Croc

I also drove the green SVT last November at Dick's and found its handling ok (probably in the same parking lot as you - down the hill and take a left). However, I did not have Dick with me at the time. The extra passenger can make a huge difference. My new car liked to plow understeer initially until I had it corner-weighted and then it made a huge difference - turning in beautifully. Imagine my disappointment when I find it goes back to plow understeer with a passenger along for the ride. The extra weight of a passenger upset my nicely calibrated car. I discovered that tweaking tire pressures to inflate the rear more overcomes that little problem. Lesson - dont be hung up on the car not being perfect. That is what is so great about these cars - you can have fun fiddling with them to get them where you like them. I also agree with TheGoat - its a buyers market right now - quite a few cars for sale at a good price. Be patient and the right one will emerge.

Absolutely awesome photos. The website is full of cars under varying states of control.....in a perfect place to experiment. Great photos of your car - and you looking like a drowned rat soaking wet in one of them! :smilielol5: I am like Hank....love to know more about the wing and how you find it works...

While I have no affiliation with the place, as an ex-Mainer, I can recommend the Museum as a great place to visit after a Maine lobster lunch if you are in the area - lots of old planes, cars and other antique mechnical devices to browse around.

Just browsing the goods from the site and came across this rather fetching Seven for auction come August 22. The brooklands screen and no roll bar give this car a nice balanced look. http://www.ohtm.org/gallery/album840 website home for the auction http://www.ohtm.org/*NEauction09.html There are quite a number of lovely cars for sale that has me looking around for cash....

Just came across this - no affiliation, etc - looks nice! 220hp caught my eye. http://www.lotusowners.com/ForSale/PDCat/index.htm Actually there seem to be a bunch of cars for sale on there right now.

The smile on Lauren's face looks pretty big....and says it all! Bruce, I think you need to direct your daughter here to buy a Seven for herself. Otherwise you will lose out....

Hi Bill - Congratulations on your new purchase! Lovely looking car.

I know he is also driving at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedford UK, just north of London. Great facility if you ever get a chance to drive there.

Let me take both for a nice long test drive and then I can tell you! :drool:

Hi Rob, Thats great to hear! I would love to see pics of your car - you have done a ton of work on it in the last few months. cheers

Congratulations - she looks a nice car! Perfect timing - plenty of summer left to enjoy. Are you ready to start buying upgrades? I think you get a nomination for garage of the month award. I would love one like that....with a hoist too!

Hi Jen - That was really good. One thing that struck me from watching the video - it appeared so slow - as if we were crawling along. I wonder if that is just an illusion from the small screen?

Thanks Brad. I will post my oil pressure stats up here when I get everything back together 1-2 weeks from now. I was once told that Mocal make the standard Caterham gauges - albeit to a lower price than their regular gauge product line. Not sure how true that is? Kitcat - what is the issue with the Caterham speedo/tach? Mine is just ok but it can be hard to read at times when driving (plus fogs up occasionally).

Hi Brad Great minds think alike! I got my Mocal delivery on Monday. I went with the dual mechanical oil presssure/oil temp gauge and the necessary connectors/ steel braided hose. I like the Mocal look since it matches the existing gauges well. Currently in the process of working through an installation so your pics are very useful. Now that you have finished - what oil pressure is your engine showing? I would not mind a point of reference on what to expect from my SVT engine when the gauge is hooked up. Cheers

Many thanks for the offer Jon - but I got some in the garage that I have not installed yet. Its amazing how one bang of the head convinced me to buy some! Anyway....need to heal the arm and finger before I can fix the car!

I just love these cars - we are always getting into scrapes, spins, strife or silliness with them. Life would be boring without them! :auto:

That looks really nice. I think the Westfield/Miata comobination is a great one - I almost went down that road myself. So many upgrade options are available with that engine. I have never heard of a 7 with ABS. How difficult was it to install in the car? How well does it work given the much lighter weight of the Westfield (over the orginal Mazda)? I would have thought you would need to dial back the sensors to compensate?

:iagree: Xflows have a lovely sound to them. Much better than the other shopping trolley engines available. Does a MX5 Miata engine have more power/torque than a xflow? The 6 spd Mazda gearbox that comes with it is a sweetie.

Its great to hear that you are mobile again. What was the final diagnosis from the electrics? I would not mind knowing to file away in brain for when it happens to me. After taking 3 weeks to work out why my brake lights would not work (hydraulic switch failure in pedal box) I can always use a few lessons from other people's experiences with electrics. cheers

Thats bad news but I am sure you can pull it together with a bit of work. I guess your rear wing proudly labelled "Pussy Magnet" shown in recent pics did not give you enough downforce?

Wow.....Hank is the Stig!!!! :driving:

Gee thanks Jon...if this is your luck you can have it back!!! Having now read Robert's disaster weekend I feel slightly better. I no longer think I was the most unlucky although my finger still hurts and its gone an interesting shade of black and my drill is destroyed. Let me find the usual painkiller - a nice whiskey. A few of those and I will be comfortably numb. :cheers: Bring on Tuesday...:seeya:

Following on from my exhaust cracking activities on Saturday when I had a nice long drive through the Delaware Water Gap, I took the Seven out to see if I could hear better where the loud rattling was coming from the exhaust. Bad move - should have stayed in bed. So about 10 miles from home I notice the temp gauge heading north from its usual 80-85 to 96-100. Not good so pull over and check the engine. Ah ha....its a pin hole leak in one of the cooling hose. So I tightly wrap it to get me home and begin to baby home to replace the hose with a spare I have. Two miles further down the road and the temp guage spikes into the red. Shut it down and pulled over and checked again. This time the pipe catastrophically failed with coolant everywhere, spraying the electrics and frying them. I did not have the kit to limp me home with this so I call AAA and begin to wait for them. 45 mins later the first tow truck arrived - no gear to get me home and I was not going to let him tow me - so I wait for a flatbed. 45 mins later a second tow truck. Sent him away to await the promised flatbed - another hour away. Meantime I had stopped the car in a parking area just off a roundabout. I'm waiting under a tree next to the roundabout keeping cool. It's highly entertaining watching the incompetence of most drivers in a roundabout (do I give way to those in the roundabout? Or do I make them give way to me? Or do I just have a near miss?). Well, here I am minding my own business watching a Ford Explorer get carved up by a Honda rice cooker heap when next moment the SUV is heading straight at my tree. So I run for it and when the carnage is over there are 2 bent cars (Honda and Ford), a tree knocked over and me slightly shaken and my near miss. Luckily the tree branches just brushed the back of my Seven - no damage. The drivers, wives, extended family all exit from the vehicles and start screaming at each other. AAA truck choses that moment to arrive and I am off home - I can leave that madhouse. I decide it is not my lucky day for cars. Rustled up a few friends for a BBQ and open the beer. Before I start I decide to fix my BBQ table to stop a wobble - easy - just drill a hole and put a bolt through. Of course I have an audience of friends to make fun of me. So happily drilling away holding the table at the area where I am drilling when next moment extreme pain in my finger and hand and I cannot move my hand. Yes I drilled all the way through my finger. One friend said no problem just reverse the drill....so I did at full speed....that provided more damage and cussing from me but I was free from the table. My cry for help was answered by another buddy who is also a doctor (GP). He was useless - "Dude, thats just gross. I need another drink before I can deal with that." So BBQ delayed while I headed to the emergency room for patching. My friends just stayed at my place drinking my beer, wine and spirits. The emergency room doctor was a beacon of hope and comfort "What were you thinking? Are you F#$%@# nuts?" So he stitches/patches me up, gives me a tentanus injection. I head home for a drink or three. I then discover over the course of the next 2 hours I am allergic to tentanus injections as my left arm is now double its normal size, red, throbbing, feels heavy and extremely sensitive to any touch which causes pain. Back to the same doctor - "Not you again? What did you screw up this time? Why did you not tell me you are allergic to tetanus?" (how was I to know?) Such a reassuring bedside manner. Apparently it will take a few days for the arm to go back to normal. So get back home to find the party over (lots of empties but no BBQ). But where is the drill? Cannot find it. This morning I empty the dishwasher which some thoughtful person had loaded and put on wash for me while I was at the emergency room. Ah ha...there it is! Some @#$$%% muppet friend loaded my electric drill into a dishwasher and turned it on! I am going back to bed....the world is a safer place without me. So how was your weekend?

I checked the heat shield and it is tight - none of the fastenings are loose or broken - so no rattling from there. Rear mounts are solid - so not there. I really like the idea of a front mount and was considering making something like that - I had no idea it was a Caterham part. I will give them a call today. I am not surprised the weld gave way given NJ has the worst roads in the US. The vibrations are a killer.

Yesterday on a nice long run I developed a 4.5 inch crack in the exhaust at the weld where the 4 merge to 1. I have a standard Caterham SV rear exit exhaust. At the same time the muffler started giving off rattle sounds - like something is rattling around inside. I checked and the exhaust is still seems securely mounted so it is not rattling around on the mounts or hitting anything. It also does not seem to be the shielding hitting the muffler. I have looked at old past posts and the crack looks to be a common problem - the consensus seems to be just weld the crack up. However for the rattling, is it possible that a metal baffle inside the muffler has come loose or are these mufflers just packed with steel wool and the rattle is coming from somewhere else?