yellowss7

#172 in the last picture is the Viking owned by Jerry Fink. His company's name is Laminar concepts, based in Media, Pa. I competed against him and his son Derek, this past sunday in a regional scca autox. He was testing his newest version. It has over 550hp at the wheels. :eek: I believe he does his own fabrication of his carbon fiber panels and wings. BTW Mazda, he said his new version will have an LS7 crate motor. It's actually 40 pounds lighter than the turbo Mazda motor or so he said. He's a great guy and a two time national champ in SCCA autox. Once in 1972 in a stock Lotus 7. and in 2005 in E MOD in the Viking 7. Tom

Wile, I meant to say that the UK Cycle wings guys.... And since you're in France and a strong standard bearer of Clams it was obvioulsy not directed at you. Watch out for Al. He's one of those Cylce guys! :ack: Tom :flag:

Thanks Steve. Close but no cigar. Back to fiberglassing it. Tom

I've started reparing the wing I ripped off in last week's autox. Second time for this wing. The flange that bolts on to the car took a beating and will take a fair bit of work. Anyone have a old right rear wing that they want to get rid of??? I doesn't have to be in great shape. I don't even mind a few cracks. Color doesn't matter. Just for use durning autoxing. Tom

7 years for me. I don't think anything could ever give you the same thrill. You wear this car. I tell people that to turn left you just turn your head a little and the air pressure turns you. Tom

I would be up for the Pocono run. I have a place in the Pocono's about mid way between Scranton and Long Pond(Pocono Raceway). Seems the terrorist they just caught liked the area as they stayed in the same community that my place is! :surprised: :shocked: :shocked: :willy: :willy: We could stop there for lunch, dinner or other refreshments at the end of the day. :party: Tom

I have two sets of wheels. First set are the 13 inch Mike Barnby/caterham R500 Magniesium 3 piece wheels, 7 inch fronts and 8.5 inch rears. Back spacing on those wheels are 4.5 inches The second set are Kodiak 3 piece wheels. 13 inch diameter, 10 inch wide for my slicks. I measured the clearance I had and went with 5 inch backspacing on those. No clearance problems, but you have to watch where the wheel weights are place to avoid hitting the calipers. Tom

If you can order a beaver tail for the trailer bed it helps avoid the breakover problem Al referred to. I have an 18 ft Pace enclosed trailer with a 4-5 ft beavertail that allows the Caterham to easily load and unload. Tom

DeDeion Caterhams have a 4.25 PCD (108mm)I believe whether 13/14/15/16. I think Live axel varients have a 4 PCD. (100mm)

May have been George then, giving a test drive.

Bruce, try McMaster-Carr. Part# 94175A430 $8.98 per 100. plastic hex bolt M5x.8x20mm Tom

I know the UK seven guys complain that clamshell fendered 7's have too much lift, but the photo below demonstrates that the rear wings can also become airborne if you hit a cone. :ack: Good thing it's only fiberglass. Plastic bolts facilitated the launch but saved the rivenuts and side skin. :cheers: Tom http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/316759949_Warminster 073.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/2005085254_Warminster 07 4jpg.jpg

My wife just returned home with a sighting!:hurray: Silver Caterham, Delaware tags. In Pennsylvania, on Route 1 (Baltimore Pike) Heading North, turning onto South 52. Anyone Know this one? Tom

The track is Cadwell Park in the NorthEast of England. A great track for 7's!! 2 miles around, lots of elevation changes and plenty of turns. Top speed down the longest straight away was around 150. (in 250 bhp cars and R500's with really excellent drivers.) Accellerating down hill into that hard left hander is a scary thing (as a passenger) I was invited to a Lotus Seven club of GB track day there several years ago this weekend. It was on the Monday bank holiday right after the Stoneleigh kit car show, after the Track day, I drove back down to Dartford and visited the Caterham factory. Great Trip Sure wish we had tracks like that over here. Hey, Mazda and Al. Maybe we can invade our UK brothers. Next club event??? Tom

Here's a couple of runs on an ugly, tight autox course yesterday. Short course no room to open it up. I did have the 2nd Fastest time of the Day out of 153 cars. A FMod Formula 500 was 1.4 seconds faster. Some times you have to go slow to be fast. Easier said than done. Tom

More like $5.50 a gallon last year. Sunoco sells it as GT race fuel. Purple pump. needed for my 12:4:1 compression ratio. Very Distinctive smell from the exhaust. Tom

Tom, any issues withfitting a 2.3L duratec in the standard Caterham? From what I've read, the 2.3 is a little taller so clearance under the bonnet can be tight. How about side to side? Since the exhaust is now on the right, that solves the header/starter/steering issue as on my Rover K series. 185 ftpounds of Torque You're going to be breaking it loose at every gear change :hurray: What bell housing mates the duratec to the 6 speed? Enjoy. Tom

If you're importing an engine from England, don't forget to factor in import duty, shipping and crating costs, and if your state requires sales tax to be computed when registering the car add that to the cost as well. Speaking from my experience. :ack: One of the guys here in Pa. put a Zetec in his seven, and I'm pretty sure he bought it from a Scrap yard and I know he only spent a couple of grand on it. I'll email him for the details. Tom

Al, don't let them try to psych you out! Sunday is going to be a nice day for an autox especially compared to 2 weeks ago. This one is at the Boeing helicopter plant just off I-95 just an exit past the Philly airport. Smaller lot but will be fun. If you don't drive the 7, the offer is still open to ride with me and I may be able to convince an instructor to let you take a run in mine. PM me if you need more info. I run in the 4th heat which should start around 2:30-3:00 PM. Hope to see you there. If not May 6th is another one at the Warminster location. Tom

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Zetec. But I believe the Duratec has more potential for power upgrades. I "think" that the Zetec tops off at around 220 bhp before it becomes prohibitive. The Duratec comes in a 2.0 or a 2.3 both of which can make 240+ and up to 300 respectively. Not cheaply though. There might also be a slight weight penalty with the Zetec vs the Duratec, but I don't have the weights to back this up.

I think the Touring option is the 3.62 diff combined with the 6 speed. I don't think they actually change the gearing in the box. And I agree, the Duratec would be the engine of choice if I was building a new one. Tom

Hey Dave. I saw one of your bikes at my friend Len J. recently. Nice work. Please stop posting scenic pictures like that. It's not nice to tease us easterners. :lol: Tom

Welcome to the world of 7's! My understanding is that the 6 speed was developed for the high reving K series motors as they needed the close ratio's to keep the engine in the power band. I happen to have a k series with the 6 speed and it is a blast. However, 6th is 1:1 ratio. There is no crusing gear like on a 5 speed. So if you're going to do long highway drives, the 6 speed can be tiring due to the higher revs. I believe the 5 speed is a good match to the ford motor. It's a little less expensive as well. The 6 speed is a strong gearbox, with great feel. Very smooth and short throws. As for autocrossing, most course are done in 1 and 2 with very few requiring 3rd. At least in my experience with the 6 speed. Max rev's in second is around 70 mph in mine. Guess it also depends on what rear ratio you are going to run with. I have the 3.62 with the six speed although for pure accelleration the 3.92 would be quicker at the expense of the top end with no overdrive. As for brakes, I belive the standard brakes are more than up to the task in normal use. You don't have to use them too much. Again that being said I ordered mine with the upgraded big brake option. If you were doing track days it might be worth it but for autox, you're not going to get brake fade, Hope that helps. Tom

Just got back from a nice blat. In what other car, can you ask your 17 year old daughter if she'd like to join you for a drive, and she says yes! We were bringing joy to all when we came to the first stop sign and it just shut down. :cuss: Cranked ok but wouldn't fire up. Luckily we were on a flat section of road and I pushed us across the intersection to take a look. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I left the air filter off and it fired right up. I figured that I must have over oiled the filter after I cleaned it. Does this make sense? Got it home. Cleaned off the filter, reinstalled and it ran fine. :hurray: Continued the blat for another hour. Even on the street tires this thing handles so well, that it's unreal. Still can't wipe the grin off my face. Hope everyone has time for a blat today. Tom

Looks like most 7 user's can follow simple directions. :flag: