Croc

Bruce - It was good to see I got your back up! :jester:

In the "mine is bigger than yours" category was Jack's seven up against the Lamborghini LM002. 5.4L of V8 power taken out of a Countach to demolish the puppy SUVs in the local supermarket parking lot. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00949_edited-1.jpg I found something better to put my manhood up against - another E-type! http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00951_edited-2.jpg Looking forward to getting out on October 30 when you get back Bruce!:seeya:

This is Bruce Bowker's gorgeous E-type with the 4.2 6 cyl. just a work of art. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00944_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00940_edited-1.jpg While Bruce said it was ok to take his Astons for a run (I printed out this thread to show Wil) but they were sadly not ready for a run - the DBS had no brakes and the Lagonda had electrical issues - sort of figures! So we took out the E-type for a loop around the Delaware. I thought we had damaged it when we checked the engine bay and found enamel peeling off the headers but we were calmed down and told that it was like that before from when Bruce drove it. Phew! This Lancia Flamina Zagato bodied couple was gorgeous in deep plum. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00945_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00946_edited-1.jpg

They may have been great roads but I was sort of lost confused by the detour on detour! We did pass Boxologist's Jump - a notable spot in the Delaware River Valley where Jon demonstrated he was the equal of the Dukes of Hazzard by launching a Miata. Anyway here are some photos - Here is a group photo from L to R - SteveS1, me, Redgoose's new R500, Karl's R400++, Jack's supersport. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00939_edited-1.jpg The quality of the cars on offer was diverse but exceptionally interesting: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00941_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00942_edited-1.jpg Wil's Maserati 300-style roadster he is building from scratch. That is a handformed aloominum body you are looking at. Beautiful workmanship. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC00943_edited-1.jpg

Steve - Also planning for the 10am to 10.30am area, depending on traffic. Fall colors should also be impressive. As for Bessie, she is sadly still wheels off in Denver.

Bruce I think we need a mix of both - little vigorous to have some fun then a bit of a cruise along an open country road. Personally I like a bit each way for variety. I am averse to anything near New Hope as it is always a parking lot anytime I go near it. Maybe a halfway stop at Van Sants airfield to check it out?

I think mine is! It just chewed through the dirt at NJMP!

Maybe it was the 9 or so layers of clear coat on the carbon? All jokes aside, you need to reweigh it. I think you will find it lower. I have a CSR - so an SV with the heavier IRS and all the extra chassis bracing. With no windscreen, no spare tire, or weather gear but with the heater and just the standard boot/interior carpets/insulation and no fuel and I came in at 1254 - 4 pounds above where Caterham says it should be. Of course mine goes 300 pounds overweight once the driver hops in.....

I think it was Freestyle who made the superwide? Sean will pop up here shortly to confirm. I think they are now out of business unfortunately.

I agree. Go for it John - it will be a nice upgrade from your Birkin! I love the hillclimb videos - magnificent scenery and a lovely drop off the side if you get it wrong. Which part of France is that hill climb course located in?

Oh that was your Aston I left my handprints on when I was checking out the interior? They also had an Aston Martin Lagonda there which is a pretty rare animal. Seriously, the weather forecast is looking excellent. SteveS1 and I are planning to be there. The more that come along the better.

After a quiet period of no seven drives, especially after our June 2011 drive was rained out, there are a lot of options for getting the seven out before old man winter hits us. Bruce is back in town at the end of October and so we are going to try for a drive on Sunday October 30, 2011. Meeting point is the parking lot opposite the Ship Inn in Milford NJ. For those who do not know where this is the the website link has directions: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=The+Ship+Inn,+Milford,+NJ&sll=40.570105,-75.095329&sspn=0.007596,0.012274&ie=UTF8&hq=The+Ship+Inn,&hnear=Milford,+NJ&ll=40.570301,-75.095329&spn=0.007188,0.012274&z=16&iwloc=A Arival time is 10am and we will leave around 30-40 minutes later once we have got our act together and finished socializing. Drive of about 1.5-2 hours will be guided by Bruce since he is a local and knows some nice roads. Following this it is lunch in the Ship Inn to taste some brews. I can say that Bruce is in and so am I subject to the usual weather constraints. I believe Karl was a definite for the Sunday. Boxologist and Crewst were tentative. Let's see if we can get seven sevens!

I think I like the Liberty Bell layout better. It looks fairly flat in the photos but hopefully they work some elevation changes into it. From looking at their website they dont seem to have a member program like Alpine, NJMP or MMC.

Nice observation - I had not focused on the track configuration. What was the issue with non-approval of MMC? Did they try for it or did they screw up?

I was cracked up with laughter when I watched the race on Saturday night and saw this segment. It is not a track where you can be a passenger easily. I competed in this race once many many years ago when I was young and dumb and had no fear. The footage of the car is actually out of sequence at points - at one point it is heading down the mountain even before it has reached the top!

I like the prospect for being closer than NJMP or Monticello. Starting construction in 2012 though.

Still my plan unless the weather gods deem otherwise

hi Bruce :seeya: I figured that would wake you up. Don't worry, Wil had no plans to let me loose in it! Will I see you at the open day?

I don't know about the rest of the country but the NYC region has been blessed this weekend with gorgeous weather. Karl and I got our cars out yesterday for a drive in NY state only to discover that everyone else is out enjoying the day as well. I think of it as a normal California driving day - gorgeous weather and jammed up traffic. Our litany of traffic jams was: Rt 17 north Perkins Drive at Bear Mountain Park Palisades Parkway leading onto Bear Mountain Bridge Rt 218 closed Newburgh (now this is one scary town) Rt 6 exit off the I-87 Rt 17A At this point we gave up and decided to head to a bar. Parking lot was full of bikes so they turned us away. The one highlight was visiting Orange County Choppers of TV fame. They had a Ford Mustang Club event on. So we drive in to the place and see two signs - spectators and show cars. So we headed down the show cars area. Karl does a victory lap in the roundabout to show off and I head off down to park next to the Mustangs. :cooldude: We sort of stole the show as everyone came over to check us out. They liked our cars once I said we had Ford engines. Despite the crap driving, I had a great day in the sun. Did not think about work once and had zero stress. I hope everyone else enjoyed themselves this weekend.

Jon and Jude - Thanks for the comments. What you are seeing is not the dry sump swirl tank but the oil catch tank for excess oil blown off. The dry sump tank is not shown in the picture. There is only one hose leading in to the catch tank as it just collects and the vapors vent through the 3 small holes at the top. The hose is rated for oil/fuel/water. I was not going to let myself make the same mistake again! As for the hose clamp, I found it does not need it. The standard Caterham fitting is a heater hose shoved in a hole "burned" into the side of a washer bottle. The hose never comes out of that bodged solution by Caterham, yet it had no secure connection. There is a lot of oil being blown around from the end of the hose but not a lot of pressure as the catch tank vents the air.

Its easy, just ring Tilton http://tiltonracing.com/content.php?page=prosmenu and explain what you need - length, diameter, etc and they will spec it for you. I have used them before and found them to be very helpful.

It is a Moroso tank that needed to have a segment cut out and rewelded as it was too high. It was surprisingly difficult to find a catch tank that was low enough height and fit the space. I looked at a lot of designs but all were too large for the space in some way.

Exoticars at Milford NJ is holding an open day on Sunday October 16. I use them for some of my maintenance work and anyone who has seen Bruce Bowker's superb collection will attest to the quality of work that Exoticars does. http://exoticars-usa.com/2011/fall-open-house-10162011/ Bruce's Jag was at the shop today being cleaned up ready for him to return next week. I did offer to take it for a test drive...... Other cars in the shop today included Aston Martin DBS, Aston Martin Lagonda, a couple of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Wil's Maserati 300M recreation in progress. His customers have some of the most unique cars around so it will be an interesting day. I will definitely be there if the weather is good to us.

And the winner is Bob! All hoses were pulled off the car from master cylinder down to each wheel and tested in the CSI boffin lab. They were of two types: (a) stainless braided hoses at each wheel. (b) some rubbery looking ones at the brake fluid reservoir mounted on the scuttle. The bad hoses were the nonbraided black hoses (3 of them) at the brake fluid reservoir. They were Buna N hoses and clearly wrong spec. They can be seen in this photo running along the foreground of the engine bay up to the reservoir mounted on the scuttle. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/Colorado%20April%202011/DSC_5414_edited-1.jpg The stainless ones were found to be fine but I replaced them out of caution as I was not in a trusting mood. I used Tilton as my source for replacements. The replacements are shown in the following photo: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC_1994_edited-1.jpg I lost some paint off the car from where the leaking fluid ate it up but I will take that as a battle scar that could have been much worse. The scary bit of this story is that these hoses may not be an isolated occurrence and may be part of a bad batch in late 2010. It would not be limited to new kits but could also be older cars that sourced replacements during this period. I would encourage anyone with a Caterham seven to give an extra inspection in this area.

and 10) A Reverie carbon diffuser. This turned into a major ordeal instead of the bolt on solution that it was initially presented as. Caterham supplied the CSR drawings to Reverie who then developed a diffuser kit. However, the drawings were incomplete and Reverie did not allow for the independent rear suspension to deflect under load. So the angle grinder came out to cut out the suspension holes. I then used some thin ali to finish off fairing in the chassis underneath. The CSR is not like the other Caterhams as a lot of the chassis underneath is already faired in. This should make it cleaner when I go off track excursions next time! Also the standard reversing light and rear fog light from a Caterham were removed and the bright LED solution from Car Builder Solutions were mounted on the back of the car. Far smaller profile and look nicer.