David aka Blue7

I have just fitted a couple of replacement CR500 195x45xR15 tyres so next time I need new tyres it would have to be the ZZS 195x50 plus the hassle of adjusting the front cycle wings. A quick search of the blackcircles website for 195x45xR15 speed rating V produces 10 tyres, three of which are: Toyo Proxes T1-R £58 and £60 Falken Ziex ZE-914 £65 Goodyear Eagle F1 DSD3 £74 Has anyone fitted any different makes of tyres other than Avon? I recall past references to fitting Toyo as alternatives but in the latest edition of EVO magazine, Toyo are bottom of the rating chart. I have also had two recommendations to fit Uniroyal tyres. I don't track the car and we sometimes get a bit of rain in Scotland :) David

Jonathan is correct and to be realistic, your paint will no longer look like it did in 1998 due to sunlight and general weathering so your best option is to get it matched by a specialist company.

Craig, do you have any idea about the time you will be on track? I have bought tickets but they haven't arrived in the post yet. I phoned yesterday and was advised that they will be delivered today. I have sent numerous emails asking about the event programme but no replies. Blue

Good grief, what a sound ... although your gear changes could be a bit quicker

This is what I have http://www.trackerdirect.co.uk/tracker-retrieve Caterham Insurance do not require you to have a Tracker fitted

Hi Iain They are Spa mirrors from Demon Tweeks here http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/mirrors All the side mirrors have the same fitting, I bought the larger GT Le Mans version 148 x 68 mm with convex glass, which provide great rear vision. They are also available at Merlin Motorsport and also Spa, but seem to be similarly priced, however P&P may differ so worth checking. Note also that Demon Tweeks and Merlin prices exclude VAT whereas Spa prices include VAT. https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/s/mirrors/spa-mirrors http://www.spa-uk.co.uk/Category/Race%20Car%20Mirrors David

Mine arrived today and passenger side fitted with a couple of mods. First being to drill the hinge spindle hole out to a slightly wider diameter because it is a bit on the tight side for the hinge spindle. Second mod being to remove the lower hinge and replace it with the upper hinge so that the hinge spindle is pointing upwards to accept the mirror bracket. Many thanks Ivan David

Hi Paul, the latest Owner's Handbook indicates 6L for Dry Sump, I have sent you a couple of scans from said handbook David

I think we head up to Dornoch on 6th and back up there again on 26th for the East Sutherland Rotary Classic Car Tour event. The Leuchars event sounds interesting, maybe we could arrange a run down there. So what happens, are you racing a McLaren P1 ... awesome!

You are determined to annoy Police Scotland!!! There are quieter silencers out there that you could use for track days, Caterham used to stock them but "no longer in stock". My personal opinion is that the contrived rear exit exhaust is not cost effective but Graham MacDonald is an Accountant so should be aware of the material costs. Your car sounds awesome, I suppose the only option is to maybe fit the standard side exist exhaust and when it comes to MOT or track days switch back, but it is a hassle. I think I heard you 100 miles away last weekend so when I pass you by in May on the way to Orkney I will return the favour ... early in the morning while Police Scotland are still asleep!

Pardon ... ?

I think Eccles brackets are formed with holes at the correct width for the Spa mirror mounts. There are two versions, Formula (smaller version) and GT Le Mans (larger version). There are also carbon version of this Spa mirror but ridiculously expensive. http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/mirrors There is an allen key bolt at the rear of the mounting bracket which is for tightening the swivel ball joint. This is probably why Eccles has provided that additional hole between the two mounting holes to allow access to the allen key adjustment bolt. The Spa mirrors are a bit fiddly to adjust but it may be possible to overcome with a bit of improvisation. One weakness with the Spa mirror is where the mirror stem screws into the ball joint. This is just a bolt on the end of the stem that screws straight into the ball joint so it can become loose when adjusting the mirror up or down. A possible fix is either fitting a lock washer or applying a thread locking glue. Yet another weakness is the finish, Demon Tweaks photo shows a satin black colour and describe the finish as high impact nylon but it actually looks like a glossy black plastic in the flesh and is very susceptible to scratch marks. I could possibly live with it but in the back of my mind is to spray it matt black at some stage to make it blend more with the rest of the car.

Thanks Eccles, I'm not really bothered about which version but maybe given the fact that I have the larger Spa mirrors, I think I should go for the solid version, which is probably more resilient to vibration. Maybe you should give the two versions different names ... "standard" and "superlight" :) in which case I will go for the standard version.

Count me in Eccles. The centre hole between the two mounting holes is certainly useful because it allows access to the allen headed adjustment bolt that tightens the mirror ball joint ... I assume there is enough room between side screen and mirror mount to insert an allen key to tighten / loosen the ball joint? Can I ask which type of SPA mirrors you have fitted in the photo, are they the small ones with glass size 113mm x 52mm or the larger ones 148mm x 68mm? I ask this question because I have the larger size and wonder if these will still clear the windscreen? Having asked the question, it shouldn't really make any difference because the clearance just depends on distance between side screen and the inner edge of the mirror. David

Hi Chris I would say yes. However, you might want to consider the GT seats made by Thundersport which is part of the Oxtead Co. I had them in my old CSR but CC no longer supply them, however, they were made by Oxtead / Thundersport who will still make them to order not only cheaper than CC but you also get a L7 Club discount! If you are interested contact Jemma at Thundersport. Or I could sell you my old CC leather seats, you could collect when you are up at Inver Lodge, they are 2015 and have just 4k miles on the seat :) I removed my standard CC leather seats and the new GT seats fitted straight into the same locating holes. You can even get coloured piping to match the colour of your car :) Here are some pics: http://www.kemnay.info/page-7/ David

Thanks to all for your advice. The Subaru plasma blue looks darker than the colour of my paint and the Kawasaki colour is probably the closest match and Elie's link is certainly very useful because it does at least confirm the paint code I was supplied with when I bought the car. However, I did Google that code but didn't get a suitable result so good to have it confirmed in that link Thanks for the update Martin. The company I am using is The Wheel Specialist, based in Aberdeen. I am taking the car in today because they say they can probably match the paint from the extensive range of samples that they have. Thanks again for all the replies David

I am trying (without any success), to get the paint code for my CSR 260, which is painted plasma blue. I have tried Darren Phillips, who recommended Martin Phipps but no reply from Martin at CC other than out of office and no response to a pm here. I am having the wheels sprayed plasma blue and black and the work is now held up because we don’t have the paint code. Would anyone happen to know what the paint code is? When the the car was built in Sept 2015, I asked for the paint code and was told that it was 7016M but no one seems to recognise that code and it certainly doesn’t appear in a Google search. The Plasma blue paint is I think pearlescent and costs extra on the order form. It seems to be used on Subaru Cars and Kawasaki motorbikes but I don’t know which paint Caterham used? Maybe my pm to Martin didn't get through so hopefully he may see this post? David

I am replacing the seat belts on my CSR (2 yrs. old), the lower bolts and top outer bolts all move quite easily but the two top INNER bolts that secure the belts to the boot just won't shift and the hex heads are smaller than all the other 6 bolts. For avoidance of doubt the two bolts I am referring to are behind and left of driver's shoulder and behind and right of passenger's shoulder. I am wary of putting too much pressure on the bolts incase I shear the heads off. Is there something I am missing or does it just need brute force to turn them? Problem solved ... I discovered there is a nut on the other end of the bolt. It still took some brute force to shift it and fortunately I could get a metric socket on one end and an a/f socket on the nut inside the very tight space in the frame. David

Thanks for the replies all, including Jonathan who pm'd me but my pm reply didn't seem to send? I can get an allen key through the access hole at the front of the runners and sliding the seats as far forward as possible I can now see heads of the two rear bolts. I can just about reach the inside bolt, I don't know how people with shorter arms could cope? Fitting the new seats should be a bundle of fun trying to line up the bolts with holes :( I seem to recall that when Top Gear built their 7 it was Clarkson who was given the task of fitting the seats ... I just don't believe he could do it ;)

Hi guys I am trying to remove the Caterham standard leather seats to fit some new GT seats on order from Thundersport. I thought it would be just a simple case of removing the 4 nuts on the underside of the car and lifting the seats out. However, the mounting bolt is turning with the nut so I thought it would just be a case of putting a spanner on the head of the bolt on the inside of the car but the seat runnerrs are in the way preventing access to head oof the bolt. Am I supposed to remove the seat runners, if so how is that accomplished? There are holes in the top front of the runners through which I can see the tops of the front bolts, which seem to have a sunken hex. head. I could probably slot an allen key in the top to hold the bolt but then there is no similar hole in the runners to access the rear seat bolts. Is there a simpler way of seat removal? David

Before you split the connector check to see if there aren't two free female spade connectors on that loom under the off side wheel arch because one of them is usually a spur for an additional H/L brake light.

Have you got a link to where you found the info on Google? Re tightening the bolts on the CC mirrors, the real point is that the CC mirrors just look totally naff ... imho of course.

Hi Jemma That sounds like a good solution, you have my address details so just post it to me and I will try it for size. Meantime I will take a look at your Ebay listing page that was mentioned by our Pensioner, above ;) David

I'm not sure where we are booked into, Nigel has taken care of it and also a place for an overnight stay on the way down. I forgot to tell you that your group were spotted on their way to Gairloch earlier this year. We looked out for you on our way to Uig Hotel but no sight of you. The following day while preparing to leave Uig Hotel an elderly couple approached me and asked if I had been part of a larger group of 7's that they had seen the previous day on their way up from Glasgow. They said they had been making what they thought was good speed at 60 mph but were quickly caught by "a group of people driving cars like yours, which all overtook us in no time and swiftly disappeared into the distance" I assured them that we were not part of that group and that we were far to old and sensible to hang around with people like that David

Thanks for getting back, that's interesting that the 900 wasn't queried? It was Jemma Doune that I dealt with and she referred to the 900 being a little long: "The measurements you sent are a little long as we would expect 875mm for dimension A, however the mohair does have a little stretch in it and you can tighten up the fixing straps." I will contact her again and mention your visit on Monday. I am too far away for a factory visit, I live up near Aberdeen. When you refer to the "easy out" version, is it similar to the softbits 4 7's half hood that has a zip in the roof? If so I don't see that option on their website so I assume it was a special order? I am also surprised about the side straps being too long? On the softbits half hoods there is a buckle to adjust the strap length? David