Xhilr8n

Tariffs were never about money anyway. It’s about him wanting to have the illusion of power. Wanting the whole world to know he can flip a Tariff on you in a wink for any reason.

I brought this reality of Trumpthink up with a dinner partner last evening. And he responded “Why can’t we make those here?” And, “People with cars like that can afford whatever they cost”. And, “Americans should not have cars like that”. (he drives a Bimmer) And ”The company that makes it should pay the tariff” That was all I could take. I operated a small company fourty years and there is not that sort of profit. Geeezzz a lot of the time you’re just hoping to pay employees So it turns out we are the bad guys. Shame on us. Going to be quite interesting to see if these folks keep the same tune when Reality settles to their home and wallet.

OK it’s done! Decided to place it further forward than original idea. Less evident and the cable will lay near the wheel, not as much out in the way. We place a tiny anti rotation notch. I put it at a 45 degree angle rather than vertical, just the natural angle of my hand. Glad to speak with anyone who wants to do this. I got a special drill bit, sure took my time. Getting my somewhat small right hand down in there to tighten things up from above was just barely possible.

Yes with a springy “wavy washer” on top of carpet, and another between the floor and backing plate. To my understanding, the ASM (I’ve had it in the Lotus Elise) has one belt with a one time breakaway so your body can rotate and not break your neck so badly. That’s neat and all but I’m not buying it, without a sub belt the cam is going into your abdomen when your shoulders go forward. Ouch.

Need to point out the main advantage of this set up over the stock Caterham setup. Adjustability. I’m certain I never figured out how to abjust the OEM set up with the belts off of the car in my hands. Adjusting anything while in the seat is a Houdini level achievement. These Schroth are a breeze to adjust while you’re in the car. Anyone with basic mechanical sense can master it in seconds. Especially important for our brave passengers. I know all sorts of brands including SCHROTH market a “street safe” 4 point and I guess that’s what most folks use. I’ve seen and been in enough nice offs at track and I’d have to study a while to remember how many times I’ve been in a good collision. Seen tires fly up in air, all that. Point is I just can’t feel right without the sub belts. And in this system they are a cinch to adjust. I’m also aware that without a helmet and HANS and arm restraints we’re still not in a proper “system”. But best we can do for street driving.

So if all this were to stick and be the lay of the land going forward, does this make our cars more valuable or less? Does it matter to the folks looking to buy these cars if parts and accessories become prohibitive, even more of a challenge?

How, where did you place the magnet on your cars?

Well I studied on it and studied on it and am planning to mount on the side of the car low, yes preparing (drilling) the appropriate opening in the fabulous aluminium car. Asked myself if it would look too odd and then walked around the car and saw the awesome exhaust boldly presenting to the world. Turns out it’s a bit of a challenge to make something stand out as even more odd on these cars.

From a place where I spent a lot of time, learned a lot. https://www.lotustalk.com/threads/ctek-compatible-magnetic-charger.481860/

Here’s my dilema. Simplest thing would be to have a mount on outside of car down low below the external battery kill, forward of the pedal box. Yes requiring preparing a hole in the precious new aluminium 😱 I have the tools and skill and courage to make the opening but not something to just go do without serious examination of benefit/risk. But after all there is already an electrical kill switch on the outside, why not an electricity in? https://www.ebay.com/itm/196081510755?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=196081510755&targetid=2315428264940&device=t&mktype=pla&googleloc=9010329&poi=&campaignid=21394550841&mkgroupid=173029507588&rlsatarget=pla-2315428264940&abcId=9448521&merchantid=6296724&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21394550841&gbraid=0AAAAAD_QDh8ev-C5XF-id_pFwuDcXFaMo&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8p7GBhCjARIsAEhghZ20_-AVnKAybsNa4PLk--kBDWo-bPPs8tOBOSvm1byQ6A4TgFqchJoaAgN2EALw_wcB

I dug around and found the CTEK we used on the Bentley some time ago. It has the round magnetic attachment, I’ll be looking to find the other side of it. It was a part of the Bentley oem. Plugged it up to the 7 per alligator clips, seems to be running its cycle. The Elise with Odyssey 680 has been on a Battery Tender for years. I sure appreciate folks chiming in with their solutions. I’m looking for the level of convenience and thrills I had with the Bentley. Cables on floor right up to car, and if you have places to be there’s no requirement to unhook it. Or if you just plain forget 😨

Maybe you’re right, no one knows. But that explanation seems nebulous. Not a lot of companies can give up 5% of their profit and still make payroll. 10%? What companies that supply our hobby can do that? Educate me.

Or if anyone will. Thing is we don’t know how long it will take for Trump’s schemes to be passed over. If Congress or Nature don’t stop all this, the party might be over for some of our hobbies. And the businesses that support them. Might be that the cars and parts we have now are all we’re going to get for a while.

We had CTEKs for the Bentley and McLarens, I still have some. But use Battery Tender for most vehicles. They work. My question is where to place the interface and how to attach it. I’ve been thinking somewhere forward of pedal box that I can access by feel alone from under the car. Low to ground so cable’s not on things and bonnet still on. wdb could you share a photo of how you did it?

Used to have a Bentley Continental GT Speed, about as far from this forum as it gets. But someting in common, few drive either car two days in a row. They might sit for a month. Regularly. Sad but true. This means a battery tender is a neccessity. Not as finicky as something like a McLaren that will develop behaviors if not kept on a charge when not running. A Bentley has remarkably smart features all over them but one I liked was the magnetic attachment for the battery tender, No need to open the trunk or anything, just put the inch and a quarter wide round magnetic lead to a spot on back of car. Bonus feature is that if you forget and drive off, no problem. Pops off easily. Would be great to not have to remove the bonnet to get the tender going. Has anyone here done this? I’ve seen where Evora folk have done it. Something like this https://optimate1.com/acco-97/

Pretty sure they are used to move the seats forward and backward. I can see the argument it’s unneeded but I wanted the versatility. I’m 6’1” so want that seat back when I’m passenger but if seat goes forward can put a lot behind it even two doors. Not placed the passenger runners yet.

Update: 250 miles in I can arrive home with no discernible clutch aroma. Progress. It’d definitely getting more comfortable to zip about.

So I came up with a nice little lanyard set up. But when I tried to loosen one of the main bolts holding the windscreen, it felt as though it “stripped” or spun. Is there some trick to engaging this bolt?

Tried in runners sourced from RMC today when sests out for harness placement. Will need to weld some nuts to the one I have for passenger side like has been done on the set that came with the car on driver side…..⏳ Otherwise would be possible but much potential for aggravations.

I plan to take the 7 to my next haircut, arriving with a whole lot of ‘style’

Well it’s done. Went full speed on the Scroth set up. It arrived this morning and I felt more like messing with it than anything else today. It was pretty much plug and play. My Tillet Academy seats have the threads to receive the bolts from underneath fixed so no chasing the nuts around. The set of runners I sourced from RMC are same but without the nuts welded. Now I know and can address that. Still catching the threads from underneath takes long arms on the exhaust side as well as a good feel for threads. Not too bad though.

Ready, fire! Aim.

It’s a tough line to walk for us to report how this new economy effects our hobby without getting into the political sandbox mrmustang mentioned. Or just plain getting frustrated even angry that it makes it more difficlt to pursue what we are trying to do with out little cars. We might need each other’s support so let’s all try to stay as clear as we can from, well you know, escalating disrespect.