Croc

The other Holden Commodore. Not a valuable car as it is not one of the homologation cars. Built up out of a road car. Has sat for a bit so there is a bit of fettling going on. Its running a tribute livery as I think the colors suit the car well. The car brakes and handles fine now. Ride height sorted. I have sourced a set of remanufactured Momo wheels to replace what is on the car in the photos. Still trying to solve oil blow by from crankcase pressure. It creates a pretty big smokescreen. Engine is nice and strong. TJ the mechanic looking that Holden below and thinking not good thoughts. These are unusual cars to drive. They do not feel fast on track. Something about the lazy revving engine just always makes me think I am very slow in it. But they are surprisingly quick once dialed in. Nicely taily and controllable on the throttle. The problem with the chassis is that the front end is badly compromised. Need to max out the castor. A good dose of negative camber. Stick some 700pound springs on the front end to make the thing rotate in corners off the front. Control the rear end with right foot. Great fun. Faster than a Corvette of the same period. Yes that is a Garfield stick on plush toy on the window.

Ok time for another car. One theme that comes across from my car owning history is that I like things that should not be fast but are. The Caterham is clearly an exception to that. But that theme does explain why I have enjoyed touring car racing over say open wheelers or other classes. I loved my time racing 1980s (and early 90s) Holden Commodores. I have two of them. This one is a 1985 Holden Commodore Group A SS. One of the 500 (actually 502) homologation cars required to qualify under FIA rules for Group A Touring Cars. 5L V8. Rear wheel drive. Live Axle. Usual saloon production car handling compromises on the front end. They all came in Formula Blue. Bit rough and ready when released - its sole role was to win races. Engine gave about 450hp in race trim. Mine has had a hard life. Was raced at one point. Interior has the usual 1980s hard brittle plastics in Cerulean Blue. Those boy racer pedals are going. The T10 shifter is going. Back to original. When I first had it out on track after it hit the East Coast, I thought I would take it easy. But then some complete wanker in a newish BMW M3 came up to me before my session to say "Keep an eye in your mirrors please as I don't want to be held up getting through slower traffic." That steamed me up pretty well. It was also a practice session for older Ferrari Challenge Cup cars - a bunch of 355/360 and the like. So I went out. No idea if it would all work or not or if it would handle. But I proceeded to drive the doors off the thing. Came out on track just in front of a yellow Ferrari 360, who lined up behind me expecting to be pointed by, before I just drove away from it. Found Mr M3 man on the 5th lap and passed him. A friend was instructing a newbie in a Lotus Elise. The newbie drove off track in shock as seeing me three wheel through a high speed corner. The only car that got past me was a Porsche Cup car. A bunch of people were watching in the pits and just dying with laughter as I passed the Ferraris' again and again. One Ferrari driver came in to the pits to complain about my aggressive driving only to be told by the Pit Boss that he was driving like a pussy. It was in this corner below that the infamous radio call at NJMP happened. Second lap out, the turn 5 flag marshal radios in "There is a car out here lapping without a driver". Needless to say the guy controlling things in the pits understand life a little better but it caused a ton of laughs. Arrived back in the pits at the end of session, leaking oil, red fluid (transmission), green fluid (coolant) and blue shit (no idea?). Tear down of the engine shows 4 broken pistons. I never noticed the engine had problems. No smoke or roughness. None of the broken bits in the sump or anywhere to be found - guess the bits went through the exhaust valves? Back together as original but is under slow restoration as I get around to pieces. Now has an original spec gearbox (T5) and Salisbruy diff back in it. Engine rebuilt. Need to rebuild the Rochester carburettor. Time to look at fixing body and interior and a lot of the details that make a good restoration. Its been authenticated as an original car. The homologation cars have turned extremely valuable in the last 10 years so no more track days for it. That is the role of the other Holden Commodore.

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I had an offline message saying it was sold as they had taken a deposit. I filter ads out when I get feedback like that. Will check again in a week.

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Its not VA but I have an SV sized Caterham to try on in Millville, in southern NJ if that is an option. I have taken a 6'7" chap of 300lbs out on track in my car as a passenger. It dented performance but he fit.

Birkin on Bringatrailer located in Quebec Duratec-Powered Birkin S3 for sale on BaT Auctions - ending January 24 (Lot #96,555) | Bring a Trailer

Looks like the average driving population of the New Jersey Turnpike....

Come on Dez, you have to show us more of the Cossie and Delta. I'll show my Cossie after you! Will your Cossie be done by April? Tentative timing for a track shake down of mine at the Club in NH then.

I liked these. I thought it was awfully brave of Toyota to do what is really quite a radical 80s design. I wonder how much they were forced into this by Mazda with the Miata coming on line? They were normally so conventional as a manufacturer? I also like how you have kept the styling clean as it first was released. None of the later body kit rear wing or front air dam which cluttered the purity of line. This just reinforces it. The 1950s and 1960s were such an amazing period for auto design in the United States. These land yachts only worked here because the interstate highways just were built for the land yacht style of cars. Thank you for sharing.

I am speechless....

I don't think you will find anyone on USA7s who has done a long front chassis replacement. Its been 35+ years since I worked with Dad to do one on his S2. There is a modern Caterham long front replacement thread running on OzClubbies that @wemtd refers to. Definitely worth reading. All Blatchat threads seem to involve delivering the crashed mess to a professional to be fixed. Not seen one that was self-done. The UK has it easier for these repairs than we do in the USA. To start with you want to strip the chassis back - engine out, radiator out, all ancilliaries, plumbing, steering rack, etc. out. Front suspension out. You want a clear front chassis. Your side skin join is a vertical at the rear wheel arch both sides - it hides under the rear wing. A side skin forward of that is removed and will be replaced. Removal is drill out all rivets and remove. Lots of bits will go inside the horizontal chassis tubes but you will cut those tubes and that is an opportunity to try to get the bits out. I suspect the ali skin is already damaged and non-salvageable but the removal process is usually going to cause damage that you will want it new anyway. This is more than you think you will want to remove but anything else is going to leave an unsightly side skin join that is visible. The rear basket skin panel will stay in place. Scuttle is removed and saved. Rear suspension and rear wing come off. You will want to jig the existing chassis on a table or something to ensure it is square before you start. You also want to mark up key location points on existing chassis to give you reference points before you cut. The use of a jig and firmly securing the chassis is intended to make sure nothing warps in the re-weld. It would not surprise me to see the rear of the chassis warp as you cut off the old broken bits - its been under torsional stress from the accident damage for a long time. One question: Was there enough accident damage to justify a long front replacement? Could you have got away with just a short front (i.e. stops as second vertical chassis bar back from front)? Reason I pose the question is the major concern I would have about chassis warp during this process. I have never faced a seven chassis warp issue to be cured - anyone else on here able to talk to it? Second question: Did Caterham supply the right long front for a 1993 S3? They have had a lot of chassis configurations over the years? Your car is around the changeover point for long footwell too. Next question: I think this is an Arch constructed chassis - was it brazed or welded originally? Can you mix braze and weld at long front joint points? Then it is a case of measure a lot of times and then measure again before cut and weld. You are not trying to lengthen or shorten the chassis so what you remove of the chassis is what you will be replacing. No special gusseting or join strengthening is done - just a straight re-weld covering the entirety of the join. You will want to protect the weld with some suitable chassis paint. Side skins should be installed. You used to be able to buy them in the UK but I think it will be cheaper to just get a local professional to do it from scratch as shipment is prohibitive. Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham may have some or a supplier as they have a good knowledge of the older model Caterhams. Are you going to do the work or get a professional shop do it for you?

Yes but I want to preserve my craggy good looks! By contrast, your face....

They are little brackets that go inside the cockpit. Nothing more than a bracket with a nut welded to it...i.e. captive. But by fixing them in place, it eliminates the need for you to have to hold the bolt and the nut and the windscreen when trying to install or uninstall it. So it makes a 3 handed operation an easy one with 2 hands. Parts are here: Retaining Channel - LHS (caterhamparts.co.uk) and Retaining Channel - RHS (caterhamparts.co.uk) Easy retrofit to cars that do not have them. Essential if you switch a windscreen back and forth with the aeroscreen. I bet you could fabricate one easily if you had some welding gear handy.

There is always "add some power" options - its the cost thats the issue. For the road, you do not need any more power. 210hp in a standard 420R is plenty. You just cannot use any more without being arrested and losing driving privileges. However, for track, I get that after a few years most red blooded enthusiastic males get bored and need to get a little extra hp just to rub that Corvette owner's face in the dirt. Given you are VA, I am assuming your local track will have you being a deer magnet at Summit Point, with side trips to NJMP and VIR? So a mix of power and tight tracks depending on the layout. The "easy" Caterham upgrade path for a 420R would be to add roller barrel throttles and then remap the ECU. Depending on who you talk to thats 15-20hp. May not sound like much but in a light car like these, its plenty. A few others on USA7s have lately bought from the SBD catalog - Seb and Simon for example - but it was not as plug an play as it was advertised. They went from 420R hp up to around 250-260hp FORD Archives - SBD Motorsport Another option which I am exploring for my 420R is Premier Power. I have a 2018 420R stored in the same UK building in Stratford as Premier Power and have got to meet the guys over the last year. A UK friend of mine has his car being upgraded to 280hp currently - watching that to see how it goes. Not sure how well they can do a "kit" for USA folks to do the upgrade remotely. Duratec Engine Upgrades - PREMIER POWER (premierpowerengines.com) These are some of the options out there. Sure there are others. Yes to both. Puts the light high up the roll bar to allow distracted Mommy-mobiles to see you better when you stop. Rollbar Mounted Brake Light — Beachman Racing Consider windscreen for road and aeroscreen for track. A windscreen, apart from stopping stones and debris hitting you in the face when on the road, also acts as a aeordynamic brick wall at higher speeds. On a track you want to go fast, not be held back by a wind break, so the aero screen makes sense especially since you are wearing a helmet. There is 15mph higher top speed for the aeroscreen. I would never recommend using an aeroscreen without a helmet. The amount of debris se7ens collect from driving is incredible - so you need some form of facial protection.

Hearing protection is always recommended - road or track. You have 3 sources of noise - intake, exhaust and wind. You are thinking of an 420 SV so that would not require the cut out for roller barrels or sausage filter if you included that now or in the future. The standard intake is a plenum with a mesh hole. Helps to muffle the intake a little. Exhaust noise can be moderated. Side or rear exhaust options exist with single muffler. The cat converter does help quieten exhaust noise. But you also have the track day muffler options which is two mufflers. Gets you down to 90db. I have it on my 420R. There is the usual side exhaust silencer but then a second silencer is added at the back as shown in the photo below. This two silencer configuration is available for order in the USA but not well known. Worst noise is clearly wind. Not much you can do about that other than ear plugs or some form of ear protection. Road or track, I recommend you use it. Excellent - someone who wants to use the car as it was designed to be - on the track! A cut off switch is nice if you crash but lets think positive. Most of my cut off switches end up protecting the battery from parasitic drain. All of my Caterhams have had some form of parasitic electrical drain that eventually flattens the battery. I suspect it is the ECU. The cut off switch is useful for stopping that. Its also an extra form of theft deterrent. Don't try to eliminate the ignition key without taking out the full immobilizer system. Ventilated front brakes are nice but not essential. Lots of people run on track with the standard brakes. Most people never learn how late and how little you need to brake a Caterham. If you think you might add some power a few years from now then specify the upgrade now - it will be much cheaper than adding them later. Yes - if you are on a track and firing out of a corner in second going to 7000rpm, you are NOT looking at a gauge but you will see red flashing lights in your peripheral vision from the shift lights. Always 13 inch wheels. Lower unsprung weight. Less rotational mass. Better ride. Better telegraphing of breakaway. You have to drive 15s and 13s back to back to believe the difference in feel but it is substantial. I think 420R is standard dry sump but if not, then specify it since you want to track your car. Also gives you more ground clearance under the sump. Always wire your indicators up to a beeper. You will forget to turn them off....its a rite of passage thing. High level brake light for visibility is essential. If you are going to track your car then install the captive nut brackets for the windscreen to make the changeover from windscreen to aeroscreen a quick easy exercise for one person. Definitely you want a windscreen for road protection but an aeroscreen for track. If you are going to track then specify the racing shell/Tillet style seats with the 6 point Schroth harnesses. Hold you in place so you can concentrate on driving. Useless? Always the driver....

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Caterham SV on Bringatrailer Caterham Super Seven SV for sale on BaT Auctions - ending January 20 (Lot #96,304) | Bring a Trailer

I had one of these for a while as the "company" car in the UK but in the sedan form. I liked it. Did not wow me in any massive way but over time you really got to appreciate the unassuming competence in the way it went about things. I prefer the wagon look over the sedan too. Its hard to make a wagon look stylish but Merc managed to with this.

@Bruce K I am glad you said track events as I would thought you might have needed it for your OnlyFans site (I am kidding...) Everyone usually goes GoPro as it is a safe option. It is good resolution. But battery life is problematic - it always seems to drain quicker than GoPro advertise. Then they require you to use proprietary add ons for external mic cable or casings and it gets awfully expensive quickly. Not a fan of the software as they seem to think you should be able to upload a 4gb track session video to a phone for editing. A number of guys on USA7s have mentioned the Yi camera as good but half the price. I have not tested it personally but have heard a number of good reports. My preferred go to action camera is sadly no longer sold. Garmin VIRB 30. Easy touch screen to control. Came with all the cases and mounts. Software for processing was brilliantly easy to add track data overlays onto it. External mic had a clunky multi-cable adapter which required some dexterity with 3M painters tape to get everything solid. The results were excellent. Mine is about to go into the bottom drawer as I broke the last case mount that will take an external mic. The go to I have been falling back to is DJI Osmo Action Camera. Mine has been recently superseded by the latest model but it looks the same. High quality video. Its simple. Easy to use. Good battery life. Editing software is useless. Its Chinese software so my antivirus triggered when I tried to install it so that got discarded. If you use it with the Cynova 3.5mm mic adapter then you can have a power cable and the external mic running simultaneously. Example footage at 3 different settings in the following link (March 6, 2020 post 49 of that thread) Since the DJI software is security fraught and a PITA to use, I use RaceRender to edit. That is a faff which is where the Garmin was a winner since the software made the experience work. There are new cameras out there - InstaOne which looks interesting but I have not tested it. I think the latest can take an external mic which is essential for our open cars. If external microphone then the Audio-Technica Pro 24 CM microphone with some type of "dead cat" cover (furry windscreen protector). I have two of these for over 5 years and they just work. New battery each weekend. Hook it up. Tape it down or mount it firmly. I have them hanging off the back of a Caterham, under a dash, in an engine bay, etc. For mount look at a manfrotto super clamp and get a mini ball head to mount to that. They are expensive and they are heavy but they work without fail and quality products.

Thanks Carl. I have it maxed out at 5 degrees on the front - no more is available without strut tower surgery which is not permitted. Caster is one of the tricks to trying to make saloon cars handle on a race track.

There is an old video - need to find it. It was a casual track day so nothing special. mmmmm...okayyyyy. Thats a first for a car description for me. Alignment is fine. Actually my alignment is excellent compared with your eyesight. Were you posting before your afternoon nap? What I said is ... My command of Minglish says that is NOT an overly-responsive turn in. A push is tendency to understeer. Car was set up by Holman-Moody. They know plenty about setting up race cars, more than even you. This is the first time I have not had to set a race car up myself. It handled very well out of the box and I am decently competent at setting up a car's suspension for good handling. I explored putting the toe in to neutral and then to toe out to get the turn in a little crisper but I found it is nicer at the original settings because it is more controllable on the throttle. I'm old school - I like throttle steer. Nonsense, it was a gentle love bite and you have always enjoyed a bit of bloodsports despite your fake plastic fangs. The Mustang is well prepared. Its the other cars I am still working up that I admit where I am in the middle of a lengthy development program e.g. the BMW, the Holden, the Cossie, etc. These cars yet to be featured are definitely under-ready but I like development programs.

It was kept period GT350R on the front. So front brakes are Kelsey Hayes 11 inch discs which was the upgrade option available instead of the base model front drums. Rears were drum from a Ford station wagon (or was it the Galaxie?) but I have adapted for rear discs. Mind you - the car still doesn't stop great! Front suspension is basically standard 65 Mustang but with 3 deg of negative camber thanks to some camber plates. GT350R spec springs (shorter to lower ride height plus different rate). Yes the upper control arm mounting is dropped an inch. Rear has the usual GT350R traction bars and revised rear springs. Mine is original style steering box - no power steering. Yes it is heavy at low speeds. Quite vague at the straight ahead so a fair amount of wheel waggling goes on at speed to work out where the wheels are pointed. If I upgrade it using the new power rack approach then I get one step further away from keeping it FIA spec.

Thread hijack is a classic part of the USA7s experience. Thread drift is another. Modern tires are a very different construction to period era tires. You will want higher profile sidewall tires as 1) you are on 13 inch wheels but 2) you want some ground clearance for your sump. Depending on your driving experience you may be used to a stiff sidewall promoting mechanical grip. Period tires could have been older style bias ply or early radials. Both allowed sidewall flex which permitted a consistent contact patch and allowed for progressive breakaway at the limit with a level of controllable drift/slide. The Caterham of today is all about mechanical grip. I would be looking at a modern manufacture of a period style tire. They are most likely to have sizes that will match your wheel sizing. What about a Pirelli Cinturato CN36? Maybe more road style than performance style? Michelin XAS? They use them on Lotus Elans and a period seven is a good match. Probably the best choice as they are more performance focused? Not sure what else is suitable for a Lotus Elan but I would have an explore there in case they have an extra option you could adapt to a seven. Longstone tyres is a useful resource for ideas for older cars - its worth having a browse Lotus 7 Tyres - Classic Tyres (longstonetyres.co.uk)

Time for another car of mine. A 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback. This car had been a hacked up race car for many years. Found on a backroad of NC for sale with a Jericho gearbox and no engine to speak of, it was given to Holman Moody and Pathfinder to do some magic. The Jericho came out. A T-10 gearbox went in. Holman Moody did a Ford 289 HiPo engine with Nascar headers tuned for 93 octane. Like all Ford engines of this era, it leaks oil, a lot. I think of it as the corrosion protection program. Three inch stereo pipes. No muffler. Apart from having roller rockers and being tuned for 93 octane it is FIA compliant - so an easy conversion if a future owner needs it. The body was given the usual GT350 R (for racing mods) - fiberglass hood and trunk, air scoops in all the right places. Suspension follows the same period GT350R mods. It was running the Lincoln Versailles rear end (9 inch diff on live axle) as this allowed rear disk brakes but I eventually had to swap that for a Mosler diff as I was bending the axle under hard cornering and creating oil leaks from the rear end as the seals warped. Interior dash is a GT40 Mk11 dash from Abbey Panels, just turned upside down for installation in the Mustang. The exterior was intended to be a tribute to the Ford Mustang notchback race cars that did so well in the Tour De France road rally event of the period. This also played a part in the idea for a limited run Holman Moody Ford Mustang celebrating Tour de France road rally (red exterior with gold accents) which was released just after this was finished. Because the standard Gt40 race dash had so many holes drilled as standard, creativity was applied to fill in the holes with some fake switches. It is a tough car to drive. It is physical and requires a lot of finesse and more than usual brute force to rotate it properly through corners. The front tends to want to push despite the ton of negative camber on it. So the right foot and a bit of a flick is needed at turn in. A lot of wheel waggling then ensues to line it up. Being chased by @xcarguy here, with his son in the passenger seat of the Mustang. @Kitcat is coming over the crest in the background. I had vague hopes of staying ahead of both but there is a video somewhere on USA7s that shows what happens when grip finally gives up in a corner in front of two sevens - only a lap or two after this photo was taken. I lost the car laterally onto the dirt and the rear rotated around in front of Kitcat. He locked up, poo came out and then he sorted out how to get past all 2700lbs of rotating Mustang. Meanwhile Xcarguy is behind, both hands off the wheel doing thumbs up signs. Oops. On a hot day, the tires just give up and she goes sideways in the corners. This photo shows a certain level of desperation to avoid going off as the visible hand on the wheel shows opposite lock coming on and my right foot is on the floor. But for all that the car is intoxicating for its smells and the epic engine note as it bellows out of a corner. Easily rivals a v12 Lambo engine for engine note as it revs out. You feel its pistons firing through your body. Rev limit is 9K but I stop at 7K to save it. Thats still around 140mph in a straight line. With brakes that take 4 laps to warm up so you are slewing the car into a corner to scrub speed. And even when those brakes do warm up they are not the greatest, reflecting what it was like in period. In summer you are wrecked in 25 minutes. Truly an intense exhausting drive to hustle it fast. Quite easy to drive it at 7/10ths but taking it faster is massive increase in effort. A lap of Thunderbolt circuit at NJMP to illustrate: