Croc

Oh come on Bill. That would be sensible. Two had offs and came in for a counseling session - Seb and Vlad

Bit frosty this morning.

Sorry for poor quality but I was doing this on an iPhone. Some other photos of yesterday.

Awards given out last night at dinner since most will be leaving after the day today BC and not staying for dinner. Mechanical Sympathy Award - Jim for having a failed starter precisely at the time of first session starting. The Golden Skidmarks award for biggest on track oops went to Tom C for two spins into lots of mud during the first session The Most Stylish Use of Hands in a Moving Vehicle was to Graham for his elegant point bys. No photo for some reason Steve was the the worthy winner of the Best Directions in a Moving Vehicle - an award for good clean lines on track. The last award was the Lipstick Award. Something about “lipstick” (i.e. painted nose bands on a seven) was won by Vlad. Some else will have to explain it. But he did get a stick of lipstick and had it applied during dinner.

It’s cold here tonight. Down in the 30s. Paul (Wemtd) is camping. I did offer my garage! It’s heated. Tom C and Ottalie are in an RV outside my garage. But they seem to have heating. Brutal tonight I have just discovered it is frog mating season. Bit noisy here.

Great evening over dinner and way too many drinks. We stayed outside for safety with Covid.

Some track photos

Now of course Seb was caught cleaning his car after the first session This was an instant award of the polisher award His only concern was the choice of color. He wanted it red to match the car. By the way, that is a handbrake...

So first session was interesting: - three spins - 6 cars came in under black flags - some counseling sessions in the pits. Our guilty ones

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well...it’s been a very good day here at NJMP. Started off cold. But as the day has gone on it has warmed up. Brilliant sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky. We all survived the day quite well. Only one injury - me - when I face planted push starting Jim. These are some photos I took with my iPhone. Paige (Vlad’s better half) took many photos with her digital SLR but we have to wait for those.

Right, I am moving to Utah! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tom’s leaving Florida today and driving north. Will get to my place on Friday some time. We can bring this post to his attention then.

Not sure to be honest. There is room in the parking lot for trailers - go in the terminal B entry and you do not have to go through the multi story garage. I assume the parking gate will stay up long enough for a trailer? Probably should see if the newark airport website has any guidance re parking trailers. Actually before you even do that I would see if they have availability when you want - it’s not always available since it is pretty popular.

Congratulations Jim! Looks beautiful. You have a nice part of the world to enjoy your Caterham.

I do not have the schedule yet but the day before they send it out to you directly via email. It may also be on the TrackRabbit site under your registration as an attachment

15 min response testing at Newark airport, you go past it on I-95/Jersey Turnpike. Google Xprescheck and see what time slots they offer. Terminal B, level 3 before security. THis is the one I use if I need testing. CVS only tests local residents - so you would need to wait until you got home which does not work for you. RiteAid in Vineland offers covid testing. Appointment required but they test anyone. http://www.riteaid.com has details Other options come up if you google "rapid covid test millville nj"

I have always had good results with Intercity Lines. Tried many others and they do not measure up to Intercity.

Hi Dave - Glad it helped. This forum is not like the Corvette forum. We have to keep the odd rowdy Texan under control but they are mostly harmless. We all just want to have fun and we love spending other people's money! I live in the NYC area. I have lived in the UK twice in my life, amongst many other countries. My association with the UK currently is that normally I travel there 6-12 times a year. Only 3 times this year before everything shut down in March. So thats why I keep a Caterham in the UK in addition to my ones here.

Congratulations to Paul (Seschm 1234) on buying WCM Ultralite S2K to replace the Caterham CSR he sold several years back. This weeks finds: NEW Lotus 7 S2 https://york.craigslist.org/cto/d/york-1962-lotus-seven/7210813804.html REPEATS Mitsuoka Zero https://www.duncanimports.com/vehicles/547/1994-mitsuoka-zero1-roadster Caterham http://britauto.com/portfolio-view/201216-nos-caterham-sv-roadsport/ Caterham http://britauto.com/portfolio-view/2000-caterham/ Caterham https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lotus/caterham/2416012.html Caterham http://www.beachmanracing.com/inventory Caterham http://rockymountaincaterham.com/inventory/ Lotus 7 S2 https://thesmiekelcollection.com/1967-lotus-super-seven/ Lotus 7 S2 http://www.motorcarcompany.com/1963-lotus-seven-s2-1500-cosworth-2dr-roadster-for-sale-at-motor-car-company-in-california.html and here https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lotus/super-seven/2409828.html Lotus 7A https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/lotus/7a/2388210.html Stalker http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/lotus/1437589044/1437589044ss.htm Stalker https://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-Replica-Kit-Makes-Brunton-Stalker/303721304918?hash=item46b7335356:g:FwsAAOSw4dxeD8lq Westfield https://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-Westfield-7/254744837866?hash=item3b4ff9beea:g:dMoAAOSwKDVfA58n Replica https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1382221/1979-lotus-seven-for-sale-in-arvada-colorado-80005 Wharton 7 https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1299993/1978-lotus-seven-for-sale-in-cadillac-michigan-49601 Lotus 7 S2 https://vintageracecarsales.com/portfolio-view/lotus-7-america-vintage-race-car/ Westfield https://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/d/pompano-beach-1992-westfield-sei-lotus-7/7199135243.html Birkin https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/cto/d/fort-collins-birkin-s3-super-7-lotus-7/7202500290.html Lotus 7 S2 https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/d/lake-oswego-lotus-super-s2-rare/7207129716.html Birkin https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/ctd/d/mesa-1990-birkin-s3-seven-sprint-lotus/7210727781.html Stalker https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/d/carmel-1962-lotus-super-7/7195367678.html Diva 7 https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/cto/d/prescott-diva-roadster-1962-lotus/7197841655.html CANADA Chassis project https://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-auto-parts-and-accessories/st-catharines/vintage-race-car-frame-lotus-super-7/1525500819 MCC 7 project https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/mississauga-peel-region/mcc-super-7-unfinished-car-detailed-version-relocated/1503983466 No updated listing for next week as I will be participating the USA7s gathering at NJMP.

A raft of other mods being done include: LED rear fog and reverse lights from Car Builder Solutions to replace the caravan trailer lights A proper Caterham nose badge – not the fridge magnet looking one Rear stop lights replaced with Just Add Lightness LED light clusters Passenger footwell fire extinguisher – Element E50 with carbon fiber mount Upgraded horn – Hella Supertones. Excellent for getting pesky Porsches out of my way. Works superbly on my current CSR. Inertial cut off switch removed. Given the switch requires me to be upside down with engine running and unconscious for it to operate, I think we can delete it safely as I am more likely to be deeply embedded in a tree. Carbon fiber bow tubes Carbon fiber nose whiskers Custom oil catch tank in carbon wrap instead of the Caterham supplied cheap plastic washer bottle Map pockets (stores phone or logbook while driving) Carbon fiber “chin” for nose cone – improves aero by reducing front end lift Engine hour meter Carbon fiber rear wing protectors 12V and USB sockets for the cockpit 6-point FIA belts Diff breather and catch tank (my current CSR blows a lot when it gets hot) High mounted rear brake light Odyssey PC680 battery with the manufacturer mounting tray. Ultimately, I will have it all covered in 3M clear bra to stop stone chips. The build proceeds although Covid-19 has slowed things down. The current problem is getting a Caterham wiring harness to talk with the upgraded ECU. Having the UK shut down with their infection issues has made this challenging. Likely requires engineering a connection solution from scratch – not an easy task I am the first to admit. I have not been back to the workshop since December 2019 so sorry no updated photos at this time. Will be out there again next month and will stop by to get them then.

Once it was in Seattle in late 2019 the magic could begin. The next stage of specification was: 2.5L Duratec. High quality build. JE pistons. Carillo rods. ARP studs. Compression 12.5:1 Initial dyno at 327hp @7400rpm. Redline will be 8000+rpm. Gear change will be at 7200rpm based on expected torque curve. 100 Octane fuel. 6000 mile refresh interval. A further dyno tune will be needed with its final ECU map once all has been installed in the car – I expect there is another 10hp in the engine once final map is done. 380hp was an option but the trade off was refresh life plus I know from experience there is a law of diminishing returns in a Caterham in terms of putting power down plus getting around a corner with no aero. Clearly the fuel pump is upgraded from standard. Inline fuel pressure gauge to assist any problem diagnosis in the future. Upgraded fuel lines and regulator. For intake the Cosworth roller barrels are used as per standard CSR260. A ram air intake in carbon fiber from Reverie. Oil cooler instead of the regular modine to manage the fearsome oil temps on track the CSR260 is known for. Sadev 6 speed sequential. Ratios (to be confirmed) 1st 2.071. 2nd 1.6. 3rd 1.3. 4th 1.095. 5th 0.95. 6th 0.828. Final drive will be 3.62:1 Theoretical max is over 175mph at redline in 6th gear. Being realistic, with enough runway, 150-160mph is the likely max once aero is factored in. Diff is a SPC/Tracsport with the aforementioned 3.62:1 ratio. Given the power being put through this rear end, the diff bracing has been considered and beefed it up. The road car rear uprights are removed and replaced with the CSR race uprights. This removes the ability to have a handbrake but who needs that – I just light the tires up to rotate the car in its own length. Parking? Ummm…. The delivery from Caterham included an upgraded brake master cylinder but Bruce also upgraded the rear brakes to the CSR race spec plus fitted a proportioning valve. Front brakes remain standard. The standard Caterham MBE ECU is removed and an MBE 9A9 ECU installed. This is a full motorsport spec ECU. Capable of OBDII. It integrates engine with dash and gearbox for full electronic coordination. This is useful as we are using the AIM MXS digital dash with logging capability. Will include gear indicator, customizable displays, shift lights. Will even integrate with an AIM SmartyCam. To do the digital dash, I have bought a new blank carbon dash and worked with Bruce to design a nice clean layout. Switchgear will be 620R style with metal toggles and those U-shape elements that sit alongside the toggle. Using the upgraded ECU and digital dash allows us to install launch control, traction control and an inline throttle blipper for downshifts. Traction control will likely come in handy. The car will also have ABS ability on its brakes. To change gears the standard Caterham lever disappears. Paddle shifters via Meteor Motorsports/SBD are installed. These integrate smoothly with the Sadev and interact with the ECU/digital dash. Because suspension is such a big part of the CSR’s success, Meteor Motorsport supplied the Tractive 3-way active damper/suspension kit. Touchscreen controller for the cockpit with 4 presets for suspension set up. This allows you to set up for dry (hard), wet (soft), tires going off front or back. It then actively manages the suspension around those presets based on yaw/acceleration. Having driven a car with it fitted at Donington in 2019, I was surprised how good it was – takes you time to stop trying to drive around the car and begin trust it. The suspension’s external reservoirs are mounted nearby. Bruce fabricated some custom removable access panels for the boot area. All of this is based on Meteor Motorsport race spec spring settings of 300lb front and 225lb rear. For grip in the wet or road, I will use the standard road CSR 15 inch wheels with Avon ZZS tires. For dry, I have 13 inch Wesmo BBS wheels with CSR offset – shiny chrome outer ring and gold inners. Hoosiers will be the preferred dry tire for track fun. For seats I went to Tillett on the Isle of Sheppey in the UK. Steve Tillet worked with me to try on all of his seats until I found one that fitted my ample proportions and did not recline me so far that I felt like an orangutang. So 2 x B7XL-47 seats in carbon fiber were ordered. The aluminum inward facing seat brackets were sourced from Tillet and mounted to the Caterham seat runners for adjustability. To improve seat comfort, I ordered a set of seat pads from Oxford Trimming in the UK – they do the leather seating and center console cover work for Caterham. Diamond quilted leather with a black stitch. The black nicely hides any accidents I may have. Also from Oxford was a custom leather center console pad to replace the original. Deletes the gear lever opening and handbrake opening. Diamond quilted black leather with a contrasting mid-green stitching.

2021 Caterham CSR - "CatKong" My 2010 Caterham CSR has been an outstanding car – I love it to bits. But over time, many cars it runs with on HPDE events have been getting more powerful. Think about it, at the beginning of the decade Corvettes were 400-500hp, Mustangs were about 350 and Porker 911s were 350-450hp depending on model choice. In these big heavy cars, this hp level equalized out to the 270-odd hp my 2010 CSR had. I was able to keep up in lap time terms despite these cars boogieing off down the straight I could catch them in the braking zone and subsequent corners. 10 years on the equation has changed. Hp in those cars is 700-800 or higher hp. My Caterham CSR can no longer keep up despite having a highly talented driver. In 2017 knowing the UK had tanked their currency for years, reducing Caterham prices substantially, I went to Bruce Beachman of Beachman Racing fame and asked, what would it take to build the most awesome Caterham? After being somewhat taken aback by my unusual request, he got into the spirit of things once he realized my expectations on timing and needing patience were realistic and flexible. This was not going to be your usual quick build. We debated – 620R? CSR with 620R drivetrain? Regular deDion with a Godzilla engine? CSR with Godzilla? There were compromises but we both agreed from our past experiences that the CSR was unbeatable on a track against any other Caterham with the same drivetrain. To paraphrase Bruce, the other chassis’ could potentially match the CSR time but it would be a more fraught task for a very good driver. Eventually, we landed on placing an order for a Caterham CSR with the intent of coming up with a special drivetrain later. The Caterham CSR fell off the product list at Caterham for a bunch of reasons – Arch-made chassis are not cheap plus it is complex which costs more to put together. Probably some other reasons but let’s not go there. However, Caterham never stopped making the CSR – it was still being sold in Switzerland and Australia for local market homologation reasons. So a CSR order could be placed for a roller chassis – waiting time 2 years – longer than the (at the time) 1 year wait list for the deDion chassis Caterham. Deposit down. Fast forward in time. I had been noodling and proceeded to surprise Bruce with some upgraded thinking about ‘shooting for the moon.’ All credit due, he has been quite patient with my surprises. I think he was vaguely ok with being adventurous but was somewhat concerned about my ambition to visit the moon in a Caterham. It required both us to align expectations and recognize that miracles may take a week extra and the impossible just needs that additional month. Unexpected delays were always going to be a feature of this project. Bruce did name the car “CatKong.” However, at his 2019 workshop Christmas party, where I attended, one of his wisecracking customers suggested that “Big Pussy” would be a more appropriate name given that’s what it would turn the driver into. Vinyl lettering in Caterham Firecracker Yellow has been produced with the “CatKong” name. The specs. The order from Caterham was: CSR chassis Color: Body is in Aston Martin Almond Green (2014-17) (Code: AST1140/Ditzler PPG 400525). Nose band is in Caterham Firecracker Yellow. Standard wheels: Caterham 15 inch CSR wheels mounted with Avon ZZS tires. Standard dash (not the curvy one – I had plans here) Carbon fiber front and rear wings Carbon fiber aeroscreen Plumbed in fire suppression system Track day roll bar Painted 7 grille Carbon fiber indicator pods Lowered floors Standard S-type leather seats Uprated brake master cylinder Aero filler fuel cap – black Battery disconnect switch High intensity LED lights with daylight running lights integrated No driveline – comes as a roller from the Caterham Dartford factory.