TheDingo8MyBaby

Hi Mitch, I'm sorry to hear about the challenge you're having. This is a weird rule california has associated with importing 1968-1974 cars. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/es/frequently-asked-questions?keywords=grey market. I think others have been trying to register out of state first and then later bring them in to avoid this issue. That may be why they've flagged you. I agree your easiest course of action is to try to find someone else to do your inspection. There are tons of european and japanese cars purchased out of state all into this category (bmw 2002's, Porsche 911's, etc) and I have never heard of this issue coming up with them. It generally only comes up with imported cars. Hopefully you do not run into issue with the DMV either. A few other ideas: -Find someone who offers registration services/vin inspections with the california DMV. These people generally have connections with DMV offices and can make things simple. I reached out to a friend who has used the following companies (in Contra Costa): Teresa at 510 757 9029 or Nancy at nancysliensales.com -Do you have evidence that the car was originally sold in the US? That would make it clear that this isn't a grey market car. -As a worst-case scenario, I have a friend that imported a 1972 MK1 ford escort. He was able to obtain a note from the CARB's lab stating that they are not able to test his car since it was a 1972 and they do not have the testing equipment available to test it. If you get to that point, let me know and I can try to find more information for you. -You can probably find via google search of various forums others that have run into similar issues. I know I've seen similar threads for 1968-74 Porsches, Alfa's and BMW's, but generally these were for imported cars.

My experience is from a LHD live axle seven with which had an atb, but now has a Salisbury and I recently acquired an Elan with a Salisbury. On a live axle seven, a lsd is really important for putting the power down. The atb works ok for a big, open track, but in really tight right hand corners it wants to lift the inside wheel and the atb is ineffective. In my seven, the right rear has almost no weight on it. It’s also really important how the lsd is set up - you don’t want to have a lot of preload in a light car or you will essentially have a locked diff. Ramp angles are also important. On my elan, I feel it’s less important to have a lsd. The Elan puts the power down better than the seven, but I do feel it working from time to time on very tight corners. LSD’s do tend to make nasty noises in parking lots, but this isn’t always the case - it depends on the lsd, the use of friction modifier, how it is setup, etc. The ATB is very user friendly - no adjustments and no noise, but it also has limited effectiveness. YMMV

I still have mine (SB1762), but I'm not on forums very often these days. I also just bought a 1963 elan that has been taking up more of my attention recently. Someone mentioned this thread to me so I thought I'd pop in and say hello. I'm aware of at least 5 original lotus sevens just in the bay area, but I don't think any of them are on this forum.

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

As far as I know, Atlas is just a name of the axle type. There is a lot more information here. There is also a Koln axle which is from the same era. I don't believe caterham ever used Koln or Atlas axles.

From what I understand, Blackline helical is a chinese copy of the quiafe "ATB". I have heard that the perform as expected. My only experience is a Quaife ATB on an Ford "english" axle. It works well on the street; low maintenance and noise, but I found it not aggressive enough for tight/twisty hillclimb-like roads for my driving style. If anyone happens to be in the market for an quaife ATB for an english axle, let me know!

I don't know what caterham used, but there may not be any valve guide seals. My pre-crossflow has bronze guides and runs without them. After several thousand miles, it does have similar problems with fouling and smoke on #4. It's getting time to have the head refreshed. Head gaskets, Guides and seals are not very expensive. Machine shop labor shouldn't be so bad either. While you're in there, you should have the rocker geometry looked at to ensure that there is minimal wear to the guide.

The photo of the cover @Nick OTeenposted is the same style that was on my race motor with roller rockers when I purchased my car. It is sold by burton: https://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-category/engine-components/rocker-covers-engine-covers.html?appl_engine=Ford+Cross+Flow+(Kent) I think Ken at Mountune USA is also working on getting a period-looking valve cover, but not sure it's ready yet.

Most precrossflows in SCCA FP that I'm aware of are closer to 165-170.

From simple sevens: http://www.simplesevens.org/anglocanadian/angloParts.htm There were two factory approved constructors of the mild steel Series 2 and 3 chassis, Arch Motors, and Universal Radiator. Arch Motors preceded their chassis number with the letters A/M. Universal Radiator used the letter 'B' (possibly followed by an 'L' if the chassis was left hand drive) with four numerals for the chassis number. This letter/number combination was normally stamped on the angular steel bracket that held the front mounting of the master cylinder bracket. It should not be confused with the actual vehicle serial number (V.I.N.) such as SB XXXX or LSBXXXX. For what it's worth, My July 1963 Car (SB1762) has a B stamped infront of the frame number on the master cylinder mount. Here is my Lotus Components Plate. The only other person that knows the frame number is John Watson. I believe that the best way to preserve the integrity of these cars is to keep the frame number private so John can use it as verification.

Thank you, Bruce. I fancy yours too. Those Lucas 594 look much more period correct the standard Caterham taillights