scannon Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 I had my Caterham completely covered in 3M clear bra (except the hood louvers) while building it. The clear bra has a couple of nicks in it but they don't look all that bad. Its been on there for 10 years and 28k miles with no lifting or other problems. There is an area around the rear gravel shields that isn't covered and the lower part of that has almost no paint left on it. The paint under the clear bra still looks new. I would do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilteq Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 Perhaps red makes it more noticeable? Many of the nicks are down to the aluminum, but others are not. I could not get my iPad camera to capture the 3-D nature of the blemishes. I think I will try some red car wax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 I am pretty sure that's from one of my several slides off one of Thunderbolt's turns. I also broke a wheel in the process (If not obvious, oilteq purchased my former Birkin and has brought it back to life). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Yeah. I can sympathize with Oilteq, my silver Caterham has similar markings over its 3M material. Some crazy in a red Birkin went off at Thunderbolt again and again in front of me a few years back and kicked up a ton of gravel into my nose cone. Despite that, definitely get your car 3M filmed to protect it from stone chips while young. It worked incredibly well on the rear wings and front wings. Not so well on the nose cone but that was because it went through extreme conditions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Hole Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 Well since I got the car with 900 miles on it the rear wings are already sand blasted outside the wing protectors. I think I will just throw up my hands and enjoy the patina. I have put 500 miles on the car and my wife enjoys how much I smile. She is a fan of the car (but has only been out it in once for a short drive - she did not rule out more drives!) She had no problem with my Elise and I think she will go for some country drives in this, she just does not like High G turns :driving:. So the car has been great and even with temps int he 40s I am not cold in it. I am getting used to the performance, but I have been pretty conservative so far. Missed the opportunity to take it to the last AutoX of the year so I will not get another opportunity until the spring. I have solved the immobilizer issue and I think I sealed up the minor oil leak today. I also have a small coolant leak and cleaning and retightening the overflow tank may have helped. We will see. I did an oil change and put in 5W-50 oil and the oil pressure is definitely higher (just over 4 bar cold) and the oil light did not come on at idle and maintained at least 1 bar. the car may not have been as hot as it has gotten when the LOP light came on, but this seems to be helping. I will be back at the CT DMV this week to clear the four fail points so I should be well on my way to CT registration. Still living the dream....:drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Hole Posted December 17, 2016 Author Share Posted December 17, 2016 With 8" of snow now on the ground we can officially state the Seven season has ended in CT. From receipt on Oct 12th until Thanksgiving day (the last time I drove it before heading out on a business trip) I was able to put on 7-800 miles I was able to breeze through my second inspection at CT DMV in literally five minutes. I was able to register the car as a 1967 Lotus 7 replica. I have historic plates and will not have to pay the dreaded CT property tax on cars. High points Car is a blast to drive as expected. The way it transitions is phenomenal and the delta experience from my other cars is extreme. I sold my Elise after seven years and 28,000 miles and purchased a Cayman R. Great car (overall a better car than the Elise) but I missed the Lotus so I decided to take it up a notch and get the 7 and keep the Porsche. The Elise is closer to the Cayman than the 7 is to the Elise. Interestingly the cars represent a nice weight progression. The Elise is 50% heavier than the 7 and the Cayman is 50% heavier than the Elise. Power wise my Elise and 7 are about the same and the Cayman is 2X the HP and 2X the torque. Issues are less than expected for a hand built car. I may have a coolant issue (thread started to get feedback), low oil pressure seems to be cured with a change to 5W-50 oil and I resolved the immobilizer issue. No other problems noted. My wife got a nice long trip in the car on a day in the 40-50 degree range. She liked having a convertible again and seems open to more drives. Heat works better than expected. I have driven the car in the low 30s and I was not uncomfortable at all. I put the roof on for storage for the winter and drove the car to where it is parked. I did not mind the roof (felt kinda cozy) and can now say I can actually get in and out with the roof on Low points Good news is there really are no significant low points. My least favorite part of the car is the seats. My last three cars have all had fantastic seats (M3 with Darth Vader, the Elise fit me well and my Porsche has the GT3 buckets that are fantastic). I got a SV and I am too skinny for the car . In the S3 i am will restrained, in this car not so much. The car came with 3-point belts that I needed to get through CT registration. I will install harnesses and that should significantly help. I think the extra space of the SV is a good trade as I am mostly using it for fun drives and while I fit in an S3, it is certainly tight. 1st gear. Need I say more as the gearing of the 5 speed is certainly not optimized for the 7. Car also does not have a LSD so we will see how that goes when I AutoX. Car has a tricky (race?) clutch. Not so much fun driving in bumper to bumper traffic. Thank you all for the info I have received to get me here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wemtd Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 (edited) BlackHole Will we see you again at NJMP in July? PS: I've always had to elevate my car (park on a steep slope so expansion tank is highest point) to bleed air from the coolant system. It takes a little patience but seems to work well... If I can be patient. Edited December 18, 2016 by wemtd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Hole Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 Yes, I have penciled in NJMP for this summer. Hopefully that pesky work thing won't get in the way but I hope to travel much less next year. I may need to elevate the front to get a better bleed but I still need to understand why there is some coolant outside its designated location within the engine. BlackHole Will we see you again at NJMP in July? PS: I've always had to elevate my car (park on a steep slope so expansion tank is highest point) to bleed air from the coolant system. It takes a little patience but seems to work well... If I can be patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenup Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Wing chaps are my solution to fender dings...zero dings in 2k miles...applied and removed in seconds.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenup Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12045&stc=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenup Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12046&stc=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenup Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12047&stc=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Hole Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 That looks like a good solution for the AutoX or track Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenup Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Right Jay...I had no idea if it would even work when I made these up...simply "cotton backed vinyl" from JoAnn fabrics...I have a green, tan and black set that I put on depending on my color coordination mood...chuckle....if I go to a car show or whatever I simply take them off while the car is sitting and then put them back on before I leave...as I say it litteraly takes only a few seconds...the backed vinyl absorbs any pebbles without any dents/blemishes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) You don't EVER want to follow kitcat around if you are worried about a few stone chips. BTW you should be aware that the star crack that appear in the rear wings or in Clams are from stones that come off the tires underneath the wings. So if you are really worried about keeping your wings looking pristine, you will need to do something on the underside of the wings to limit the damage from the underside. Either that or don't drive it. :deadhorse: Or just buy a new set of wings and keep them for your shows. They are easy enough to change over. I use to do that when I auotxed. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12048&stc=1 Edited December 19, 2016 by yellowss7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) Always good to have spare wings.:smilielol5: Edited December 19, 2016 by yellowss7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenup Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Full disclosure here yellowss, I am probably the only one on this forum who does not race...autocross...etc...in my mid seventies and simply do not have the skills anymore...the last time I autox was four years ago in Texas with my v eight mgbgt sebring...hell, the cones were so confusing to me I was a dnf at best....having said that, I do drive the living crap out of my stalker on the local back country roads here in sw Ohio...so, just bear with me on this.. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taber10 Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 ....... I am probably the only one on this forum who does not race...autocross...etc...... Plus One on the non-competitive driving. However, I do look "fast" on my frequent runs to the Post Office..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Sevenup, no disrespect intended. I just wanted to warn you that you might need to undercoat or something the underside of the wings to keep them from the star cracking. These cars are so much fun it would be ashame not to drive it just to keep it purtty. Taber you on the otherhand need to let your wife take it out and drive it on track. You know she wants to. :toetap05: Come on up to NJMP this summer and we will put her in the novice group with no passing and we will provide and instructor.:party: Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
951n914 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 WELCOME Jay and Mrs Too Much FUN Right ?! Hoping to meet y'all sometime Some great events coming UP ... NOTE ..for attire ..CHECK OUT " REBUBBLE " on web they have shirts and stickers Scott Lentz Edgewater MD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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