Croc

This is the engine I would love to put into a seven-type vehicle one day. Lovely piece of engineering art (or is it porn?): http://www.synergypower.co.nz/ If the Hartley V8 is no longer available then this or the Russell Savery RST V8 are similar light weight V8s.

Hell, even I can climb through the top of the cage on "my" UK Caterham Seven! :seeya:

I was lucky for Sandy - I never lost power in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London! :rofl: Seriously, power was only off in my building for 6 hours. Mind you it sufferred flooding of the ground floor/garage/pool/gym and took a barge through the wall. :bs: None of my cars were there for that - I moved them out early before I flew out to London. You saw Stewart (Sabbot on here) with his lovely blue crossflow with yellow nose band. He is at exit 33 of 78 (I think). When you next see it, it will have a BDA engine.

Al! Good to see you here - hope you are doing well? Come and join us any time - we have a blast socially and everyone is welcome! :party: PS - How is your seven coming along? note I did not use the word "Bessie"...

What is the refresh mileage for these engines when doing track work? Clearly the GM LS is min 50000 miles given the warranty but what is the Hartley? Its a little more highly strung and I bet a refresh would not be cheap! (but it is so gorgeous!)

Ahhh Rikker….as refreshing as a fart in an elevator! Good to see you have not changed! I admitted in my first post that I have as much chance of that as seeing lips on a chicken. Anyway, my view on why this is not the best idea is….. Yes they did and both you and I are still faster…so the logical conclusion I draw is more carbon, better tires and a lightweight battery is needed! :rofl: This week, I even took a thousand pounds out of my wallet for a Caterham track weekend at Spa-Francorchamps next March and it made no difference to my weight. No idea why….? I even considered non-carbon lightening options. By chance, I did look in the Victoria Secret catalog yesterday, purely research mind you, but I saw nothing that would fit a Caterham? John – this is good….very very good. Beer token winner on this thread! :-D A very reasonable theory – I definitely resemble that remark. But I look at it this way - my car is still cheaper than a woman, it starts more reliably, possibly looks better, and I get action any time I choose! True, my seven squeals like a woman when you put the brakes on but…..most importantly….I still get ‘wind in the hair feeling’…. just a little higher up my body with my seven! So it is only natural I want to buy her trinkets for Christmas…. :jester: Anyway, surprisingly no one has yet mentioned how reducing battery size is better for clearing up space under the hood for something else I am considering...

So far I am leaning towards the Evo2 - very lightweight, lithium advantages, compact dimensions with options for different mountings, price is getting close reasonable for the features offerred. Price searching time for good deals. Thank you to all who have contributed. This has been excellent feedback :cheers:

Wow - Given its price I thought it was a gel type. Lithium has really come down in price! That really is "ballstastic"! The CCA specs were coming off a race battery comparison page I found. Looking again at the page I should have put those numbers as PCA - peak cranking amps and not CCA - cold cranking amps. Whatever the difference means I am not sure and really dont care. I more value real world experiences from the experts on here. :seeya: Still being offerred by the dealers so maybe it is a superseded model? Bargain time? Was not aware there was a non-HD version. Then the regular size works perfect and its cheaper to boot. If it fits in your BIrkin SV then it will definitely fit in a CSR.

This has been excellent feedback - thank you to those who contributed. Doing the research digging, here are the stats summarized: 1) Ballstastic Performance EVO2 HD 4.5x4.5x4.25, 3.6lbs, 500CCA $250-270 area 2) Odyssey PC625 6.9x3.9x6.7, 13.2lbs, 625CCA $110 3) Odyssey PC680 6.7x3.0x7.1, 15.4lbs, 680CCA $117 4) Deka EXT14 5.9x3.6x5.75, 12lbs, 300CCA $75 5) Varley Red Top 75 7.2x3x6.6, 13.5lbs $300 6) Lithium - supersmall and megabucks. It figures that YellowSS7 would recommend this one! Hmmm interesting size to weight to value decision coming up!

Since it is unlikely this driver will lose any weight over this holiday season:blush:, I thought I would replace the banner battery with something more lightweight that will make me faster :svengo: I have seen lots of people use Odyssey PC680, I know Sean uses a PC625 and I have seen references to Braille batteries and EVO2 batteries (3.8 pounds!). What is the latest and greatest view on which battery to go for? I have a battery cutoff so can stop any parasitic load issues.

Hi Tom - Brilliant idea! After doing my CSR's shakedown run in CO with you guys, I would definitely come back - probably without my CSR. Do you have a loaner? If not then I would be happy driving the excess baggage car for Alaskossie's luggage and just enjoying the scenery and social time. The only catch is I would be unable to make it first 5 days of May (work) or the second half of June (Milford NJ Sevens Days and East Coast Seveners Track Weekend).

no affiliation or connection with this car - reposting for benefit of forum users who may be looking for a car: http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale/lotus/super_seven/1483999.html 1968 Lotus Super Seven, Series 3, SB2366 Lotus produced some 3300 Lotus Sevens from 1957 thru 1972, including 350 Series 3 cars. The original design concept was “a motorcycle with 4 wheels” and reportedly was designed by Colin Chapman in a week. This light weight minimal sports car with fabulous handling, weighing in just over 1000 lbs., and in this case with 100 HP, remains an icon of true sports motoring. Today the Lotus Seven remains the most copied car in the world. This well sorted 1968 Lotus Seven S3, SB2366 has Approx. 44000 miles, 1600 crossflow Ford w/ Ford Tranny. This car is registered with the Lotus Seven Register and without a question a true Lotus car possessing the Arch Motors frame stamp. I do have the original Lotus Components engraved chassis plate (picture is of a reproduction plate installed for appearance sake). Sadly the factory records from SB2090 on have been lost, so that the exact build data is unavailable. Sequenced cars close to SB2366 confirm the probable delivery configuration. I purchased SB2366 a little over 3 years ago and have completely sorted the car. My theme was a gentleman’s British roadster; “what a Morgan wants to be”. To that end I have added some bolt on modifications, which can easily be returned to the original configuration without any scaring; i.e. wire wheels and boot lid. The paint is rough showing some road rash and patina, but I like that…not a show car; but a real crowd pleaser as well as a high performance runner. SB2366 is a fun “rip snorter”. Recently, I drove her to from Dana Point to San Diego for the San Diego British car day; 140 mile round trip on Hwy 5 at 75 MPH. SB2366 has period California black plates and full weather gear, although never fitted here in Southern California. She comes with the original refinished Lotus wheels, hub caps and a collection of spares and memorabilia. Please call or email for a complete list of the sorted new/rebuilt items. Please feel free to call Will for more information, including sorted items at (949) 241-7770. Price $32,500

No affiliation or other connection with this sale - reposting for benefit of forum readers looking for a car. A Sonic 7 is a modern interpretation of the traditional seven. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Makes-Sonic-7-Hyper-/281032482946?pt=Race_Cars_Not_Street_Legal_&hash=item416ed76082

Karl - you misunderstand...badly. LOG is comprised of delicate creatures that do not camp....like me! :smilielol5: And it will not be at Lime Rock as it is booked up for another event so look for it to be somewhere along the Hudson River NY/CT border away from Lime Rock. No no...you miss the objective.:chillpill: Its a way to get a good track day opportunity at a circuit that is private to club members. We can run rings around all those horrifically slow Lotus cars and wait for them to spin off. No one said we have to bother turning up at the group photo for Elise and Exiges to be pin pricks 30 miles away in the background.:dupe: Also you forget that it give us a chance to reacquaint ourselves with quality people from this forum like Boxologist et al at what promises again to be a very inebriated and social dinner. :cheers:

I am just blown away by the details and quality of this car! I would love to see it in person once day. Are you up in CT?

I just heard in the office from one of my motor-mad colleagues that LOG 33 is to be in western CT at a hotel yet to be finalized on Labor Day weekend 2013. Also the aim is for the track event to be held at Monitcello (hope so - I want to try this track out!) :party: Not sure about the timing as I recall that is the big Fall Weekend event at Lime Rock from memory so it could be crowded. However, not having the third day on a work day is a bonus. Anyone have better knowledge of the plans that can fill in some details here?

Hi Roman - its good to see you finally happy with the car and out there enjoying it. Here is to seeing out there with us in 2013 on a few runs. :cooldude:

Welcome to the forum! The person you need to talk with is 11Budlite (Bruce) as he has been through this and probably even has the bumper bars for you to borrow for inspection. He has not been on here lately so you may want to PM him.

A scratch build always deserves big thunbs up for effort, skill, and a job well done! :cooldude: Interesting choice of engine - dont see many Toyota powered sevens running around. I never really understood why - light, powerful, good power, high revs - are parts a problem? To answer xcarguy, those wheels look suspiciously like Toyota Celica wheels from the early to mid 1980s?

:jester: You know, I am not surprised this is coming from Trenton NJ.....

Hi Glen - Hope you are doing well? As we last talked, I am still working on mic placement. This time it was under the passenger dash. However, you hear the relays cycling and at higher revs (over 5000rpm) you get electrical interference heard with the clicking of the soundtrack. Best spot seems to be next to the throttle bodies - lusty throbbing and no interference. A good quality powered mic is key with the gopros. Running the curbing (or is it kerbing?) is a legacy of my old FIA touring car days from Australia. You had to run the curbs to be fast as it widens the track and provides a nice banked edge at track exit that helps slow any lateral movement from exit. There are curbs I will not go near at Thunderbolt: - Turn 2 exit - unsettling bumps between curb and track surface halfway down the exit curbing to the end. - Turn 4 (non-chicane) - exit curbing is narrow so any use there means a wall right hand side is in your near future. - Turn 12 - apex and exit curbing are offlimits. no more than 1 tire width onto the apex curbing. Otherwise you are saying hello to Mr Wall on the right. Now some cars love curbs and others don't. Tom's seven clearly has a hissy fit anytime it smells a curb. By contrast they do not unsettle my car. Probably because I have an independent rear suspension and sevens are so forgiving. Mike (Kitcat) seems to also be able to use curbs without much issue - obviously a well set up suspension. I suspect Tom's issue is using 10 inches of rubber? Even a porn star does not use that much! For the lines at the chicane, I generally follow Maureen's guidance (yes that fast lady) as she knows something about hustling a Lotus quickly around a circuit and she does get up onto the curbing at points. Paraphrasing her comments on the chicane - it is faster to cut the corner on the curb although it is harder on the car and does unsettle it. However, she would not recommend my lines in the video :rofl: as first apex into the chicane I am way way way too far up onto the curb, unsettled and too fast and early into the second and then to complete the inept driving display i take a narrow entry and a tight early exit on the last corner of the chicane. When you do that and you have run the curb, there are some bumps and hollows on exit - most cars would never find them unless you were out of shape (like me! :ack:) and you happened to plant the throttle heavily - unwise on a cold no grip day. You should walk the track with me next opportunity - I learn a lot from studying it on foot. Since I have had my open kimono moment here, I am interested why Blubarisax does not show his video of his spin on the warm up lap... Or even why Kitcat does not show his chicane spin? Probably will give some pathetic excuse that camera was not turned on... At least I did not make my passenger vomit this time!

7veloce - do you know if the car is staying local or headed to far shores west?

Video now posted at http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8144

From this thread: http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8130 a group of sevens got together to have fun at New Jersey Motorsport Park (NJMP) Thunderbolt circuit at a November Drivers Club Member day - last one for the season sadly. Apart from me, participants from this forum were: - Yellowss7 (Tom) - Blubarisax (Karl) - Kitcat (Mike) - JBH (Jeff and his partner Mary) - Jvbtte (Jack) - S1Steve (Steve) It was very cold - very difficult to get heat in the tires and lap times were quite slow unless you had slicks like Tom, Karl and Mike.... My spin was partially caused by tires but more so by the doofus behind the wheel planting his right foot just at the point where there are bumps on corner exit. Here is a short video of the highlights: If you just want to see continuous laps then look at this video of the 3rd session on Saturday of me.

I think he is getting at you have a 1996 Caterham titled as a 1967 Lotus 7. Some states do insist that you title a car as it is and some states make you title it as the year and car it replicates - it depends on the state you have to deal with. For this car, which I know its prior history, the current NY title description matches its former state of title which in 1996 when first titled followed the year and car it replicated convention. In this case it makes no difference as it is pretty easy to correct when you transfer title. Also, as it is titled right now it makes it easier to title in some states where they do not accept kit cars (unless fitted with air bags, original fuel tanks and emission equipment from donor car, crash tested bumpers, etc). With my battle scars from titling sevens in various states I would not be worrying a single bit about the current NY title description on this car.