Klasik-69

I agree with you Tom. Although you could reach a point where the tire is so wide and the car's weight is unable to warm it up to the ideal temp, I don't think we are at that point with 10" wide tires. Also, more weight on the front axle than the rear axle demands more consideration for front tires than we may think. I like the square approach (10" x 10") on the corners. I'll see more after this weekend when I check my lap times vs the old setup. AND, I LIKE THE LOOKS OF THE NEW WHEELS. Pictures tomorrow, if I remember.

I'll take some pictures on Wednesday when I go to load up the car on the trailer. I'll be at Roebling this weekend and will see what kind of times I get, assuming we have decent weather. Right now, we have a low pressure cell sitting off the coast of Florida and the weather guessers have yet to say correctly what it will be doing. The steel Aero wheels are about 5 or 6 lbs heavier than the spun aluminum wheels, and of course with a bigger tire also makes for an even heavier wheel/tire combo. As you said, these cars are like bricks. I believe the Cd of the Caterham is .65 or the same as a school bus. Many production cars have Cd's as low as .32 these days. I'm glad to hear they found heavier wheels didn't slow down the car that much. Roebling has a very long straight which is detrimental to the 7 but also has some good sweepers which are more in the 7's keeping. I approach 130 mph on the straight in cooler air, 125 mph in the warmer summer air to give you an idea of where I am. If I lay up some new fenders, I'm going to go with CF and see where the weight is. The ones I made are regular fiberglass and reinforced with some balsa core inside to keep the rocks from punching out the get coat. I think the weight was around 5.5 lbs if I remember right. CF should be under 1 lb without the balsa core. Cost is not that much more since there really isn't that much material. As far as the design goes, I'm happy with the shape and function of the fender. It really does stop all the crap from flying back at me, which was the orginal criteria for making them. Bob Dylan may enjoy getting stoned but I don't think he meant it this way.:hurray:

At what point is a wider wheel/tire a diminishing return ? If you have already reached maximum grip for the HP/Torque of the drivetrain, isn't wider only going to increase friction and end up slowing you down ? I remember Heiki (hr-k) went to a very wide wheel and even though he's pushing well over 300 rwhp, he thought the 10" wide wheels were the quickest combination. I went back and forth on this issue. Since I couldn't find any reasonably priced lightweight alloy wide wheels, I went with the Aero steel wheels which are about $75 each. However, the weight of the wheel which is the unsprung weight, may end up negating any gain I was anticipating. I don't know right now. I'm running Roebling RR next weekend and will be able to tell if I'm gaining or losing. Sometimes less is more. Better driving skills would make me faster but I find it easier to jump on hardware to gain rather than get better..................just like the golfer who keeps buying new drivers but still has the same crappy swing.:banghead: Having said that, I was able to get some pretty good "one off" race tires from John Berget. 4 tires shipped for $300. Two of them are the Hoosier bias ply 22.00 X 10.0 - 13 and two are Goodyear 20.0 X 9.50 - 13. I'll reserve judgement until after the next race. One nice thing about the set up I have now is the width of the car's track grew by about 8", almost 70" to the outside of the rear tires using the 4.0" backspace rear wheels. It makes the car look pretty mean and serious. However, looks don't make you fast.:smash:

I ran them on my car. I used the Miata Konig wheels and a 4X108 by 4X100 adapter, and the standard wing stays had interference. I bought a set of the larger stays and still had to modify them. Also, the standard front wings allow too much debris flying back at you so I first got custom made aluminum wings ( fenders) and finally ended up making my own fiberglass mold to produce wide and lower reaching wings. Now I run 10" inch wide wings that cover my 8" wide wheels down to near the bottom of the back. I'm running Hoosier bias slicks 20.0X9.00-13 tires on the front using Aero steel wheels. A6 Hoosiers for open track may be too soft but ideal for auto cross.

Also, you may want to look at a Graingers store if you have one near you. If I remember correctly, they are referred to as vibration isolators, 5/16" thread on both sides, 1" thick. Some of the larger Ace hardware stores also carry similar isolators.

As one who owns a 7 and several Porsches, let me give you my perspective. They have NOTHING in common....other than 4 wheels, brakes, etc. Really, there is no comparison possible. Yes, both can and are driven on the track, but driving experience is totally different. My 87 Porsche is a factory steel slant nose 930 with a highly modified 962 based race engine, and it is very very quick but very very expensive to maintain. My 7 is more fun unless it's raining, or if it's hot (Florida). My 996TT (04 twin turbo cab) is quick and the ride is harsh. You feel every crevice, every pebble, every road imperfection without fail. A/C is great, steering feel is phenomenal, traction is awesome and maintenance expense is enough to consider disposal. Mine developed an oil leak out of the right camshaft timing cover......dealer needs to pull the engine, 35 labor hours @ $132/hr + any seals and let us not forget shop supplies.....around $5,500 or a little bit more since I may want to replace the water pump & clutch while we have the engine out. Ok, buy a new 911 ?? How about $182,000 + tax. Allow me to recommend Corvette. I have 3 of them & maintenance cost is minimal, speed is equal to if not better, ride quality is better, storage space for luggage is 3 times the Porsche, and resale value will match any but the GT2 or GT3 cars. I hate to say it but Chevy is a better deal than Porsche.

I have Pilotti and Simpson race shoes, both have FIA fireproof ratings, both are quite narrow, extremely comfortable, and work well in the 7......but I don't have elephant sized feet like some of you, size 10 and not 13's. I can't imagine 13's in that small footwell.

I bought a brand new zetec 2.0l dohc engine a couple of years ago from an engine vendor. I was afraid my zetec in my 7 would give up the ghost at some point, but it appears it only gets stronger. So i am now selling the engine. It is a brand spanking new complete dohc 2.0 liter ford zetec engine. I believe the horsepower was 130 for this engine. As you can see on the photos, it has the complete intake system inclusive of the maf, injectors, fuel rail, etc and also has the water pump, thermostat housing, crank sensor, cam sensor, and just about every thing else.................except no alternator, idler pulley, tension pulley or anything on that belt system with the exception of the crank pulley. The exhaust looks to be a header type that feeds to one plate and appears easy to hook up a turbo is one so wishes. Asking price is $2195 plus freight to your location or local pickup. If you are interested, you can notify me thru this forum with a pm. Fyi, the engine is in melbourne, florida.

Have you installed a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel supply side ? It sounds to me like the fuel pressure is drifting down thus causing a diminished fuel supply. On my car (Zetec 2.0L), I installed a fuel pressure gauge as well as a AEM AFR gauge so I could monitor the AFR as I drive since my Pectel ECU doesn't do wide and data logging. Fuel pressure will definitely affect the AFR. Your fuel pump may get weak once warm or hot. Usually fuel pressure regulators work or don't work, independent of temperatures. You should be able to connect your laptop to the ECU while this is occurring and adjust the pulse width of the injectors at the problem rpm range to see if it has any effect on the rough running. One thing that puzzled me is you said the engine is backfiring which mean unburnt fuel and that doesn't translate to a lean condition, unless you meant pre-ignition from an ultra lean condition making the valve glow and ignite fuel ahead of full compression. Could your ignition coils be breaking down with heat ? My prior experience with bad coils, however, is that once they go bad, they stay bad so your situation is weird. A slightly loose crank sensor ??? I feel your pain.

To anyone removing the tunnel cover, I recommend that once off you pull the vinyl of the right front edge and cut about an inch off the aluminum, then glue the vinyl back on. You will find that future install and removal of the tunnel cover is now much easier and allows you to lift it up a bit and rotate it CCW and easily clear the parking brake handle. Also, it sure helps to have the pass seat out first and saves time overall. I finally learned this after about 3 tunnel removals and figured there had to be a better way. On the subject of short throw shifters, it sure seems to me that my stock shifter is about as short as it can get. What is to be gained by an even shorter shifter ? Drag racing ??

Went over today near the TOD, instead went over to see Fontana Dam, about 20 miles north. One heck of a nice road for a sports car like my Z06. This dam is the largest dam east of the Mississippi River at 480 feet. I've done the TOD, raced Chasing the Dragon and drive the Cherohala Skyway, and it's as good as any. Great lodge at Fontana Village with a great restaurant. Great recreation area too with boat rentals, horseback riding, fishing, hiking, canoeing, etc. if you get up here, try it.

You're right about getting stuck behind a cruiser or a semi, even worse. There are so many great roads around here; twisties running off Rte 441 going to the Highlands, extension of Rte 19/129 heading to Brasstown Bald peak, Rte 74 heading from Murphy thru Andrews and to Bryson City, rte 64 to Franklin from Murphy, and many others. We are blessed here

SCCA rules require switch be easily accessible from outside the car and be properly labeled with their decal so a corner worker can easily shut down the car. It is also required to be within the reach of a fully harnessed driver so he or she can also shut down the power. I think you'll find NASA and other run groups have similar rules. NHRA requires the switch be installed at the rear of the car since the front and or sides are usually trashed during a catastrophic event, and driver input is rarely possible or needed.

I raced the SCCA's Tail of the Dragon Hill climb race last year. Fun event but it trashed my paint job. We had 84 cars and around 92 drivers, and about 2500 spectators just outside of Robbinsville on a closed section of the Tail of the Dragon. We're at our Murphy, NC summer home right now, which is about 50 miles from there and I have my Z06 with me so I'm tempted to go over there. Main problem is that about 4,000 motorcycles are up there for the weekend, and not all know how to ride. So I'll skip that for this weekend, may run later in the week

Actually our 7's have a Cd somewhere near a school bus. Coefficient of Drag (Cd) is the ratio of effective surface area to real area. If you're holding a square meter plate perpendicular to the wind, the Cd is the effective drag that your shape is even though you actually have one square meter exposed to that wind. Our cars are NOT aerodynamic, but they are quick. We zip thru the twisties but lag on the straights, hence the need for more power....and here comes the Stalkers to solve that problem. Long live HP !!!!

I agree with Shane, these cars are too light to make this an issue. While I was tracking my Z06 (3150 lbs) I used DBA-4000 rotors which are blank rotors while others ran their stock Z06 drilled & slotted rotors, and all had issues with cracks and even total rotor failure. On these 7's, & Stalkers, braking is so light it doesn't make any difference. If you're doing this for looks, who looks at rotors ????

For bare metal parts that may or may not get welded on again, I recommend using Ospho (phosphoric acid). It will leave a crust on the metal like a primer would but more durable. Most etching primers contain phosphoric acid. Military rifles used to get a green phosphoric metal treatment for a durable field tested uses. When we built truck bodies, all steel work would get treated with Ospho right after it was cut and prior to welding assembly. After welding, only the welded areas needed to be re-treated. Afterwards, shop primer and then the final top coats. Now, powder coating is the way to go. Check with the powder coating shop first to see if this process interferes with their process.

Wow, heck of a deal for a brand new diff. Are there any gears in this one ? (Just kidding). I agree with you, the 3.42 is the best compromise. By the way, the wife's 07 Vette has the paddle-shift tranny and it does shift slowwwwwly. New Vette trannies are supposed to be quite fast, and the new Z06 will be available with it. Claims made are that it is as fast as any DPK tranny out there. Time will tell.

Interesting thread as I'm getting ready to order my Stalker XL and was wondering the same thing. I was also kicking around the tranny choices, 6 speed vs. 5 speed. In all these cases, 6th gear is only used while crusing on an interstate wanting to keep low revs. Since I don't plan on "cruising around" with this car, I wondering the wisdom of a 6th useless gear. However, as Scott at Brunton explains, the T56 Magnum is a beast of a tranny when properly prepared and will give long life. I'm leaning towards the 3.42 but am also concerned about uncontrollable wheel spin. Point being if your wheels are spinning, you aren't moving very fast. I don't plan on ever drag racing the car, strictly road racing. Has anyone run a paddle shift automatic in one of these ?

Maybe changing the wheels, although a bigger expense initially, may lessen your future tire purchase pain. I run 15" Miata pattern wheels with the 4X108 by 4X108 wheel adapters. My lightweight wheels cost about $95 each from SafeRacer. I run Toyo T1R 195-50R 15's.....not a great tire but reasonably priced with average grip & durability. For track use, I pull off the wheel adapters and use my 13" wheels. I realize this doesn't provide you with a cheap way out but after the initial investment, your costs will be less and your tire choice options much easier. I think you will also end with a better tire.

I sent you a PM about the car.

A lot depends on how you're going to use the car. Is it a track car or are you going to take it on road trips ? I use mine for the track and although the foot well is hot, I usually don't notice it during a 20 to 30 minute track event. I will either wear jeans (HPDE) or my race suit (SCCA Track event) and it is usually enough to ward off the heat. Mine has insulation on the inside of the tunnel but it isn't much and I doubt it does a whole lot of heat reflecting. I know of some people who have used a special ceramic paint to insulate the heat with really good results. The paint is hard to get and is pretty expensive. It was a spin off of the space program in developing heat shields for incoming space ships. One guy had his aluminum panel painted with it and had me hold my hand on the inside while he applied a propane torch on the other side. After about 3 or 4 minutes, you could barely feel any heat and it wasn't enough to pull your hand off either. I don't remember where he bought it but he told me it was about $90 quart, goes on pretty thick with a roller.

In the future, Croc will change his stage name from Croc to Mad Max, as a tribute to Mel Gibson and his style of dealing with people; Incidentally, the preliminary report from the K1 Karting event is that 7 people (note the significance of the number in terms of these cars) had to be air lifted by helicopter to a major trauma center after getting in Mad Max's way. The gloves were definitely OFF. Hence I present the following pictures; first picture is Mike smiling, showing his sensitive side right before the blood bath at the K1 karting event; Second picture showig how one of the poor victims was sent off into the Sahara with a gentle little shove by Mad Max; Third picture shows the damage done to Tom's (Yellowss7) shoe by Mad Max blasting through in the attempt to carry home the 1st place and $10,000 prize winnings. Ok, I never really saw the money but it was rumored, I think by Mad Max.

An absolutely great event thanks to the awesome planning and work by Mike (croc) and Tom (yellowss7). If this event could be improved upon, I'm at a loss how. Food: beyond belief, absolutely 5 star Fun: beyond belief again. This is the friendliest and most fun group I've ever met. Value: incredible value, best bang for the buck you could ever imagine Track: I hate to repeat myself but, incredibly smooth, challenging, enjoyable. Not easy but you can learn it over 2 days and become very proficient. Social value: again, beyond comparison. I have never met a nicer bunch of fun guys who will jump in to help you with anything you need. AAA rating of all who attended. For the record, Shane (xcarguy) might have set some track records. I know he may have have caused some burns on my car's paint by passing me at supersonic speeds. If anyone ever entertains the idea of doing the F1 karting event, and Croc is a participant, wear a neck brace, use a mouth guard and you may want to run a video tape of the event. He believes in the "gladiator" concept of using your back side as a target for a high speed impact. You may want to consider using a HANS device as well. All kidding aside, this was a fabulous event due mainly to NJMP being a first rate facility and the countless hours of planning that Croc and Yellowss7. Thank you for making our experience such a memorable one. I believe 22 7's assembled at this track, a real show of Force.

Tom, you're right about that. I just looked at a couple of weather sites and the temps are ideal.....well maybe that's a little strong.....but as you guys pointed a whole lot better than 90's, which is our every day temp up here with 95% humidity. All packed now, car on the trailer, and equipment in the truck. Leaving in the morning.