chamber inside the box? Are the thermostat ports at the bottom of the "black box" schematically the same? I mean is the water for both in the same chamber inside the box? If it is, why would water flow in the heater core? If the valve for the heater actually cuts off water flow completely, does it not follow that both connections to the heater can simply be capped off? I do not have a heater in the nearly-complete installation of the ex-Birkin Zetec in my Caterham. Huge thunderstorm going on right now. I hope in the morning I can check into the actual status. I will start a separate thread about the radiator fan switch. Even for me, that's a bridge too far for thread drift.

I discovered this drawing in the big box of paper that came with the ex-Birkin Zetec stuff that I bought from a friend who is electrifying his Birkin. To continue the Zetec info in this thread, I wonder what you all think of this schematic in relation to the two above. I am trying to complete the cooling paths after installing the Zetec in my Caterham. I am not including a heater.

"Don't ask me to explain why, but stacking two springs gives you a reduced rating." Back over half-century ago when I started autocrossing, I was befriended by John Proshek, who drove an Elan. As I recall, John explained the spring thing to me like this. 1. A coil spring is a torsion bar, wound in a helix. 2. The dynamics of a torsion bar are intuitively simple. 3. Pick up a garden hose with your hands two feet apart. 4. Twist the hose. 5. Note how much the hose resists your twisting it. 6. Move one hand so that your hands are one foot apart. 7. Note how much the hose resists your twisting it. To apply this exercise to the stacking of coil springs: If you stack two springs, it is the same as making a torsion bar longer.

As a lifelong Minnesotan (I was to young to remember my brief time in Long Beach) I'd call that a Coney Island. I was actually at Coney Island when I was nine. My twelve-year-old brother got to ride stuff inside Steeplechase they would not let me on, but oddly I didn't have to be ten to ride the Steeplechase itself, which spiraled down on the outside of the tower. Thats the first time I remember being in the ocean. Don't know know if my parents put toddler-me into the Pacific. Didn't get into an ocean again until December 1991. Dad was speaking at "The Storm Unleashed". Fifty years before that, Dad's Saint Paul Navy Reserve shipmates killed a couple of foreign sailers for being in a restricted area and started a war.

The lip imprint on the NASA mug is interesting. Unusual to have it all the way around for both RHD and LHD. I recall one order, when I was in the business decades ago, with a lip imprint, "ENJOY YOUR BREAK" and a bottom imprint "NOW, GET BACK TO WORK".

Damn right I do. This is America. I have every right to dislike mustard.

That's where I put the 12v power point (cigar lighter). Well, flip the photo since my car is RHD. Anyway, it is handy for iPhone charging, tire pump, and works the other way with a battery tender so I don't have to remove the hood. It is wired direct to the car's battery with its own fuse. It is the only thing that stays live when the racecar system switch is off.

Driving in MASSachusetts Driving in MASSachusetts

I believe I already mentioned that I was considering making cockamamie tattoos for LOG.

That would be the outlook of my parents. They were both in the Navy (Dad was a Saint Paul reservist who served on WARD at Pearl Harbor. No, he did not personally sink the submarine). They figured that if you put anything in coffee, you didn't like coffee.

I still need more road-time to get more-used to shifting with my left hand, but otherwise I have no real problems with RHD in the USA.

Thanks. Folks at the local autocrosses this last weekend know the tuner I intend to use and say that he puts straps over the front wheels for RWD cars.

Not sure I fully-understand your answer. Picture? Drawing? ===== Sidebar: I always tie down cars in my trailer with a strap over each tire. I get them from Autohauler Supply 18200 SW Teton Ave Tualatin OR 97062 autohaulersupply.com I just picked up a set of these, and they look great: https://www.autohaulersupply.com/catalog/horizontal/ultimate-horizontal-e-track-wheel-strap-low-pro-with-ratchet-red-diamond-weave-554450.php I have been using an older style from them and decided it was time to upgrade.

This has a plastic case just like the one on the VDO fuel gauge that came to me broken in my Seven. Probably due to a DPO losing one of the mounting nuts and trying to compensate by over-tightening the one remaining nut.