Just a few thoughts..

[DB6]

Hi,

 

I have just been a member for a day, so Hi to everyone,not sure if I should have posted this under tech forum but as it's a common problem to many drivers ,at least for me, I thought I would post it here.

 

1} Caterham have always mounted their side view mirrors on the doors but most ppl drive without the doors so what to do about side view mirrors when the doors are down on a regular wind shield car.I always drive with the little perspex wind deflectors in place and flip em up out the way to get in or out of the car.I also hate drilling holes in the car if it can be avoided.

There are a load of mirrors out there, I saw many ppl in the UK had used motor cycle mirrors (one guy had a pair off a Kawasaki 1100 ZZR, they looked great, it had a really heavy duty isolation bracket(guess they have the same and rattle distortion image problem that 7,s do, he was not bothered about the permanent mount or looks so just drilled right thru.

If a bracket could be made to fix to say the wind shield stanschion using any of the original holes and the mirror could be removed that would be ideal.Chris at Sevens and Elans has this

 

http://www.sevenselans.com/partsforsale.htm

 

But it would mean 4 mirrors when the doors are on ("Quadrophenia" style), and it's carbon ( I would prefer trad chrome or plastic) and its a bit too much money for me.Any thoughts.

 

2) I have a really nice Moto-Lita wheel and boss but there is no way to use the horn center push button,(no room to mount the contact ring and brush)

I think the horn toggle needs to be more visible and easy to access in emergency, I went to Ace hardware and found a small momentary push button switch for $3.95( it is 1/2 inch diametr so fits in the same hole) taped off the body and rattle canned it red, made a mini pig tail so I can convert back to orginal and BINGO, it works, here is a pic http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/611223995_Horn.jpg

 

3)My car is a 1982 S Sprint with the original KN Jupiter wheels on, 13 by 6 with new Toyo Proxes RA1,s, when I get the money I want to change out to the Minililie/'Superlite/Panasport style as many on here have, they look ideal on this car, my question is would you stick with 13 by 6, jump to 13 by 7, or chage out to something totally diff,woud the 185/60/13,s work on the 6 inch rim?

PS, This car is only for road use.

 

4)

I keep forgetting to cancel the turn signal, Caterham has come up with aannoying beeper that runs in line with the green dash light, Ben at Caterhan USA said try Radio Shack for a cheap tinny sounding mini speaker, any one try this yet?

 

Well, hope I did not break any rules by posting my ramblings here.Look forward to chatting)I live in Seaside Oregon, any one nearby, bit like Gilligans Island here but wetter.

Happy Motoring.

Cheers

David

Should I post this under the tech forum too?if so do I just copy and paste or is this one post enough from an old long winded rambler?

[athens7]

David-

The Spa mirrors in the Sevens and Elans link are the best solution I've seen, but the mounting can be done better. Contact Jeff Sloan at British Auto Specialist in Ft. Worth, TX.

www.britauto.net

He has the Spa mirrors with a pin arrangement, like a door hinge, that requires no drilling and uses the door pin recepticles on the windshield frame. They can be used with or without the plexi wind screens. Just remove them when it's time to put on the doors.

[DB6]

Thanks I will try them.

PS. I called, it was still going to run @$300.00 plus he really did not seem that bothered about doing any more as he was out of stock. I am going to have a go at doing my own thing.

[WestTexasS2K]

Self cancelling turn signal. This is module sold on Speedway motors. It is a self cancelling turn indicator. It is very small and works perfect. It is easy to install into an existing system. Push the button for 1 sec it blinks 20 times the longer you push the button the longer it blinks. It just requires two momentary switches to work it. Another nice feature is that you push both buttons at the same time and it will turn the hazards and they will stay on until the button is pushed again. Its a real sweet set up. There are two models. One is for single filament and the other is for dual filament buld.

 

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/2366,384_Hi-Tech-Turn-Signal-Module-Standard.html?itemNo=turn%20signal

[DB6]

Thanks for the input on the turn signal, would it not be simpler to just wire a time delay into the one exsisiting turn signalswitch serving both sides and use the original toggle switch and hole?

 

[pierats]

Look man, the *only* mirror to get if you have a windscreen on your se7en is this one: mirrors for sevens

 

NOTE: I'm not affiliated with this guy, just a happy customer. This mirror prevented an accident within the first 100 miles after I fitted it. Get one for your car, you will not be disappointed.

 

PS: I have spa mirrors mounted to my windscreen stanchions too. They suck. They are too small and too far away from your face to see anything of value.

[pierats]

Re: wheels. I think you will find that a 13x6 wheel is plenty for your car - especially on the street. I would not bother changing them.

 

NOTE: there are huge amounts of personal preference regarding tires, but I think that the Toyos are a nice tire. Personally, I like to run a competition tire - like the R888's, but it really comes down to the type of driving you do.

[DB6]

Hi Pirate,

Thanks for the info, thats one funky looking mirror,(" torpedoes away Herr Kapitan"

do you have pics you could post or send from the from the front and the rear of it on your car, cheers,

David

[MoPho]

Look man, the *only* mirror to get if you have a windscreen on your se7en is this one: mirrors for sevens

 

NOTE: I'm not affiliated with this guy, just a happy customer. This mirror prevented an accident within the first 100 miles after I fitted it. Get one for your car, you will not be disappointed.

 

PS: I have spa mirrors mounted to my windscreen stanchions too. They suck. They are too small and too far away from your face to see anything of value.

 

 

My car has the Spa Mirrors and they work just fine for me. I just ordered the mounting bracket to allow doors to work with them from Sevens and Elans

 

 

I agree about the wink mirror from mirrorsforsevens, it is fantastic and nice to get the giant stock rear view mirror out of my field of vision.

 

[JohnCh]

Spa mirrors come in two sizes. The Formula Car model is 4.4” x 2.0” and the GT/Sedan is over 70% bigger at 5-3/4” x 2-5/8”. I have the latter, and think the size is fine.

 

I agree with Tom about the wheel size. Conventional wisdom in the UK is that 185/60-13 work best up front, and you don’t need to move up to 205/60-13s in the back until you are approaching 200hp. Rule of thumb says that a 6” wide wheel is optimal for a 185 and 7” for a 205, so a 6” should be fine for your car. Remember, a wider wheel weighs more, so if you don’t need the extras width, then don’t get stuck with the extra weight.

 

-John

[pksurveyor]

The mirror for seven works good for my Caterham because it offers a very wide angle of view. The only catch is that it is hard to adjust if you have two drivers of different height.

[DB6]

Thankyou all for the input;

the dyno on this car was 157 hp.

So the general feeling is stick with 6 by 13 wheel size, and that Toyo RA 1 in 185/60/113 is fine for street use, what kind of mileage should I expect with regard to wear and how are they in the wet?

Would a time delay work for the turn signal? I am going to buy a few cheap mirrors and fool around with brackets to see what I can come up with.Once you get over 40 your neck stops spinning like an owl so anything has to be better than what I have now, which is nothing,some of those motor bike mirrors look nice tho and the prices are low.

Thanks again.

DB

[breezy7]

Here is what I have for mirrors on my Caterhamhttp://usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/784555289_IMG_2363.jpghttp://usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1056403101_IMG_2364.jpg They are motorcycle mirrors that I got for less than $30 delivered. I made a bracket out of angle aluminum from Home Depot that fits the wind deflector mount. I cut the angle aluminum stock in the V and folded the two sides over on themselves, drilled a hole for the mirror stalks with a nut on each side of the hole. When the doors go on the deflectors come off and I have the door mirrors to use. Its not 100% perfect, with the vibration the image in the mirror is blurred a bit. I am either going to get the Spa mirrors or try to find bike mirrors with a shorter or stouter stalk. The Spa mirrors can be mounted using just one of the holes in the bracket that holds the windshield. I tried to find part number for the mirrors and where I bought them but no luck, if you are interested I have the info somewhere. I used the site search feature looking for mirrors and came up with 30 pages, the mount that is on page 7 is especially slick.

 

Talking of mirrors has anyone come up with a smaller mirror to fit the windshield? I talked to a Birkin owner at the LOG trackday who had a mirror that was half the size of what I have. He said it was from Yearwood and made for hot rods but I checked and can't find it on the Yearwood site.

 

Are you also trying to get a louder noise for your turn signals? The beeper for my signals come out of the flasher unit and it is ANNOYING. It may be a simple swap to put a newer flasher unit in place of what you have now. It is either too loud or I'm not driving fast enough

[bsimon]

There are quite a few Se7eners using this solution for indicators. In fact, there was a recent bulk buy put together on Blatchat:

 

Signal Dynamics

 

I believe this is the same module (and price) offered by Speedway motors.

 

Here's a link that shows how to wire the SDC module using a replacement momentary indicator switch in the original Caterham location. This circuit retains the original Hazard switch function as well.

 

SDC Wiring

 

-Bob

[Hudson]

A mounting solution I like but with mirrors that are very hard to keep adjusted.

 

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/964831899_DSC02483.JPG

 

It does limit the amount the side-screen can be opened.

 

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/475061772_DSC02485.JPG

 

and yes the car really is that dirty

 

Ed

[Boxologist]

i have the mirrorsforseven unit. very nice thinner in profile than ideal, but u get used to scanning everywhere when driving a se7en. I would recomend any convex mirror if possible for the reight and left side if possible. I did not, and regret that decision.

[MoPho]

A mounting solution I like but with mirrors that are very hard to keep adjusted.

 

 

 

That looks like the same mounting piece that Sevens & Elans sells.

 

Why are your mirrors hard to keep adjusted?

 

 

 

[Al N.]

Morgan, did I tell you your car was sorted? I wasn't lying.

 

---

 

The Spa mirrors have a tensioner that is only accessible when the mirror is off the car (there is a bolt that presses against the ball of the mirror stem). The bolt has to be tight enough to keep the ball in place, but loose enough that you can adjust the mirror. Adjusting the mirror can lead to the bolt loosening enough to not give enough tension to keep the mirror in place...meaning you have to take the mirror off the windshield stanchion.

 

It can be a bitch, but when sorted (like it is on Orange), it works and you don't mess with it. The single axis pivot where the mirror meets the stem is simple compared to that ball nut, but it can also loosen up over time/with fiddling.

[MoPho]

Hate to break it to you Al, but I discovered said tensioners (and the other one on top of the mirror) after the mirrors flopped over on me

 

But once tight, they don't move and are not difficult to keep adjusted (albeit it appears they do loosen up after a while, but I've put 2k miles on the car in just over 2 months), and getting the mirrors off to tighten them is pretty easy

[Al N.]

So that's how it is, Morgan? Damn bro, don't go besmirching my [and my old car's] good name! :jester: