Whoever was guilty for the design of the Convertible top on my Cat 7 needs shooting

[pethier]

16 hours ago, IamScotticus said:

Take the shifter knob too.

Nothing is safe.

 LOL. 

 

I can drive home without a shifter knob...

[pethier]

On 11/5/2024 at 7:14 PM, pethier said:

I think the doors are hinged so they fit in the boot.  But I did discover the "elbow the bottom" trick one day when I was concerned about driving into rain, but it was not all that cold.

 

I did not get my French-Canadian father's skin.  Got the melanin-deprived Irish skin from my mother.  I have the top on essentially all the time for shade or rain.  I don't put on the doors unless whether demands it.  My top has a zip-open rear window.  With this feature, I have no need of a half-hood.

 

I'm 74 years living and 5'10".  I went to lot of trouble to make my steering wheel removable, but nearly all the time I need not remove it.  I use the in/out techniques learned in the 1970s and it still works for me.

I wasn't actually trying to lie.  It was an honest typo.  I am 5'8" and 155 pounds.

 

BTW, I saw a rear-window-zipper mod in Lowflying.  Looks really interesting.  The author took the top to Caterham and they sent it out to their supplier.   The author is trying to convince Caterham to have them all made this way.

 

Well, I don't live in England, and I'm not shipping this top both ways.  I have a veteran upholstery guy here in Saint Paul on the job.  He should be able to source the extra pull and do the mod.  I see exactly what needs to be done, don't have the wherewithal to do it myself.

 

I will try to remember to take photos and post them here when the job is done.

[Reiver]

I've had numerous Brit cars from back in the day.  It always amused me that a country that has more rain than sunshine has always produced the worst weather protection extant. The designs always look like an afterthought and allow so much rain in that one needs a serious sense of humor.  Triumphs, AH's specifically.  Oh, and the windshield wipers...lmao... really, that's the high speed. 

Where I live in Az it will not be an issue and if anything I'll get the half top for a sunshade.

[theDreamer]

I agree with your comment as it is amusing. Same too for the wipers. However, we’ve been caught in three major down pours in our seven and never had any water leaking in from around the hood or doors. We did get water running along the inside bottom of the shelf with the odd drip hitting our legs. I think that water is getting into (or behind) the heater via the bonnet vents for the fresh air intake.

The wife’s 1964 AH Sprite had roll up windows and a good fitting hood as well. Back in the day my older brother’s Midgets had the sliding Plexiglas side windows and ill fitting hoods so both cars leaked. He did have fibreglass hard tops for both to use in late fall through to spring. Then again, his 850 Morris Mini Minor had sliding windows and he always carried cloths around for when it rained.

[Reiver]

Brit cars are cult like...... Lucas Electrics/ the prince of darkness...what did Lucas Sr. tell his son on his death bed "Never drive at night', why do Brits drink warm beer...Lucas makes the refrigerators. ..... driving my 71 XKE in Columba's Ga at night on a dark back road.....I lost every light in and on the car....  headlights/rears and every dash light..... exciting.

 

As to rain.... the Brit solution..... wrap a towel around your neck and drive so fast the rain goes over the windscreen and you..... 

[mrmustang]

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

Edited February 18 by mrmustang

[Reiver]

Yeah, one is a Brit car and the other a clone....   Great looking car btw, I like that body style the best.  I've always found the AC Aceca to really be a fine model.  Never driven one but have seen some at shows.....

Edited February 18 by Reiver

[mrmustang]

1 hour ago, Reiver said:

Yeah, one is a Brit car and the other a clone....   Great looking car btw, I like that body style the best.  I've always found the AC Aceca to really be a fine model.  Never driven one but have seen some at shows.....

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.

Edited February 18 by mrmustang

[theDreamer]

3 hours ago, mrmustang said:

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

It has been many decades since I got in and out of an AC plus I was much younger and flexible then than now. However, I find your statement hard to believe. An AC Cobra, real or kit, has doors where the Lotus/Caterham 7 does not. So first one must get over the sill height and then bend, twist and contort themselves to fit through a much smaller opening.

An AC Cobra’s door sill is almost level with the seat cushion and closer to the ground so nothing to step over.

I‘ve posted this image before with the opening sizes in inches. I cannot see an AC with its hood up and doors open having a smaller or being harder to enter and exit than a 7. I would suggest that you have mastered ingress and egress of your Seven but not your Cobra. Once you find the technique that works for you, you’ll be off to the races so to speak.

[mrmustang]

39 minutes ago, theDreamer said:

It has been many decades since I got in and out of an AC plus I was much younger and flexible then than now. However, I find your statement hard to believe. An AC Cobra, real or kit, has doors where the Lotus/Caterham 7 does not. So first one must get over the sill height and then bend, twist and contort themselves to fit through a much smaller opening.

 

An AC Cobra’s door sill is almost level with the seat cushion and closer to the ground so nothing to step over.

 

I‘ve posted this image before with the opening sizes in inches. I cannot see an AC with its hood up and doors open having a smaller or being harder to enter and exit than a 7. I would suggest that you have mastered ingress and egress of your Seven but not your Cobra. Once you find the technique that works for you, you’ll be off to the races so to speak.

 

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

[wobblyweb]

This is mine during a typical English summer day

[Reiver]

Wobly...British sunshine!  I spent a month on Salisbury plain with your SAS in the later 70's as an exchange guy.  I was then US SF in 5th Gp.  It rained every day but you get used to that and after a while you just laugh about it. 

We then had 2 SAS join us in the El Paso desert for 6 weeks.... as it was near summer, they didn't bring cold weather gear, but El Paso is base line 5000 ft. so it gets damn cold at night and they froze their asses off until we got them some sleeping bags.  The Warrant said 'Now I know why all those cowboys wear long coats'...they were excellent soldiers and I've always enjoyed the exchange program.

The two kneeling center are your Brits.  This was my ODA 595.  I'm the short guy wearing shades in the rear and was the team Sgt. ..MSG at the time.  The guy with his crank out is Denzil, medic ...he ended up being the SOCOM Command Sergeant Major... I luckily ended at that rank myself.  I think about my guys every day of my life.  Sorry for the steal but that downpour got me going.

[slowdude]

I do a decent amount of rain driving as the 7 is my daily when the weather is above 50.

 

I had to take a video in a thunderstorm to show some friends that the car is OK in the rain.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6hkViNJDre/?igsh=MXM3OHF0OXVnNTU3eg==

 

 

Edited Saturday at 02:03 AM by slowdude

[Reiver]

40 minutes ago, slowdude said:

I do a decent amount of rain driving as the 7 is my daily when the weather is above 50.

 

I had to take a video in a thunderstorm to show some friends that the car is OK in the rain.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6hkViNJDre/?igsh=MXM3OHF0OXVnNTU3eg==

 

 

Looks like a dangerous event in traffic like that and as short as the car is..... I kept getting run off the road in my Elise in traffic....pickup trucks or tall SUV's.

[slowdude]

4 minutes ago, Reiver said:

Looks like a dangerous event in traffic like that and as short as the car is..... I kept getting run off the road in my Elise in traffic....pickup trucks or tall SUV's.

Yep. Like riding a motorcycle. Assume no one sees you. The 3rd brake light up high and angled up definitely helps a good amount.

 

I've got some super reflective 3M tape on my motorcycle cases. It helps a lot at night.

[pethier]

> 4. When all snaps are in place, climb in the car and fasten the velcro around the hood stick, then reach over your shoulder and pull the loose end of each strap forward until the top is nice and taut

 

Not happening in my car.  I have to tighten the straps first to get the forward bow back to the Velcro.

 

My entry:  My left* foot goes in first, then my head and shoulders. I keep going until I can get my right foot in.  I have the seat all the way back to do this.  Then I put on my lap belt and slam the seat forward.  It is imperative that the lap belt be very tight.  Then I click in the shoulder belts and snug them up a little.

 

On a good day, I can do this without removing the steering wheel.  There are some days I think it was worth it to create my weird wheel setup.

 

* I have an English car.