mrmustang

This is plan "B" if the above does not work the way I want it to both are 15" in length, but will require a third hand from SWMBO in order to make it work.

This is what I had in mind when I was talking about using an epoxy to hold in place the nut, star washer, and ground wire while I tighten the lower housing screw in place. In theory, the epoxy will hold the nut to the point that the star washer bites into the housing and the nut, then allowing the nut to be tightened to factory specifications. I'm going to give it a shot, worse comes to worse, I did order a 15" needle nose plier set off Amazon in case I need to hold the nut while tightening it down. Bill

I had a rivnut kit a few years ago (lost in the last move) not certain they make them small enough. Thought about epoxying the nut to the inside of the housing with a star washer underneath just so it would hold till I get the screw started. (see below) I like that idea, will have to see if I can find a small enough stainless steel rivet to install it properly. Might have to swing down to the local commercial Grainger-hardware supply and see if they stock anything similar to McMaster Carr in the AM to see if it will work. Thanks Bill PS: Headlamp assemblies due in some time Friday or Saturday, will jump on the install as soon as I can and post my results.

Got the initial email, will figure out which of my two eligible cars I end up bringing. Bill

The door to the cobra does not open all the way, giving you 16.5" of usable space between the windshield/hinge area and the top of the door frame,, less than 12" at the bottom of the door opening, with the top on you have 24.5" of height, but then in a cobra, the seats are much higher in the passenger compartment making the same opening with the fixed larger diameter steering wheel, the dash being closer to the door opening (3") and flat floor makes for a difficult time to get in. Worse with the side windows in place. You basically go head first, can't put any weight on the door assembly as they are not that sturdy, then you stretch all the way across the transmission tunnel with one hand on the passenger seat, or in the case of the FIA rollbar, one hand on the rollbar, you then push back while twisting around and getting your feet and legs below the steering wheel, and your behind in the seat. This is the only way into a Cobra for me with the top up. Where the 7 you have a door that flips completely out of the way, and more headroom with the top on, allowing for ample room to swing in semi gracefully, or at least I can after kneeling on the drivers seat. The biggest difference is in the footbox area, as the Cobra is further into the engine compartment than the 7. Again two similar, yet different setups. Bill

The one above is an original, sold for $1.1M last year I believe. Mine is just a replica, used to be tracked, last two years I detuned it for the street.

Anyone have any ideas for a way to secure a nut to the inside of the housing for the lower securing bolt? Bill

You guys think getting in and out of a Caterham 7 is a pain with the top on, try an AC Ace or Cobra Owning both (this is not my car pictured), I can tell you that the 7 is much, much easier to get in and out of with the top on vs the Cobra. One of the reasons why after 30 years of ownership, and 140,000+ miles combined, I can still count on both hands the times I had the top on. 85% of the time because SWMBO was with me in the sub freezing temps while still living in the northeast. Anyone want to see for themselves, as soon as the daily temps go up into the high 70's, I'll pull both tops out in the sun to warm up and I'll show you up close and in person. Bill

I'll start off with the fun stuff that I didn't really have fun with earlier this afternoon, took me 20 minutes to get the headlight ring and headlight off the drivers side (RH). Seems to me that the lower nut and bolt were put on after the fact as the nut was not attached to the housing. Allen headed top bolt came right off, bottom was a small phillips head with a star washer and nut. Thankfully, I was able to figure it out after just a few minutes, then was able to get the screw loose enough for me to be able to then use my fingers to grab and pull down while carefully turn an 1/8th at a time till it came apart. Taken off as the low beam was not working, saw that there is no bulb in the daylight running light either, but was also hoping to be able to polish out the inside of the lens as it was fogged, then realized that the inside is burnished/burned. Now I'm looking at replacements, again sans the DLR which is not required here in the US. Since I installed a set of the new Holley Retrobrite (LFRB155) on my 65 Sunbeam Tiger I'm wondering if it will work on the Caterham. Looking at the stock headlight assembly, I'm thinking it will, but wondering if anyone has already installed them on their car? Wiring is a direct fit. Only thing different is the flat lenses, since they fit the trim ring on the Tiger, this should not be an issue, but I'm wondering if the flat lens will look funny. Anyone care to respond with their experiences? Thanks in advance, Bill

Thanks for posting. Bill

Good looking 7 Can't wait to read more about it Bill

I blamed him first

Having yet to attach a computer to my Pectel ECU (if it's not broke, I'm not ready to touch it), I'm eagerly watching this thread Bill

I'll be curious to see what is left of the frame after an acid dip and wash to neutralize the corrosion both inside and out. Forget about brazing the melted welds, I'm actually more concerned how brittle the frame has become since the fire was hot enough to melt the aluminum body panels. I suspect the VIN, if not marked in the California DMV/MVS as salvage, might end up on a donor chassis for it's phoenix like rise from the ashes. Bill

It's missing a decent rollcage

I'm wondering what the stage "1" and stage "2" cams from Caterham are (or were for my US based Zetec) and whether they might be a place for you to start before you start to redesign a cam profile from scratch. Bill

I thought it was best to play it safe given how carboned up the plugs and older, already replaced oxygen sensor was. No cold idle set up on the car, #3 throttle plate rattles a bit, and is set slightly open so it starts I assume, no real pull from 1,2,4 until throttle is given and their respective throttle plates open. Going to need someone to sit in the car and work the throttle so I can take measurements to try and balance them. I did air up the 5 year old Pirelli cinturato tires this AM (11-12.5lbs cold) to 26psi and went for a nice 5 mile loop. Car ran great, my next step is to take it out again for a longer drive and to top off the tank with some 93 octane, maybe some throttle/engine cleaner additive just to try and clean out the rest of the combustion chamber. Bill

Sadly, I have two identical from that seller, both in sealed factory bags. I'll swing by the local Chevy dealer and talk to their parts guy. Thanks for the sanity check. Bill

Yes, I have the female plug on the left, the one shown was clearly wired incorrectly as one wire was burned completely through it's sheathing, thankfully this was in a pile of spare parts in the travel box, and not something I then needed to deal with. Win 10, while not yet outdated, is a few revs down, so in my mind, old. Any laptop (this one 8+ years old) that cannot run Win 11 is old. 3 gig of ram, and AMD chip set, yeah, old and outdated, but should work for what I need. Bill

Pectel T2

Wanted to follow up on this, spent a few days blowing the dust off an older Win 10 laptop with a serial port, updating software that is at least 2-4 years old took two days all by itself. I have parts incoming for the cable I need, and have downloaded an older version of DescProW software that was suggested from someone on the Cosworth support forum. I was able to get it to open in "offline" mode on my Win 11 (H2) box, but it has no serial port, hence my decision to resurrect the old Win 10 laptop, will check online mode once I have the parts needed for this interface. Bill PS: I miss radio shack

Did you add any oil to the filter when you changed it? I typically will fill it 1/3rd, that way it does not leak out when I install it on the side of the block. Bill

Ok, 6pm yesterday, the oxygen sensor arrived, an AC Delco AFS-73 per the notes I have in the files, sadly the sensor came in with a female plug on it instead of a male plug, forcing me to use one of the used spares found in the travel box as a substitute/donor to use the female plug. Wired up, soldered together, and installed, I set the car down on the ground, installed the cut off switch, and turned the car over. First attempt was a fail, car sputtered, caught, then died. Cycled key and tried again, this time the car caught, sputtered to life, and stayed running. Let run for a minute before attempting to add a little throttle, which immediately caused the car to stall. Cycled key again, motor caught and continued to run. This time allowed the car to warm up until the temp gauge showed movement. A quick throttle jab with my arm (car still in the air at this time) in the footbox caused the engine to rev accordingly......Shut the car down, took it off the ramps/jack stands, removed the doors and backed the car out of the garage for the first time in weeks. A quick half lap of the neighborhood and the car was running well, no pops, no hesitation which made me a little more comfortable and I took two full laps (1.1 miles each) cycling through the first three gears without any issues. Pulled back in to back the car into the garage, felt the clutch drag a bit with the car in reverse and the pedal to the floor, popped the car out of gear and proceeded to give the pedal a few pumps which took care of this. However, makes me think I either have some air in the system, or a master or slave is possibly going out. Worse case scenario is a clutch replacement, but seeing how cleanly the clutch worked in the first 3 forward gears, I'm not inclined to tear into them just yet. Thoughts? As for the oxygen sensor, does anyone have a correct part number for a sensor that would have the female plug installed, I'm confident on my soldering skills, but would still prefer one that was not messed with. Female plug on left And of course, if there is no picture, it didn't happen Thanks for following along. Bill

If followed to the letter California's "SB100" is the key. With the SPCN 0000 and no year listed on the title, this is exactly how they got the car legally titled. Bill

Finally had time to watch the whole video this AM, what a great way to spend a rainy morning. Bill