Troy's Caterham 7 America

[480rider]

Hi all:

 

I recently acquired a 2002 "7 America." It's a car which was built to the SCCA GCR specs for E Production, with a 150 HP Zetec and T9, cage, etc. The car was built in Ft. Worth, TX, and formerly resided with an active club racer in Houston. I'm running it this season in the Miller Park Racing Association series in Utah.

 

I started lurking on this and other sites a couple of years ago, when I finally got serious about looking for a 7. Thanks to everyone who has posted information here. It's been a great background resource, and I hope to be a worthwhile contributor in the future.

 

Troy

[scannon]

Troy,

 

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new car. You are going to have a blast with it. Are you going to license it for the street?

[480rider]

Thanks for the welcome.

 

Originally, I wanted a 7 I could use at the track or on the street. When I found this one, I decided it was ok to have a track-only car. But...

 

While the car was first built as a street car, I'm told the original owner added lights, windscreen and wipers, etc. and put a plate on it. In fact, it came to me with a title as well as a bill of sale. So I could make it street legal, and the thought is somewhat appealing.

 

Unfortunately, the only street bits which remain are the dash switches, so I'd have to (re)acquire the headlights and front signals, windscreen, wipers, washer setup, and related bits. Additionally, in race trim it currently runs with a grand total of 1.25 inches of clearance under the oil pan! I'd have to of course change the ride height and alignment as well.

 

So...given the work and cost it would take to make it street legal, I'll keep it a dedicated track car for now. I've only had three track days so far, but it certainly is a whole lot of fun!

[Mondo]

Welcome.

Car looks pretty cool.... how do you squeeze past all those bars to get in;)

[slngsht]

Welcome.

Car looks pretty cool.... how do you squeeze past all those bars to get in;)

He probably sleeps in there between races. Getting to know the car

[480rider]

The only access is through the top -- good thing the car came with a certificate for free gymnastics lessons!

[Hank]

You can't be serious and post only one picture of that beast, can you? ON WITH THE PICTURES MAN!

[11Budlite]

Welcome Troy, and I agree with Hank!

[480rider]

Geez, tough crowd! OK, here are a few more. One is from the first track day, with clamshells removed. (I'm still waiting for my cycle fenders to come in.) The others are in the driveway, the last showing a before (notice mischievous look) and after (results on pavement) pic. The wife says I have to clean the driveway now. But really, how could I help it?

[Hank]

Troy,

 

Thanks for the additional pictures. Are your front shocks on backwards? There has been a few discussions on flipping the shock body around closer to the center of mass for the Seven and leaving only the shock piston near the wheel. It helps quicken the rate of change for the wheel due to the inertia change. Nitron (shocks on my Seven) helps users out by putting the stickers on and if a builder puts the shocks on incorrectly the logo is upside down.

 

Nice looking Seven you have there. Do you have the specs on the Hoosiers? How much does she weigh?

[480rider]

Attached are a couple more pics. The front suspension is "as it came," and appears to be upside-right. (The "Bilstein" sticker is upright.) So far, I'm running the car as bought, since the prior owner spent quite some time on setup and balance. Since he provided 16 wheels and 18 tires, I'm running those until they are all used up. I'm sure new tires (and seat time) will bring up handling issues which I'll be tweaking to suit my driving style.

 

For now, I'm running the bias-ply Hoosier R35A tires which came with the car, 20.5-7x13 fronts, and 20-8x13 rears, on the factory 13x6 wheels. I understand switching to radials will require a substantially different alignment, which I may do in the future. There are too few choices in 13" bias slicks, and the series I'm running may require a change to R-Comps anyway.

 

One of the attached pics shows the owner's solution for a cold air intake. Not quite as elegant as some I've seen on this forum, but it seems to be effective. The SCCA's GCR for this car is pretty restrictive, so I don't think much more could be done to the intake side.

 

Regarding weight, the GCR calls for the car, with driver, to weigh at least 1,460 at the end of a race. With about a 160 lb. driver, 50 lb. of ballast, and a couple of gallons of fuel, this means it probably weighs a bit under 1,250 wet.

[Hank]

Yep, they're backwards. It also keeps dirt out of the piston if you flip the shocks around. Thanks for the quick reply on the Hoosier specs.

[MHKflyer52]

Yep, they're backwards. It also keeps dirt out of the piston if you flip the shocks around. Thanks for the quick reply on the Hoosier specs.

 

The shocks in the photos are not upside down to the best of my knowledge. Shaft end should be up and cylinder should be down.

Those are very expensive and should work very well with your car.

I initially wanted Bilstein shocks but the price was way to high for my wallet if you know what I mean.

[Mondo]

Maybe someday I'll be good enough that flipping the shocks over will improve my performance;)

[southwind25]

SWeeeet ride! we wish you the best and always safe racing. Surprised the front discs are not vented?? I thought my birkin se7en brakes are way small these look smaller? is this per SCCA?... and does SCCA allow the cycle fenders? I thought I remember Craig Chima told me that he was only allowed to run clamshell fenders when he ran his "7" in EP. ...

 

I am jealous.

[480rider]

The SCCA rules are pretty strict for this car, including detailed limits on just how much the clamshells can be modified. The previous owner trimmed the fenders in the amount allowed by the rules, resulting in cracked and pretty ugly looking fenders. This year I'm running it in a local series (not enough time to travel to SCCA events) which does not restrict fenders, and that's why I'm changing the clamshells to cycle fenders. I'm keeping the clamshells, though, so the car can remain SCCA-legal. It's a pretty quick and easy changeover.

 

My local track has a very long straight, and is pretty fast overall (average lap speeds approaching 80 mph in this car), so I feel like less aerodynamic lift would be good! In addition, having already run it in the rain, I'd like to have some fenders doing a better job of keeping water (not to mention gravel, rubber, etc.) out of the cockpit. I'm hoping the cycle fenders will help a bit in that regard.

 

The brakes are the tiny 9" solid discs. They work pretty well, although I'd certainly like to have more stopping power. I could change them for my local series (MPRA class SP at Miller Motorsports Park), which is pretty open regarding mods, but I don't want to take the car too far from its SCCA EP roots, and I want to keep it easy to take it back to EP-legal.

[TheDingo8MyBaby]

In addition, having already run it in the rain, I'd like to have some fenders doing a better job of keeping water (not to mention gravel, rubber, etc.) out of the cockpit. I'm hoping the cycle fenders will help a bit in that regard.

 

I've actually heard that this tends to be worse with cycle fenders, but they certainly will help the lift problem.

 

Great looking car and I'm sure you'll have loads of fun with it.

[athens7]

I can attest that cycle wings do a great job of allowing debris into the cockpit, aided mightily by sticky tires!

[480rider]

I've heard the same thing. But given how cut back the clamshells were (virtually no fender whatsoever behind the tire), I'm hoping cycle fenders will at least help a bit. They should cut down the vertical spray the tires currently put up, which is less than a pleasure to drive through!

[Lotus Man]

very nice