Sabbot

And a few more.... shiny_bmp-1-small.bmp red-bmp-1-small.bmp blue_bmp-1-small.bmp silver_bmp-1-small.bmp yellow-bmp_small.bmp

So I finally managed to get a few minutes copy and crop some of the pictures from the June NJMP runs. Now all I have to do is to figure out how to upload them.... group + drivers-bmp-1-small.bmp lineup_bmp-2-small.bmp group_bmp-small.bmp

Is an aero body for a seven not called an elan? Just add 300lbs and you get doors, electric windows etc. Parked side by side there's only an inch or two difference in wheelbase and track.

I managed to clear my schedule for the 25th and 26th and registered so there will be one more xflow7 on the track. The BDA swap looks like a remote possibility at the moment due to a couple of weekends of work travel. I was also looking forward to a blat around PA on the 9th but instead will have send a wave to Milford from ~20,000feet on my the way back to NJ from Seattle.

My opinion on this one is somewhat biased by the fact I'm in the middle of a supersprint 1700 to BDA swap on my s3, but this looks like a great spec for a very nice car. Lots of old school power for an old school car with the added benefit of the most phenomenal soundtrack. Properly balanced, the bottom end should be able to make use of quite a lot of 10500rpm range on the tachometer. Best of luck with the sale - I hope someone will appreciate the work and money invested in the car and powerplant.

I should be there...but with very little carbon...

When driving the caterham on the highway (with or without brooklands) I heed the advice I got from my father when I bought my first motorbike - "just assume everything and everybody else on the road is out to kill you and one day you'll probably be right"

Glad to know you are OK and wishing your car a speedy recovery.

Not sure if it will help but I've enclosed a copy of the caterham manual wiring diagram and key for "ford engine" that came with my 1998 1700 supersprint. I tried to attach HiRes images to a pm but unfortunately the technology defeated me. Regards Stewart caterham wiring diagram.pdf

BDA specs - It's a "1700", originally prepared by Dave Bean engineering. If the seller and the dyno sheets are to be believed it's good for ~170bhp but that was at >7000rpm All the internals are new but pretty much stock so I'll probably set the rev limiter to 6500rpm. Even with the lower max it should be a little bit of step up from the current 1700 supersprint. Chances of the transplant taking place in time for NJMP outing in June? - about 70%, but that sort of depends on the weekday job not flowing into the weekends too much. A few measurements over the weekend suggested that if I don’t want to cut the body work (which I don’t) the engine / trans has to go back 0.5” to fit the carbs in the correct body orifice and the engine mounts have to drop 0.75” to clear the body with the slightly taller engine…. The current job waiting to be finished is to fabricate two by 2 bolt forward mounts for the roll bar (currently only retained by the less than confidence inspiring single 7/16" bolt per side), add the second diagonal and add the mounts for a forward facing petty bar. The correct size DOM tube turned up last week so I don’t have too much of an excuse not to finish the job. Chances of the elan being reassembled for my wife to use this summer - probably somewhere south of 50%. Although given that this will be my 3rd elan and 2nd ground up build this is probably a less complex task than the fabrication required to install the BDA into the Caterham.

Having spent most of the winter debating options for increasing the output in the bluecow (a corruption of redbull that the kids came up with...) Caterham the the decision was made when a 1970 Elan come up for sale complete with a rebuilt BDA. It took a few weeks to get the Elan back from Canada and then sort through all the bits, but the transplant is getting closer. Given that the Elan needs completely reassembled I'm going to lift the body off and use the rolling chassis it as an engine cradle to get the BDA running and checked before the swap. Some pictures attached (if your wife ever asks - yes you can fit three cars in a two car garage, just as long as two of them are old "lotuses")

I'm currently looking at BAT and Pegasus Racing for cross flow and BDA parts I haven't yet purchased from either of them but they seem to list a fair number of relevant FF1600 parts http://www.batinc.net/ https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/advcat.asp?CategoryID=IGNITION

I'm looking for an exhaust manifold for a 3 bolt BDA head to fit a S3 Caterham. Any suggestions appreciated....more of the BDA story to follow.

When I bought my car it was fitted with a SPA mirror on a 5 inch extension straight up from the center of the bar. It offered a good rear view (sort of the point of a mirror...) and it cleared both screens. The problem was that given my height (5' 10") and sight line it also pretty much completely obscured the front right hand wheel which made taking very tight right hand lines (cones etc.) a bit tricky. I chopped the extension and repositioned it down and back to provide a clear view forward and so it didn't hit the screens. It doesn't offer quite the same rear visibility but it is perfectly adequate.

If you want to try the smaller car for size, my S3 is in Warren, NJ and is still getting out for the occational blat. You are welcome to come and try the fit. I've had drivers as tall as 6' 2" fit, but shoe size to clear the narrow pedal gap can be an issue. As far as daily driver goes, I have mine registered as a regular vehicle in NJ and I use it quite a number of days in spring, summer and fall (until the salt comes). With the full front and side screens and heater (spring and winter) it is remarkably civilized and it makes for a fun shopping car with the occational bag of groceries in the back.

I have a confession to make - it is not a seven but rather an S4 elan "project" with spyder bits that was recently on Ebay... I figured that you can never have too many lotuses (depite what my wife thinks......)

Terry, The car is currently in Calgary. I've had a few quotes from shipping companies which indicate that it is almost more expensive to ship from Calgary to NK than from the UK to the US. I'm also considering having it shipped from Calgary to Montreal and then collecting myself from Montreal as a day trip. Any and all advice is appreciated. Stewart

Thanks to everybody for the advice, it's very much appreciated. The car is registered as older than 25 years and allegedly comes with receipts so it looks like this might be possible. Now for the next question; does anybody have any suggestions on shipping companies that would provide reasonably priced covered transport from the west coast Canada to NJ? I’m not too bothered about how long it might take to ship. Thanks again

Can anybody advise on required documentation for successful importation of a pre-owned car from Canada into the US? I assume a bill of sale is vital, does the vehicle need the equivalent of a title or registration document proving ownership or previous history? Given that the car in question is a "kit", would I need to get reciepts for all of the major parts etc.? Any advice would be much appreciated.

I would echo Kitcat's comments. I've had a 1700 supersprint for 2 years. It was well set up when I bought it and I haven't had to mess about with it since. I have balanced the carbs once (but it is really not that difficullt if the jetting is correct to begin with). I have a MSD multiple spark ignition pack and it starts as well, if not better, than a Zetec-powered Sylva striker (even smaller than a seven-clone) that I owned in the UK. When I bought the Caterham I fully expected it to start leaking oil within a couple of weeks but it hasn't (my VW passat drips more oil). It does throw out oil from the crank case breather hen driven hard, but that is what the catch tank is for. The eau de castrol fragrance that you get from a long drive is just part life with a xflow. Xflows are old technology but they do work and all of the bits to rebuild are available stateside (including new blocks if needed). I've considered the need for more power (especially at the NJMP track day last year when some of the more powerful sevens could romp past me on the straights as if I were standing still). But with the exception of a GT3 Porsche I could just about keep up with most everything else on the track. I've considered a Zetec upgrade (to get to 200bhp) and that is probably viable but would work out at about $8000 when all the bits are added up, If I did swap to a Zetec I would run twin 45s - as a nod to the old car feel, they are not difficult to set up and again the noise is wonderful. I considered a duratec but the exhaust is on the wrong side so I would have to modify the body panels and don't want to do that. I've considered a hyabusa power but I think if I really go down that route I rather import a Sylva r1ot from the UK for track use only and keep the caterham for blats in NJ / PA. I'm currently dreaming about a Wilcox BDA/R and for an older caterham (which mine is) may well be a future option. When all the considerations are are taken into account this winter will probably not see any major upgrades to power but I will swap the gear ratio's (I just don't like the ratios for 1st and 2nd in the T5 box), might invest in a LSD (as mine is making a few clunks that it shouldn't), will invest in some 13" sticky rubber and detachable front and side (anti-intrusion) braces for the roll bar for track use. As a final consideration on the desire for more power and speed. A few years ago I had the pleasure of spending a wonderful day with the late Pentti Airikkala at his "left foot braking school". As an investment in more speed ~$1000 at a good race school is worth twice that in engine and brake upgrades, especially through the twisty bits.

Last year was a hoot, I'm up for being a 130hp "mobile chicane" for the growing list of +200bhp sevens. Will go and add it to my diary. p.s I'm feeling a bit guilty about regularily reading but not supporting this forum - how does one become a "paid up member"

I just spotted the weather forecast for Saturday evening leading into Sunday...any recommendations for snow tires for a seven..... Stewart

I guess very few people ever declare that "their baby is ugly" therefore the vote for the good old (very old) kent xflow is largely down to the pragmatism of that's what I have. On the plus sides It is easy and relatively inexpensive to build and repair. It won't set the pavement on fire, but it also means that there is less chance that my modest driving talent outstrips the power available do stupid things with (unfortunately this never a problem while riding sports bikes) Not that it matters a lot, but next to the A series BMC, it is somewhat historically correct. With a bit of cursing you can lift it out of the car yourself (if you have to) A lot of interstate journeys can be a bit boring if you are not constantly listening and waiting for something oily to let loose in spectacular fashion. You don't need a degree in electrical engineering / computing to tune it. On the downsides As driving talent improves a few more horse power would be very nice Shifting at ~6000rpm seem somewhat pedestrian in comparison to the 12,000+ available from any of the bike derivatives (or even the 9000 redline of honda s2000 lump) Akin to death & taxes it is a fairly safe bet that it will let go (probably in a spectacular oily manner) at some point in the next few years. We (have to) laugh in the face of emissions tests... Other options My vote would be to follow the Chapman vision of less weight = better performance and combine with a modern bike engine (probably busa-derived). I don't like turbochargers (never could get used to the lag of mid 80s versions on hot hatches) but I'm curious to see if a supercharger, akin to the units available for B-series MGB lumps could be mated to the xflow to take the usable HP up to around 150ish

I'm not sure if the petronix unit on my supersprint is stock or not, but I suspect not given that on careful inspection it has a bunch of roughly engraved numbers on the side which I think (can't confirm) were probably added when the engine rebuild work was done by the previous owner. I think at some point I'll have to get this on a dyno and figure out best settings etc. It really doesn't start to work well untill it gets beyond 3000rpm, that said it's a blast from 3000-6000.

This may help, last weekend I checked the timing on my 1700cc supersprint (which runs a petronix distributor) with a strobe. It has had a fairly lumpy idle ever since I got it last year but I always put that down to a modified cam. Anyway, when I checked the static advance(~800rpm idle) it was set to 6o BTDC when I advanced the igntion up to 12-14o BTDC the idle increased to ~1400rpm and when I dialed back the idle screw to ~800rpm it ran more smoothly. My worry was that running with effectively 14o of static advance the total advance at 6000rpm (which it sits on a reasonable amount of time) would be way too high (when I began to set the timing I had no info on the advance curve for the distributor). Given that it will start and idle anywhere between 6o and 14o BTDC (static) I decided to set the static advance a different way. I set the timing while running at 6000rpm to ~34o BTDC which resulted in a static (800rpm) timing of ~10o BTDC which suggests that the petronix is set for 25o of total advance. That's the info now here comes the question. I noticed while playing around with the timing that at any give rpm above 2000rpm there can be up to 10o of bounce in the timing as the strobe illuminated timing mark drifts "bounces" around. I don't know if that is due to a worn distributor or the nature of the multiple spark MSD unit that controls the coil. I would have suspected that there may be some error in the strobe pick up due to multiple spark generated below 3000rpm but my understanding of the MSD 6AL unit is that it reverts to a single spark per bang above 3000rpm. Given that having set the timing and resynchronized the carbs it still feels a little sluggish I'm wondering if the distribtor is worn. This may seem like a dim questions but after owning british sports cars for >30 years I've only just bought a strobe (static stiming by bulb is fine with contact breakers) and therefore I'm not sure how much "timing bounce" to expect. Any thoughts?