Croc

LOL - I wish. On one day last year, with some passengers, Jeff and I were tag teaming our cars around the track and we got to 1.30.9 (Jeff's laptimer measuring) which I remember well as it matched the SCCA Caterham lap record on that track. We only stopped when my passenger decided he was going to vomit as I got airborne on the back straight! Jeff and I were both running street tires. There is an R500 that did a 1.28 on R888 tires (he drives to the circuit). Tires make a huge difference - I could hold onto Tom on the bowl at Lightning on Friday but it was a challenge. I have 3.5 inches less rubber width on each of the fronts and another 1.5 inches less on each of the backs. 10 inches less rubber width around the entire car and he is on slicks compared to my street tires. The tire set up on Tom's car really does make it hang on a lot better through corners and clearly gives the driver enormous confidence.

For that matter, FL is a great state for registering a car - all manner of automotive disasters get registered there, including V8 golf carts, Zimmers, drivable BBQ grills, etc. FWIW Sabbot's Caterham on this forum is also an ex-CT car. But we should all remember that these forums are public and they have been read by at least one state DMV as I found out to my frustration and embarrassment once. Lesson learned from my side. Red Duck - Give me a call on my cell phone - was in an earlier PM to you.

Hi Roman - I understand your situation and you would be very much welcome to come as a spectator and enjoy the fun that seems to happen with a bunch of like minded car guys getting together to enjoy our cars the way they were designed. Just to be clear, there is no racing. None of us will set the world on fire with our speed. There is no timing or prizes for finishing. The real prize is bring the car home in one piece with no damage and having a great social day with a bunch of like minded guys. :seeya:

Its always sad to hear about health issues causing sale of a car by a car guy. My best wishes for getting back to full health and good luck with the sale.

This is the second or third time on this forum I have been called "an enabler"! :rofl: Glad you enjoyed the experience and learned a lot from it. Sorry they changed the rules so I could not take out your son in my car but bring him along with you to another member day with his own car to try the same program. We can arrange a loaner helmet so he does not have to buy one. Look at all the friendly father/son rivalry that could ensue when you outbrake and out handle him! :jester: So when are you coming back? There is Thunderbolt next weekend (big group likely) and Lightning in early June (need to check dates but a nice practice session for the June sevens event!) - all the same format as last Thursday.

While Boxologist has gone with the 90% accurate solution, I used the block number to google an answer on my old Zetec SVT specs and worked off that. That will tell you age and other manufacturing detail. To find it stand at the front of the car, on the right hand side, low down on the block near the bell housing (probably covered in crap), you should find a number beginning with "NGA" (if it is a ZX1 or ZX2). ZX3's and SVT's had a whole bunch of other letter prefixes. From memory, the metal cam cover only came on the ZX2 and the SVT - ZX1 and ZX3 were black plastic. Of course it could have been changed at some point..... The Engine code should get you everything you need to know though when you google it. There is a 2 number stamp at the top of the block but I am not sure what that signifies - never entered my need to know process. While other people found Contour hoses were a good replacement, I took the old ones into Napa and walked out with 90% of the replacements being 2000 Honda Civic hoses as part of a Samco kit when I replaced them on my 2004 SV Zetec SVT I would recommend taking the old in to at least try for a good match. Once you know what works then Rock Auto becomes a really good online source for the future.

The better question to ask is whether Mike is in New Jersey? The answer is I am trying to work out if I am back from London. Stevie still has his car and has decided not to sell. His last tire kicker was disappointed to find out that not all orange cars are Lamborghinis....

That looks like an open invite to take the piss! :rofl: Just wait!

Hi Roman - Where is Goldie going to call home in the North East? Another PA car?

Which Nota did you buy? The Fang, the Clubman (although I believe they call it something else now), or the F1? All are very much 'sevenesque' IMHO that you should not want your own section unless you really want keep yourself company? Sevens are sufficiently broad in character between the different types/brands that I think a Nota would fit within the spectrum of sevens. Photo post time Its been many years but I once went out to the Nota workshop in Dural (northwestern suburbs) in Sydney Australia. Fascinating place. How did a Nota end up in the US?

Why oh why would you need to save a few tenths of a second on a track day? While I have left foot braked during races I found the benefits marginal at best on do not bother any more. It just gives more wear and tear on the car for no advantage. You would be better off focusing on carrying higher speed through the corners and getting on the power earlier.

Heavy shoes! :toetap05::jester:

The X Bow is 1700lbs dry before driver and fuel. My CSR is 1270lbs dry. 100hp is not a lot to deal with the extra weight penalty. Also aero does slow top speed slightly. The 485 is probably hp per ton if it is following the past R500 nomenclature?

Hi Paul - Have you also posted in the Birkin Yahoo forum? Quite a few owners there who do not come on here.

Give George Alderman at Midatlantic Caterham a call. He can supply skid plates for Caterhams. Refer link below: http://www.midatlanticcaterham.com/parts_se.htm The link page above has a further link to a photo. While the Caterham UK parts catalog shows a CSR sump guard, when it was ordered for my CSR we discovered it does not actually fit the car. Anyway, it was only a piece of steel tube that in theory would take the brunt of any impact but in reality was never going to be that effective. To avoid any sump issues I had my ride height set at the high end of the road setting. Still handles great and I have never had an impact. There have been some fairly big road hazards on I-78, I-95 and in Manhattan that I have been lucky in being able to dodge/clear. You could also give George Alderman a call (refer link above) and ask him to supply one. It would not reduce existing ground clearance in any meaningful way.

The circuit map on page one of this thread had elevation points at various spots on the circuit.

I have used American Collectors on my seven previously a few years back. They were good but never really had much dealings with them beyond the policy set up. They are a good alternative to Hagerty/Grundy in NJ. They have to insure classic cars in NJ as they are based in Cherry Hill, NJ!

People forget that auto and home insurance is not federally regulated unlike banking. So each state is different for insurance regulations and operations. Insurance policies are unique by state for that reason. NJ is not an insurer friendly state so the availability of products that suit our cars is more restricted than other states where the state governments take a more business friendly approach.

Gorgeous! I am a sucker for classic lines on a car. What engine spec powers it?

Hi Stewart - I use Chubb Insurance for everything except the Caterham. Chubb would insure it but for a premium of $2500 per year and must keep it under 3000 miles annually. This is insurance code for "we do not want the risk." They had no problems with the agreed value insurance on the 1965 mustang. So I use Grundy (MGA for Philly Gen) for the Caterham as Hagerty required a 24 hour security service before they would insure the Caterham. I work in insurance and I think Chubb are very good and I would recommend them highly. They were excellent during my claim last year when the steel pipe took out my Audi (and very nearly me!). If you want to chat with a good Chubb agent close to you - I can send you details offline. I still think your best bet is with a specialist classic car insurer. State Farm, Allstate, and Nationwide will not insure Caterhams or other seven replicas in NJ. I had my old seven with State Farm and they changed their underwriting policy and refused to renew despite me having all my other business with them.

Some people are a little overly sensitive I guess :jester: I was not really thinking of him that much....:rofl:

Not sure what the stock offset is for your specific car. As I recall they changed details like that as specifications changed over the years. You can measure your existing wheels if they are Caterham branded wheels? I generally try to keep the offset static when changing wheels as that way you do not run into troubles with the wheels not fitting on the hub or inadvertently widening the track and creating new problems. Not if you are only going up an inch or two. I have seen people put 10 inch rims with sticky slicks on a Caterham and despite how ridiculous it looks there has been no hub failure. The hubs on our Caterhams were off some large sedan. While I am not sure what car your hubs would have originally come from, my rear hubs for example came from a 2000 year VW Passat - so the design strength of these is for a many thousand pounder car - it will handle your modestly increased loads. Yes quite a few people around me have succumbed to "upgradeitus" on their Caterhams because they have a fat wallet and want enough power and torque to move an aircraft carrier or ride on magnesium wheels and 3 lap sticky slicks. By contrast, I have left my car 'stock' to show how modest I am. I have no problems being (one day) passed by someone with 320hp. As an ex-racer I totally agree with your philosophy of just enjoying the track day experience with a few buddies and the beers at the end of the day are full of laughs as we relive the experience. REfreshing my memory, you have a 1700 crossflow now...so say 95-100hp. You are thinking of going up to around 175hp. Caterham says that 8 inch wheels on a new 125hp Supersport is over-tired. But Blatchat says 8 inches is a good size once you get into higher horsepower. I would make the rears 8x13 now and accept that you will be over-tired and have trouble rotating the car on track until you get your power upgrade. I would also suggest that you think about 7x13 on the front - narrowing up the width gap between front and rear is preferable to my mind given your before/after hp range contemplated. I have only run slicks on pure race cars and not a seven as I don't think you need it with a seven which rewards an element of slide in how it handles a track, so I defer to someone else here.

Website says 25 per group max. Thats not too bad given the sevens group will actually make a good chunk of the group actually being able to carve a corner nicely instead of a luxe-barge wobbling its way around. I am really looking forward to seeing a swarm of buzzing sevens divebombing some poor helpless Corvette/BMW/Porsche/etc.

13 inch wheels are better for the seven generally - less unsprung weight, handling, etc. plus I was not happy being stuck with Avon CR500s given the Avon supply chain problems and financial issues. Originally I had fronts 7x15 shod with 195/45 and rears of 9x15 shod with CR500 5/40. I am going to 7x13 with ZZR 185/55 and 9x13 with ZZR 215/55. Avon UK has ok'ed the 215/55 going on the 9x13 rims and they have a good track record on CSRs in UK and Europe. Apparently the ZZRs will be ok up to 9.5inch wide rims. This ZZR solution does drop the diameter by 0.9 inch on the front and 0.4 inch on the rear. The rear rolling circumference is a reduction of 1.3 inches. Modelling shows I lose 3-4mph from Vmax so 138mph down to 134mph. Given my GPS logged fastest on any track has been 131 mph I dont think I will be too concerned about this. It has to be a really long straight to cause me Vmax problems - maybe VIR as it wont be at NJMP. Critically the new race hub solution does open up the way for slicks to be mounted on the CSR in the future. Worst case I have to change the final drive ratio from 3.62 to the standard UK CSR ratio of 3.45 or regular Caterham of 3.38. I will worry about that once my new getrag gets delivered. :leaving: I am keeping the 15 inch wheels and Avon CR500s as a road wheel/tire combo but Avon can also give me a 175/55/R13 or a 205/55/R13 or 245/50/R13 which do not change diamater or circumference for road purposes. Kumho and Yokohama also become brands that will be open to me. I will probably not get this all done in time for our June sevens event but thats ok as I have a few other "upgrades" that take priority.

Excellent news (and excellent driving by you!) - I just bought some Avon ZZRs and 13 inch rims for my car!