Croc

Hi KiwiB Thanks for the update. It is good to hear that at least you personally are getting back to normal. The real issue with the Christchurch EQ recovery is that the level of damage is massive compared to the resources of the country as a whole. NZ's total population of people (sheep don't count) is about the scale of a large-ish US city. My old work/golf buddy owns and runs an accounting firm in Christchurch and his city centre office was totalled in the EQ although luckily neither him or his employees were harmed. He is learning the hard way how to keep a business going in the aftermath of a catastrophe. Keep up the spirits

Congratulations Herr Kapitan on surviving that pit exit puddle in your U-Boat! :ack: Dont the organizers clear obstacles like that away? I am glad your new camera was waterproof. Looks like a really nice day - despite taking it gentle you were still reeling them in easily. The camera looks a nice piece of kit. How come it comes up on you tube with two black bands top and bottom of the image - almost as if it is too short an image? What resolution in HD did you set it to? The best thing about the cam is the sound. So many race cams have crap sound because the microphone is in the wind. With yours I could hear the Healey in front of you at points. Where did you mount the mic in the car?

Hi Bruce - Hope Bonaire is treating you well! I would suggest we aim for June 12 with a rain date of June 19. This will fit in with the "Driving Miss Daisy" event scheduled for Mon/Tues June 27/28 at NJMP, allowing us time to prepare our cars (if we have to) following your annual "Escaped from Bonaire" Sevens blat. I suggest we meet in Milford in the usual town parking lot opposite Ship Inn. Gas station is nearby, easy to find and those who trailer their garage queens can park trailer in the same place as last time. On the way back to Ship Inn for the obligatory tall tales lunch, we can stop in Tinicum Park for a group photo. This should be a good year for getting a record number of Sevens - although I bet Al's Bessie the Seven will not be ready - still a lot of work to do on her. Everybody weigh in here with alternative ideas and better suggestions

Nice choice Mike. They are a great tire for the seven. Having driven a with a set of CR500s on my new seven I was amazed how sticky they were to kick up all the gravel. Wish I had got a set earlier. So Tom how is your garage queen going? I think Bessie's sister Bertha is thinking of copying her older sibling and joining up here... :jester:

Yep...that is an example of the poor quality of driving you get in NYC metro area. It looks like it is on I-287. I want him to police I-78, I-95, I-80......etc Unfortunately most NJ cops that I see are not what you would call polite or considerate. It is probably something to do with the nature of the region putting some rhino attitude into them over time. I had one that was out of sorts with moon phase, time of the month, had not been laid that year, etc who decided my slightly flappy in the slipstream seven sidescreen was a safety hazard and pulled me over to vent and fine me. Meanwhile I see speeding, tailgating, changing lanes without looking going on all around me - he was oblivious.:rant:

Sorry to hear this Karl. There is nothing worse than trying to track through electrical gremlims. Am I correct in understanding it is the relay box providing grief or is it the ECU or even the wiring harness? Or is it just too early to know which one if giving problems?

Nice looking car. I like the black panasport wheel look with the silver rim. I have sumitomos on my yellow zetec seven currently. I have cycle wings but they definitely do not kick up much gravel compared to a stickier set of tires. They are good solid performers for touring - transmit what they are doing nice and early and very progressive when breaking away at the limit. Despite this I probably would not have them again - rubber compound is a little too hard for my liking on a seven.

Great pictures. Until you see a guy down next to the lake wall I had no idea how big that lake was. Brave guys - better them than me.

This takes bitch slapping to a whole new level....

Tom - Many thanks for explaining. No wonder I did not recognize it - it is way before I was born. I need an old guy like you to educate me from time to time! :jester:

I am in Beach Haven NJ on Saturday night. I might try and drop by on the Sunday if I can. I will be in the Audi though. If the Seven is not ready then why run the Volvo? Wouldn't the Porsche be quicker? Also saves the "Honey, I trashed your car" situations....

Mine lasted all of 5 years before being replaced in early 2009. Consider yourselves lucky to get over 10 years life out of them. Have you checked the fuel and cooling hoses? These are prime candidates for cracks, splitting and failing... I replaced all my hoses at the same time as they all seemed to be in the same worn condition.

Looks like a quality race shop you are using Karl. I think I saw a 1970s Lincoln Continental Coupe lurking in the background :jester: Being serious for a moment, it looks a lovely piece of kit with a seriously attractive sequential gearbox. Where is this weekends track day happening?

Hi Andy - good to hear that you and the seven escaped the Bronx. Which shop did you find for helping you out with this work?

Did you hear what the elephant said about the naked man? Response: "How do you breathe through that!"

bump

Shoe size is your big issue here - height and weight are pretty normal. I have size 12s too. I think a Caterham S3 (classic chassis) is out of the question because of the shoe size - at least I cannot drive them without using bare feet. An Ultralite would work for sizing as would a Stalker - I fit in both comfortably. A Birkin with its adjustable pedals will definitely work. While it has been a long time since I sat in one, I am pretty sure you could make a Westfield work with driving shoes. An SV will definitely work but as you can see it is one of many options open to you.

Hi Rick I am assuming you have already deciphered the Caterham chassis number using the following guide: http://7faq.com/owbase/ow.asp?ChassisNumbers At least this will confirm that the specs in the chassis number correspond to what you are looking at on the car. Assuming it was a UK car, then if Caterham UK is coming up empty then it gets difficult at that point. If it was originally a UK car then you could try searching all forums on Blatchat using its old UK numberplate (or parts of it, assuming you have it)? Assuming it was a US car then I would try Caterham USA as their predecessor Rocky Mountain Sports Cars went back to that era.

Oh so painful...regretably I can relate to a few of these: - riding the floor polisher round and around in ciircles - oversteering off the road into trees - falling through a roof while walking on it - having some moron driver turning left across the front of me without them looking or giving way like they should.

Jon - I think you are right. Even so some of these are spectacularly cocked up. I prefer to be called Miss Daisy and be slow than risk a car as stupidly as these guys in the video did. :leaving:

No problem - here it is as of last Friday night. Front suspension was complete by 1pm yesterday when I saw it. The little box on top of scuttle in front of driver is the shift lights

I thought you all would want to mentally prepare yourself for the challenges of driving fast around a circuit. There are plenty of positive lessons from this video: [/url]

Go for it Ian - you know you want another Seven now that you are in the US!

Hi Ron - Just sent you a pic link to your car - you can decide if you want to post it on USA7s or not. Its out of the box, up on stands and by Sunday 1pm the front suspension was done. So they are off and running!

Thanks for the pointer. I had noticed it myself - primarily when I went to test the horn and nothing happened! First priority is to get them to work with the horn button on the steering wheel. Second step will be to reverse the mounts - I think I have clearance between the shocks and chassis to just flip them around. If not I am pretty confident I can find another solution. If the Supertones do not want to work I can always follow Skip's lead on his Miata and mount freight train air horns! My hearing is still recovering from that little demo on Saturday!