Croc

Kevin signed up with his Haynes Locost build for the Sunday - he would be a good person for you to chat with given you have a Haynes.

Let's face it - I am a track junkie. Plenty of tracks remain on my wish list. Italy has escaped me mostly. So has The Netherlands and California. Always wanted to try out Austria. One day... I am heading back to Oulton Park and Anglesey 10 days from now.

Thats great - you are welcome to join us and chat sevens. You may have to keep an eye on your kids as it is an active pits and there are cars and e-bikes running around. For cost you have two options: 1) Sign up as a non-driving guest and its $50 per day - you can do that on the day. That includes the full breakfast, full lunch, and unlimited refreshments (non-alcoholic). But given the kids option 2 may be better.. 2) Have breakfast in advance. Turn up and enjoy the fun in the pits and on the various look out points. You can buy lunch at the clubhouse on the Sunday. Allows a more flexible schedule. I have a truckload of waters and sodas in the fridge at my garage at Turn 9/10 on Thunderbolt. The General Store will sell snacks and drinks (including beer!). Definitely hearing protection is a must. We normally base in the big event garage in the center of the pits and when some of the un-silenced Corvette race cars or the Formula Hair Dryers go out it gets really noisy.

I have spectated at Club and can see why you would like it. Its got this mountain road look and feel. It tends to favor momentum because it is fairly tight, not a lot of power straights. Only downside is that the driving season is so short where it is located. The runoff areas are much better than Palmer where everything seems to end up in a barrier really quickly. In Fall, the colors would make both incredibly scenic tracks to drive. Sorry we cannot see you at NJMP in September with the other sevens but it is a fairly long 5 hour haul for you through the NYC area (traffic is a pain). Even so I think I would rate Club above the two NJMP circuits.

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Calling our resident Exomotive expert to the thread @xcarguy who is building one. I have driven an Ariel on track. Its got a 60/40 rear bias and you notice it as you try to turn the nose in. Your weight transfer is critical to get weight on the nose for a crisp turn in. It needs a heavier hand than a Caterham to get the weight on the wheels where you need it. Fantastic rear end grip out of corners. Twitchy for turn in to corners though - reminds me of an old 911. You know you have a ton of weight out back just waiting to pass you if you misjudge. Far more accomplished than an old 911 though. The Ariel is bigger and you feel that size. The Caterham is tighter shape and so it is easier to place on the road/track. I would not say you drive a Caterham off the rear wheels? You do a combo of weight transfer with brakes and throttle - its a more balanced chassis than an Ariel and more nimble for driving adjustments as a result. I want the center of motion to be around the driver and not around the front wheels or the rear wheels exclusively. If the front is not cooperating because it is not up to the task then you use the rear (via throttle) to bring the car around - e.g. a 1965 Mustang GT350 requires this.

@Austin DavidThere is such a network. But it does not seamlessly connect the way we would all want/need and it excludes the UK which makes it a lot less relevant.

@Austin David By the way, have you seen John Vine's message to you on Blatchat this morning?

Oops! That does explain a lot of why her Majesty has control of the vacation budget. Now if it were me I'd suggest Carl give his wife a vacation with a relative for the weekend but there is a reason I get along better with cars than women.... Hope everything goes smoothly Carl and the recovery process is quick and not painful.

I carry silicone tape in my toolkit for road trips. You could wrap it tightly around the length of offending hose and stop enough of the leak to get yourself home.

@John B Thanks for clarifying. Purely precautionary gauge then and not part of a broader pattern driving concerns. Good to hear you sorted out what happened that day at NJMP - coil wire explains why it was not as sweet at the end of the day.

I'm the world's worst garage pack rat. I upped my garage size to store more parts - its larger than my home. Nothing from my various current and past Caterhams has ever left the building. Problem is finding where I have hidden things. @NSXguy Des - you are holding out on me. You have a Delta Evo?

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That just sent a shiver up my spine. Terminal understeer, dodgy brakes.....

I quite like how Westfield did the design for the rear end. I have never seen it pictured that way before during assembly. Quite a few compromises to make the Miata pieces fit and not the greatest of packaging but they get kudos given the mission was to reuse as many Miata parts as possible which is a brilliant concept for a seven kit. Keep up the great work. Its ok to walk away from the project and take a break. There have been times when I could have happily set one of my cars on fire with my frustrations.

John - How much was leaning out the cause of #1 and #2 engines breaking? Are you really that close to the wire on the tune and does it make sense to just up the octane for a track day to provide some safety instead trying to run standard pump gas?

Bringatrailer have two more sevens up for auction Caterham Caterham Super Seven for sale on BaT Auctions - ending August 9 (Lot #80,985) | Bring a Trailer Fejer in Canada Fejer Super Seven Roadster for sale on BaT Auctions - ending August 10 (Lot #81,085) | Bring a Trailer

Of course I know! I have always said to your face you are nuts. When are you coming through Teterboro next? We are overdue for a beer!

Scroll down to July 19 post by Xcarguy (pretending to be "Suave" his stuffed alter ego). He found a safer version of an Exocet to "launch" He's still nuts - spec miata or not!

I only did the wings in the 3M film. Hindsight says I should have done the nosecone and the sides - lots of stone chips and road rash. My next Caterham will 3M those area.

Question: Do you prefer painted look to the wings or carbon fiber look? Option 1 for painting, figure on getting LineX or bed liner fully coated under the wing and 3M film on top. The 3M film will look a little tatty after 5 years and a spider crack from a rock is going to get through the 3M film - not much you can do about it. Option 2 for painting is get LineX or bed liner sprayed under/inside the wing plus on the front facing half of the rear wing. It will weigh a ton but will protect them much better. You can paint carbon fiber BUT it depends where sourced from. The Caterham carbon fiber is usually not sealed. Paint (or clear coat) sinks into the weave, producing a dimpled effect. It takes a lot of coats and sanding to get it looking smooth. You would be better off leaving the the carbon fiber unpainted. If you prefer the carbon fiber look to front and rear wings then get the 3M film put over them. It will protect them from chips and seal them from moisture. My rear wings are 12 years old and still looking decent under the 3M film. Film is getting a little tatty on the rear wings and needs redoing which is next years plan.

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Your car really has brilliant road holding abilities!

Bit surprised to hear Oak Tree is giving you tire rub issues as it is fairly slow. However, the rollercoaster section down onto pit straight makes sense - some brutal compressions there. I don't think the photo gives you any evidence of squat. Looks like the car is nicely set up and loaded up properly through the corner. The evidence (if any) will be tire rub on the inside of the rear wings. I went digging through my collection of photos from past sevens events for a photo of your car to compare to others re tire to rear wing positioning. This is Lightning Circuit coming off the 5% banking and you should be doing between 80-100mph depending on the seven. For comparison, here is Tom Carlin in his Birkin XS. The IRS Birkin is more likely to tire rub on track than other cars because of the nature of the design - not a criticism just an observation. Then there is Show Pony in his (then) 420R Paul in his Birkin And then there is Fat Boy in his car with the long travel rear end of a 2000 VW Passat. And last point of comparison - my 420R at Spa-Francorchamps going through Eau-Rouge. This is as much load/speed I have ever put on a Caterham rear end in a corner at any track. The next closest would be the 100mph sweeper at Croft circuit....and that broke the A frame. Photo angles can be misleading so caution is needed to interpret. Your car definitely is softer in the rear than front so it gives a visual "twist effect". Front and rear are not under load in the same plane which is what you see with a Caterham or Birkin. Thats an observation and not necessarily a problem as it may handle best that way. But it is different to how your average Caterham and Birkin is set up. Your rear wing is designed with a closer profile to the rear tire than the Birkin or Caterham which are wider with a fatter lip. But even then, it does look closer in relative positioning under load than the other sevens. I think what you may be finding is that as you have upgraded the power, gained experience, know the circuits better, etc., you are now a lot faster driver and could be reaching the top end of the spring rate relative to the rear bump stop and so could justify a harder spring rate. You can calculate what you should have and then compare that to what you have on the car now. At the same time I would then test the valving in the shocks (or just upgrade). Many Locosts I have seen usually have off the shelf shocks which are valved for production road cars - much heavier car weight - higher pressures for rebound control. I know you know this already - springs always come first before shocks in sorting handling.

@panamericano I agree. It is a valid strategy to control tempo of bidding when you know what the ultimate price range will be. I will jump around bid increments to unsettle the other purchasers - out psyche them. But a 5 figure bid jump seems extreme on a sub $100k car. I only would do that on a heavy six figure car.