rcollum

Someone sent me a message - which I promptly lost - asking for pics of the routing of my Seven's exhaust, which is routed down the left side, but has a rear exit. Here are two pics. (My car is LHD.) BTW, related to this... I have a new but imperfect left-rear fender from Caterham available, in dark green. Let me know if interested -

Sorry - I took the 'non-Sevens' part seriously. Here's my Caterham:

My current sports car (other than the Seven) is our 2007 Lotus Elise. Bought it new back in 2007, as an all-red exterior. From the factory, it had a black interior, but my wife thought that would be bad for summer driving in shorts. She was paying, so we had the dealer in Southern California swap in a tan interior from a nearby new green Elise - SOLD! This is my second Lotus; I had a 1972 Europa Twincam that I bought used in 1980, with 20k miles on it. Drove that car for 21 years, and over 120k miles. Sold it in 2001. After the Europa sold in 2001, I went cold turkey until 2007. We love the Elise - all the more so, since we had the transformation to the Type 49 Special Edition look (via white vinyl wrap, and genuine Lotus gold decals) done two years ago. It took another year to find the Sport 240 wheels, and get them gold powder-coated. This 'special edition', commemorating the Gold Leaf Team Lotus F1 livery was never imported to the US, but was available for the rest of the world. I asked about having the factory build it for me, back in 2006, but they asked $10,000 for it. That was a 'no'. In 2012, we added another British car to our garage - a 2007 Jaguar XK Coupe. We loved the style, and especially the color! However, as it turns out, the wife never got comfortable driving it, so... We added our Caterham in 2015, replacing the Jaguar, which we sold. I've declared that I will drive the Seven 'until I can't get in & out of it anymore'. So far, so good! I drive the Elise, whenever it's too cold (usually, under 40F), or raining. --Bob Collum

Your engine cover certainly looks a lot better than mine! Thanks! --Bob Collum

Does that cylinder contact the front underside of your engine cover? That's my problem...

This has annoyed me since I bought the car - in an apparent attempt to keep some module at the top front of the Zetec SVT from interfering with the hood, this portion of the spark plug cover was ground down, and covered in silver duct tape. My questions: 1.) Is this the variable valve timing module? 2.) Is there a workable replacement for this electronic device, that would drop the high point by 1/4"? 3.) Is there a way of modifying this device, to decrease its height? In looking at this area at the front of the spark plug cover with the duct tape removed, it even appears that the prior owner shaved a small amount of plastic off the top of the electronic module, but it is still a tight fit of module/duct tape/aluminum engine lid. Thanks for your help! --Bob Collum

It's amazing to see what a small world the Seven fraternity is! Craig Chima, who previously owned TShu's Caterham - also owned my Caterham for a short while, before I bought it! Also, another Great Falls, VA cars & coffee regular, Chuck S, owned a Westfield 7 for a couple of years... also, previously owned by Craig Chima. --Bob Collum

Long story short, I clipped something and damaged the left-rear fender of my Caterham. I ordered the parts, and booked the bodyshop, which scheduled my work for 4 weeks out. In the meantime, the shop got my parts, and held them. When the day came to fix my Seven, they closely inspected the fender, and found that it had been damaged in shipment. Note the pictures below - they circled the small spiderweb cracks on the outside, and you can see the cracks on the underside, in the fibers. Looks to me like something contacted the inside during shipment. To be honest, if the shop had not pointed out the damage to the outside, I'd likely have not noticed. The fender is the left rear, for a rear-exit exhaust Caterham, and it is pre-preg green. It's a good replacement fender, just not 'perfect'. The part cost me $200, (plus shipping) but I'd like to recoup some of my costs for it, and see it go to a good home. (Extra fender gasket included.) I am in Northern Virginia, so I'd make a good deal for local pickup! --Bob Collum P.S.: BTW, please learn from me: 1.) Do not ship directly from a parts supplier to a body shop - my shop didn't look at the fender for 4 weeks. When damage was detected, they had already thrown away the shipping box. 2.) A friend told me to always ship fragile parts via the method with the least 'handling' - UPS damaged this (but I can't prove it). I used Fedex for the replacement fender.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. I have an S3, and would be happy to have you come look at mine. I am in Oakton, VA - not far from the junction of 66 and 50, where Fair Oaks Mall is. We can arrange to meet - robert_collum@hotmail.com --Bob Collum

The following message was issued by Katie's owner, Mike Kearney, on Facebook last night, 07/17/20: In the interest of public health, we are erring on the side of caution and to avoid large gathering of people in our community, we will be closing Katie's Cars and Coffee until further notice. There will be no displaying of cars permitted. Thank you for your support! - Mike Kearney, Director Please respect his wishes, and keep his employees, and yourselves, safe! If I hear of re-opening, I will announce it here. (Katie's and the Old Brogue are still open for lunch and dinner -- just not for C & C.)

More pics from Katie's, in years past.

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That's correct - it's a Kaiser-Darrin. The attached picture shows the two identical K-Ds a local guy used to own. (He has since sold one.) Great condition, and a cool-looking car! The doors that slide into the front fender are the most eye-catching feature. --Bob Collum

I still have not gotten word that Katie's is ready to open up for Cars & Coffee, so here's another look back at previous events. I will let you know when Mike K says it's appropriate to start gathering for Saturday cars & coffee again. Stay safe! --Bob Collum

Sure. That's a creation of a Park Service Policeman who goes by the name of 'SpeedyCop'. He makes vehicles for 24 Hours of Lemons races. We've seen his twin-engine Cessna (with no wings), built on a Toyota van chassis, and he has an upside-down California Highway Patrol Camaro that he drives upside down, head-and-shoulders out above the bottom of the car. --Bob Collum