Croc

Give George Alderman a phone call if you want him - he's a really nice guy. George is not an internet type of guy anyway and I doubt the website has been updated in years.

Hell I want more than one day! Sadly this date conflicts with work meetings in California. Work pays for my track sins so it wins this conflict!

And for a moment I thought you were referring to me! :blush: Fortunately not, so yes she is a good looking car - a very good looking car! The price looks high for what she may be though - a later reconstruct. The ad is (deliberately?) vague on what happened - a Series 2 that was written off, a replacement series 1 chassis from Arch Motors to rebuild it into a series 1? So you really get a stunning looking HiCost Seven when all is said and done? This begs another question - a UK car being sold on Ebay US. Its not an original car so how do you import it to the US? Technically a re-chassis-ed car (which has lost the original chassis number) like this is a new car and not a restored old car under the import rules and needs to have airbags, crash testing, emissions, etc based on the recent replacement year of the chassis unless the Arch replacement chassis is 25+ years old. I guess it is buyer beware on the paperwork trail for this car. Very interesting find - I like starting the morning with car ads like these!

Link worked like a charm for me? I was a little shocked to see the bear incident with Taber and Joan, fortunately with them emerging safely from what could have been a very nasty meeting. I was even more impressed it took only 2 hours to resurrect the seven so it could continue - top work! If the dates had aligned differently I would have joined you. The photos looked great and I could recognize much of the spots where you were from my previous trips to that part of the world. Kudos to Terry for pushing the idea and making it happen.

Would you mind? I am two beers short of a brewery! :cheers:

That looks pretty good and despite my bad experiences with the same Olympus mic you got yours to work well. Neat track - nicely suited to sevens as there is not too much straight for top end speed and some good corners that suit a nimble car.

I think you have nailed it - thats what it should sound like. A bit of clunky metal on the gear change - a bit like the Ferrari metal gear gate sound? I assume that is the linkages I am hearing? Also at the 3.30 mark you can hear just one spot where the mic got overwhelmed by the sound and distorted - that is pretty good. Next test will be to see how well it works on a track as the wind noise will appear there if anywhere, along with the distortion from the greater sound loads.

If it were a little closer in distance I would seriously consider the track as an option. Great layout and history....it definitely is on my list to try one day. What seven are you constructing Berg?

Another top video Glen - one day I will have your skills!

I will come at it from the other direction. 1-2 weeks a month means you will likely be away a third to half a year living out of a mediocre hotel somewhere, lining up with with unwashed masses to get through security at some forgotten airport, waiting for a plane to not arrive on time or depart on time and then the tedium of sitting through a long flight with a sore ass crowded in like sardines in a can next to some 400 pound guy with the worst body odor that makes you want to retch, all the time desperately missing the kids and wife and your own bed to sleep in. I fly anywhere from 110,000 to 150,000 miles a year globally for business and family and have done so since the 1990s. I am lucky enough to fly at the pointy end every time. I have top tier status in air, hotel, rental car programs and I am fast tracked everywhere. I know flight attendants by name on United airlines and they know me by name and we greet as friends. I even get private jet travel occasionally. I can say with experience - work travel sucks. You waste so much time, get so frustrated, and come away exhausted and dirty. I will still travel as I have close family 10,000 miles away and there are lots of destinations in the world I want to see personally and they are worth making the sacrifice for but I could quite happily drop the 80-90,000 work air miles each year. It would want to be a really good financial offer (think 75-100%+) before you sign up to an 8 year commitment and who knows if you will really be able to early retire in 8 years thanks to our dysfunctional global investment markets and economies. The guys above are right, value the family and your sanity.

Karl - set up on a customized Caterham is not going to be found in the Caterham manual. I would start with a good corner weight. Make sure they set it for a single driver - I thought mine was until I set my fastest laps tag teaming with JeffH with a passenger. For the alignment you are running a similar wheel and shock set up to Joachim? Why not email him and see what he is running as a starting point and use that as a base. I have never set up a car without trying it and tweaking a little further. As for RH and LH tracks, yes in Nascar or competition, yes you do this. But for us running at a handful of tracks, I would go for a universal set up. Also NJMP has plans for modifying things to allow the track to be run both directions - maybe a few years down the track.

Did you know that there are no man-eating sharks in the Bora Bora lagoon? Probably because a croc has been lurking there! :jester: Tom - your wife has an issue. We had 17-19kg (38-40lb) bags each. And we have plenty of stuff. Tell her a light cardigan or jackets is a wise inclusion for evenings. flip flops are the only footwear needed. I have been going to dinner in shorts and polo shirt and reef sandals. The rest of you gentlemen - just remember - grow old disgracefully! :cooldude:

Nonsense Michael - lots to do. Tested my go pro underwater with different color filters to see which produced the most accurate colors. Also got told off for underwater filming some lady's bikini bottom (ok....I needed something to test focus on with the go pro). Lazed in a lounge chair asleep with many drinks by the lagoon. Tomorrow I have a helicopter ride over Bora Bora booked plus will be snorkeling from my overwater bungalow. On Wednesday, Tom is buying me lots of drinks when he turns up in Moorea and I fly over there! Waverunner exploration on Thursday. I am so not bored.:cooldude:

S1Steve and I went last year. Top show and worth checking out. Get there early as the traffic congestion and parking situation becomes really messy in the afternoon if you leave it too late. Ping Steve a PM - I am sure he would want to turn up again. I will think of you while I am lying on a beach in Bora Bora with my favorite drinks. :cheers:

Yep - have had that happen to my current seven (sierra diff LSD internal)first time I put it on track. Was not overfilled but was still dropping a bit out the vent tube. Seems to be more common the hotter the ambient temps got. I ended up installing a catch tank around the side of the fuel tank. A little bit collects but not a lot - I empty it once a year and top up levels same time. I did top up once when a little more than average was observed. Never had an dribbling issue since.

Welcome Jeff! I am sure more than a few of us would be only to keen to help you get into a seven! Plenty of owners in TX who could take you out for a taster! Does the replay mic that you are using allow you to set gain? I have not seen that feature in video mics before?

I can soooo relate to this frustration :iamwithstupid: :seeya:

There are levels of logging and you need to work out what level you want to play at. Level 1 - up to $100 Harry's laptimer produces good results in iPhoneys and Androids http://www.gps-laptimer.de/Home.html Tom gets good results out of it. He uses a small separate GPS sensor to get 10hz signals which are needed since the GPS in the phones is just too slow. Another option I am aware of is TrackAddict http://www.racerender.com/TrackAddict/Features.html Each of these can sync the data to video through RaceRender. You could also use Dashware but I think RaceRender is easier to use and you can use multiple videos in RaceRender (tested back to back by me). Dashware confirmed by email to me that you cannot sync multiple videos and data. While the Dashware graphics are better I was a little disappointed in Dashware. They display videos on their site that you actually cannot produce by their software alone - you need to edit through green screen post production - the website was misleading to me. So RaceRender wins for an easier and more straightforward solution. A non-syncing solution is Vidometer http://www.hitcase.com/vidometer Auto syncs video and data on an iPhone. Problem is the GPS in a Iphone is only 2hz so it is not very accurate. I once did 5mph in the bar at NJMP with a beer in hand standing still. Level 2 - up to $600 Here is where you find dedicated GPS-based loggers on a budget. I use Racechrono Touchscreen Pro and like it a lot. Easy to use and install. Can be transferred to other cars easily. Batteries last the day. Other products similar: - AIM Solo GPS - QStarz LT6000 I have not used the AIM but have used the QStarz and would not recommend it. Fussy to set up at each track the first time. Hit and miss in how it records data. Its user interface is not as intuitive as the Racechrono. The reviews I have read of the AIM Solo have been positive. You can also buy it in OBDII and CAN versions for plugging into the interface. Each of these needs some form of sync later via RaceRender/Dashware. Level 3 - well over $1000 and on upwards This is the territory of the dedicated logger/camera integrated unit. All require some form of wiring into the car to make work. - Racelogic/VBox - Traqmate - AIM - Chasecam - Racepak - Racetechnology - Stack - Motec - Cosworth There are a couple of racers on Blatchat who swear by Stack. Hopefully you can actually use their stuff because Caterham may have locked out the functionality in their "wisdom" on their stack gauges? I would think your short list here is Traqmate, ChaseCam and AIM and possibly Stack as their price points are lower. Blubarisax uses AIM Smartycam. It seems to work well and he managed to wire it together to get the sensors overlaying the camera. I am disappointed in the 480 resolution of the camera and the audio but it is an effective driving learning tool. Traqmate is used by JeffH and MichaelD on here but they do not sync it to video - just use it as a driver aid. It allows you to mix and match with a few camera options, including HD. I think CertifiedLotus on here also uses Traqmate in his Exige and he would probably sync the data and video because he is a lovable geeky techie like me. I have seen 2 very professionally done Chasecam installations about a year ago but both were non-HD cameras as they did not offer HD video quality. Not sure if this changed. I liked the simplicity of how the equipment is designed. I used a Vbox at Oulton Park. Not a great image quality but automatic syncing of data and images with an acceptable quality of images - better than the AIM. Sound is ok. Ok as a driver aid. Racelogic software for track analysis is just superb though. Here is the link for a sample: For contrast here is a GoPro HD2 with racechrono data synced with Dashware taken the same day on the same car and track (and I screwed up the external mic and the mount so ignore the static and focus on image quality for comparison) Maybe it is worth having a chat with Rob Feeny (sp?) at Performance Information Technologies at NJMP. http://www.njmp.com/competitors/driver-services.html I think you met him at the Sevens weekend at NJMP as he was frequently checking in on us. He is also an NJMP member which is how I know him. He can do the iphone solutions and upwards in price.

Well the JVC will not help you as that does not have an external mic option. At least it did not in its just superseded version. And I never saw a good review on its audio. Not sure if the new release for late this month does have an external mic? Xcarguy on here is working with a Replay. I like the small size but it seems to have audio processing problems from the youtube I see of his but that could be because of operator challenges? Never tested a Contour but someone else here probably has. I rank the GoPro (HD2 for me) marginally over the Drift HD Ghost for sound capture using an external mic. The HD2 captures very noisy environment (i.e. our cars) much better without distorting. The GoPro Black/Silver are supposed to be better again. The same mic was used in my back to back testing. This is a marginal win in my view as they are pretty close and I am being fussy in my evaluation. However, the Ghost is a much better package design overall - all in one design makes it much cheaper than a GoPro Silver where you have to buy all the options (eg, viewing screen). The swivel lens is very helpful in getting upright images without ball head mounting adapters. Also a very helpful customer service function. A GoPro Black will beat the Ghost easily for quality but at what cost?

I am just well endowed Seriously, I enjoy the mental challenge of something like this. It takes away from the stresses of work and forces me to relax by doing something completely different. I also have a lot of downtime spending 120,000 miles on aircraft each year and the associated airports wasting time.

I did leave out 2 clips of you getting the left front into the dirt at turn 1. I also left out the clips of you in your underwear trying to fathom how a GoPro works at home before the event - that will teach me to copy everyones GoPro memory cards without checking recorded date. Thanks for the tour of your basement and garage too! There was 125GB of video to review. :ack: I also left out 1 off moment on for MichaelD and myself each. That little mini horn is from the movie and I only used it on your car twice in one clip when the Miata was being an obstruction (again) and I thought you were justified in using it. MichaelD was always using his horn. The trackside video was beautifully done by Gus (I put him in the credits), who was with Stewart. Very steady hands and a great camera - should have taken note of what model it was as the images are excellent.

Disconnect battery. Pull hazard switch out of dash and disassemble, clean contacts and put back together. Reconnect battery. I follow the same process for all those Caterham rocker switches

A video from the US East Coast group of Seven enthusiasts track weekend on June 22/23 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Lightning Circuit. It is based on The Italian Job - the original Michael Caine one (the best one IMHO). All the voiceovers and music comes from there. You will see the blasted Miata (Mafia?) makes an appearance all too much as his driving was so bad, creating interesting moments trying to get around him as he refused to give a point by. It is in 720HD good enough for larger viewing window it you select from the cogged wheel in the bottom left of the YT screen. There material to the end of the song despite where the credit page comes up. If any of those joined in the fun that day want to buy a set of track photos from the weekends I can send you a set by flash drive or upload through Dropbox. Price is $50 which is 50% off the price charged by the photographer as we negotiated bulk deal. Includes all cars not just yours. Thanks to everyone for making such a fun annual event - bring on 2014!

Our video of our Sevens track weekend on June 22/23 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Lightning Circuit is now finished. It is based on The Italian Job - the original Michael Caine one (the best one IMHO). All the voiceovers and music comes from there. You will see the blasted Miata (Mafia?) makes an appearance all too much as his driving was so bad, creating interesting moments trying to get around him as he refused to give a point by. It is in 720HD good enough for larger viewing window it you select from the cogged wheel in the bottom left of the YT screen. There material to the end of the song despite where the credit page comes up. If any of those joined in the fun that day want to buy a set of track photos from the weekends I can send you a set by flash drive or upload through Dropbox. Price is $50 which is 50% off the price charged by the photographer as we negotiated bulk deal. Includes all cars not just yours. Thanks to everyone for making such a fun annual event - bring on 2014!

The reference to pad knoock-off/knockback brings up another topic - it is amazing how many drivers these days do not do a check pump of the brake pedal (just to the point of feeling a touch of bite) before launching into a braking zone. If you go back 20 years the brakes were unreliable enough on track after a few laps in nearly all cars that I ran (due to pad knockback or fade) that it was essential to quick pump to make sure you did not have your brake pedal go to the floor just when you need it.