Sabbot

I was starting to think the forum had an automatic "ludicrous thought" filter. I was pretty sure i had submitted the reply but when i checked this morning the message was nowhere to be found. I guess i offended the software update gods. Anyway to try again, the basic idea / question was "how difficult might it it be to graft a new type 14 elite shell etc. onto a short wheelbase caterham chassis?" As a slightly updated version of the couple of elan/elite that werecreated a few years ago. regards, Stewart

What do people think about the dark color of the elite and strong summer sun - is it really an issue?

Certainly hoping to be a slightly quicker "mobile chicane"

This sounds like a great deal for someone; some hopefully useful insights for the prospective buyer are included below. I just had the BDA in my S3 Caterham rebuilt, taking it from BDA spec (~150bhp) to BDR+ (~190bhp) spec. The BDA was a nice 1600cc motor but, at the standard cranks 6400rpm redline, wasn't that much quicker than the bomb-proof 1700cc (244 Kent cam) crossflow that preceded it. The rebuilt BDR+ is, to put it mildly hugely entertaining. I haven't put very many miles on the rebuild but a reasonable number of them have been sideways and so far its justifying the ~$6000+ parts bill that was required for the ~40hp hike (Pretty much the only parts that weren't replaced were the cams, followers and the head castings). BD-series lumps make great power if you can make use of the improved breathing that is available well above 6000rpm, and IMO to do that reliably requires steel internals. My rebuild could have resulted higher top end power figure without very much more cost but the rebuild brief was that it had to be drivable on the street with pump gas, run the existing 45DHLA induction, reliably produce 190-200bhp @ ~8000rpm, be capable of being buzzed up to 9000rpm on the track and not require divorce-inducing annual rebuilds. The S4 BDR that is on sale sounds like a very good price but don’t assume all BDs are born equal. If it's an ex formula Atlantic engine it would have been initially limited to 1600cc, some of the early blocks were only marginally thick enough to reliably accept the 83.5mm overbore to 1700cc so be prepared to ask about the engine internals and receipts, or brace yourself for a potentially expensive upgrade if you want a 8000+ rpm soundtrack and care about using 40 year old technology to keep up with the Zetecs and Duratecs at track days.

I came across the following information from Kyle Kaulback at LotusPALS and thought it might be of general interest. It might be an excuse for the first trip of the year with the seven after the NJ snow melts sometime in March / April Info: Time: January 24, 2015 to April 26, 2015 Location: AACA Museum Organized By: Kyle Kaulback Event Description: Lotus and the genius of Colin Chapman have been at the forefront of racing technology and automotive design since 1948. Colin Chapman’s philosophy of light weight and efficiency of design resulted in 7 Formula 1 World Championships as well as wins at Le Mans, and Indianapolis , saloon car racing and the World Rally Championship. Chapman’s mantras of simplification, light weight and the least amount of parts effectively deployed that went into his racing car design were directly translated into Lotus’ road cars and produced iconic machines such as the Seven, Elan, Esprit, and Elise. The rest of the automotive world are finally realizing that horsepower makes you fast in the straights, but light weight makes you faster everywhere – and more fuel efficient to boot! For over 60 years Lotus has continued to produce class-leading sports cars and are a globally respected automotive engineering consultancy, working with many of the world’s most prestigious car manufacturers. This exhibit will feature a variety of Lotus models throughout that 60 year history. The Antique Automobile Club of America Museum is a prestigious museum featuring automobiles of all types and is located in Hershey PA. Lotus will have a featured display from January 24 to April 26 2015.

I realize I said this last year....but count me in, hopefully for all of the activities With fully functional and freshly rebuild engine and gearbox already in the car, what could possibly go wrong.....

You could try "Car Spares of West Drayton Ltd" http://www.carspareswestdraytonltd.co.uk/ +44 1895443726 I haven't used them recently but the business has been around for 20+ years. Also some of the new parts suppliers in the UK will ship parts to the US at reasonable cost. I use Burton Power a fair amount and with the current exchange rate, no VAT and low cost 2-3 day shipping they are often less expensive than purchasing parts for British cars in the US. Best of luck, Stewart

a few more mostly dry cars

Apparently the track dried a little faster than the grass....

Guy's I was really looking forward to participating in this years track day unfortunately circumstances have conspired agaist me. The BDR is still in rebuild (I was warned a while ago that it could take some time due to a backlog in the shop doing the work) and a few weeks ago I set out to prep another 1700 crossflow as a backup for the event. To cut a long story short yesterday, after struggling with two crankshaft, two camshafts and quite a few beargings, I called a halt on the proceedings. Due to work commitments I just won't be able to get everything back together (for the third time) and tested in time for the event. That said I will come and take lots of pictures and aim to share the odd beer. Also I noticed earlier in this thread there were some questions about tech-compliant harnesses. I've got two 2019-certified sets sitting in boxes if anybody needs to borrow for the event. Best regards, Stewart

So here's the answer to any of you who were perplexed by the "mystery object" reply in the Northeast events NJMP track day thread. I recently took delivery of a new Titan LSD for a 7" Sierra diff. I now need to figure out how to install and set it up. Any advice on disassembling and reassembling the Sierra diff would be greatly appreciated. I've built a few of Triumph, Imp, Elan gearboxes and a fair number of engines in my time (any most them even worked afterwards) but I've never set up a differential. The Elan workshop manual comes with lots of advice on how to set bearing float etc. and I assume most of it will apply to the crown wheel settings on the LSD. Any and all advice will be gratefully received.

Attached are a couple of images of "mystery objects".....clues to their identity include that they both recently arrived from the UK (one in hand luggage) and they both compete with one another: one tries to maintain traction the other tries to break it. I have it on good authority that when the one with 12 holes gets connected to other similar parts the whole assembly should stay together at ~9000rpm. Ultimately both are pitiful attempts not to be lapped extensively by Croc at the July gathering in South Jersey. Hopefully both will get fitted prior to the event, one courtesy of Quicksilver Race Engines who are breathing on some of the other moving parts in order to turn a mild mannered BDA into a fun track day BDR+, the other one I need to figure out how to fit and set up. Assuming I get some advice on how to fit the "maintaining traction item" in the technical discussion thread I'll see you all in July....

The 5 port Titan pump with the scavenger pick up in the middle of the sump requires a modified right hand engine mount. I got mine from Sevens and Elans. I don't remember it being very expensive and as it's a tight fit with multiple bends I figured I would buy a new one rather than modify the old one. Regards, Stewart

Thanks Tom, Details sent

It sounds like you've replaced most of the likely problem parts but if it's useful I have a spare complete supersprint with carbs, ingnition etc. sitting in the corner of my garage in NJ. You would be welcome to swap carbs or distributor to test and try to find the cure. But if it's not the carbs or ignition there's not much to go wrong apart from perhaps a sticking valve. Regards, Stewart

Does anybody know what the track day rules are for harness date certification? My previously FIA-approved harnesses "expired" in 2013 and I will get a new pair if needed, but given that they don't tend to get quite so much off-road testing at Croc's (and actually have never been used in anger) I was only intending to replace them if required in order to pass tech inspection. Thanks, Stewart

It's not a Caterham and I have no affiliation with the seller but I thought I would add this to the list as it's nearby. http://1501.ecarlist.com/web/ebay_photos/11609362/

Thanks to everybody for the sugegstions. I contacted Texas mtor works and BGH and they were both vertyy helpful and seem to be able to supply the apprpriate parts. BGH recommended their E8 box and the consensus seems to be that the realtively new LSD from Titan is the way to go, given the rest of the set up on my car (it's a bit prone to lifting it's inside rear wheel). Thanks again, Stewart

It's that time of year.......the caterham is looking neglected on ramps for the winter and not much to do apart from move snow around the yard and browse websites for caterham upgrades. I would appreciate any thoughts on the solutions to the following: Issue 1: 1st and 2nd gear ratio's in the T9 5 speed are wrong for the caterham: Proposed solution buy a CR HD 5 speed gearkit from Quaife, BGH, redline or other - any recomendations on supplier / ratios? (current budget doesn't stretch to a 6 speed) Issue 2: The car currently runs an open diff: any preferences or thoughts on Quaife ATB LSD? For context the motor will also get some modiications and should be about 180-190bhp (flywheel) with a ~8000rpm redline by the time I get around to changing diff and gears etc. and the car is a summer road and track day toy. Thanks, Stewart

I'm into RC cars, but has anybody taken a look at the front view of this?..... It wouldn't take much to fix it but it doesn't take much to make it mess it up - just my $0.02. The nose cone from the kit below would be an improvement - at 1/12th scale the whole body should fit, albeit a rather expensive route. http://www.tamiyausa.com/items/plastic-model-series-20/1-12-scale-master-s-coachwork-1000/caterham-super-seven-bdr-10201

Count me in for the Summer gathering....

Disclaimer: I've never actually tried what I'm about to suggest but I do currently have my Caterham stored on a 4 post ramp and had a good look at the sump and bolt clearances before suggesting the following; The bad news is that if you have a full stone shield / spacer between the engine and gearbox you will have to split the gearbox from the engine to get at the back two bolts of the sump (The bottom of the stone shield on my engine is cut to be able to access the sump bolts without messing with the gearbox) The good news is that because the shield on mine is cut it's fairly easy to check how much space you actually need to get access to the back two bolts and I'm pretty sure that you don't absolutely have to remove the engine completely to get enough space to get at rear sump bolts. With a slim 7/16 socket and 3/8 or 1/4 drive you should be able to remove the sump bolts with the engine in the car. The starter will need to come out and the engine mounts (single lower bolts to chassis) would need to be removed. You will need to unscrew the top two gearbox bellhousing to engine bolts by ~½ inch and remove all of the other gearbox to engine bolts but if you’re careful pretty much everything else can stay intact while you slide the engine forward 1/2 inch or so to let you get the socket into the rear sump bolts. You will need to support the gearbox and the engine separately while you do all of this otherwise the engine will be hanging off the gearbox input shaft spigot bush...which is not a great idea. Figuring out how to support and slide the engine forward will be a little tricky. It would be tempting to jack it on the sump ...but you are about (hopefully) to remove this, but if you were intending to take it out completely you probably have an engine crane to support from above. I can take some detailed pictures of the sump bolts clearances etc. tomorrow if useful. At the end of the day if the above suggestion doesn’t work you won’t have wasted much time and you’re really only a set of radiator hoses, throttle cable, distributor wiring and exhaust header bolts away from being able to remove the whole lump anyway. p.s. If you end up removing the engine you won’t have to worry to much about the wiring to the oil pressure sender because after all of this you’re hopefully going to throw that away along with the electrical gauge and fit a mechanical capillary gauge that actually gives an accurate account of what is going on inside the engine

Wishing everybody a happy and healthy 2014 and looking forward to meeting with many of you at NJMP in the summer for more of Croc's rallycross training....

Nope.... the inexpensive fix if caught soon could simply be slack bellhousing bolts or propshaft bolts. If the bellhousing is slack it will be difficult to operate the clutch. Listen carefully to see if it is the gearbox or the diff. My standard T9 is quiet and vibration free but the diff makes a few clunks and knocks (needs a rebuild). Also in the past I've had a few clunks from the rear end under deceleration when the center A frame bolt became slack, but no vibration. Stewart

I love mine, I've never had any issues with grabbing air during frantic course corrections and apart from the odd tight parking maneuver I never need to change the “10 to 2” driving position. Technically it wasn't legal for the old NJ inspection but it's the only way I can see the gauges on my S3 (see photo which was taken from about my eye position).