Croc

Hang on to that thought - that might be just what is required to get Scannon to join up on the Grizzly Blat since he needs to track along with his tow vehickle and trailer. Calling Skip to this post.....!

I think that is a very worthy cause! Personally I believe in having longer vacations every year - it keeps you younger! Not to dampen anyones enthusiasm but how would Gert get his trailer from Vancouver back to Calgary where I presume his tow vehicle would be staying? Best option so far is Z3Stalker's since it is a fairly easy and quick drive back to Calgary on the direct road.

Nice try Martin! But the roads are better if we start from Calgary and head over the Rockies! :auto: Not sure where Cranbrook AB is? Would not come up on either Bing or Google mapping. However, taking a read from Sunburst MT (near the border) to Calgary it seems it is 3.5 hours or 212 miles. I am happy to have my car delivered US side and then we drive the couple of hours to Calgary. However, I dont have a safe place for delivery though! It may be just better to hire the customs agent and save on the airfare flying non-stop into Calgary (from NYC) instead of paying a fortune to fly multiple legs into Bumfu#$ MT on some puddlejumper plane? I would not be surprised if the UK shipping for the sevens works out cheaper than shipping from US east coast!

They are some of the best track day photos I have seen. Light years ahead of the stuff they sell at NJMP. Nice and crisp images, blurred backgrounds, brilliant weather, and of course a bunch of gorgeous cars. Excellent post!

For those shipping from the East Coast of the USA, I did some research this morning by talking with Lisa at Mackie Movers (800-565-4646). Terry – She knew your name and the cars that we are shipping – very helpful. There are 2 ways to ship a car with Mackie (1) Hire the truck for a specific date/destination, or (2) Ship Less Than TruckLoad (LTL) which is where you buy a space on a truck and rely on it to head east or west. Option 1 – Hire a truck · Need a minimum of 6 cars, no higher than 58 inches. · Enclosed truck with liner to prevent drips from cars above. · Prices below are transport only – no waiting time. · Leg 1 – NYC to Red Deer AB - C$11,653.57 (averages C$1,942 per car) · Leg 2 – Vancouver to NYC - C$14,316.46 (averages C$2,386 per car) Option 2 – Hire a truck but route it to pick up cars along the way. · Routing was pick up in NYC, Eastern PA (say New Hope PA), Cinncinati OH and then on to Red Deer AB. Return leg reverses itinerary but starts in Vancouver. · Leg 1 – NYC to New Hope to Cinncinati to Red Deer - C$12,420.28 (averages C$2070 per car, actual cost could be worked out on mileage) · Leg 2 – Vancouver to Cinncinati to New Hope to Red Deer - C$14,698.42 (C$C$2,450 average per car). Option 3 – Less Than Truckload Delivery · Quoting for a single car space from NYC. · Very inflexible on delivery times. Recommended that you aim 3 weeks prior to when actually needed. Even then there is no guarantee as to arrival/pick up times. Does not sound like this is what we want. · Leg 1 – NYC to Red Deer – C$2,660 · Leg 1 – Cinnicnati to Red Deer – C$3,013 · Leg 2 – Vancouver to NYC – C$2,553 · Leg 2 – Vancouver to Cinnicnati – C$2,955 USD is pretty much par with Canadian dollar these days. In reality option 2 is the only one to make sense. We can get a guaranteed delivery time. We can set the routing across the US to pick up the various sevens at different way points as the truck heads east coast to Calgary and return. The prices are not cheap and that is because diesel has gone up so much in price. The other quirk to allow for is that we would need a customs broker to get the cars into Canada as the shipping paperwork requirements changed in the last year. Mackie recommend Dell Will Customs Broker (519-258-3141) but I have not called them yet to get a quote. The customs issues can be complicated depending on whether the owner is a non-US citizen, car owned by a company instead of an individual owner, etc. Lisa also said that it is only inbound Canada that is a problem. Outbound returning home, she said is very simple and she can provide the paperwork. Does anyone else want to try their preferred transport company to see if they can do better? I am still keen to do this as it will be a great experience to drive the seven on roads of this quality and scenery. However, these prices only make sense if I can get 6 of us together or someone else has a better suggestion as to pricing/ability to deliver on time with other quality vehicle movers? Over to others to comment!

oooohhh! A BDA! :drool: Now the cunning plan becomes clear. What is the spec on it?

Personally, whether it is turbocharging or supercharging, it really does not matter. I am in support of anyone who has a mid-life crisis and wants more power! :jester: Preparing for the NJMP June 2012 Sevens trackday are we MichaelD?

Many thanks Terry. I am assuming the 6 you have in stock are the 195/45/R15 CR500s? PM please me with price/how to place order/shipping details once you know about your ability to supply the 245 rears. It will be 2x195/45/R15 and 2x245/45/R15 If nothing else, I think I have learned a good lesson about keeping some spares at home in the garage in the future.

Well I learned yesterday that you cannot put 225/50R15 on a 9 inch rear rim. Need at least 235 or ideally 245! This tire stuff is getting difficult.

No typo unfortunately. This was 1500 road miles and 6 track days which is about normal for other CSRs. If it were all road miles the range of use for set seems to be between 5000 and 7500 miles. The CR500s are pretty soft and wear quick. Lovely to drive on though. I agree and this was one tire I checked and was hoping for. However, the NT01 205/50/R15 has an inflated diameter of 22.95inches or 583mm. So it does not fit under the front wings of a CSR.

Well after nearly 3000 miles on the Avon CR500s I am up for a new set of tires. Currently I have Avon CR500 with: Front 195/45/R15 Rear 245/40/R15 Avon is out of stock globally. Caterham UK website says they have the rears in stock but that is a glitch - they do not - and cannot tell me when they will come in. Avon UK themselves said they are out of stock and are expecting more "within the next 2 months"! :toetap05: My real issue with any replacement is sizing - no one else offers that exact spec and there is no room to expand under the front wings which are close profiled for aerodynamics. So looking for alternatives I have come up with the following tires and their diameter: Toyo R1R 584.2 mm (205/50R15 86V) Kunho V70A 583 mm (205/50ZR15) Avon ZZR 577mm (195/50 R15) Toyo T1R 576 mm (195/50 R15) Toyo R888 574 mm (195/50R15 82V) Avon ACB10 551 mm (195/45-15) CR500 554 mm (195/45 R15) I have confirmed through a CSR owner in Stockholm that the V70A will not fit. So that would appear to rule out the R1R. From a CSR owner in Luxembourg it appears the T1R will make it on but is very very close. The ACB10s are an easy fit but they suffer tramlining and I have to make some radical suspension camber/caster changes for them to work with a all new flat floor set up process - bit of a pain. However, the R888s look promising. What are people's experience with them? Any other tire options that are worth considering that might fit? For the rears I have more room to play with but what is the view of me getting 225/50 or a 235/50 to work on a rim that currently wears a 245/40? Car use is a mix of touring and track work. I am not much out in the rain but it is known to happen by accident.

Yes I was planning to call in at NJMP on the SCCA Sat up to early afternoon before I have to head off to Long Beach.

I have to admit I am undecided about this one. Reason being is I am planning to be at NJMP Thunderbolt on April 6 and 7 for track days. I am also having problems getting new tires - Avon is out in my sizes worldwide that fit a CSR. I have enough tread for 2 days but not confident enough for a 3rd day which is what Englishtown would be.

There are other options out there: - Cosworth Pi system - AIM MXL Pista or Strada - Motec have one. - RLC Racing Micropod http://rlcracing.com/micro-pod-lite-pro-x.htm - RaceTechnology Dash 2 (or Dash 3 if you want to keep the tach and speedo and merge all auxiliary gauges onto one unit) I have always thought this Stack unit is pretty cool: http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/dash-displays/stack-steering-wheel-display

MichaelD did the cutouts in his clams with a wire mesh insert. While this photo is not ideal, you can just see the inserts by looking from the underside of the clam. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5466.jpg

Wow! After all this effort and time you have reached Sevens nerdvana. Congratulations! Your linked photoblog is fascinating to read to see how you sweated the finest of details to make sure the car was as close to perfect as possible. Now that Spring is here I hope you find the time to enjoy the car. :hurray:

There is at least one car in the UK with carbon fiber clamshells and there was an effort last year to produce another custom set based on some Blatchat posting I read. I am not aware of any commercial manufacturer selling them.

I am a little confused. You could buy the rear body section which includes the curves you are concerned about (i.e. it wraps around). You could then buy the flat panel for the sides (matching for weave) using the links Jude provided. Worst case is you ask Fluke or Mog if they would do a custom set of side panels for you. I am sure they would since it is a relatively easy exercise compared to forming bonnets, rear panels, etc.

Thanks for reminding me Sean - I had forgotten that. Norman is still posting on Westfield UK forum after unfortunately falling foul of some Blatchat politics. From what I read he is still living in the same place and still has the Caterham. He had a rebuild blog at French Blatting Company which is a great read. Here is the link: http://www.lotus7news.co.uk/101.html Look for the sub pages for the carbon details

Yes it was temporarily possible. A UK Blatchat member (RichardinFrance) who ran a carbon parts business was developing his own all carbon car with one of the RST V6 turbos installed. Unfortunately he passed on and his car project was only part complete. His business was bought out however it has since gone under (was called RIF and was bought out by Carbon Bits but both are gone). Your other retailers for carbon to explore are 1) MOG Racing/Fluke Motorsport. 2) Reverie 3) As a wild card try MadHatter at Seven Speed UK. He also sells the MOG and Fluke stuff but may have other sources. The Westfield guys use someone called "Mickmade" - not sure if he also makes Caterham bits? Also search Blatchat - there will be some reference that you can follow a lead on.

The rule of thumb was that 2007 was the first year of metric production but depending on engine spec it trickled into 2008. Imperial chassis is phosphor bronze welded and has imperial threads made by Arch. The Metric chassis was MIG welded and metric threads/dimensions. I think the Duratec came after the imperial to metric changeover for US spec cars but I am not certain on that? If you are close to that year then the best way to check is to take your VIN and ring Caterham Parts UK and have them check which chassis you have and the cage you are looking for. They can probably give you an answer on the spot plus let you know exactly which cage options/prices are in stock.

The build threads he has been running on Britishspeed forum have been very interesting reads.

Just to clarify - is this developing into a crack? If so does it makes sense to weld the crack? I tried the temporary stuff on my old car and eventually ended up having to weld as the silicone stuff just cracked over time.

Nice find. Have they resurfaced Englishtown since early 2011? I went there in person to check out the track in the hope of putting a sevens only track day together. Price was not the issue. I believe this was designed as a extended go kart track so it is pretty tight and well suited for sevens but run off is limited in spots but average speeds are pretty low. However, when I chatted by phone about reserving a day with the general manager, he said I should come and inspect the track for suitability as it was starting to break up in a few places and bumpy in others and may not be good for gravel marking expensive cars (his views not mine). On taking up his invitation to inspect in person, I think he was right although I ran a lap in the daily driver to test (never made it out of 3rd gear!). If the surface was renewed then I think it would be a very good deal.

Nice videos. I liked the race duel at Grattan - very interesting to see where each of you was faster than the other. I assume same spec engine in both? Joe looked like he had fractionally more straight line legs yet your car picked him back on brakes and corners plus you were the faster driver on the back of the circuit. Lovely circuit too - never heard of it before today. What was the box in the passenger side for? Too low for aero I think?