xflow7

I've wondered about this. My crossflow (supersprint spec) has the heater path blocked off. I've seen that some people put a bypass in place of the heater core and wondered about the ramifications. On first blush it would seem to me that having just a hose bypass could actually worsen cooling because you're replacing a path that provides some (albeit small) cooling capacity of its own (from the heater core) with a low-restriction path that offers no cooling capacity. Whereas, with the heater core connections blanked off, you increase the mass flow through the main radiator which should (in principle) replace some of the lost cooling capacity. I suppose if the engine is operating well within the thermostat's range, then the thermo should just open more to compensate. But, I've never seen any kind of true back-to-back comparison done. It would be really interesting to put a bypass in with a flow control valve and run a few tests with various levels of restriction. bball7754, any clues from the plugs in terms of discoloration and/or damage on the insulators or electrodes? Dave

There's never been a better example than this: http://youtu.be/jv4m41viy4I

I'm not very knowledgeable about it, but from what I've picked up: a) builders like the aluminum head because the softer material makes porting a lot easier. b) I believe setting valve clearances becomes more finicky to what temperature the engine is at when it's done because of the differential expansion of the aluminum head and the steel block/pushrods.

Hi Alan, Unfortunately, I haven't turned up much that would be of use to you. Regarding the fiberglass parts (and others you may need for that matter), I'd start with Caterham USA. As far as I know, the glass parts are generally available gelcoated, at least in the "standard" colors. Caterham USA Phone: 303.765.0247 Email: 7info@caterhamusa.com Dave

I've never used one, but I've heard only good things about the wideband lambda setups from Innovate Motorsports like this one: http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/products/lm2.php I keep getting tempted to pick on up, but there are too many other things on the "to buy" list. Dave

In the comments section the poster indicated they had stopped for a funeral procession. Not sure why that required a full stop (as opposed to just slowing down), but perhaps it was to allow the procession to turn left onto the roadway from a driveway that is out of view.

It's a good point that insurance options and characteristics *do* vary a lot from state to state. In light of that, I'll amend my endorsement of Hagerty to state that my experience with them has been in OH, MI, NY, and VT (the claim was while in Michigan). Dave

I realize that this thread was started in the vein of soliciting suggestions for alternatives to Hagerty, but I'll go ahead and put in my plug for them anyway. My Seven has been insured with Hagerty for 11 years now and I've been very pleased. Every time I have called them they have been responsive and helpful. In that time I had one claim which was quite large after a deer strike. The only minor quibble I had about the claims process was that the adjuster they sent to the shop doing the repairs was versed in classic cars, but more along the lines of hot rods, muscle cars, etc. I think. He was a little out of his depth in assessing the damage to something that is constructed fundamentally differently (i.e. thin-wall tube and aluminum skin). However, we worked through it and Hagerty paid the $15k claim in full without any fuss. Dave

Oh man, that's just terrible. You have my sincere commiserations. When and if you are able to diagnose a root cause I do hope that you will share it on the forum so that we can all make sure to learn from your misfortune. I don't know off the top of my head if I have anything in my parts inventory that will help, but I'll give it a think and shoot you a PM if anything comes to mind. Dave

Looks fantastic and sounds like a pretty interesting foray into the supercar fold. Sniffpetrol nails it re: the name: http://sniffpetrol.com/2013/03/05/laferrari-is-here/ Dave

In fact, actuation of the valves in F1 engines is still via camshafts. What they *do* employ are pneumatic valve return springs, in place of coil springs. As someone who has worked on an advanced engine program, I tend to be pretty skeptical of things like this and the claims that are made. For one thing, when they quote the power and torque increases, the obvious question is whether those have actually been achieved on a test bench and whether they account for the accessory losses of pressurizing the air. All too frequently, people throw out numbers like that recorded from a dyno where, for instance, the air supply is coming from an off-line compressor and thus the energy required for actuation isn't accounted for. The other thing I'd be concerned about is whether their motion profile control is good enough to ensure a soft landing on the valve seat at all engine speeds. For all the downsides of a mechanical camshaft, if you can keep the valve stem in contact with the lobe (stiff spring), you know pretty damn well that you can control how the valve seats. With a good enough servo-pneumatic control system, it should in principle be possible, but it's not trivial. Throw in variables due to seals wearing in the actuators, etc. and it's even more complex. That could have a dramatic affect on component life. Also, the CEO of that Cargine company throws out "a few milliseconds delay" like it's no big deal. 1ms at 10,000rpm is 60 degrees of crank angle. If the phase delay is totally predictable and repeatable, and the engine speed doesn't change too quickly, you can tolerate that, but again it makes life pretty complicated. Anyway, none of that is really to poo-poo the development. It's great that folks are working on that sort of thing and I'd love to see it succeed. It's just that scopes set up on test benches and even lab demonstrations of whole-engine operation can easily make a technology look a lot more feasible or mature than it really is. The idea of replacing camshafts with active control by pneumatic/electromagnetic/electrohydraulic/etc. actuators is not new. It's been a topic of lots of research and development for quite some time (at least 15 or 20 years). There are lots of pitfalls that need to be dealt with. Dave

Glad to hear it. Any chance of some pics of the Redline sump? Thanks, Dave

Hi Steve, Of course your new pan may be different, but I'd be very surprised if you really had to remove the engine to get the pan back on. And you shouldn't have to mess with the engine mounts at all to get the dust shield out (and didn't you already remove it to drop the pan in the first place?) Having said that, it's very likely you'll end up having to tilt the pan around a bit to work it up over the pickup and into place. That's why installing it in situ with the cork/rubber gaskets is such a PITA. But if you go the Right Stuff route, that should be less of an issue. Dave

I have the ca. 1999 manual. If it would be helpful I could scan the wiring diagram for you tomorrow and email it. Only caveat is that the clarity of the "original" in the manual isn't outstanding, and it may suffer a bit more once scanned. Which engine do you have? The wiring diagrams are a bit different. Dave

Glad that worked out for you. Just wait until you try to re-install the new one from underneath while keeping the fore and aft rubber seal sections in place. :willy_nilly: Actually, I'm interested in Bruce's experience using the RTV. I have an irrationally strong aversion to using goo in place of gaskets, but the 4-piece cork/rubber arrangement is a royal PITA (at least with the engine in situ), so I may consider trying that in the future. Pegasus I think has a 4-piece cork set which is evidently also less troublesome than the cork/rubber arrangement, but I haven't tried it yet. Dave

It may depend on the bellhousing/g-box you have. With the bellhousing for the Type-9 5-speed on a Kent, there is an aluminum dust shield that closes off the bellhousing where it hangs behind the oil pan. You can remove this with a couple of bolts into the bottom of the bellhousing and gain access to the rearmost bolts without disturbing the engine at all. You'll need a socket extension to get up to them and they're a bit hidden from view, but you *can* get to them. Not sure if that description made sense! Dave

I was left a little speechless, too. So I posted it here. The Laughing Prisoner definitely sounds like it would be worth checking out.

...when you start Googling Seven related stuff on the internet: :bigear:

That sounds awfully hot. I've always heard the conventional wisdom with crossflows is basically, the cooler the better and people generally run 71C or 82C thermostats in Sevens. Mine starts running poorly much above 85 or 90. Once you're up around 90C, your fan should probably be on - those are usually on 84C or 88C switches, IIRC. Is it? With the fan on, the temp should come down well below 100, at least. If the fan's not on, then you could have a bad fan switch (has happened to me). Alternatively, there's always the possibility of a faulty temp sender or gauge and the engine's not actually that hot. Check the connection at the sender first of all. I think the single-wire temp senders are basically resistance devices and will reflect a bad connection as a high temperature. Dave

As Mike says, very common over in the UK. For what it's worth, Skip Harris (aka MarinaMan) at marinaman@marinaman.org has been very helpful in getting parts for my Ital axle domestically. Dave

That's a nice looking car. It looks as though it has the old-style front suspension and I *think* it looks like drum brakes in the back. So, I'm guessing live axle. Dave

Reminds me a bit of the Black Brick (upper right photo here).

Just want to add my thanks to those in the services. :flag:

I used Passport back when it was still affiliated with Fed Ex Custom Critical (it appears to have been divested back to private ownership) to have my car moved from MI to NY and was extremely pleased. Dave

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I was curious about this so I hunted down the data sheet for the product Seems to me whoever you spoke to in their applications department didn't know what they were talking about. According to their own published tech data sheet, the chemical resistance of HP250 is Very Good or Excellent for most chemicals *except* gasoline which is listed as Poor: [url=http://www.devcon.com/prodfiles/pdfs/fam_tds_185.pdf][/url]http://www.devcon.com/prodfiles/pdfs/fam_tds_185.pdf Dave