redursidae

That's very light for a Miata! I guess it was an NA6 given the power? Do you still have it? Totally the case regarding attention. In only 2 small drives I've done in the seven I've gotten many pointers and thumbs up. People love it. Good to hear Miatas are appreciated here too. They're fun to drive, fun to work on, and a great canvas to experiment, learn and improve. But I have to agree regarding the sevens being an unique experience. Once I got to drive one (a 485 no less!) it was like nothing else and I kept EVO magazine's 420R video on repeat. Once I tried them on track...let's just say my wife has been very patient. Thank you, I appreciate that. Lots of thought and love has gone into building Scooter into what it is, and a lot is hidden from sight. I'll start a thread for building the Cat on here. It'll be a slow process given the Miata's engine is still in progress, but that gives me time to learn and get to know it some. If you have any questions or need help with the tuning side of things feel free to reach out on here or miataturbo.net (same username). That forum is a gold mine of information for modifying NAs and NBs, with NCs starting to make appearances in recent years.

oh that’s a tough question. My expectation is that I’ll enjoy them for different reasons; The Miata has a very good suspension package and should be smoother, more compliant, while still having a communicative chassis. The Caterham is raw and lively and that’s fun in a different way. In the short term the new BP6D should feel more special with the high compression, ITBs, cams and 8k RPM on the shorter ratio 6 speed. The Caterham would still have a better power to weight ratio, but so far I’ve noticed the engine feels less responsive than the ITB BP6D did. Sorry that I don’t have a clear cut answer for you, but I don’t think there is one. For anyone interested, here is my Miata’s build thread: https://www.miataturbo.net/build-threads-57/scooter-miata-journey-itb-noises-108848/ It’s a 2170lbs car, with a VVT engine swap, ITBs and headers. Lots of chasis and suspension work. Made 132whp and built with the Lotus 26R as my vision. I’m expecting the new engine to make around 180whp.

Oooff. I would rather not think where the rest of this dipstick may be. I’m going to go with “the PO fished it out”. I spent time yesterday setting the ride height. The front shocks were maxed to the low setting. Measured heights were 130mm front, and rear was about 150mm. The sump had 75mm to the ground. It now sits around 140mm front and 165mm rear with me in the seat. I’m going to raise the front a smidge more and lower the rear to hit the recommended 10-15mm rake. Went on a small drive today for a shake down and the front felt more compliant than before which is good for our mountain roads. Mom approves.

Didn't know it had ECU controlled fuel pressure. That's neat. Just a few days ago HP Tuners released full support for the SVT Focus while I had a ticket opened with them about it; fortuitous timing! But I'm going to let it bake a little longer and get a feel for the car and tune first. It honestly drives well aside from a bit of kangarooing at very light throttle, and constant pops on decel which I can do with a little less. Good to know on the Raceline sump and dipstick. Feeling better about it all after the input in the thread. and thank you!

Great points, thanks for that. I will follow up with him and ask how he arrived at his conclusion, but it seems it is somewhere in the ballpark of accurate. Thank you! It is well kept, and the battle scars it wears make me feel at ease when I track it Thanks for the reminder. I should check the transmission and diff fluid. I plan to change from Mobil 1 to Valvoline VR1 or Amsoil and when that change happens I'll measure how much comes out and go from there. No problem. I've been reading on Focus Fanatics that SCT is the current software available when used with an older dongle, but at this time I don't want to invest in a new tuning suite. I'll give it some time and see how the engine runs the next couple of months before making a choice.

I appreciate the info, Croc! Sent you a PM with the VIN. The ECU seems to be an Oak unit as you described. I did connect to the OBD port with HPTuners’ VCM Scanner and read the fault codes you mentioned (EVAP code etc.), no faults related to the engine. What I mean to say is that I couldn’t run a datalog, although I didn’t try with the engine running, only ignition on-engine off. The VCM Editor, the tuning side of the software, was not able to read the firmware or OS though. Do you know which software I could use for tuning on my own?

Thanks for confirming the pressure is within reason . Yep, it is about halfway between red and 2 bar. Oil is Mobil 1 5w-30, ~4.5 qts based on notes from PO I just went through. And here is a picture comparing the length of both dipsticks. Yellow handle is the one that shows full. Oil isn’t registering in the shorter one.

Thanks! Here you go

Friday I picked up a Caterham with the Ford SVT motor from a local autocrosser in New Mexico. I have been interested in Sevens since I first rode, and eventually drove one in 2020. I have a few questions I could use help figuring out, and forgive me if my search-foo has failed me: 1) How can I tell if this is an imperial or a metric chassis? It is registered as a 2007 Caterham SV, but the VIN indicates a 2006 code. I don't know how to tell the difference between brazed and tig welds. I was told it was metric, but found a spare set of blinker covers with paperwork indicating it's possibly imperial. 2) What is the correct way to check the oil level on the raceline sump? The dipstick in the engine is too short (seems broken), but the PO included another OEM dipstick that he used to check the level. The part number is 978M6750DA and seems to be an OEM Ford Focus dipstick that crosschecks to an SVT motor too. Using said dipstick the oil level is at the max mark. 3) The reason for my dipstick question is that after driving today I noticed the oil pressure hovering right above the red mark at hot idle, which should be around 1.2 or 1.4 bar if the scale is linear (17-20psi). Pressure climbs to 4 or 5 bar by 3k RPM. Is this normal oil pressure for this engine and this wet sump? It's about the same as my Miata at hot idle if the gauge is correct, but want to verify. 4) Any information on how to access the ECU and adjust the calibration is highly welcomed. HP Tuners says on their website that the SVT is supported, but when I tried to read the PCM with my MPVI4 it did not work. Scanning/Datalogging reads the ECU as a Ford unit, but wasn't as useful as others I've worked with. I need to address some maintenance items right away (timing belt, valve cover gasket, and radiator) then I want to track and autocross with it a few times this year. Very excited to have a Seven and join the community!