Croc

Strangely, the wiring under the scuttle stays well protected. Once fully sorted, these cars are quite durable - far more than you expect. Where you have to watch out for in monsoonal conditions is: 1) The well on the cam cover for the coil on plug connections for a Duratec/Zetec gets a lot of water sitting in there and a little bit will seep through and will cause the car to develop an engine miss. Mine was - really did not like idling. So you have to warm it up well for the heat to evaporate any water leaking through. The Vauxhall engine may be a better design but it depends if the water can leak under that plastic cover. 2) The alternator pulley bearing loses its grease in wet conditions and the bearing starts to fail. You hear the noise developing as the bearing starts to fail. I need to replace mine again... Otherwise, I find things work fine in those conditions.

Congratulations on your new purchase! Good to see you found a Caterham after your searching. If you want a gentle introduction to HPDE this year then this event is coming up: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?12584-Save-the-Date-2020-Annual-Sevens-HPDE-Event-at-NJMP-October-8-10-2020

This sounds like it? http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?8598-New-Birkin-S3-FS-in-PA

Sadly no. There were two reasons: - we needed the camber reduced - I only had slicks and it was very wet. Next date to aim for is August 27 provided weather cooperates.

Cars are loaded and heading home

Congratulations on the sale! Where is the new owner located? Is he on this forum?

NEW Replica https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/d/arvada-1979-lotus/7176720676.html Locost https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/d/lynnwood-lotus-seven-7-classic-for/7175025959.html REPEATS Wharton 7 https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1299993/1978-lotus-seven-for-sale-in-cadillac-michigan-49601 Caterham https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1363082/2004-caterham-seven-for-sale-in-newport-beach-california-92660 Lotus 7 S2 https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lotus/super-seven/2409828.html and here http://www.motorcarcompany.com/1963-lotus-seven.html Caterham https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lotus/caterham/2416012.html Lotus 7A https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/lotus/7a/2388210.html Lotus 7 S2 https://vintageracecarsales.com/portfolio-view/lotus-7-america-vintage-race-car/ Stalker http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/lotus/1437589044/1437589044ss.htm Caterham http://britauto.com/portfolio-view/201216-nos-caterham-sv-roadsport/ Caterham http://britauto.com/portfolio-view/2000-caterham/ Mitsuoka Zero https://www.duncanimports.com/used/Mitsuoka/1994-Mitsuoka-Zero1-cb265bd50a0e08b907465681642548f8.htm Caterham http://www.beachmanracing.com/inventory Caterham http://sodo-moto.com/listings/caterham-7-2/ and here https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ctd/d/seattle-1979-caterham-super-seven-lotus/7174491471.html Caterham http://rockymountaincaterham.com/inventory/ Lotus 7 S2 https://www.fantasyjunction.com/inventory/1964-lotus-super-7-series-2/overview Lotus 7 S2 http://thesmiekelcollection.com/1967-lotus-super-seven/ Stalker https://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-Replica-Kit-Makes-Brunton-Stalker/303647971069?hash=item46b2d456fd:g:FwsAAOSw4dxeD8lq Westfield https://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-Westfield-Seven/254682598045?hash=item3b4c440a9d:g:dMoAAOSwKDVfA58n Birkin https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/cto/d/fort-collins-birkin-s3-lotus-7-lotus/7163087830.html Westfield https://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/d/pompano-beach-1992-westfield-sei-lotus-7/7172051183.html Stalker https://olympic.craigslist.org/cto/d/carlsborg-stalker-6-lotus-7-replica/7164845686.html Diva https://prescott.craigslist.org/cto/d/prescott-1962-lotus-roadster/7171309214.html Stalker https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/d/carmel-1962-lotus-super-7/7173691388.html CANADA Replica https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/oshawa-durham-region/fast-and-fun/1507773740 Replica https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-other/owen-sound/lotus-7-clone-kit/1517701608 MCC 7 Project https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/mississauga-peel-region/mcc-super-7-unfinished-car-detailed-version/1503983466 Westfield https://www.kijiji.ca/v-autos-camions/laval-rive-nord/westfield-replique-lotus-7/1514071520 Replica https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/city-of-toronto/lotus-7-replica/1508403000 Replica https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/portage-la-prairie/lotus-supper-seven/1510217779

Who is interested in Watkins Glen for September 4-5-6? Need a good Seven contingent.

Alas, no it did not. The new Covid Croc is on a strict diet. He has lost 10% of his weight and can see his feet and his little tinkle for the first time in a decade or two. So he is also faster.... :-p

LOL Bill. I had standing water in my footwells - about an inch. One of the track workers asked if I wanted to borrow his shotgun to create some drainage holes.

Update - so I switched myself back to open session without the pace car. Then as a dry line on the track was developing, I went out straight after lunch.... ....and then the rain started. Was not bad initially. But I noticed it was getting worse and cars started heading into the pits. So I was left out there with just one other car But then he puckered his seat fabric with a very wild aquaplaning moment. And that just left me. It was wild. The car was aquaplaning all over the place. Standing water anywhere near track edges. A river ran through the track edges. So I decided I should give it away and call it a day. I was soaked - trail of soggy clothes on the way to the shower. Still it was an enjoyable two days at VIR.

Sadly today has been a weather shocker. Monsoonal at points this morning. So as everyone has disappeared or started drinking I signed up for the Touring Lites group and followed the pace car to learn wet lines. Only two of us out there so it has been great.

I’m shocked I tell you, shocked!!!! I would never have guessed that’s why you spray off into the scenery.

Thats not really a fair comparison. When you start testing a car you take things carefully and probe the edges of its capabilities and work carefully towards expanding them. So neither driver yesterday pushed the throttle fully to the floor. The negative camber made it very lively into turn 1 so pushing it was just going to lead to an off. I suspect weather will prevent me from running the BMW today as I do not have wet tires. We agreed beforehand we should not be running it in the wet at this stage as setting it up for dry is more meaningful. I never push hard on a new track - I have a routine for learning every new track when driving it for the first time. I memorize the map. Then I spend hours watching video until I can drive it in my mind mentally. Then I walk the track or walk the perimeter. Then back to videos to study. Then I go out at the back of an intermediate group, using only 5th gear and just focus on lines and braking markers. I rarely if ever use full throttle. Speed comes later once I have the lines sorted. VIR is going to be like Spa-Francorchamps or Portimao circuits in that it will take 2 days for me to get to grips with it. Its very technical and so it takes time to finesse the lines - particularly in the turns 1-2-3-4-5 section as messing up just one corner messes up all the ones following. The Caterham was also an interesting lesson. First session was on 13 inch slicks and I discovered that certain kerbs were not to be used, e.g. climbing esses, as they severely upset the car. The rear end would step out at the middle ess needing quick wheel work. Staying off the kerbs kept the car far more settled although required more steering precision to smoothly thread the needle. I switched to the 15 inch Avon ZZRs for the rest of the day as it threatened rain, kept off the kerbs that were problematic and the car was far happier plus I could rotate the car better with some slide. I was getting up the climbing esses fairly slowly at around 100mph - roughly same speed at top as bottom which is how it should be driven. I should be able to add 10-20mph on top of that. No idea of top speed on the back straight as I was not monitoring and my speedo does not register over 100mph. The big cars (Corvettes, Porkers, McLaren) really do come past you so much quicker, I expect they are doing a good 30-40mph faster than me. But then I can hang on the back of those cars down through Rollercoaster/Hog Pen section before losing them on the pit straight where they just boogie off again. Its a magnificent track. Its old school design. Great elevation changes. Its likely to make my top 5 race tracks I have driven. I think I will have to work out how to come back when there is better weather.

It’s stopped raining and dried out on track but my sessions passed and so I am done for the day. Shower time and head to the tavern for a cold drink or five. Very successful day. A short list of problem items to fix but nothing bad. The biggest job is to drop the front uprights and remove a degree of camber. Here is to the weather cooperating tomorrow.

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Meanwhile at VIR.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alf is still around living in Topeka Kansas and is involved in bringing along the next generation through his involvement in a karting Center.

So I have been happily playing with the Caterham.

Ray and Allen have driving duties today. We have a list of items to remediate but not a bad list all things considered. First session saw us puzzling with what looked to be coolant under the rear of the car. It turned out the oil catch tank valve was open which was fun to clean up. The dry sump tank and oil catch tank has to be mounted in the trunk given the size of it.

Wow - what a track. Very technical. Lots of blind sight lines coming into corners. Three sessions in and still learning the lines. Taking it easy. Old school and loads of fun.

But you are a vet!

Why hasn’t this sold? Great value. Looks fantastic - the Lambo orange color suits a seven really well. Good spec. I think I drove this exact car back when George A had it. It deserves a good home.

Redline is 8500. But really no point going much beyond 7-7500 based on the power and torque curves. Normal intake would have been different as the quick ones ran Kugelfischer fuel injection. These are unobtainium now so the workaround is Weber carbs. Better mid range and more flexible but not as good in the top end as the fuel injection. I have the video gear. Plan to put a camera in with Ray.