cobra8214

I've got my 1600 crossflow opened up right now to replace the piston rings, and now that I'm getting ready to put it all back together I've realized I have a potential problem - my intake manifold gasket has the water passage blocked off like this, whereas the gasket that was on there had holes for it like this. Neither Pegasus nor Dave Bean carry an intake manifold gasket with a cut out for the water passage. I'm thinking about getting rid of my heater (already have the blanking plate), and was wondering if this issue is even a concern if I get rid of the heater. I'm assuming the coolant flow is as follows: Starts at the water pump Flows into the heater Flows out from the heater and back into the fitting on the intake manifold, and from there back into the engine If that's the case, am I ok to use the gasket that I have, and just plug up the fittings on my intake manifold and water pump that routed coolant to/from the heater? Or, do I need to connect the intake manifold and water pump fittings via a hose if I remove the heater? If that's the case I'm assuming I'd need to try to cut out a hole in the gasket to match the water passage, or to buy an intake manifold gasket that has the water passage cut out (are there any other US sources people recommend beyond Dave Bean and Pegasus?)? Thanks in advance!

Welcome! For Caterham parts, reach out to Bruce at Beachman Racing, and Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham. Assuming you have a Crossflow engine, Dave Bean Engineering and Pegasus Auto Racing are good sources for engine parts.

I believe it’s going to be dependent on what cam you have in there - newish Crossflow Caterham owner myself, and I’ve been told by people more knowledgeable than me that in order to figure out what cam I have, I’ll need to degree my camshaft and then cross reference that with the different Crossflow cams.

I have the same car configuration as you except 4 years older and am looking to do the same, so thanks for the update! For what it’s worth, I have heard that Spaxs can be very inconsistent.

Go for it!

I have ~1.5 GB of photos, so sharing a link to them on google drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TtbDi3mW_uRAvFwhmFeE3jbEYacKPUXX?usp=drive_link

My seven is in the shop but I’ll be there!

Calendar marked, thank you to everyone who makes these happen. This spring/summer will be my first time on the track in my Seven. I'm putting together my shopping list for the requisite safety etc. gear I need in order to pass the safety inspection: 6 pt harness Helmet HANS Arm restraints Kill switch sticker Fire suppression system Is there anything else I'm missing? Is a race suit required?

Echoing others' advice to try driving one to make your decision, everyone's body and definition of "comfortable" is different. Adding my own experience as a tall, new Seven owner to hopefully convince you. I'm 6 ft 3 and fit comfortably in in my long cockpit S3 with stock leather seats (which add a few inches off the floor and a few inches depth-wise, so I would have even more room in a smaller profile seat. Will be replacing with a poured seat soon). However, my head clears the rollbar by a few inches even without a helmet. My brother is 6 ft tall and clears the rollbar by even more than I do! Height doesn't really tell the full story since the ratio of everyone's torso length to leg length is different. I sat in a friend's SV with lowered floors and still didn't clear the roll bar. So, I'm currently getting a custom roll bar fabricated. I am able to drive fine in a pair of old Vans (size 12), but will be getting racing shoes before the weather turns.

Lol I know your stance on heaters (this is Geoff)!

If you still need one, I'm about to remove the heater on my '96 S3

@Ctcatdid you end up deciding on a place? I'm in south eastern CT and also recently purchased a Caterham that I'm looking to find a solid mechanic for. For what it's worth, a friend who used to race Lolas recommended GMT as well.

Hi everyone, brand new owner of a 96 Caterham here. I don't have much experience working on cars (one of the reasons I decided to get a 7), and the previous owner owned the car for 9 years and only put a few hundred miles on it, so I figured it would be a good idea to take it to shop to get it inspected just to make sure everything in good order. Are there any places you'd recommend? I'm in Fairfield County in CT, so closer the better. Thanks and I'm excited to join the forum!