Croc

Skip - what were you doing to break both shoulders? Are you ok now?

From hearing your needs as being some day touring and the odd track day then you are not far off what I strive for. My key criteria was a car I could bitch slap into shape so that it was reliable as a Toyota. A new car takes some time to get there so expect to have to work towards that goal. To challenge the thinking so far - why not an LS Stalker? Solid chassis and handling package, parts are easily picked up at the local Napa, plenty of horsepower if you want it, mechanics easily found, if a Brunton part is needed then they are just down the coast in Florida. Once sorted the LS motors would give reliable performance, capable of lazily cruising along with no stress. Anywhere in the 175-220hp area seems to be a nice sweet spot in Zetecs or Duratecs - reliable performance without being too fiddly for the road. On a track they would keep up with most things except for the long straights and you catch them back at the braking area anyway. I believe you get most of your performance benefits through a good set of sticky tires and a well set up handling and suspension.

I would give Lime Rock a call to see how they test. It might be at a distance from the straight or it may be at the tailpipe at a certain level of revs. Your car is quieter than mine so you have a better chance than I do. Ron - trust me, I want to see your car on the track to since I expect it to be blisteringly fast. I am searching for suitable track days close by where we can get a group going.

No - bin them. They are designed to keep the wheel cleaner but dont really do that. Better option is to use that spray on wheel cleaner that repels brake dust.

Comment from Ian Prout of SDCA on Lime Rock strictness re noise: "Lime Rock Park is VERY strict on sound. If a car is over 86dB they will force the car to stop driving. From our experience in JUNE, I can tell you without question that the vast majority of Sevens would not meet sound. Sorry about that, track rules, not my own."

LOL....I always thought it was below 4000 :jester: Seriously, the standard CSR usually runs around 93-95db area based on blatchat and CSR forum. Your car is suspiciously much quieter than mine yet it looks to have the same exhaust. Most of my noise is induction once I get above 4000rpm - those roller barrells open wide and just start sucking. Have you run Lime Rock before? How do they test for noise? I have a phone call into Pocono about hiring it out....wishful thinking. Plus I also have calls in on Oct 25 and Nov 13 at Thunderbolt - a bike track group operate car sessions. I was hoping Tom would come up with the goods re a members day at NJMP but alas I understand he is working on his speedo tan lines :cooldude: down the Jersey shore.

Hi Mike - congratulations on your purchase. If it you have the first duratec birkin Dick contructed then I saw this car during its build a few years back when I was there. Interesting comparison between the two. I will suggest that the Birkin will be as reliable as your seven once you finish the fettling process. Dick is not the best for this process. I know your pain - my first runs in all 3 of my sevens were interrupted by mechanical snafus. In the meantime AAA is your friend. Re the obscured tacho can I recommend that you get a set of shift lights on top of or just underneath the scuttle. I rely on my shift lights for the same difficulty sighting reason. Omex have some nicely discreet ones. For seats you may not be aware but the Caterham ones fit pretty well if you have a spare set of tillets running around. I explored this when I was investigating an IRS Birkin. You may want to join the mirrorsforsevens bulk buy and get rid of the caravan towing mirrors that you look to have installed. So what is the final spec for this car? I look forward to passing it on the track. :jester:

Well scrap that idea. I just saw that you need to comply with a 86db noise limit. I fart louder than that and my car is tested at 95db.

Well I want another track day before the year is out. Not ideal since I will need to be on my best behavior - not as much run off room if I decide to go gardening... I know it is only half day but Tom, Michael, Dermot, Stewart - want to try for a rerun of our June event? Ian Prout said he wanted us back despite our mischief. New cars for Ron and Martin - want to join in? And Karl...no, you go and buy your own diffuser once you see me fly past you on the straight! :jester: and then you will discover it is my new secret weapon...

Excellent news! Congratulations on being back in a seven.

Snow is a prime drifting opportunity! :jester: Did you have some fun while you were out taking a photo? I assume they do not salt or grit your roads. Nothing starts rusting a seven quicker than salted roads.

My previous seven had the SVT with the original EFI/ECU and harness. I loved it - very reliable. It was mated to the T-9 5 speed box. Not sure if it was a very large performance improvement over the standard zetec though. There was a post on here by about the trials and tribulations from another car on adding cams, throttle bodies and mapping the engine for best performance. http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1577&highlight=zetec This shows the flat spot that exists in the standard engine around 3000rpm (from memory). In practice I never really noticed this flat spot from my driving experiences.

This is so sad to see. After all the magnificent work you have put into the car, you really do not get a chance to enjoy it. Someone is going to get a beautiful seven.

Absolutely nothing - in fact I am a fan of it. I was more making the observation that Karl was seemingly over-reving his engine based on what Cosworth told me to stick to (for me 7500 for the 2.3L Duratec). The Cosworth 2L Duratec with its shorter stroke is good for 8500.

I promise I will not put a rainbow sticker on the back of your car! (I am guilty of this on other forum member's cars). ;-D

Hmmm....the rev limit on the 2.3L is 7500. Hope you have the 2L

I would ordinarily love to but I am out of the country. It will need to be a case of see you in October or November

:rofl: I don;'t think I could have charmed her anywhere near as well as you did! Have to agree on Denver - I had a blast in March when I joined up with Skip and his friends. Now all I need to do is work out how to move a company there so I have some work...

In there interests of helping out here are a few photos of Mike's car scattered around this forum: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5373.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=3128&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1309316510 http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00290_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/LOG%2030/DSC00357_edited-1.jpg This car was incredible to watch at the NJMP track day. Get Mike to throw in some driving lessons for free so you know how to eat Corvettes and Porsches for breakfast.

Sorry Skip, just heard he made it back east with a really big smile on his face!

If you did not cut out enough then maybe try a seat pad from Oxted Trimming. Apart from being softer to sit on it will just raise you out of the seat a fraction to for your bones clear the sides of the seat.

Its more than the wings, Skip also has the CSR chin installed under the nosecone. Together they are part of the aero package on the CSR. I have a CSR with the wings, reprofiled front wheel wings but not the chin and found it much more planted on the front end at the 135mph area on track than an R300 with no aero goodies I had driven the week before at Silverstone at roughly the same speed. While not scientific back to back testing on the same track, there was a noticeable difference at track speeds above 100 mph. Part of that will be the different front suspension but not all of it. Next week I will be putting on the chin spoiler, a rear diffuser and aeroscreen and will try again at another track day in October to see if I have improved high speed stability further.

Skip - I was not aware Ron was there until I got the photo from Jon Nelson who was with him on his first drive. I sent an email to Ron this morning passing on your details. I do not have his cell phone sorry.

I hear Ron was in 4th at 7200rpm going for it when he passed the nice Officer. No ticket which really just reinforces how nice people are in Denver....

I just wanted to offer my congratulations to Ron (redgoose) on his new Caterham R500 which he tested for the first time yesterday in Denver. It certainly looks great and clearly it goes fast too! :rofl: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/2011-08-10_09-12-07_429.jpg I can so relate to this picture....the cosworth duratecs just beg for you to grab another gear and go for revs. :driving: Enjoy the car Ron! I look forward to seeing it in person when you get back to NYC area.