Croc

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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!

Yep, I am with Sean on this one - Canada does have some difficult regulations regarding sevens. Still it is better than NJ which would like to ban them all - moderns and historics. Luckily I do not live in NJ anymore... We were very blessed on Saturday. The weather did crap out quite quickly on Sunday in Denver. I discovered that the CSR handles very nicely in the small amount of snow and rain (thank goodness no salting was going on). I also discovered that the zip had separated the threads on the rear window and it was so cold the hood sticks were impossible to put up. It was an entertaining drive! Luckily I do not believe in garage queens!

Hi Mike Pic links are now fixed - Photobucket was doing a Bessie on me! Link to the Colorado blat are on the Mountain forum section at: http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6201 Some more tinkering is needed. I have a list of items that need a little work. Nothing too major though - air leak in the exhaust, check brakes, oil level/change, missing popper, horn not worky, etc. For a seven it is perfect! I had it out at 5am this morning and did the same canyon drive as yesterday in the dark! Probably not advisable....however it is understandable :jester: I will ship it back east. Unfortunately I cannot spare the time off work. Front and rear tire spec is in post 1 of this thread. I will post weight once I remember to write in down instead of trusting my memory!

For the drive it was straight to the mountains and then up left hand canyon and then down another canyon. The roads were just so well suited to the cars. The scenery was also spectacular but I was concentrating on the driving so did not have much chance to sightsee. As for the CSR Superlight impressions refer to my other post at: http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6281 Some mid drive pics: All thanks to Skip for putting together a great days driving. Compared to the roads I get in NY and NJ, the Colorado guys are blessed with their location. Like all regional Seveners/Lotus groups that I have met, the people are great and it is always good to waste time chatting cars. There are so many roads perfect for some spirited driving.

They may be a 1970’s design but they just look great and sound even better. I would hate to pay for the maintenance or gas bill though: Skip giving his briefing to those Colorado Seveners coming on the blat: A seven panorama on Skip’s driveway:

A very nice Aston: A very nice retro looking Porsche GT3: Following the ogling of the pleasures of motoring, we moved over to Skip’s place for the Colorado Sevens gathering. A gratuitous pic of my car!

The usual late model Ferrari’s were present – look at the dinner plates on this fire hazard: Feeling expensive, I drooled on the Lamborghini V12 in a Countach:

A wonderful looking AC Bristol:

A lovely Fiat – I could live with this in my driveway: Not sure if this was an original Cobra or not – never talked to the owner. Had an ali body, nice details and a lovely patina – the owner clearly gets it on the road and drives it like it should be driven: A nice race prepped Shelby Mustang GT 350: A nice Jag E type – fairly fresh restoration:

On 4/2/2011 I took the CSR SL out for its maiden blat with the Colorado Sevens group. It was a 7am meet at a Cars & Coffee event in Lafayette CO. I think it set a record for something like 9 sevens turning up: The cars on display were great. The setting was really good: I loved this Miata stuffed with an LS motor. Later, back at Skip’s garage I was chatting with the owner. He has plans to drop the engine lower to provide for a normal bonnet clearance so the “holey” bonnet gets replaced. The noise this little beast put out was remarkable.

So what is it like? OMG!!!!! Now I know what Warp 9 on Star Trek’s USS Enterprise feels like. There is a somewhat deep menacing idle, very nice and tractable at low revs. However, when you hit 3000rpm then the thing just takes off and there is a wave of power and torque all the way through to 7000rpm. The suspension is very well designed and clearly a generation ahead of my Zetec Roadsport SV. Very smooth and controlled, bumps do not shake it off line. It feels like a much bigger car. The CR500’s were impressive – sticky enough that I can now start a gravel mining business from the cockpit of the CSR SL. I was taking it fairly easy as the brakes were still bedding in. Given it is new, the 6 speed box is very notchy and reverse can be difficult to find. I am still making mistakes with the box as I am used to the T9 with wider gate spacing, whereas the Caterham 6 speeder is quite tightly spaced on its gates. On the way to Skip’s house I was alongside Bob Simon at the lights and thought I would try a 0-60 run away from the lights (it was a 60mph zone just for the record). Blindingly quick in first and second gears then muppet-me made an appearance and changed into 5th gear. Almost as good as the gear change I did at Silverstone last year going from 5th to 2nd. The cockpit feel is very much like a regular car – especially with the car-like steering column wands for indicator, headlights and wipers. It will be a warm place in winter as the tubes on the dash and transmission tunnel warm up with running. It is harder to get into than my Zetec SV as the wheel is placed closer to your body and is non-detachable. Also the extra chassis cross bracing makes it difficult to find the right spot to put your feet when getting in. Compared to the other sevens I have driven, this thing is a generation ahead in abilities. I am so looking forward to getting it on my home roads.

Shakedown Blat Day – 4/2/2011 The headers are starting to color up nicely!

Delivery Day – 4/1/2011 This was entertaining. I get to the workshop and get in the car and find I cannot push the clutch pedal down as my foot is too wide – WTF. A deeper investigation with Jon and later Ben, showed that Caterham UK had installed 2 clutch pedals so both were so tight that there was no way I was ever going to be able to drive with a clutch. In trying to replace the pedal we discovered a bit of bodge job had been done with a cotter pin by the UK so that led to some puzzlement. Also had to cinch up a bleed nipple as we had a leak. Then it was off for a test drive. Being new the clutch was being finicky and the brakes were soft as anything as they had not yet bed in.

Assembly Photos – 1/14/2011

Assembly Photos – 12/15/2010 Assembly Photos – 12/22/2010

I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to buy an exceedingly well spec’ed Caterham CSR Superlight kit from a gentleman who unfortunately was unable to carry through to completion. However, his inspired specifications gave rise to a formidable beast. Specifications CSR Superlight kit Cosworth Duratec CSR 260 engine package. This takes the standard 2.3L Duratec and (as I have it listed from Cosworth) uprated for the following Cosworth parts: forged pistons with CR at 12:1, piston rings, forged connecting rod, level 2 race camshaft, cam friction washers, race valve springs, Cosworth polished cylinder head, high flow fuel injectors, high capacity fuel rail, Modine oil cooler, high flow oil pump, stage 2 dry sump, roller barrel throttle bodies, carbon air box with foam filter, new ECU with Caterham specific map, carbon coil cover, lightweight alternator (40 amp) Engine was dyno’ed and run in by Cosworth prior to installation in the CSR. [*]Caterham 6 speed transmission [*]limited slip differential (3.62:1) [*]inboard front suspension [*]independent rear suspension [*]ventilated front discs and 4 pot calipers [*]15" Caterham motorsport wheels and Avon CR500 tires - 6.5" front and 9" rear [*]Quick ratio steering rack [*]Carbon front cycle wings [*]Carbon rear wings [*]Aero cross section front wishbones [*]Integrated ("curvy") dash (comes with lowered floors, Momo wheel and push button start). It also comes with column pod for self-cancelling indicators, wipers and headlights. The wipers even have an intermittent setting!!! [*]5 point harnesses [*]Track day roll bar [*]Paint is Titanium silver with Platinum silver stripe and noseband [*]Black pack (headlights, windscreen, carbon-look sills) [*]Brackets for quick change over of windscreen to aeroscreen [*]Spa carbon mirrors with convex lens [*]Mirrors for Sevens rear view mirror [*]Carbon indicator pods (with clear lens) [*]Battery master switch [*]Heater [*]Aero filler cap [*]"7" grille with mesh grille [*]Cool touch exhaust muffler [*]Tonneau [*]Roll bar mounted brake light [*]weather kit (sidescreens, hood, hood sticks) [*]SBFS half hood with double easy entry in [*]Aces change up lights - will be mounted on the underside of the scuttle above the tach/speedo [*]secret sauce kit good for an extra 10 hp As I will be using this on the road, I also added a windscreen (carbon aeroscreen is standard on the CSR Superlight) and I dropped the carbon/alacantara Tillets and substituted them for the leather seats as they will be more comfortable for touring. Other additions were 12 volt plug, fire extinguisher, half doors, Hella horns, and wind deflectors. The carbon was fully covered in 3M clear bra to protect it from moisture/humidity and the inevitable white spotting. The original plan was to use clear coat to seal the carbon, however, when tested on the canards the porous carbon was found to create a noticeable dimpling effect on the surface. Multiple coats seemed to be better but still was noticeable. The clear coat was still used on the underside as a sealant as the dimpling will never be seen there. Clear bra was also put on the usual spots where stone chipping occurs (e.g. nosecone). For assembly I had Ben and Jon at Caterham USA put it together as I have too many other things going on to devote time to it. Opening the Box – 10/31/2010