danilo

2 valve head!? And not very big valves at that.

X flows were 'fine' engines in '69. Shortish stroke, good power, light weight. But they Also timed out v quickly, needing rebuilds far more often than anything else, except perhaps a BMC product. Marvel Mystery oil? is your mechanic in his eighties by chance? That swill faded from popular lore decades ago.. 'Mechanix Illustrated' era goop. Plug fouling blowby is either from a direct feed/circuit from the crankcase vent setup into the intake manifold OR Several ! broken rings., possibly even both issues. Regardless, it needs immediate attention.

If I read it Right? Professional "illustrators" Still... the Blue 50's style Offenhauser does catch one's eye. 420 hp in this one :-)

Does not Your Cat have the typical Caterham/Lotus seat mounting method?? A pair of Ali U channels under the floor pans with a Pair of holes drilled in each to accept the Seat rail mounts? Very similar to most Any aircraft seat mount setup. Better though, in that in an Aircraft the Seat belt anchors are equally fragile. In which case Your notion of rubber grommets on those 4 bolts is a good try at solving your immediate problem. Given the inherently fragile nature of the setup to begin with, it's unlikely the addition of your rubber isolators could/would make it significantly more so. OR that Not doing your 'Fix' would improve it either.

I've found Honda Manual Trans Fluid (MTF) to be V good in my transboxes on any car I've poured it into. FAR better than the overpriced Redline swill. Which has ..Proven.. to dissolve the plastic bearing cages on the NTN brand bearings Honda exclusively uses. 30 milillion Hondas suggests there is something intrinsically right :- MTF is roughly 30 weight NON synthetic, which happily has few Cold temp issues despite this. Try it? Easy to find at any Honda dealer and not overly pricey

Bought my First Lotus 7 in 74, a Series 3. First thing apparent is that the windshield frame ..is.. in one's eyes. Slouching or sitting bolt upright are the only two possibles. As mentioned; getting in out with top in place is a hands and knees adventure. Not much fun in the rain... Seriously! Note that these things Aquaplane at legal urban speeds.. 'mostly' due to light weight. Noise also becomes a problem as well. The exhaust, invariably some laughably loud can (makes one mo' attractive to wimmin :-) emptying a foot or two from ones ear IS a genuine problem. Having said that they are fun/exhilarating.. no arguements possible there. Telligly though it was funderstood, even back then that average tenure/ownership was quite short. Recently read somewhere that typically 18 months is the median interval. One other thing that will likely Wrankle here:-) Buy the genuine article: Lotus Or Caterham.. No substitutes. They Are superior (spare the flames) and as result have genuine resale advantage.

Might this all be simpler more directly effective, to insert a Mazda 2 or 2.3 litre drive unit. Mucho Mo' power and Emissions compatible from the get go... double bonus. Yes it's a taller unit but that's a problem that was long ago solved. Worth V little $ at a wreckers.. likely far less time /$$ involved than trying to convert the Fred Flinstone engine to passable current standards?

Yup.. sure looks Locost /after Court action Westyfield. Cortina or Ford Escort Upright. Foolish lower A Arm design where the shock's force vector.. does not.. line up with the lower balljoint, etc, etc. But Hey! some still buy 'em. Truly a crazy mixed up world

Buy a Real (quality) helmet; ONLY hunt around for price bargains not bargain brands. Look in here: http://www.motorcyclegear.com/ They often have unbelievably priced closeouts Got a new Shoei there a few weeks ago.

OK.. Had an Europa for 12+ years. Two! frame out rebuilds. 3 repaints two entire interiors. Gawd knows how many emergency repairs. In case you weren't aware the Lotus Build Quality is nothing short of Abysmal.. Chapman should have been Keel hauled. Finally fitted an R12 Gordini drivetrain (serious power and Far more advanced than the Lotus TC (imo junk) offerings. Renault's Tulip valves alone were worth the price of admission. Frighteningly quick by any yardstick, easily hitting it's 7500 rev line in third by the end of my city block.. from a standing start. A bit of a confidence issue though when Bus lug nuts are at driver's Eye level... and outward visibility can only be described as poor to awful. Subsequent owner Died in the thing.. within 2 weeks. I never even scuffed it's paintwork Incompetence extracted a definite price. In truth though, with hindsight :-) I wouldn't wish ownership of one of those 'things' on anyone.

In the very least... he has Solved the Hardtop and Door problems neatly :-)

IMO It would be significantly cheaper to buy a suitable 7 in the UK and have it shipped to you. Lots of Caterhams in the UK..New and Used, some for far less $$ than the usurious prices often asked in North America

Caterham has long history of trying to distance itself from the Lotus 7. Suppose they tire of being Kit Kar makers.. aspiring to fill Chapman's or Enzo's boots.. as if. Witness the stillborn 21.. which was a Laughable effort 'Kar', by anyone's yardstick. Their CSR is hardly a success. Ditto for their proddy 'racer' and their FI efforts?? More embarrassment than anything else. End of an era methinks ..despite the 'current' caretakers' flailing about last ditch efforts. :lurk:

Ebay is the Official shopping centre for Idiots by Idiots.. No News there. But even there, No one was foolish enough to meet the ridiculous Starting bid price.

There are arguements for having anti reversion steps in the intake tract.. as well as the exhaust. Perhaps you have inadvertently created something good?