xflow7

In college there was a putrid green-colored Mitsubishi Eclipse with the plate: BABYPUK

Not sure whether to offer congratulations or condolences, but either way, I hope it's off to a good home and that it won't be long before you're back in a Seven!

Not to get off onto too much of a tangent, but I very much believe that. My car (with a lightly done MWE motor) is 135HP and 1150 lbs (260BHP/tonne). I'm sure they could build a 155HP-160HP motor without getting too crazy. And I estimate I could easily take 50-75 lbs out of the car by dropping the spare, lightweight seats, cycle wings etc. That gets you up around 320 BHP/tonne.

MWE-massaged crossflow = yummy.

Keep in mind that Hagerty doesn't actually underwrite the policy themselves; they work with various other underwriters to actually insure the cars. Hagerty is really just an issuer in between. Therefore, I suppoose depending on which underwriter(s) they work with in a given state, the precise terms of the policy could vary from state to state.

Well, it is now unclear whether or not I will be able to bring the Seven. When I went in to finalize the title/registration process and they pulled up the VIN that New York state assigned me it came up as a 2001 custom orange motorcycle so they couldn't title it. Not Amused!:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: Somehow, these morons managed to either assign the same number to two different vehicles, or entered a typo when computerizing the information for the motorcycle. They put the sticker with that number on my car and I have the piece of paper signed by the czar of Custom registrations saying the VIN number is mine, so I'll get it ultimately, but they won't let me complete the process until they've contacted the owner of the motorcycle and suspended his title. The incompetence of this particular division of the NYS DMV is beyond belief.

Another common one is, "Is that a Morgan?" I'm dying to come across a Morgan somewhere so I can run up to the owner and say, "Oh wow. Is that a Caterham?" :jester:

Fortunately, pretty much anywhere you park a Seven turns into a show of some sort or other. I am with Hagerty as well and have been very happy with them. Their customer service has always been great and they came through when I had a big claim (on my way back from a club meet!)

I figured that was the sound your car made at idle: VDUB-VDUB-VDUB-VDUB-VDUB... :crazy:

I say it's a kit, but as alluded to by someone else that invariably leads to "What's the chassis?" and the ensuing discussion that it does not use a donor chassis. Relatively few people understand when you say it's a Ford Kent or Crossflow, so then I'm into explaining that it's a Pinto engine, but no, not the OHC one, etc, etc and eventually I always end up with, "It's basically a Formula Ford engine," which doesn't usually illuminate anything for anyone but satisfies them as it sounds racecar-y and more impressive than "Pinto." I get, "Is it real or is it a kit?" fairly frequently, which of course are not exclusive. A friend of mine took his Zetec-powered Caterham into a Ford dealership to have them scan the codes when his fuel system was acting up. The woman at the counter just could not get her head around why this gentleman with the funny looking car was at the Ford dealer asking to see a technician. Finally to get anywhere with her he had to resort to, "Look, it's a Focus with a body kit." :jester:

All registered for my Seven and a camping spot. I'll probably take a half day Friday and arrive in the late afternoon or early evening. Will spend Saturday on the grounds/socializing/:7fume:/etc. and drive back either Sat. night, or first thing Sunday morning. Looking forward to seeing/meeting everyone. :cheers:

I know. I've had it registered in two other states, so am used to the anxiety. What makes this one frustrating is that it's turned into a fiasco mostly because the DMV screwed up when I first attempted to register it last summer, and then subsequently had two different groups telling me different things in order to try to recover. But, I think I'm in the home stretch.

Be aware that the standard Caterhams since sometime in the late '70's or early '80's have a cockpit something like 1.5"-2" longer than the original Lotuses through an adjustment of the rear cockpit bulkhead. No meaningful difference in width, though.

I added another 50 today. But it was an important 50... My car has passed NY State Inspection! :cheers: So, one step closer to it finally being properly registered. With a bit of luck, a stop in at the DMV tomorrow will sort it for good and I'll be able blatting with impunity. :hurray:

I have a standard chassis (with bench seats) purchased a bit before the SV came out. I am not quite 6'1" and 180-185lbs. Though I don't have much extra space, it's not really cramped per se. I've sat in (not driven) an SV and there is a considerable amount more room. This was after I'd had my car for a couple of years, but having sat in the SV I preferred the 'coziness' of the standard chassis. For me, personally, it adds to the experience a little. But this is very dependent on your build and personal preference. Best advice if you can is to sit in and drive both and see what you think. As pk says, it's quite difficult to tell them apart. They did a nice job maintaining the proportions of the car with the SV. Dave

Al, All three of those options sound like fun. As far as a meal, my preference would be to check out local fare rather than chains (although I say that not knowing what any of those places might be like!) Dave

Where are you camping? I was thinking of doing so as well.

Definitely not a Caterham. Construction around the dash is all wrong. For reference, here is a look under the skin of my chassis during repair: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1738841712_RepairPic1.jpg

All the mentions of 1600 and 1700 xflows in Caterhams I've ever seen have run either 45F9 or 50F9. If you feel like idle is a little lean, you could try going to a 50F9. Another approach I've seen mentioned (but not seen any results reported for) is to go to a richer F# (air drilling) in the same family. Note F#'s are not logically numbered. F9 is sort of 3/4 the way from lean to rich and I think F12 and F16 are both richer. So maybe 45F12 or 45F16. For reference, I have summaries of a couple of jettings used in the 1600 Classic spec from Caterham (100bhp): Setup 1 --------- Choke 30mm Aux 4.5mm Main 110 Air 180 Emul. F16 Idle 50F9 Pump 35 Setup 2 --------- Choke 30mm Aux 4.5mm Main 120 Air 215 Emul F16 Idle 45F9 Pump 35

"packed" is pretty vague. I'd almost believe that a truly hard-pack dirt road could have similar friction to asphalt. Having said that, I also believe there's an enormous variation among different asphalts.

Weird. All the text for me is white.

Woah. I even read this post before and was *still* surprised when the new look started loading. Looks good so far although the darker background makes certain icons a little less clear. I like the logo. My tires look nothing like that, though. Thanks to Mazda, Al and the others for pushing the forum and its look forward. :thumbs:

You know, I almost brought Michigan up. I lived in Ann Arbor up until a year ago and there were some nice examples of infrastructure neglect there as well. You live in South Lyon? How long have you been there and with Seven?

I'm impressed! My attempts at welding in college (on steel, no less) left a permanent scar on my self-esteem, lots of weekly joined metal plates and a large burn hole in one shirt just above breast pocket where I stabbed myself with the welding rod while trying to put the mask up.

Welcome. I'm sure Bruton will not go out of business as they've made quite a name for themselves with lots of postive reviews from owners and non-owners alike. We've all been through the anticipation of acquring a car and/or beginning a build and can relate. You'll have a ball. The focus here is LSiS which is a catch all term for any Lotus Seven Inspired Sportscar; whatever that may mean to the participants. As is expected, most on here probably have their personal preferences, but the discourse is as brand-agnostic as you'll find anywhere and provided you have an unhealty obsession with funny looking little cars you'll be welcomed.