TheDingo8MyBaby

A friend is looking to sell his retroford 13x6 steel wheels - made to look very similar to the steel wheels used on lotus cortinas. Bolt pattern is 4x108mm so this is the same as a caterham. He has 5 wheels with hubcaps, so these would be perfect for a seven with a rear-mounted spare. - Five of these, new in box: https://www.retroford.co.uk/product/lotus-cortina-steel-wheel-6-0j-x-13-w6-0/ (only one was removed from the box to check fit on a caterham) - Five of these, new in box: https://www.retroford.co.uk/product/hub-cap-for-lotus-steel-wheel-replica/ - New price on the wheels is now £85.10 before shipping (~$107 at current exchange). - New price on the hubcaps is now £14.72 before shipping (~$18 at current exchange). He's looking for $90 per wheel and $13 per hubcap. The best part is that you don't have to pay shipping from England (Nearly $300 when I price it to my destination here in California). Location: Knoxville, TN

@Vinman1, I can ask for you on a couple of facebook groups, if you'd like. I'd estimate parts to be somewhere between $100-250 and shipping to be another $100+, but if you're a serious buyer comfortable with those prices, I will ask. Just to confirm you are comfortable with 8" or 9" brakes for and english axle?

A 1970 cortina will likely be the 9" brakes, but they still should work. Dave Bean or JAE may have them. If you're willing to pay for international shipping, there are some UK cortina facebook groups you can try.

Sounds like this is pretty well settled, but thought I would share the BAT link about the car in question for anyone's future reference. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-lotus-seven/

Tony is also on facebook - you may try him there with more success?

Unfortunately I am out of town, but would definitely be fun to get some seven owners together for a drive. Morgan Segal (orange superlight in walnut creek) just got his car back up and running; we've been talking about doing a drive soon.

I find the local O'Reilly's carries 20w-50 VR1, but it may be stored behind the counter (I checked first on their website where it was in-stock). It's not that much more than expensive than diesel oil.

Being vintage, I assume your car is running drum brakes? Are they 8"/9" Ford? The braking is impressive compared to my S2.

Yes LC and HC are low and high compression. That image was posted on another forum. I do not know it's original origins. I recall there was another website that was a great reference for identifying precrossflow heads, but I can't seem to find the link at the moment. \ In any case, the 1500GT casting does tend to have the larger ports, but the other heads can all be ported out too.

Earlier this year I bought a 1966 35k mile Mk1 Cortina with a built x-flow from eastern pa (Reading) and was intending to sell my 1972 BMW 2002, but ended up keeping the 2002 and the Cortina. The 2002 is much more refined and performs much better over rough roads, but is very utilitarian and isn't nearly as fun to drive as the cortina. The seven blows them both out of the water in that regard, though. Looks like a great car that you can enjoy and improve over the years. Congrats! I have 3 cars with dual 40DCOE's in my garage and I can attest to @coffee break's point.

Hi Ted, Glad you're back in a seven! Steve Beck is a Caterham owner and also owns/operates Checkpoint automotive in LA. Steve was a founding member of the Shelby Club of LA and has worked on several original cobra's and GT350's. I've never had a car serviced by them, but Steve and the shop seem to be well-regarded.

Using a mirror - look under the thermostat housing for the casting numbers.

Happy to help however I can. I know Josh at RMC and have bought parts from him before. I've also bought parts from Rich Kamp and Bruce Beachman as well and haven't had any issues. I suggest you research and speak to each dealer to see who you're most comfortable working with. I was only noting that Josh has a customer in San Jose that I've never met. Great discussion in this thread. My 1963 Lotus Seven Street Car (120 horsepower) and heavily heat-cycled treaded race tires will lap Sonoma at 1:59 with an unskilled driver (myself), for reference. Another point of reference was most pre-1990 911's I was running with were 2:05+.

Not really sure you can buy a kit, but you should be able to piece one together from Burton/Dave Bean. You will probably have to buy/make custom lines. This thread is a good reference (BDR and x-flow should be essentially the same for a dry sump kit) To find used parts, you may want to try apexspeed.com. I would suspect that is a far bigger market for x-flow dry sumps there.

Hi Howard, I am in San Jose (Willow Glen), but I own a modified 1963 Lotus Seven and it probably won't be very representative of a 420/620. I'm happy to show you the car if you like. I'm aware of two other Caterhams in san jose: one a highly spec'd (R500ish) duratec of @Sean. The other is a SVT zetec powered car, but is not running right now. @KnifeySpoony I think has a 420R in the bay area, but I'm not sure where he's at. You may also want to try talking to Josh Robbins of rocky mountain Caterham. I believe he has at least one customer in San Jose. -Geoff