Discussion
Looking at getting a Caterham 7.
Have another sports car so doing it on a tight budget. Know little about them at the moment but want to get my 'hands dirty' again. Happy taking on board a project if the price is right. Looking for a 2 litre pinto engine based model (my sort of technology).
I am Bristol based. Anyone have one For Sale?........................
Have another sports car so doing it on a tight budget. Know little about them at the moment but want to get my 'hands dirty' again. Happy taking on board a project if the price is right. Looking for a 2 litre pinto engine based model (my sort of technology).
I am Bristol based. Anyone have one For Sale?........................
Caterham have never used the Pinto because it is rather heavy for such a light car. Quick list of engines they have used:
Rover K-Series 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 (the most common)
Ford Duratec (current)
Ford Sigma (current)
Vauxhall 2.0 XE
Vauxhall 1.6 (8 valve carb fed)
Ford Crossflow 1.6 and 1.7
There have also been Fireblade engines and Blackbird engines in very small numbers and people quite often replace old Crossflows with Zetecs, but Caterham have never fitted those in Europe.
Pinto is heavier than all of these engines and that is just one of the reasons they have never been fitted by Caterham or to my knowledge anyone else to a Seven. Some of the replicas do use them however.
Rover K-Series 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 (the most common)
Ford Duratec (current)
Ford Sigma (current)
Vauxhall 2.0 XE
Vauxhall 1.6 (8 valve carb fed)
Ford Crossflow 1.6 and 1.7
There have also been Fireblade engines and Blackbird engines in very small numbers and people quite often replace old Crossflows with Zetecs, but Caterham have never fitted those in Europe.
Pinto is heavier than all of these engines and that is just one of the reasons they have never been fitted by Caterham or to my knowledge anyone else to a Seven. Some of the replicas do use them however.
dino ferrana said:
Caterham have never used the Pinto because it is rather heavy for such a light car. Quick list of engines they have used:
Rover K-Series 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 (the most common)
Ford Duratec (current)
Ford Sigma (current)
Vauxhall 2.0 XE
Vauxhall 1.6 (8 valve carb fed)
Ford Crossflow 1.6 and 1.7
There have also been Fireblade engines and Blackbird engines in very small numbers and people quite often replace old Crossflows with Zetecs, but Caterham have never fitted those in Europe.
Pinto is heavier than all of these engines and that is just one of the reasons they have never been fitted by Caterham or to my knowledge anyone else to a Seven. Some of the replicas do use them however.
Westfeild, Tiga RH GBSzero ++++++ ,but you may not class them as 7's and really Caterhams are 'continuations 'Rover K-Series 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 (the most common)
Ford Duratec (current)
Ford Sigma (current)
Vauxhall 2.0 XE
Vauxhall 1.6 (8 valve carb fed)
Ford Crossflow 1.6 and 1.7
There have also been Fireblade engines and Blackbird engines in very small numbers and people quite often replace old Crossflows with Zetecs, but Caterham have never fitted those in Europe.
Pinto is heavier than all of these engines and that is just one of the reasons they have never been fitted by Caterham or to my knowledge anyone else to a Seven. Some of the replicas do use them however.
For Caterhams try Bristol Area L7C :
Bristol & Bath - Monthly on 3rd Tues
Venue: The Boar's Head, Aust, BS35 4AX, near the junction of the M48 and A403 at southern end of the Severn crossing.
For Westfields there doesn't appear to be a Bristol Area www.wscc.co.uk/local.htm but you could ask on the boardroom
Bristol & Bath - Monthly on 3rd Tues
Venue: The Boar's Head, Aust, BS35 4AX, near the junction of the M48 and A403 at southern end of the Severn crossing.
For Westfields there doesn't appear to be a Bristol Area www.wscc.co.uk/local.htm but you could ask on the boardroom
Hi chop,
try here:
http://www.lotussevenclub.com/AreaMeetings/AreaMee...
Actually the Wikipedia pages are pretty decent:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Seven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham_7
Have fun
Martyn
try here:
http://www.lotussevenclub.com/AreaMeetings/AreaMee...
Actually the Wikipedia pages are pretty decent:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Seven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham_7
Have fun
Martyn
choptop said:
Eric Mc said:
The OP needs to do a little homework on the marque
That is why I have been asking for advice...................There are plenty of books out there on the history of the Seven - although they do go out of date after a few years due to new versions of the car appearing on a regular basis.
I would recommend this one a for a general overview of the Seven - although it is a few years old now
Because the Seven has been around for such a long time, there are a myriad number of engine choices available (although never a Pinto).
downsman said:
For a straight forward engine that you can work on yourself, it's hard to beat a crossflow.
They're better on fuel consumption than a pinto too.
The only problem is, from what I understand, the rebuild costs for a crossflow are greater than buying a brand new zetec.
Crossflows are pretty cheap to rebuild. I paid just over two grand (about five years ago but it's been bulletproof) for a blue printed 1300 crossflow from Scholar who probably know more about crossflows than anybody else. I'd really recommend using them; they may sound a little more expensive but their service is exemplary and well worth the extra.They're better on fuel consumption than a pinto too.
The only problem is, from what I understand, the rebuild costs for a crossflow are greater than buying a brand new zetec.
Admittedly going for steel rods etc will cost a lot more but only really on a par with other engines.
Also the carb makes a nice sucking noise.
choptop said:
I may have to consider a Westfield but did not want to go down that road really.
I certainly wouldnt rule out a westy, there are some great examples kicking about,If you think about them as a car to drive and forget the badge snobbery they are better on the road for touring as they are bigger more roomier and with independent suspension ride well and when set up right are no slower on a circuit so why dismiss them ?? If you had say a £7-£8k budget personally I would buy one over a Caterham everytime, you are getting a better package for your money and they are pretty much depreciation free, faced with the choice of an old 1983 xflow cat or a 2006 2.0 zetec westy for me it would be a no brainer, once you get up to £10k and onwards I would look to buy a caterham, but again £10k will get you a modern duratec powered westy which would be double+ for an R300.
Edited by JeffC on Sunday 8th July 08:31
If you've got the money a factory built Caterham is top of the tree. Renovating a scruffy older car can be worthwhile too. Personally I like the patina of a well campaigned car but you can cheaply strip a 7 down, get it sandblasted, repainted and apply new panels if you prefer. Leaving the panels unpainted saves a lot of money and they can look fantastic polished.
Don't dismiss a race-ready Locost either, 4 to 5K will get a really good one. You can make them road legal and once bitten by the racing bug it's hard to let go. A really well built Locost (there are a few stunning examples on the grid) is as good as a Westfield or live-axle crossflow Caterham while a badly built example is a lesson in awfulness. This goes for all kit cars though and I've seen factory built Caterhams at motorshow display stands with sharp edges.
Next Locost race is Anglesey then Donington. It's the one of the cheapest ways into racing and regularly has two full grids.
OK, not an ideal road car but you can (have to) push way beyond anything you'd do at a trackday let alone the roads.
Don't dismiss a race-ready Locost either, 4 to 5K will get a really good one. You can make them road legal and once bitten by the racing bug it's hard to let go. A really well built Locost (there are a few stunning examples on the grid) is as good as a Westfield or live-axle crossflow Caterham while a badly built example is a lesson in awfulness. This goes for all kit cars though and I've seen factory built Caterhams at motorshow display stands with sharp edges.
Next Locost race is Anglesey then Donington. It's the one of the cheapest ways into racing and regularly has two full grids.
OK, not an ideal road car but you can (have to) push way beyond anything you'd do at a trackday let alone the roads.
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