Discussion
perfect! i tend to sit reasonably close in any car (more marcus gronholm than stirling moss) so i thought i'd be ok but wasn't sure.
now if any body knows of a classic with the vauxhall 1600, full weather, heater, preferably blue silver or black that they want to sell me for about £9500/10k................
now if any body knows of a classic with the vauxhall 1600, full weather, heater, preferably blue silver or black that they want to sell me for about £9500/10k................
Check out the for sale ads at www.blatchat.com
A few for around the 10k mark, though not Vauxhalls I think.
A few for around the 10k mark, though not Vauxhalls I think.
good stuff.
i'm restricted to a classic just now on cost, but hey, it's the beginners' caterham. a friend is selling a 280bhp swindon powered monster but sadly can't quite stretch to it!
i've got a couple of engines i could slot in anyway (CVH with 140bhp, 2.1 Pinto with 188) so could do a bit of plug and play, but who knows.
can't really do grad as i'm too far north but already do hills, so classic is a good car to learn in i think, with a set of acb10s on and a few suspension mods, it'll be good fun at least. the craving for power will, of course, kick in.
think classic for a year, then SLR, maybe CSR will be affordable by then.
i'm restricted to a classic just now on cost, but hey, it's the beginners' caterham. a friend is selling a 280bhp swindon powered monster but sadly can't quite stretch to it!
i've got a couple of engines i could slot in anyway (CVH with 140bhp, 2.1 Pinto with 188) so could do a bit of plug and play, but who knows.
can't really do grad as i'm too far north but already do hills, so classic is a good car to learn in i think, with a set of acb10s on and a few suspension mods, it'll be good fun at least. the craving for power will, of course, kick in.
think classic for a year, then SLR, maybe CSR will be affordable by then.
I wouldn't put either the CVH or Pinto in a Caterham. CVHs are regarded as satanic by all in Caterham circles and were only offically fitted (reluctantly) to Sevens for the Swiss market for emissions.
Pinto is far too heavy for a Caterham and the exhaust is the wrong side for 90% of them anyway (opposite side to K-series, VX XE, Crossflow etc.).
Get a Crossflow or similar for the money enjoy it and keep it clean and sell in a year or so for a small loss. If you put one of those engines in an existing Caterham your resale market would be VERY limited.
Have fun!
Pinto is far too heavy for a Caterham and the exhaust is the wrong side for 90% of them anyway (opposite side to K-series, VX XE, Crossflow etc.).
Get a Crossflow or similar for the money enjoy it and keep it clean and sell in a year or so for a small loss. If you put one of those engines in an existing Caterham your resale market would be VERY limited.
Have fun!
Check out www.graduates.org.uk and have a look at the for sale section. Plenty of 1600VX's to choose from for the money.
Had one for 2 years and reckon they are a geat Caterham to learn in and virtually bullet proof as well.
Had one for 2 years and reckon they are a geat Caterham to learn in and virtually bullet proof as well.
If you look around you might find a K series car for £10k. Possibly a 1.6 - there's one for sale on www.blatchat.com/ for about that - but certainly a 1.4. Failing that you could get a really good crossflow for that money. There is nothing wrong with going for a 1.6 Vauxhall as long as you accept that it may have a limited upgrade path - you can always sell after a year or so once you know what you really want out of a Caterham. You could look out for a Zetec engined car - not a factory option but a good replacement for a crossflow and there are a few about at that kind of money.
the heater is £250 new isn't it? it's easy to fit?
(sorry for the multiple questions!)
my plan now is:
VX engine car with 5 speed to use (nearly) every day and compete in.
work on suspension set up (do a bit of hillclimbing so know the basics) to get a nice adjustable set up to allow road use, then crank up the dampers for hills and sprints.
check corner weights and lose as much weight as possible.
if car not already on, fit my weber 45s. (have dell'orto 45s as well. will the webers work best on the VX engine? the dell'ortos flow better, but are more difficult to jet and regulate)
are there decent cams available for the VX? what is maximum power i can expect from this engine while keeping it bearable in terms of driveability?
fit AO32/48 or ACB10s for hills
what road tyres are best? will i get a decent choice in 13 or 14 inch?
(i may have more questions but these will do for now. thanks in advance)
(sorry for the multiple questions!)
my plan now is:
VX engine car with 5 speed to use (nearly) every day and compete in.
work on suspension set up (do a bit of hillclimbing so know the basics) to get a nice adjustable set up to allow road use, then crank up the dampers for hills and sprints.
check corner weights and lose as much weight as possible.
if car not already on, fit my weber 45s. (have dell'orto 45s as well. will the webers work best on the VX engine? the dell'ortos flow better, but are more difficult to jet and regulate)
are there decent cams available for the VX? what is maximum power i can expect from this engine while keeping it bearable in terms of driveability?
fit AO32/48 or ACB10s for hills
what road tyres are best? will i get a decent choice in 13 or 14 inch?
(i may have more questions but these will do for now. thanks in advance)
There is a conversion to 1.8 (approx 120bhp) and a Bill Blydenstein conversion for the head that could get you up to about 135bhp. No point in changing the carbs unless you do other stuff too (head work/cams). Search on blatchat for the details. Regarding tyres - use the sticky ones you mentioned on the road as well. A032R or ACB10 might be a bit tricky in the wet but otherwise make great road tyres for a 7. I run A048R all year round with no problems - great in the dry and more than acceptable in the wet. If you must have normal road rubber then Bridgestone RE720 or Yokoham A539 seem to be the favourites but they won't be anywhere near as grippy.
Did I mention www.blatchat.com/ ?
oh and join the L7OC www.lotus7club.co.uk/
Did I mention www.blatchat.com/ ?
oh and join the L7OC www.lotus7club.co.uk/registered on blatchat yesterday!
yeh, my fiesta has A032 on just now, which are surprisingly good in the wet, but i was less sure how a lighter Seven would cope with them on - see my location- we get a lot of rain!
the A539 is used by a lot of mod saloon racers as a wet-weather tyre so i'd be happy using them day to day with something grippy for weekends.
yeh, my fiesta has A032 on just now, which are surprisingly good in the wet, but i was less sure how a lighter Seven would cope with them on - see my location- we get a lot of rain!
the A539 is used by a lot of mod saloon racers as a wet-weather tyre so i'd be happy using them day to day with something grippy for weekends.
I would probably go for the Yoko AO21's which will work well in the wet ( and dry) You really don't need a heater and a hood is questionable. It is worth thinking about some harder list 1A tyres as well( Bridegestone 720's Yoko 539's Avon CR322's ) for the track as you will be able to get used to putting it on the limit a bit more easily. If you run a front red ARB and have it flat floored ( you will need adlustable suspension) you won't really need to mess with the set up much at all.
MikeW
MikeW
I would probably go for the Yoko AO21's which will work well in the wet ( and dry) You really don't need a heater and a hood is questionable. It is worth thinking about some harder list 1A tyres as well( Bridegestone 720's Yoko 539's Avon CR322's ) for the track as you will be able to get used to putting it on the limit a bit more easily. If you run a front red ARB and have it flat floored ( you will need adlustable suspension) you won't really need to mess with the set up much at all.
MikeW
MikeW
Given your location, unless you're "hard as nails" a heater and hood might be a good idea for regular use! That said, there are plenty of aeroscreen users who will say otherwise. I confess to having both said luxuries although I try not to use the hood unless it is really pi55ing down - it tends to cut down visibility and, unless you unzip the back window, everything steams up.
A021Rs are a good tyre for road or wet track - I have been through 2 sets prior to switching to A048R.
A021Rs are a good tyre for road or wet track - I have been through 2 sets prior to switching to A048R.
aye a roof is a definite and it will, sadly, be up most days especially in the car park at work. i've heard that visibilty is pretty poor hood up and i also think the car looks a bit awkward with the hood up, so weekends will be spent top down!
think a heater is sensible really.
think AO48 or ACB10 might be the tyres for track use
think a heater is sensible really.
think AO48 or ACB10 might be the tyres for track use
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