wdb's little yellow journey

[wdb]

It's now official, FINALLY. My Caterham is back on the road!  Gosh I missed this car. 

 

After "First Oil Pressure" I finished buttoning things up sufficiently to take the car out for a few short shakedown runs. There were some issues uncovered, one of which was that the oil pump was not tightened down sufficiently to prevent an oil leak at the gasket (as it turned out). The Allen head bolts holding it are very hard to get at and I did my best, but I ended up having to conjure up a custom tool to tighten them properly. That fixed the leak and also elicited an enormous sigh of relief from me, because taking the pump out again would have meant a metric buttload of disassembly; it was literally the first part I put back on when I began reassembling the car.

 

Shakedowns done, findings noted and corrected, it was time for a proper drive. It was 45F with a sharp breeze but I just had to. Woo-eee! I kept thinking maybe I should turn around and head home, but the road continued to beckon. Finally I made the turn and headed back. I was high from the drive for a good hour after getting back home and putting it away. What fun these are.

[IamScotticus]

your journey may be yellow, but it isn't little

 

Im about to find out if I need your DS engine mount

Edited November 13 by IamScotticus

[Vinman1]

The feel of the road in a Seven is unmatched! Every time I drive mine, the Webbers want to wail, and the corners want to be carved up!

[JohnCh]

That's great to hear @wdb!  Is there any other work you plan to do over the winter or are you now sitting back and counting down the days to blatting weather?

[IamScotticus]

Can we have some new roadside pics in all your splendid yellowness?

Edited November 13 by IamScotticus

[wdb]

22 hours ago, JohnCh said:

That's great to hear @wdb!  Is there any other work you plan to do over the winter or are you now sitting back and counting down the days to blatting weather?

 

Thanks! I'd still like to get a few drives in before the snow flies. It's supposed to be in the low 60's early next week, and that's good enough for me. Also a local restoration shop, Ragtops & Roadsters, has a "before we put 'em away' run in a couple of weeks, which would be a fitting end to the season being as that is where I punched the hole in the sump last year.

 

As for other work:

• I'd like to do something in the way of a skid plate
• I am looking at fire suppression systems
• Tires! Real sporty ones this time
• LF shock is leaking which has me thinking about height adjustable coilovers
• Brakes should be gone through
• LSD?
• Something having to do with seats
• etc., etc., etc...

In the short term I want to get the Elan in a better state. I have RD's CV joint axle kit standing by, and the rear shocks are completely blown on the car so I will be doing something about that too. That car has luxuries such as a top and a heater so it may be a better candidate for opportunistic jaunts over the cold months. Not to mention that my whole reason for buying it was to fully experience a Lotus Elan firsthand, which I have not truly been able to do yet.

 

14 hours ago, IamScotticus said:

Can we have some new roadside pics in all your splendid yellowness?

 

Sure! I'll try to get some shots over the next week or two. It still looks exactly the same, unless you count the discoloration of the RF tire from me cleaning the mess last fall when it leaked most of its engine oil onto the floor of the garage. Under the hood it looks a bit different though. I have a youtube channel for the car and have been meaning to post an update, so keep an eye out there too. (It's not a monetized channel, just me yammering freely and incessantly into the void.) 

 

 

[IamScotticus]

Have a link for those seats?  I may be looking into those.

video 12:05..If you look at the basket frame behind the ali, there may be a bung welded in for the spare tyre bracket.  The car may have been paneled over the bung with the intent to cut the hole after skinning.  It's a small hole so pre cutting it is bad idea. I have an extra tyre bracket for 3.75 PCD if interested.

 

AND lets see that dry sump system!

Edited November 14 by IamScotticus

[JohnCh]

5 hours ago, wdb said:

As for other work:

• I'd like to do something in the way of a skid plate
• I am looking at fire suppression systems
• Tires! Real sporty ones this time
• LF shock is leaking which has me thinking about height adjustable coilovers
• Brakes should be gone through
• LSD?
• Something having to do with seats
• etc., etc., etc...

 

This will keep you busy   In my opinion, the LSD is well worth it.  Adding one to the Westfield years ago was transformative.  The car became so much easier to steer with the throttle and really ratcheted up the fun-to-drive factor.  

 

As for the Elan, yes get that in a better state and drive it!  It's a great complement to the Seven, although my rust fears prevent me from driving it in the wet despite the vastly superior weather protection of the FHC design.

[MoBoost]

Thank you for posting these videos, particularly the latest showing the dry sump system. I’m still running a stock pan (with baffles) on my Twin Cam. My car is RHD and has heat which would make the plumbing for a dry sump different. You did an exemplary job of fitting all the hardware in!