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Looks like we need to commission Grover to produce 1042 Organtones in Carbon fiber. For that matter, how about an all carbon Nathan P5 or Leslie Supertyfon? You'll know your horns are loud enough when the roadkill scurries for the ditch... :jester:

A big :cheers: to everyone's input in this thread! I received some Toyos today from TiresDirect.net. The total cost after mounting will be $50 per skin cheaper than the next best price I could find. Ordered the 3rd, delivered the 9th. Unless the stickers turn out to be made of screen or something, I can say I've had a good experience with TiresDirect.net

Remove dampers and put the body through two plates on a bench top press, resting the spring seat on the plates. Bring the ram down on the rod eye and compress until you can fidget the snap ring out from around the body. In an emergency, I've also used strong cord to compress springs. Tye the cord off on a coil close to one end. run the cord up to the other end of the spring and over another coil to the inside. Back down to the first end and over a coil to the outside, repeat and so on until you have created a 8 or 10 part block and tackle. Pull on the cord and the spring will compress fairly easily. Stay clear of the springy bits though. If something gets loose, springs can be rather dangerous.

It should have dropped behind the clutch mechanism into the lower reaches of the bell housing. Loosen the lower cover plate and let it drain out. As a precaution, don't step on the clutch. Start the engine in neutral and give it some R's to fling any juice off the pressure plate assembly.

Who's pump? Stewart EMP or Davies Craig? Any failures or "gotchas" yet? Are you running w/o a thermostat?

#1 looks about right for the shock bushing if you have Spax dampers. The Bilstein dampers are different. Not sure what was used on Koni dampers. #2 is the upper suspension link bushing. It's pressed into the cast upper link on the inboard end of Lotus Sevens and live axle Caterhams. It's actually a 636 suspension bushing that has been shortened and peened over. If your outer ball joint is worn, it's cheaper and a lot less painful to get a complete replacement cast upper link with the BP636 bushing already installed. Give Ben a call at CaterhamUSA and he can sort out what you need.

The "race ears have the caliper mounting bolts perpendicular to the axle bore. Bogo Sierra ears have the bolts parallel to the bore.

Normally I'd agree, however I'm already adjusted to mismatched tires, in that the front and rear are different diameters and widths as well. I imagine whatever I get can be tweeked with front TP and a hole or two on the rear ARB, as long as they have similar grip to soft compound A032s. If it doesn't work, I'll just have to spring for same brand tires on the front too. I'll ask Pete if he can do Yoko A048s for a better price than Tirerack. If they were affordable, I'd just as soon go that route.

Bart, I Mike doesn't bite on the race ears, I'd be interested in them as I have the AP twin pots on my car.

:iagree: Supertones. At least twice the volume of whatever Caterham supplies in their cars. Same current draw as I recall. There's nothing like a nice pair of hooters.:cheers:

Thanks guys, I saw them some time ago on Discount tire, but it seems they have to special order these days. It looks as though Treadzone has to special order as well. Skip, I'll give Tire Source a bell in the morning. Tiresdirect.net price seems too good to be true http://www.tiresdirect.net/TOYO_Proxes_R888_225_50ZR15_91_P4452C789.cfm Everyone else is around 175 clams for the same. I see that they have an excellent rating with BBB. My problem is my A032 Yokos wear rather rapidly on the rear. I've still got half tread on the fronts and I need something cheaper as a stop gap on the rear to get full use out of the existing fronts. A032s are no longer produced and A048s are $220 each. I'm a little concerned that the harder compound (100AA) Toyo/Nitto tyres might have less grip than the AQ032s. I don't really relish the idea of a car that oversteers like a unicycle.:ack:

Like it says. Been happy purchasing from Tire Rack in the past, but they don't do Toyo/Nitto tyres.

The bushings surrounding the front and rear ARB can squeak as the bar turns inside them. The bushes in the bogo Spax and Bilstien shocks can also squeak. Ruglyde is a kind of soapy crap that works well to quench the squeaks. Don't use any grease or oil as petroleum products like to eat rubber. The Metalastic bushings are two bits of steel that are bonded together with rubber. The inner bit is clamped firmly to the chassis and the outer bit is pressed into the wishbone. When the wishbone moves, it actually stretches the rubber in a rotary shearing action to allow movement. Technically it adds a bit of spring rate to your suspension. That's why it's suggested in the assembly guide, that the chassis be lowered off the jack stands before nipping up the suspension bolts.

I hope you are only referring to the outer front trunions or ball joints. Standard Caterham suspension bushings are metalastic flexures and not rotating bearings. Oil or grease will destroy them.

OK, Now I know of 2 in Canada. The other is in Toronto, er, maybe Montreal or Q-city. The chap's name is Peter Marie.

On most DS systems, that connection has a hose that runs to a catch can. If that's an Easy-Clean two piece split tank I see in your photo, it will probably be a 5/8" hose. Run the hose to an open top receptacle mounted upright somewhere in the engine bay. Just stick the hose in the top of the catch can with no fittings. The annular space between the hose and the receptical's top opening allows the system to breath. If your windscreen washer bottle is not used, it makes a good catch can. I've seen those fancy 1 pint aluminum Budweiser "bottles' used as catch cans as well. Be creative. Keep in mind that the catch can should be convenient to access. You'll need to check the returns and dump it out occasionally.

I know of 5 in the US plus one in Canada. There's also an SV in Texas that was re-engined with a VX. I'm sure there are a few others. I believe there's only 4 of us currently posting on USA7s.

Michael, One other thing about the VX. Ownership of such means that you will occasionally have to take the piss from K owners. You will be expected to return the same in part. It's tradition. Observe: That extra heft of the Boat Anchor helps keep vital fluids on the inside of the engine. I hear Cheese Blocks tend to distribute fluids outside the engine. :jester:

Michael, The C20XE Opel/Vauxhall/Holden used in various Caterhams and Westfields is a GM generation II engine, predecessor to the Ecotec. Unfortunately it was never sold in North America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Family_II_engine#D-TEC.2FE-TECII:Chevy_anim: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C20XE I can not speculate about so-called "legality" of these engines. Any engine is legal, however if you have to meet some type of state emissions approval, the C20XE might be a problem. I do my own servicing, however there are probably a few others that can find their way around a VX. Nathan Down at Thomas Vintage Motors in Boulder, CO has quite a lot of experience with VX's as he worked at Caterham when they adopted these engines. Parts you will have to get from Great Britain or Australia. You might be able to source from Germany as well, but Euro-Union transactions can be difficult, the language barrier notwithstanding. Swindon Racing Engines, SBD Motorsport, and QED are the primary sources in GB. There are some other GB sources that cater to the "Hot Rod" circletrack racing discipline. A few generic parts like crank sensors, starters, and alternators can be found in the US as common parts from the General Motors SAAB 9000. A bogo C20XE can easily make 200HP with stock cams and straight line induction. Cams, porting, and good connecting rod bolts will get you 240-270. Steel connecting rods will get close to 300HP, anything more needs a steel crank and astronomical RPM. Yes the VX is a tad lardy, but still lighter than a BDA Cosworth or Kent block Ford, and unlike the cheese block Rover, they don't hand grenade as often. :jester:

My house with Farmers, all cars including the Seven for stated value with Progressive. Auto Owners Insurance wrote a 2M umbrella policy for me with no problems or exceptions.

Looks as though Lotus hired the designers of the B9 Tribeca and Pontiac Aztec to pen this one. Yuck! :ack: And a hybrid? What's the point of a hybrid sports car? If you can afford a sports car, you probably have the means to support it. Fuel is the least expensive consumable that a sports car requires. Easy-Bake™Lotus... Sheesh! :rant:

The catch can keeps the various automotive liquid discharges from contaminating the track surface, (If you're an Enox, it keeps the environment pristine.)

From your other posts and pictures I assumed your engine was dry sumped. That being said, there should not be any openings/breathers that would show any smoke. The engine should only have one breather hose that runs from the rocker box cover to the top of the oil tank. The second hose on the top of the oil tank should run to your catch can. If there is any crankcase smoke, it would come out of the catch can. All blow-by (smoke) should be sucked out of the crankcase by the scavenge section of your dry sump oil pump and deposited into the oil tank. It will then find it's way to the catch can. The rocker box hose simply relieves the crankcase vacuum that the pump creates. If there is some type of crankcase breather outside the DS system, I'd venture that you have a plumbing issue. Light puffs of smoke from the catch can, depending on magnitude, is somewhat normal for a well broke-in Kent block motor. Monitor your oil consumption and catch can returns to determine if there is something more serious going on.

The two thirds tank volume mentioned in the Blatchat thread is a good starting place. Make sure the engine is running when you check. The oil in the tank will tend to drain back into the engine sump when not running. Oil level in a dry sump system is not critical like it is in a wet sump. As long as there is enough oil in the tank to feed the pressure section of the pump at all engine speeds, you are good. Extra oil will help engine cooling a bit. If you want to maximize the oil capacity, start increasing the oil volume in tiny quantities. Go out and thrash the car a bit. Watch for returns in the catch can. Once the engine pisses oil in the catch can, you have too much in the system. Back off a half pint and call it good. When you've established the max capacity, make a mental note or mark a bit of doweling/coathanger to stick the tank with. Hope this helps.

The closer pics are great. I'd have to agree with you. I certainly don't see the kind of marking I would expect from a blown seal ring in the gasket. I suppose it could be a quite subtle leak that we've not seen before in our experiences. I don't have any other ideas. You might want to take a closer look at the cylinder liners for micro cracks. Is this engine one of the later alloy block versions? The only other way to Siamese the cylinder breathing would be through cracks in the head or broken piston rings. If the piston rings were knackered, I'd expect you'd have seen a lot of oily gradoo collecting in the oil breather/catch can system. Did you happen to monitor any outflow? Might be time to give Keith a bell and see if he's experienced a similar anomaly.