David aka Blue7

"Does it always start eventually? --> no. The last few times I just waited until next day while as a precaution charged the battery. Next day all was good; engine started directly." I think that comment may indicate the problem. I would suggest before you go delving into electrics and fuel supply that you check the condition of your battery, how old is it? I have experienced similar problems in the past, engine turns but does not fire and eventually the battery goes flat. New battery always solved the problem. David

#78 sounds very sevenesque, if they can do it with Minis, why not a 7? Caterham need to consult with Ed China, I bet he could come up with something and failing that his 'almost' namesake Dominic Chinea. Meantime there is a book to get started DIY https://www.amazon.co.uk/Convert-step-step-converting-electric/dp/1946767034/ref=sr_1_4?adgrpid=102453891263&gclid=Cj0KCQiA9OiPBhCOARIsAI0y71Bc83AnlDOHDMv98GE5_ewXZK1T66n-FmMCsg4ZJetkMy7yC6hCtnMaAuwDEALw_wcB&hvadid=446283467216&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9046839&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=1606330858160240142&hvtargid=kwd-159535736&hydadcr=6852_1812908&keywords=electric+car+conversion+kit&qid=1643799785&sr=8-4 Or get one converted here https://vimeo.com/388299735 Configuration here but I couldn't get the video to play https://cascadiamotion.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA9OiPBhCOARIsAI0y71AODfke99lOohILtzGRAXJQkP8nSBqwxqBHpBB3j4TxL6fS2vjj6iIaAm8aEALw_wcB

Maybe the future energy problem could be resolved as a result of the Junor mission? Deep in Jupiter's atmosphere, under great pressure, hydrogen gas is squeezed into a fluid known as metallic hydrogen. All we need is a pipeline https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/images/index.html

#75 IMO it would at the very least have to look like a 7 in which case I would be tempted to try one. Anything that looks radically different would not do and we would be back to an S4 scenario.

#58 Stu, thanks for the link, no, I've never been to NEC despite being a native of the area. I had never heard of Zero motorbikes but I see they have numerous dealers in the UK. Looking at the top of range bike SRS at £21k it has a range of 99 miles at 55 mph and a charge time of 4 hours. It wouldn't suit the majority of bikers who obviously enjoy the sound of the bike and would desire more range but interesting nevertheless, it conjures up images of old Rockers being replaced by a new breed of Trons

Regarding the price increase, there must be some unforeseen increases in material costs unless they are adopting a 'market value' strategy for fixing end product sale price. From the webinar it appears that the new owners are taking strict control and it will not be acceptable to just break even as they did the previous year and the quoted recent profit of £20k will not be acceptable. IMO the future for CC is grim, the 2030 deadline is their sword of Damocles, they don't have an EV R&D Dept so can only sit and wait in hope that someone may come up with a suitable EV platform. In the meantime they will have to pay someone to carry out market research to establish whether or not there is a viable market for an EV7 and my guess is that there is not a viable market given price and the reduced tactile / sensory driving experience. In addition it will be unable to conform with the burdensome safety standards that continue to increase every year. My 7 driving days will probably be coming to an end post 2030 and I consider myself lucky to have experienced the joy of driving since the mid 60's when cars became exciting and affordable and if you couldn't afford a new car you could buy an old banger and shave the head, stick an additional carb on and a set of wide wheels ... not forgetting stripes of course! One vehicle that is never mentioned is the motorbike, are all the old Rockers going to be forced off the road also, I don't see any mention of EV bikes other than cycles. In any case, where is the fun in driving a fast car at 15 mph stuck behind the lycra brigade riding 4 abreast?

Another interesting aspect of this discussion is that during the 2020 webinar, CC said that although an EV was possible, the price would be close to £60k, which potential customers would not be willing to pay ... but if they are now buying 620R's at £70k then the £60k price tag may be realistic. I certainly wouldn't be willing to pay £70k for a 620R, I would rather spend that sort of money on the new Lotus Emira which is predicted to be £75k

Mike, I just checked your profile, I see you are NYC so CC will sell you a CSR I didn't choose different dampers, I don't think they were an option in 2008. I do recall the aerofoil wishbones priced at £600 that I didn't choose. As a matter of interest, here is the 2008 spec sheet, which I hope is readable, sometimes images get reduced in size when you post . Editted to say if you right click the image and select open image in new tab, it should display full size.,

No mine were all full fat It is probably difficult to define the superlight, I recall meeting up with one guy at House of Bruar, his car was superlight but when he arrived at Bruar his new CSR had a windscreen and a heater. I certainly increased the weight of mine when I fitted the GT seats, which are much heavier than the standard CC Seats but we both had back pains after a long run with the CC seats which is not the case with the GT seats. There used to be a CSR Owners website but I think it got hacked and I can no longer find it. I wonder if Stephan is including the new CSR in his archive. What still puzzles me is how Mike is building a CSR and yet CSR's are not listed on the CC website? I seem to recall the are now called 485's and not available in the UK? CC seem to refer to it as their EU range but one is going to Bruce in Australia.

David, I have 15,000 miles on the clock. There is a member here Stephan Heth, who keeps a register of all CSR's produced and I have a vague memory of him telling me my first CSR went to Europe and was resprayed orange but I don't know where the second one is. There is a useful thread here CSR Register https://www.lotus7.club/forum/chitchat/csr-register-first-evaluation-results-public

#21 Mike, many thanks for that information, very much appreciated David

#15 Thanks for posting that information Mike As a matter of interest have you retained the same ECU or did you replace it with an unlocked one that can be remapped? I did have a problem misfire at 60 mph with my present CSR, which CC eventually agreed to it being an ECU problem. They are locked so it went back to CC under warranty, all they did was copy and paste the map from another CSR on to my ECU but it cured the problem. However, I have read of owners who have replaced their ECU's with an unlocked ECU so they can remap it. Not that I wish to remap my CSR, if it ain't broke ... but a few years ago a guy from Premiere Power wanted to sell me a new ECU with their own mapping for a CSR because he said the Cosworth mapping was 'carp'. I didn't buy it because the price was considerably expensive and at the back of my mind was that I couldn't imagine Cosworth being anything other than professional when it comes to mapping ECU's for their engines. David

Ben, David Brown (above) certainly had considerable recent experience with matters relating to CSR clutch problems and problems encountered with engine removal, which were well documented here or may have been posted on Chitchat. Personally speaking I have had no specific CSR problems, they have mostly been standard problems that could relate to all 7's. The engine is typical Cozzy, strong and reliable and not over stressed. The engine oil top up procedure is not really a problem, I used the CC system of topping up a bit at a time until some spills into the catch tank with my first two CSR's but with the present one I can actually see the oil level on the dipstick so top it up as normal. The Garage that services my car adopt a procedure of topping up while the engine is running, which I haven't tried. Most CSR's have now had the fix to the throttle problem that caused 'kangarooing'. One niggle I had with the first two was problems with the horn which is / was in the steering wheel boss. The brass connector is prone to breaking as is the plastic dowel that cancels the indicators. On my present CSR CC gave up on fitting a horn switch in the centre of the boss, the button is still fitted but is not wired up. The horn button is now a standard button on the dash. On the first two cars I had problems with front cycle wings breaking free from the stays because of the carp glue that CC uses. On my present CSR the first mod was to reinforce the glue with sikaflex and big head fasteners with cable ties so no problems this time. There is an 'O' ring seal inside the bell housing that can cause problems with oil leaks, my first CSR had to be returned under warranty for Cosworth to replace it, which is an engine out job, so check for oil leaks. I have not heard of a CSR 230? One irritating problem is 'front' tyre size in that Avon no longer make CR500 195/45 R15 78W and have replaced it with a wider diameter ZZS 195/50 R15 82W. The increase in diameter from 45 to 50 can cause the tyres to make contact with the cycle wings but some people have not had problems other than a 'snug' fit while others have modified the stay attachment bracket by elongating the bolt hole which allows the wing to be raised slightly. My fix has been to stock up on CR500 195/45's and trust the car will outlive me The CR500 195/45 are not easy to get hold of but still seem to be made? If I had space I would probably buy another one, I have a pal who has 3! The early ones actually had more boot space but on the later models the chassis struts encroach into the boot more. I did consider the new CSR but it doesn't seem to be available in the UK and more importantly to me, it doesn't have a Cosworth engine. When I bought my first CSR, I asked what the initials actually stood for. Nick Potter advised that it originally stood for Cosworth Seven Racer but Cosworth objected to the use of their name so CC reverted to Caterham Seven Racer. Someone here has a better answer 'Comfortable Superior Ride' David

I am on my 3rd CSR and my experience is that the engines actually seem to improve, the longer I kept them. The Cosworth powered CSR is no longer made so IMHO the cars are a worthwhile investment but try before you buy because there are bound to be a few "challenges" out there. David

I think they may be M4 but could be M5, you can easily measure the length. You will probably have to buy a selection box which will have a selection of sizes and lengths but despite claims about quality they all seem to rust within a year or so. I would suggest you remove the existing bolts / nuts, clean up with WD40 and paint the heads with black Hammerite paint and then replace. I have tried nuts / bolts from ships chandlers and even they rust

The existing hose seems to be very close to the bonnet, but the Car Builder hose should certainly reduce vibration. What puzzles me is why other 420R owners aren't having similar problems, or maybe they are?

GM is an Accountant, your solution would work but would be more expensive in man hours cutting and welding. However, I think the main reason for the drop bracket is that it is an easy solution for the customer who would have a set of spanners but not hacksaw and welding equipment. I know which option I would prefer 1. insert and bolt up the enclosed drop brackets 2. cut the upturned end off the existing brackets, invert them and weld them back in place, Mark would have to buy welding equipment from Screwfix and take a course in welding ... and not get his fish & chips The other problem with your solution Jonathan is that from the photos, it looks like the cut off end of the existing bracket would not be long enough, but I can't be certain. Of course another solution would be to bend the existing brackets downwards with a big hammer, One of the most famous quotes in car ‘fettling’ - to a mechanic’s apprentice: “Don’t force it lad! Use a bigger hammer!”

The fixed connection above is to the top of the drop bracket and not the radiator. In essence the drop bracket does exactly as described, it drops the radiator down but still uses the same connection points on chassis and radiator, A neat solution apart from the design fault.

Jonathan, it is shown in second photo in 1st post, it connects between radiator and drop bracket. It has always intrigued me as to why a bobbin is necessary, I don't recall seeing them on my CSR but I will take a closer look next time the nose cone is removed.

Mark #51, Good decision

Given that we now have a new relationship with CC, can someone in the MT contact CC with the above evidence and request an official response? There only appears to be three possible causes of the problem, poor quality radiators, confirmation that they are only designed to last 2k miles or bad design of the adaptor brackets. I am now of an age that too much stress just increases blood pressure so I would take the "easy" way out and grind / file down the brackets.

Well I think you are taking the best course of action by contacting and complaining to Caterham. Personally, I don't like their fix and like other comments, I don't like the look of that radiator, which looks cheap and nasty, probably made in Shenzhen and fixings and outlet may not be in the correct positions. That weld is a disgrace, even a first year apprentice would not produce something as ugly as that, which does not inspire confidence. Given that you have now had two or three radiator failures, you would probably have a good case to take to the Small Claims Court because they have not been satisfactory quality or fit for purpose but you would need supporting written evidence from someone with expert opinion. The trouble is that at the end of the day you still have to replace the radiator and all that seems to be available are more crap radiators / or crap brackets. IMO Caterham should supply you with a new radiator FOC plus a fix for the problem but I wouldn't hold my breath and the easiest answer at the end of the day is your own fix. What about making a couple of new brackets or suggesting to CC that they supply modified brackets that would increase the radiator height by say 10mm. I don't think the bobbin torque would be a problem, the only problem may be clearance with the nose cone.

Looking at the new radiator in the CC store, the location holes are elongated horizontally, can you slacken the mounting bolts in order to slide the radiator to the right so that the bracket will not be touching the hose? Here is what I am suggesting:

It looks wider than 20mm more like 25-30mm but photos can be deceiving. Regardless, I think I would file down the area I have outlined in red to eliminate any contact with top hose or radiator outlet. It seems ridiculous that you should have to do this but I had to shave a good bit off oil filler cap and Cosworth coil cover badge to eliminate contact with the bonnet, so very Caterhamesque

I am inclined to agree about grinding the hanger down but one thing I have noticed is that looking at the two photos, yours and #14, the chassis bracket in #14 is narrower than your chassis bracket and therefore has more clearance with / from the radiator outlet. Here is a photo of the two brackets for comparison