Croc

Might try to make it over there in the morning. I need to go to Home Despot anyway for the various things that have broken at home this week.

Obviously the overalls and gloves preserve your gorgeous clothes and freshly manicured hands? How about a hair dryer and brush to make sure you continue to have that freshly blown look? BTW...do you own a Miata? :jester:

Such a good statement it needs to be repeated again. :cooldude: While I agree with this, some of the more modern sevens are getting beyond the ability of a casual mechanic to repair given their increasing complexity. My original S2 could be fixed easily and simply - I think I pulled it apart 5 times and rebuilt the Ford 1200 engine at least 3 times - very easy to do. I could perform any manner of bodge to get me home. My next Zetec SV was far more complex and the electrical wiring was a pain. It took about a year of fettling to make it reliably happy and even then it had the wiper and headlight switch fail for JLumba when he was driving the 4000m home to Alaska (sorry Jude - I thought I prevented the faults). Now my current CSR Cosworth is like a black box. Sealed engine, locked electronics, some black boxes which took a few phone calls to the UK to understand what they were. Increasingly the only way to repair some of the newer cars with some faults is truck them home to get a mechanic and his trusty laptop to interogate it. The other aspect of the newer Caterham cars which is truly disturbing is the quality is worse than ever. I have had front wheel bearings fail in less than 3000 miles from brand new on the CSR - poor quality manufacture. My brake hoses were not rated for brakes and the fluid seeped through and got the paint in the engine bay. My fuel hoses perished in 12 months from new - splits and cracks. While I check for this stuff regularly, too many people new to sevens think it is like their Honda and assume it will just work. The UK Lotus Seven Club has a Getting To Know Your Seven Program at Caterham dealerships along with a manual. That would be a good offerring for new seven owners in Canada and the US if it were available.

Bill - When I get to the stage of buying a car through Ebay I will be heading in your direction to get educated. I have never been a fan of online auctions for cars as I am usually sufficiently old fashioned I want to see the car first because there is insufficient information in the online advertisment. Rarely do you find the seller has gone to enough effort to document the car condition in words and photos so that a visit is truly not necessary. My previous seven was found online with Ebay but I had to check it out in Florida before I made an offer outside of Ebay that was accepted and the car withdrawn from Ebay auction. The Ebay ad was inadequate in this situation.

My regular tool kit in a Sparco tool bag that goes behind the seats includes: - tire weld as I have no spare - tire repair kit (plug, tool and sealant/glue) - array of allen keys, compact interchangeable screwdriver set - silicone tape (great for hose leaks) - electrical tape - duct tape - cable ties - wire (for exhausts or other jobs to be wired up) - fuel tank sealer (JB weld) - silicone sealer - WD40 - spare oil for engine (it eats it!) - variety of spare fuses/relay - assort small container of screws, washers, nuts - utility knife - small multimeter - old juice/gatorade container to empty oil catch tank - 3 small rolls of electrical wire plus crimper - some clean rags - tire gauge - torque wrench - rechargeable LED work light/torch - 2 x hose clamps of varying size - pliers/multigrips/adjustable spanner - nylon belt - 2 x octopus straps (not sure what people call them in the US?) - 2 x panty hose - good for temporarily replacing belts - sometimes I will throw the battery charger in - its only small. Or I will throw in my porta-battery that can jump start the car through the 12V plug between the seats. Helps when I inevitably leave my headlights on... - spare throttle cable The time I really broken down badly where my tool kit could not get me home was when the contents of my radiator were draining quickly and I had no spare coolant and could not seal up a hole that big. So the biggest tool in the seven (apart from this driver :rofl:) is as Gert said, the AAA card. It rescued me when all else failed. I have the platinum membership which gives me 200 miles of free towing back home. Just remember to take your cell phone. Otherwise, I am a big believer in preparing ahead of time so that nothing is left to chance.

All three cars have been on here at some point: 1) The first one is Bob's who is a member on here. Very nice car. 2) The second is the same NY car that has been for sale for 2-3 years now but has somehow never sold as the price is always too high for what the market wants to pay. 3) The CSR was listed here and then handed off to Park Place Motors and given bidding is now $53950 with 2 days to run there is a good chance it will now reach the buy it now reserve of $55k (provided the bidder is not the seller bumping up the price).

How many days of life can you expect out of the Birkin Duratec supercharged engine package before it blows up? I have heard a few second hand tales about the reliability of this package given its high horsepower (circa 300fwhp). It would be nice to hear the facts from an informed person as it sounds in principle a really neat cost effective solution to more power. Far far cheaper than a cosworth option.

Stephen - Good luck with the move. Having done 14 country moves before I can assure you that it will be a PIA. It does help that you are moving to a first world country where they (mostly) speak the same language. Some areas where I have had monumental fails in my moves: (a) Never try to ship a wine/beer/spirit collection - it always gets hammered with customs taxes as you just exceeded the duty free limit. (b) Dispose of your garbage in the trash and dont let some overexcited puppy of a mover pack it into a box and ship it. One it stinks everything out when you open the box at the other end and, two, worse, the customs guys freak out. © Do not try to ship your fireworks collection or the contents of your refrigerator, or Marg's beauty creams and lotions, or even the contents of your laundry cupboard. (d) Customs will always find the most embarrassing item of clothing you possess and ask "what is this?" (e) I assume the Aussie customs guys will want to wash your shoes, hiking boots, car, wardrobe in insecticide and disinfectant to kill those nasty diseases before you come into the country (no I am not joking!). (f) Label each box with the room it belongs in and the contents. There is nothing worse than trying to find bed sheets or parts of beds at midnight at the end of the move day. (g) Speaking of beds, never let a mover drain your waterbed prior to lifting it out of the bedroom. My downstairs UK neighbors did not like me for this. (h) Your ice axe, ice crampons and ski stocks will be mistaken for BDSM equipment with undesired customs attention. Keep smiling whatever happens - a cold beer always puts a good perspective on problems! :cooldude:

Hi Jørn You have bought yourself a lovely looking seven. Hopefully you are in a coastal part of Norway where you can enjoy it on the magnificent roads around the fjords. I have no links with the car - I found the advertisment by accident on the Hemmings site and (re)posted it here in the case a USA7s member would be interested in purchasing the car. I would make an inquiry of Dave Lebrun and see if he or his friend Tony Vaccaro (Dave knows him) know any more about the previous owners so you can contact that person. However, it was nearly 20 years ago it was constructed so it is likely there are no records today. Cheers

They look good Stewart! Your group one came out better than mine which had a thumb in it For future reference you can sign up for a free account at Photobucket or Google Picasa, upload your high quality image there and then paste a link over here using the "Insert Image" button.

Just got back from two member days at NJMP Thunderbolt. Stinking hot, revoltingly humid, greasy track, not the greatest of grip - somehow I lost 4 pounds in two days. The driving was still fun despite Tom and Jeff having a tire fail each. Luckily Tom did not give me his video of me drifting tail happy through turn 1....so I don't have to show that! Here is a HD video of the highlights: I am still working on the June video - have faith.

There is a kit of clear film you can buy out of the UK online or even at Amazon that is pre-cut to either an S3 or SV Caterham. The way it is cut gets around many of the various curves that make it difficult to apply. Now I know you have a Birkin but maybe some of the pieces are useful?

Hold on - do I understand correctly that you need to carry an alcohol tester even when on a track day out on a race circuit? Surely the government could not be that silly......:ack:

Or more sevens in Skip's drive from a different day! http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/Colorado%20April%202011/skipsplace_Panorama1.jpg Or 9 sevens at a track in June: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC00416.jpg Or 8 seven drivers on a podium - thats rarer in the US than two cars in a driveway! http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC00449.jpg You just have to accept that only 2 cars in your driveway is just mediocre - you need to buy some more! I am looking forward to seeing your "new" car later this year.

Very interesting comparison between the seven and the Mustang. Are you quicker around the track overall in the Mustang vs the seven (lap time or average speed)? Your car looks great in green - really suits it well.

And there is also a good chance the SV/CSR driver will have a muffin top in the S3!

I know I have not had my coffee but I had to re-read this post 3 times! Must be the inner Democrat coming out Tom? :seeya: However, I think your assertion is that an R500 cannot be an R500 unless it has 500hp per tonne and Mr Fatso SV weighs sooooo much that it will never have 500hp per tonne with a standard R500 engine spec but needs another 100hp+ to balance the R500 equation? But that cannot be true because the car will have a nice little plastic plaque from Caterham to glue to the dash saying it must be an R500? Personally, a dashboard plaque does not get me horny - my numbered CSR Superlight plaque is sitting in a box somewhere and is not on my car. Driving the the car is far more fun. So Terry's R500 will have 265hp area. Should be enough to get the average person speaking gibberish incoherently and rapidly pass a K series superlight. Mind you, the extra horsepower option to really be an R500 also sounds pretty good to me. And for the record, Karl's R400 on steroids would whup an R500 ass and send it home crying to mommy. Us boys are just so competitive! :jester: PS - Terry - Just to get back on topic, did you spec an H-pattern gearbox or sequential? Both are 6 speed I think?

Being serious for all of 5 seconds, I think TVR is dead as a dodo but your idea would work if you looked towards Ginetta. For example, their little G40R uses a duratec so you could source similar drivetrain to that of the seven. G40 is still using a zetec but why not substitute for a sigma? Done carefully there could be significant efficiencies from parts overlapping. The extended model range allows a customer to go up the price range over time and extends into high horsepower models with a bit more comfort for those needing to protect their hair styles. Not sure there is much money in making Formula Fords?

Come on Jon - surely it is more primitive than that. I think Caterham use a trireme retired from the Greek Navy: http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/classics/media/147_trireme7.jpg The extra crew costs explains why the shipping charges are so astronomically high and the mode of travel explains why it is so slow. They really need to put the whip on to them more! :seeya:

I would not worry too much about the profits being down. Losing a CEO carries a high penalty for leaving payouts which will have been a "biggish" cost pushing down the reported profits. Remove that and things look fine.

Great write up and pics Skip! I guess the road is sealed all the way to the very top except the top is still dirt as seen in the photos? One of these days I will get around to doing that drive - but I want to do it in a seven. Need to work through that problem....

You are coming from a Zetec car perspective. They never had a standard UK Caterham wiring harness like the Rover K's or the Duratec/Sigma. My SVT Zetec car was far more messy with the wiring than my current Duratec which had a modified wiring harness shipped in from the UK. My previous SVT Zetec installation was literally out of a Ford focus and then chopped up. That had wires to nowhere...

I have heard about Ken's ability with Miata's. Here is a blurb about him here: http://www.flyinmiata.com/oracle/main.htm Then again, you could always just ship Skip out east to work on your car - it would work properly and there would be plenty of beers and laughs - which is sort of what you need right now. Keep faith Roman - we want you back out on the roads.

thats good news - crank sensors are cheaper than ECUs