BruceBe

Respectfully, that is not the case. Torque, measured in ft-lbs (or Newton-meters, etc) is a measurement (or unit) of angular force. It needs to go through an angular displacement (e.g. 30-degrees, 20 radians, etc.) before that product may be equated to energy. Recalling your HS physics, Work (Energy) = Force x distance. In the angular case, torque must be applied through an angular *displacement* to do any work (energy). To simplify things, Puhn will incorporate "magic" coefficients here and there to keep the equations more intuitive, and sometimes to ease unit conversion. Cheers, -Bruce

Hi-strength Loctite on the PP bolts. I would bet that the PP bolts were backing-out, causing the flange of the PP to slip and work against the shank of the now-loose bolt. And, I know what you might be thinking - no, we did not install the clutch on that engine. The engine/gearbox came as an assembly from Caterham USA, and then installed in the car :-) Those bolts have a serrated flange, but high-strength Loctite is a must for track cars, especially those with Aluminum flywheels. Cheers, -Bruce

John - just noticed that your note has incorrect units for energy. Lb-ft is a measurement of torque, not energy. Not sure if you're pulling these formulas directly out of Puhn's book - could be a typo on his part. Cheers, -Bruce

In addition to Aluminum, Titanium retainers should also be considered a relatively high-frequency consumable. So, unless you're tearing down an engine each race season for an inspection/refresh, avoid both.

The older gearboxes are T-9, not T-5. The new gearboxes are a Mazda gearbox with a custom Caterham front section, to match the T-9 style bell housings, and undoubtedly to match the critical dims required by the clutch stacked height, slave cylinder, etc. -Bruce

Lighter cars typically have proportionally smaller brakes (calipers, pads, rotors). That simple fact needs to be considered when vendors provide sweeping statements about their compound being designed for X-thousand pound cars. And while the amount of work required to slow a car is proportional to the mass of the car, it is also proportional to the *square* of the velocity. Also - the performance characteristics of pads can vary immensely across vendors and compounds. Some vendor compounds require very little bedding for material transfer and out-gassing. Others are a PITA, where you're either wasting precious track-time, or becoming a menace on public roads. Many pads have a "green fade" during the bedding process - it is very discernible, and indicates that the bedding process is more-or-less complete. For mixed/street use, don't get a pad that is designed for high-temperature track use, as the performance of the pad will be poor/dangerous when touring the car. The BP-10 vs. BP-20 comment above is more directly related to temperature range, than weight of car. The BP-10 will perform better at a lower temperature. For motorsport use, at least one vendor provides factory-burnished pads that require no bedding. We have used these pads extensively in Grand Am Rolex GT, and several track/race Sevens under our care use them as well. These Sevens *all* have uprated calipers/rotors - the brakes are always ready to throw you through the windscreen at the first brake zone. And our clients don't waste an entire track session "bedding" the brakes. Lots of good discussion above. Cheers, -Bruce

We have a very enthusiastic Caterham CSR owner living in Salem, OR. I'm sure he would love to share his Caterham experiences with you. And his is a 300HP CSR with a Sadev sequential gearbox, full roll-cage, motorsport suspension...and a license plate. -Bruce

Depending on how "new* the car is, it likely has a Mazda gearbox, not a T-9. All new 5-speeds are a Mazda gearbox going forward. -Bruce

We offer Sabelt harnesses that work well in the Seven. They utilize a 2"->3" shoulder strap, making it very HANS friendly. The latch is part of the sub-belt, eliminating the possibility of denting the skin of the car with the latch when exiting the cockpit. LuckyDawg has them in his car.

No worries at all! I truly did think I may have neglected a v-mail, as the pace of project work is frenetic at this time of the year. -Bruce

Welcome to the forum! We're located in Seattle, so feel free to contact us when you've relocated to the area. We always have several Caterham Sevens in the shop, and can arrange for test rides/drives with a bit of advanced notice. Title/Registration in Oregon is very straightforward - so no worries there. Most of the comments regarding the Caterham in the thread are spot-on. Caterham has been doing this for a long time, and when all of the parts are in the box, the assembly is straightforward. There is very little locating and drilling, which tends to make the finished result for the first-timer a bit more consistent. -Bruce Mike - did I miss a message or call? Apologies if so, and let me know what you need.

These are new, complete headlight units from the factory. $185/ea + shipping to you from our facility in Seattle. For *new* parts, we generally price at the advertised, ex-VAT price on the Caterham parts website, converted to US dollars when the parts are acquired by us, plus shipping/duty from the UK. This stuff doesn't get dropped off by a stork.

If you want *new* 7" black headlights, we have them in-stock. -Bruce

The wear rate on those Goodyears was very dependent on tire pressure. 21psi (hot) was a correct target. The original owner of that car was running them too low (18psi) - hopefully that misinformation didn't make it your way :-) -Bruce

I am pleased to announce that we now have our 15", three-piece track wheel fitment for Caterham S3/SV chassis vehicles. Note that if you are upsizing from 13" wheels, this will require new 15" front wing stays (either standard, or lower-profile "race stays"). This S3/SV wheel has an identical center design/profile as the CSR wheel we developed, setup to correctly fit DeDion cars, with appropriate bodywork clearance. Nominal wheel widths are 15" x 7" in front, with 15" x 9" in the rear for S3/SV chassis cars. Photos of the wheel, on and off the car, can be found further up in this thread. Anodizing is offered as an option, and recommended for track use, as it makes wheel clean-up after a race weekend or track day much easier. We're set to go into another production build with the full line of our signature-series track wheel mid-January, and already have several orders. We will continue to honor introductory pricing for this next run. Cheers, -Bruce

Ride height is another factor to consider, when you have wheels/tires protruding outboard of the fender. The lower the ride-height, the closer the tire is to rubbing, before any compression from roll/bump takes place. We are finalizing fitment of our 15" track wheel package to non-CSR (a.k.a. DeDion) Caterham applications - see the other thread in this section. To avoid protrusion of the tire/wheel in the rear, 9-inches is about as wide as you can go. -Bruce

First - thanks for the photos. It inspired a more in-depth research process involving the factory, to get to a level of certainty surrounding wing stays. Two different sets of wing stays are available for 15" wheels. The standard part is intended for larger profile tires, offering more clearance. The alternate wing stays, also referred to as "race stays", are intended for low profile (e.g. CR500) front tires, and fit tighter to the wheel/tire package. We will have a set of the race-stays in-house over the next few days, and this is what we will use to determine the geometry/clearances of our track wheel for non-CSR models. If our wheels clear the tighter wing stay setup, the standard wing stays will offer further clearance. When our measuring work is complete, the race stays will be available for purchase. -Bruce

Odyssey PC680 is what we recommend, as they perform very well, and can deal with the harsh conditions of a Seven engine compartment (heat and vibration). If you find yourself on the west side of the Cascades with the car, we could also reconfigure the cables as necessary, and make sure you have a proper mount. -Bruce

As Russ said, and: Stop, once the front wheels are on the deck of the truck Using a collection of 2x6's, build a ramp in *front* of the rear tires Progressively raise the rear of the car with the above ramps, until the bellhousing is past the break-over point (about in-line with the rear bonnet latches) Every situation is different, and it's all about going slow, stopping, and evaluating clearances. We have a collection of 1" thick horse stall mats, that are cut in strips about 12" wide. We layer these horse mats as necessary, across the threshold of trailers, to clear sump guards and bell housings. Since they're flexible and adhere to surfaces, there is less chance of launching a 2x6 through someone or something. At times, you will feel like an an ancient Egyptian slave :-) -Bruce

The UFI filters have a high bypass pressure, making them very compatible with the somewhat fearsome oil pressures you'll find on the higher spec engines, especially when cold. -Bruce

Your fitment on the front is interesting. Which front wings are you using - standard or CSR? Would you mind posting a photo of your front wing stays - looking down from above? I'll bet the profile of the stay, relative to the top ball-joint, is very similar to a CSR wing stay. Or, your 6.5 x 15 wheel has a different offset than that of a CSR. -Bruce

Our CSR kit has found a great home in Vermont. I'm sure the new owner will become a regular visitor here, once we assemble and deliver it to him. -Bruce

Here are a couple of photos of our track mirrors. They utilize the standard Caterham mirror assembly, and slide into the windscreen door hinges. Mirrors are positively secured with a clamp. 6061-T6 aluminum, powder-coated black, with stainless hardware. $325+shipping. -Bruce

We have an R500 in the shop right now, and are investigating a correct fitment, in 15-inch (stock R500 wheels are 13" diameter). Due to the DeDion/watts-linkage, the rear wheel will need to be downsized to 9.5" in width. Migrating to 15-inch wheels in an R500 will require a change to different front fender stays as well. -Bruce

To answer a few questions: Tire fitment - they are fitted with Avons, but other tires of similar size could be fitted. As you can tell from the photos, the limiting factor on the front is the cycle wing width. Weight - the early prtotype used for front fitment purposes was indeed about 10.5lbs. However, we migrated to a completely custom center blank design utilzing larger diameter centers to maximize caliper clearance and improve aesthetics. As such, final weight is in the 13lb range. Construction - 3-piece, 15" diameter, 6061-T6 forged centers, correct hub-centric construction for Caterham 4 x 108 wheel hubs (specific front and rear). As 3-piece wheels, they are completely rebuildable, with replaceable inner and outer wheel shells - an important feature of a wheel designed for track use. Center caps are a nice touch for car shows and touring, and we will eventually offer a center cap for this wheel. For now, they have a very nice machined and finished hub bore. This is not a re-packaged wheel with different bolt pattern and offset. The lack of premium Caterham wheel offerings here in the USA was frustrating, so we embarked on a ground-up effort. Aesthetically, we attempted to capture an essence of the Caterham F1 wheel, while creating a more contemporary profile. By utilizing very large-bore center blanks, we pushed the effective and perceived diameter of the wheel as far out as possible - we think this wheel avoids the "chunky" look of most 15-inch diameter 3-piece wheels. Introductory pricing is $550 each for the rears, and $500 each for the fronts. Black anodizing is currently a no-cost option. -Bruce