Croc

Thanks for clarifying John. The YB engine was what I was thinking of for the Pinto reference I made. I am a little surprised we see so few Westfields for sale - they are really rare yet they have sold a decent number in the US?

Hi Steve The form has disappeared for me. There was nothing really special on there: - in date belts or DOT branded road belts - arm restraints - proper seats - brake fluid fresh - car serviced and in good condition - no leaks - if open top car then it must have a roll bar - battery tied down/secure and terminals covered (ie electrical taped) Some times they have been known to give grief for not having 5-6 pt harness (i.e. they dont like a 4 pt harness) but then I sailed through tech by saying I have the Caterham 4 pt harness and if they did not like that then I also had the DOT 3 point road belts installed. I would be surprised if there is anything your car flunks - it always is immaculate and shiny. I have also covered bases this year by having a spare if anyone has a problem. cheers mike

So I am bored in the office looking at the nuclear explosion of paper on my desk and have happily distracted myself looking at cars! none of these have any affiliation to me - just reposting for the "shoppers" out there. On Fleabay is a repeat appearance of this R500 at Lamborghini Palm Beach. Only a 1000 miles, some price negotiation and this makes more sense than a new Caterham as it has only 1000 miles, has more hp than a new 480, lots of good options and is cheaper. And if you are on the East Coast then it is cheaper to ship than the West Coast and you probably get better customer service since it is a Lamborghini dealership in ritzy Palm Beach. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-Lotus-Caterham-R500-Superlight-/151338569591?_trksid=p2054897.l4275 Here is the ebay listing to the nice BRG and yellow stripe Birkin that Tom posted on this forum section in another thread. I think the Zetec is the slightly higher horsepower SVT version given it appears to have the VCT in the cam cover: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-Birkin-Lotus-7-Reproduction-/191232813219?_trksid=p2054897.l4275 A Brunton Super Stalker still for sale on the mid-Atlantic region. it really should be joining the East Coast Sevens track event this weekend but alas the new owner will have to join us next year: http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/4486842282.html Nice color scheme on this Stalker - looks well done. http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/cto/4477595165.html Locost Seven project that needs work http://elmira.craigslist.org/cto/4494503211.html And a Westfield! These are rare - I have not seen one come up for sale for quite a long time. I think it deserves a name - Barney! $18000 is a good starting price for negotiation. No idea what a Ford Cosworth engine could be? BDR, Duratec, Pinto with hot up pieces? http://columbus.craigslist.org/ctd/4540309638.html An interesting rolling Locost (or similar) chassis for $5000 http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/4542451512.html A complete running Locost for sale for $10k - keen pricing. Sadly no photos: http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/4505006933.html An original 1973 Lotus Seven in RHD. All original features and options. It still has the original wheels. There is even a twink under the bonnet (I think). Lovely looking car that is still a driver. $27k http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/4542053661.html Nice looking Caterham Crossflow on the West Coast from 1997 - $25k http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/4548839776.html

Next year Coffee Break, we want to see you come and join Kitcat mowing the track! Enjoy your long weekend - we will have a drink (or 3) for you!:driving:

My expectation is that Thursday is wet but Friday on into the weekend is good based on survey of the available forecasts. There is considerable variation in the predictor models right now and there are decent odds that Thursday may not be too bad. Ignore the headline screamers like Weather Channel and CNN. Accuweather is anything but. The NOAA data is most reasonable from my past work.

:rofl: And I thought it was just me that did boneheaded moments like that when brain departs body! In case you need more practice videos of Lightning here is last Thursday - not in a seven sorry but the sound is pretty good.

Damn - the man is good! :agree: CSR is now running again. Needs a brake bleed but Steve Snow (Tom's mechanic and NJMP member) has pulled through at the end. Will be there for Thursday. Will give her a wash then. The maroon SV needs another wheel balancing. 13 inch wheels are difficult to get jussssst right. If the new shocks get delivered Monday then we will throw those on as well. Then it is a wash and clean for Thursday and she will be ready. For the Friday I confirmed 2 extra professional instructors to go out with people and give them some pointers to the track. At registration on Friday it will be first in first served for reserving them. There is no additional cost for this - it is included in your fee. They have experience instructing in Sevens and know the track very well. A photographer will be around on either the Friday or Saturday to take a group photo. I think for Saturday we may be at 18 cars - a really great achievement. I have sorted out garage space for people at the Shade Tree garage units adjoining the Lightning Circuit. There should be room for 3 cars (possibly 4 if we park them just right) in a garage which locks overnight. For those who are not towing and driving their cars down it is a 20 min walk from the Pit Suites at Thunderbolt to the garages at Lightning but those with cars can shuttle you there and back in the morning and end of day. I am staying in a "half villa" on the Thunderbolt track so if wives, partners, FWB's, mistresses, kids, etc need a place with an air-conditioned living room with cable TV and wifi during the day then that is available. The villa overlooks the Thunderbolt track so sadly cannot see us running around on Lightning but it is a comfortable place to retreat if they feel like it. How are everyone else's plans coming along with preparing your cars?

Hi Greg I am not sure there are 10 sevens who would want to track within a reasonable drive radius of Thompson. Most of us are centered around mid-Jersey to DC area which makes NJMP a natural focal point. To get the annual sevens event together we have a bunch of people driving long distances (500-1000+ miles) for a 3 day event and even then we are at 15-18 cars. That type of committed travel to an event would not happen if it was a 1 day event. For me I am scheduled to be in London for work at that time, even assuming I wanted to drive my Caterham the 5 hours each way from south Jersey where I keep the car. For the benefit of those reading this post I will say that having seen LTW run a well-organized track day plus the benefits of LTW only accepting cars that actually go around corners happily, it is a good option to go out on track with if a Sevens owner is contemplating this event. Cheers mike

LOL - and here I was being nice about you running low profile race rubber.

After today I have a vague sense of possibly something called optimism that the CSR will be ready for next week along with the maroon Caterham. Both have arm restraints to strap in passengers for a session ride! That said the Mustang dirtied herself yesterday on the Lightning track while chasing a C7 Corvette that did not want to let me past and blew a rear axle seal...sigh....if it is not one car it is the other. :bs: So its Shane's father, Sebastien's wife, Jack, Pete's daughter and....who else needs to get a passenger ride? I need to probably sort out a roster so no one misses out. I can take people, Tom maybe (his car grounds out with a passenger since it is so low :rofl:) and possibly JeffH.

Just a heads up for those that have not registered that from July 2 onwards there is a late fee applied to HPDE registration of $25 per day. I know a few people are trying to time their credit cards but don't leave it too late. For those non driving visitors who have to sign up offline through Tom and myself, please make sure you do let us know you when you are coming and what events. If you do not then you will not be on the security list at the main gate which would be a problem if you want to join us inside.... If you listed your visitor in motorsportreg.com you are fully covered as security gets that list (even if you put TBD like one person did).

Calling Paul - more emails sent plus a PM with my phone number. I am doing this as you are not getting any of my messages from any of the 3 email accounts I have.

Paul - Just got your email and sent out the packet. Thanks for following up. You were in the original distribution email but something went astray somewhere. Let me know if you do not receive the email package this time.

Apologies for my slightly grouchy earlier email but I was stuck in hospital on some pretty heavy pain killers. I resent the registration email from June 6 to Shane and MichaelD which has the relevant attachments showing event organization and navigation instructions. However, while Shane's resent email went through, Michael your resent email is failing to deliver as "domain not found" which suggests your website provider is down. Please PM me a fax number or alternative email address. That said I know you got the original June 6 email as you were able to register with the link that it only available in that email. P

It was in that nice big helpful information memo that some brilliantly intelligent, witty, handsome person wrote that was attached to your registration email....

And if I can get the CSR rolling then I have 2 sevens. Its an uphill battle though...but I am trying.

Come on I know you love a little trailer trash....bats eyelids!

Oh! I thought you had been out trial trailering rather than making it look pretty for photos and not moving. So I assumed I was helping with some trailer trashy talk! :seeya:

Is there something that holds the wheels and tires in their rack so they do not bounce down on top of the car?

I think Tom waxes his legs too for the aerodynamic benefits! :jester:

:rofl: Back to the original question, at Lightning I use gears on my CSR as follows: Main straight - 6th gear T1 - 4th gear but no problems doing it in 5th. Its certainly not a 3rd gear corner. T2 - 5th T3/T4/T5 - 4th (or 5th depending on my mood). T5 I think is safer taken in 5th since the backside of the corner hump helps give you a acceleration boost onto that straight and you are less likely to get caught by the track dropping away which naturally rotates your car combined with you booting the throttle... T6 - 5th and into 6th before T7 T7 - 3rd The straight running up to the bowl - up to 5th Bowl - Either 4th or 5th depending on how I got the run out of T7. If I am in 4th into the bowl then I am changing mid corner to 5th as you run out of revs in the second half. Main straight - changing into 6th around just before the crest of the hill area With your duratec you can skip 4th and will not notice much difference. I have always practiced the single gear approach to a new circuit while I learn lines. You will be able to go around in 6th gear without much trouble although it will be a slower take up out of T7. A 5th and 6th approach to the day feels nicely natural on the car. When you sort out the lines you can add speed by dropping it into 3rd for T7 and then skip back up to 5th later.

I have a similar arrangement to Gert except mine is a tiny 1x1 box section chassis tube that runs across there. I think it works brilliantly well as my feet tend to pivot off that for the pedals and it gives a nice bracing point in high G turns (not on road of course ). One thing to look out for is that if your shoes are wet when you step into the car then the heel will slide on this bar/box tube negating its benefits. I applied skate tape over my box tube to stop that.

In an ideal world you should display your number - painters tape or similar non marking tape is perfect. I have a whole new roll at my garage there and we can use that. I actually forgot to last weekend and drove all day without anyone noticing...oops! :reface: Then again I was the only maroon seven out and about. Steve - I have a spare camera set aside for you and will rig it up either at the bbq the night before or that first morning.

Come on Shane! I have enough cameras and angles to make a porn movie! :cone head: At least for us seveners! I do have some spare cameras and external mics which I will happily mount on some cars so people can get a driving video of themselves and I can use to mix into an event video. Just let me know in advance so I can bring the right equipment. If people wish to use their own cameras then I will be asking to take a copy their footage so I can include them in the event video. I am looking for a non-track driver volunteer to video us from a variety of places around the outside of the track - a camera is available. Stewart - Is Gus coming back this year? He was excellent! :seeya:

Just to warm you up for the event, here is a video I took yesterday at Lightning at a member day. I am not driving the CSR. This is just a mild little 2003 Caterham SV, zetec, standard intake, no throttle bodies, standard Ford Focus ECU, T9 box maybe 150-160 fwhp. Airbrake....sorry windscreen is on. And I am just bombing around at 8/10ths having a blast. I have the lowest hp of all the cars in the session. What a beautiful, fun, happy little car. I think I want to use this as a camera car for our event. You will not need a big engined high hp seven to really enjoy this circuit. I was testing out a new Sony cam for a manufacturer and so the speed and map comes from the inbuilt GPS and it clearly is 1or so seconds behind the actual car but it will give you a good idea of lines on the circuit where I am. Sorry for the poor sound. I don't get over 110mph but I was having a blast. The circuit suits momentum cars so well. And we will not have big heavy cars to get in our way and slow us down on our event as all our cars corner very well. I was taking turn 1 faster than a Porsche Gt3 who made me change down to 3rd gear rather than my usual 4th. See you at NJMP soon! :seeya: