Croc

I have not really named my current car other than call it "Seven." However, my first Seven (1965 Series 2) was called "Elvis" by my father, because it had so many hits on the racetrack from my driving.

Great photos as always Kiwi! Makes me really want to go there again.

Is there much difference between the ZX1 and the ZX3? I thought the power output increase was only marginal. Does it make sense to go for the SVT Zetec and then use that as a base to step it up?

I have a CD driving tour of the battefields from when I toured them last year. You just pop the CD in and then it tells you all about what you are seeing as you drive along. Will that help you? :jester:

Definitely want to do that - everyone has said it is good evening and a beer will soothe the dry throat from the drive! :cheers:

I guess the motto of a Kiwi bird is "pluck me gently" ? Come on - get off the sofa and try the real circuit out in a real car!

Unfortunately insurance is state-specific premium rate filing plans. Safeco will not touch our cars in some states. State Farm is usually reliable for insuring sevens as regular use in nearly all states. Hagerty, Grundy and the other specialist classic car policy insurers are also good. Chubb insurance will insure in nearly all states under their masterpiece insurance product.

+1 everyone should try a race there at some point in their life They seem to have flattened out the dipper - no more lifting inside wheels. What lap times were you turning there?

Sorry to hear about the motor. I bet you were bouncing off the rev limiter along Conrod Straight which would not have helped it along. I raced my 1965 series II 7 there way too many years ago and it was SLOOOOW up the mountain but it was fun to hassle much faster cars across the top and down through the esses and dipper to forests elbow. Still my favorite circuit. One day I will get back there to do another race...

Hotel is booked. I will deal with forms as soon as I get near a printer to print them out. Planning to be there at least Friday night through to end of day Sunday.

Jack has a good idea. A spare tire mount can be used to carry a tire but it could also be used for luggage and you replace the tire with a can of tire fix-it. Caterham also has a luggage rack you can buy that mounts off the back of the spare tire rack. Here is a pic from our Sevens outing in Milford NJ just recently. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/Sevens%20Run%20June%202010/DSC_3220_edited-1.jpg There are some bars that fold down to the horizontal (forming an L shape) that you can mount luggage on. Hopefully this helps you imagine what you could do.

This really says it all. Knowledge of the car brings confidence. While mine had been built by a well known reputable outfit, the car was coming to me via a former owner wealthy business guy and a Rolls Royce dealer in West Palm Beach Florida. I could see the car had not been cared for in some time (rusted suspension on a 4 yr old car?) and needed work. For that reason there was no way I trusted it to drive from FL to NJ after I bought it. Now that I have had it some time, pulled it down and put it all back together again (and again) I know it well and trust it to be reliable. I also know what I need to monitor closely regularly to keep it running reliably. Now that I quit my job on Monday, I am already planning a long driving tour to ME, NH, VT and upstate NY to find mountain twisties (Kancamagus Hwy) and see friends.

Awwwww....come on.....I will drive the yellow peril for you. I will even put my own cash into it by betting Franken7 will win

Dave - your results are interesting. They confirm my preference for reducing buffetting: 1) Use the side screens/doors with top off. Minor buffetting and pretty comfortable on long highway drives. 2) Use a bikini top, clear polycarb winglets and a mesh screen between the two seats (a soft bits for sevens design). My winglets were a modified Westfield UK design although I plan to modify them further so they stick out further from the car. In their current guise, holding them out while driving demonstrates to me the buffetting point from the airflow moves back behind the driver and the reduction of buffetting is significant. With the winglet modifications, option 2) would be the most comfortable. Without the winglet mods, option 1 is more comfortable. I would be curious to see the pictures of your set up, particularly the winglet design to compare with the results of my experimentation.

Another vote here for Driving Impressions. They came highly recommended when I was looking for gear.

I dont think Mazda has a Rotus anymore....it went to Seventh Heaven...and was reincarnated into something more evil

Sort of - Under the technical heading on the main forum board page there is a heading for "Bike Engined Sevens" Similar concept - they go round and round then boom! Now let me get this straight.....you are collecting sevens? :driving:

Bster - send a PM to 11budlite. He will know the rules in CT better than most. I vaguely recall it as the only state where bumpers have to be fitted for inspection. I do want to see a pic of that when it happens! :rofl: Another source of information on state regs is the Factory Five Forum. The Cobra replica guys usually have some information on each state - they have more cars than us - they had the best information on NJ when I was trying to work out how to get through.

Been there done that! It is always amazing to me how my pin sharp handling car turns into a pig with understeer when I have two aboard and I forget to put more air in the rear tires :ack:

I will claim that dubious prize. I was distracted by chatting with Bster and then I was branded. :ack:

Hi Al - It is good to see you back here. :seeya: I thought about your kind offer and I think looking after a website would be a step too far for me given everything I have going on. I think USA7s site works pretty well as a forum for all things seven and can cover regional matters too. Thanks for thinking of it though.

I was topped off at Exit 15 like everyone else. I got back home and I still had 3/5ths of a tank left. I guess you drive with a heavy foot! :jester:

I figured there was a catch somewhere with this circuit - it looked like it was being shunned - and for a good reason it seems. I will check out prices and post them here later.

Has anyone been to the Old Bridge Raceway Park in Englishtown NJ? http://www.etownraceway.com/road_course.aspx The prices for getting on their road track look reasonable for a cheap track day. The track is short but it sounds interesting. Have not found a map of it yet but figured I would open this up for comments from others.

So it was off for a drive....well actually no....someone called Boxologist had flattened the battery. So we were treated to the entertaining sight of S1Steve push starting Jon. Even funnier was at the end of the lot the car was still not running and so it was pushed back up the hill to try again with some cat calling by those who could start their cars. Success on the second time around. I had no pics during the run as I was concentrating on the driving. I think Bster took some so hopefully he will post. Needless to say the roads were brilliant - great twisties. Just to prove to Steve that there is such a thing as karma, I was bedevilled by Roman's lack of brake lights. Keen members from last year will remember Steve was stuck behind me on this exact same run when my brake lights went out to lunch.... Roman demonstrated his skill in stalling his car on the wrong side of the road at an intersection. As I was behind, Bster (my shotgun passenger) and I were perturbed to see smoke coming from the tail pipe while the car was not running.... Both of us can attest that the car runs a little "rich" ...lots of pops, backfires, and flashes of flame from the dual exhaust but the sound from his car was absolute magic.... Back at Bruce's place we got the seven Seven's (nice ring to it ..eh?) into 1 photo: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/Sevens%20Run%20June%202010/DSC_3222_edited-1.jpg Keen readers will note the garage at top of pic - Bruce has great taste in cars and we all avidly checked them out! http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/Sevens%20Run%20June%202010/DSC_3228_edited-1.jpg After lunch at the Ship Inn, the few that were left went for a group pic at Tinicum Park. Left to right - Tom, Bruce, Roman, Ron, myself, Jon. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/Sevens%20Run%20June%202010/DSC_3242_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/Sevens%20Run%20June%202010/seven_panorama2.jpg Thanks to Bruce and everyone else for making a great day. We need to make this an annual event.