David Mirylees

Dorset Area April Meeting AR Rumblings: Hi everyone, I hope you've been managing to avoid the April showers and have a bit of fun in your 7s. It was good to see a well attended club night this month and many thanks to Ian for the incentive to get to the pub (Blue rolls for everyone!). I also look forward to seeing Ben's 7 back on the road now that his head light issue is resolved 😃 The action in Formula 1 is more exciting off the track than on it and I see that Adrian Newey is reported to leave Red Bull soon. Let's hope it improves the racing more than the last set of rule changes did! All the best Richard Out & About: 310324 - Mirylees The Rainbow Garage Cafe's Carpark No other takers for an early morning trundle through the Dorset countryside on empty roads but maybe it was due to the particularly early morning start as the clocks had gone forward during the night and an hour's sleep was effectively lost! It was our first venture to this venue for about 4 years as the cafe has had a few different incumbents - some with little success - but it was getting good reviews on the dreaded FB. Very quiet when we arrived at around 0845 but the service was good and welcoming. Unfortunately the decor for some reason meant that it wasn't a terribly comfortable place to relax in - may of course just be us! The food looks good - menu shown below. Major downside for us was having to park in the rather unkempt parking area behind the cafe whereas on previous visits the Lotus was welcomed in the front. Good news though is that the place opens at 0830 Wednesday to Sunday. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Out & About: 010424 - Phil: It was the first of April and these images appeared on-line 🙂 Dave Lale, his daughter Fearn and I had great day out at the Haynes Museum with some fantastic traffic free roads. Fearn seemed to enjoy the drive shouting "faster!" and she loved the red room, spotting the Caterham as well 😁 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Out & About: Sturminster Newton Classic Car Show - 6th April This event is a regular one on the calendar, being held on the 1st Saturday of every month. Normally held during the winter months in a car park in the centre of the town, this one was probably the last to be held at the car park before moving to it's regular summer venue on the recreation ground. No 7's present but regardless, here are some of the vehicles in attendance to give you an idea of what to expect if you ever venture this way By the way, a great bonus apart from viewing the selection of machinery, is that there are a fair number of excellent cafe's on 'the doorstep' to take advantage of. 👍 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Out & About: 140424 - Phil: 4 to 5 hour blat around Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire. Stopped off at Wilton House for a quick photo, an Italian guy came over asking lots of questions and admiring the car, so I had to invite him to sit in it and take lots of photos with his phone. ☺️ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dorset Area Meeting - 160424 OK, so the weather radar was wrong for a change and initially the promised dry evening began with a little bit of hail! Never mind, it didn't stop five hardy souls from enjoying their Sevens getting to and from the Red Lion. Unfortunately Phil arrived on his motorcycle as his series 2 Lotus is still off the road (just waiting for a new clamshell wing to complete the repairs). Justin, on his way to the meeting from his home in Yeovil, managed to get as far as the Shell garage in Dorchester where his K series Caterham then refused to start and yes, it was the starter motor solenoid. Sadly no amount of bashing the unit would free it and the RAC were called and eventually at 2230 the car fired into life after a bump start and Justin made it home safely. Plenty of banter throughout the evening with the ten owners until darkness set in and a little bit of 'tyre kicking' ensued in the car park whilst everyone made the most of Ian's kind offer of free 'blue rolls' and filled their cars with the goodies. Thank you Ian, they will come in very useful!! Blue Rolls donated by Ian Banter, drinks and food Chris's 420R Robin's Series 2 Mirylees' Series 3 Colin's 160 Nick's R500 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Out & About: 200424 - Somerset group on the Isle of Wight Blat. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 200424 - Five zero's for it's Lotus day event: Ray and Rachel plus Helen, visited the 5 zero's for it's Lotus day (Pics by Ray & Helen) Five Zeros Supercars, Kingston Farm, Holt Road, Bradford on Avon BA15 1TS Link Here ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 210424 - Olly Olly's immaculate Caterham was on display at the Swanage Carnival Car Show. Just back from the Swanage motor show. Over 100 Cars had pre registered for the event. The car of the show voted for by the visitors was the green 911. Lots of cars I've seen before & a couple making a first appearance. Olly's Grandson taking over the Caterham ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 210424 - National Drive It Day: Heading to the Rainbow Garage Cafe bearing gifts (I know, captions on a postcard to...............☺️) Five Sevens assembled at the Rainbow Garage Cafe for an early breakfast where the owners (Bill and Emma Jane, Charles, Rhett and Richard plus the Mirylees') discussed too many 7 subjects and others to remember - just the way it should be! (although Richard's proposed head restraint may well be worth a look if it comes to fruition!). Obviously the cafe was impressed with the array of 7's in their car park as the cafe bods were spotted taking pictures. Parking in the future may improve as, with prior warning, they may well allow us to park in the front of the cafe. (Kudos to Emma Jane for that) After the breakfast appetites were whetted four 7's (Rhett decided to drive via Weymouth) ran in convoy through Dorchester, then along the Coombe Road to Portisham, then along the coast road to Swyre where we enjoyed the beverages on offer at the Egg Cup Tea Rooms - A great find by Rhett which will get much use in the future - excellent service, plenty of room (inside and out) and plenty of parking. A super day out with great company! Rhett pictured this line up at the Egg Cup Tea, Coffee and cake at the Egg Cup Tea Rooms 👍 Mirylees' totally original series 3 😂 Richard's very much modified Bike engined Caterham Charles' always immaculate Caterham Bill & Emma Jane's Caterham 270S Rhett's very modified Caterham Charles captured the 7's with Rhett's sole Alloy panel gleaming! Rhett's image of the cars lined up at the Hitching rail! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 210424 - Robin: Above Abbotsbury looking towards Portland Coast road towards Golden cap, Lyme and beyond Cracking views and quieter in evening, fantastic bluebells and more on verges of lanes 👍 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Event: June 22nd - Solent 7's Buckler's Hard 7 Event: 🙂 A really great event, this year organised by the Solent 7's. Plenty of food and drinks available in the pub or the cafe. Details below: Good morning everyone. Solent 7s invite you to a day out at Bucklers Hard on the 22nd June 2024 positioned on the Beaulieu River in the beautiful New Forest, a chance to drive through the forest, park up and display your 7, catch up with or meet new friends, have a picnic or dine at the pub, enjoy some New Forest ice cream, take a walk or a river cruise and take in the history in the museum inside the cottages. Rally event ticket including Museum entry Adult (17 & over) £8.50 Child up to 16 £4.50 Under 5s for FREE Postage £1 To Pay email lee@bluefunnel.co uk Thanks, Lee Optional on the day River Cruise special offer, normally £7.50 now £4.25, just mention Caterham Cars when you pay to board. No booking required. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Local Car Show: Not tried this one but it may be of interest. ❓ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another Local Breakfast Meeting: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another New Event: The Lotus Cortina: No 7 content (well apart from perhaps the 'A'frame) but a fair insight into how things progressed within Lotus at the time of bringing the Lotus Cortina into the world. Words by Hugh Haskell who was the engineer in charge of the project. (from an article in Thoroughbred & Classic Cars 1991) PDF file: Cortina-Hot-Seat2.pdf (If the link doesn't work I can email the file upon request) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caterham & Lotus 7 Club Ever thought of becoming a member of the club? Well this might entice you, the club gives it's members discounts on a wealth of things from a large variety of participating companies. Many owners join the club solely (at first) to obtain the discounts on insurance which in many cases pays for the membership fee in one fell swoop. Here is a list of the companies to whet your appetite. You will need your membership number to claim any discounts. Companies Discounts2024.pdf Upcoming Events: May/June (Always check the web pages to confirm events) Car Related Events: May 12th Lulworth Castle Classic Cars Info 18th-19th 3 Oakefords Rally Info 21st Dorset Monthly Meeting @ The Red Lion Info 25th Club Lotus Track Day - Castle Combe Info 26th Wilton-Best of the Best- Supercars+RaceforMen Info Non-Car Related Events: 27th Sherborne Castle Country Fair Info 30th-1st Bath & West Show Info ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Car Related Events: June 1st-2nd National Kit Car Show, Stoneleigh Info 8-9th West Dorset Vintage and Steam Rally. West Bay Info 9th DATE CHANGE! Oily Rag, Weymouth Info 9th Ilminster Classic Vehicle Show Info 18th Dorset Monthly Meeting @ The Red Lion Info 22nd Bucklers Hard 7 Meeting (Solent 7's) Info 22-23rd Thruxton Historic Racing Info 22nd Lotus Drivers Club. Fish 'n Chips Weymouth Info Non-Car Related Events: 1st Bath & West Show - Shepton Mallet Info Recurring Monthly Car Events: (Always CHECK on-line) When: Where: Info: 1st Sat. Classic Car meet - Sturminster Newton Info 1st Sun. Haynes Breakfast Club - Haynes Motor Museum Info 1st Sun. The Oily Rag car meet - Weymouth Football Club Info Variable: Wilton House Wake Up - Salisbury (Summer months) Info Local Area Meeting: A very casual event from ~ 7:30pm - 10:30pm with non Lotus 7 club members always welcome. Date: 3rd Tuesday of every month Location: The Red Lion, Winfrith Venue Link: Link 3 words location link: Link Links: Lotus Seven Club: Lotus Seven Club-Home Page Blat Chat: Lotus Seven Club-Forums L7C Dorset Area: Lotus Seven Club-Dorset Area Page Face Book Page Lotus Seven Club Face Book Page Caterham Club FB Caterham Car Club Face Book Page C&L7OG FB Page Caterham & Lotus 7 Owners Group Newsletter Content Send to: Dorset & Wessex 7s Newsletter Newsletter Archive Newsletter Archive Dorset & Wessex Area Representative: Richard Skeets 07961 299 970 email: Dorset Area Adjoining Area's: Nick Westbrook 07711 640 105 email: West Hants Area Nick Hillman 07719 775 711 email: Somerset Area W/Ap Somerset

Appreciate that you don't need one - I didn't when I did mine but as someone mentioned this particular tool I assumed that it would be helpful information.

The Halfords ball joint separator currently (April 2024) is £40.99 I purchased the same thing ten years ago for £11.99 and today doing an ebay search "Ball Joint Separator Splitter 20-50mm" results in a great number of these splitters from £12.99 Just as an aside: Having used this unit on many top ball joints and TR ends very successfully, I found years ago that by reversing the pivot point the tool can be used to push back caliper pistons on single piston brakes (in my case Volvo 940). david

Ah, thanks Stu, that does make sense! I haven't looked at the switches yet, I was just deciding if I could use some different switch units and was investigating before creating a disaster (old man with old car...) :-)

Just looking at the post 1987 wiring diagram - in particular the rocker switches - and am at a loss to understand what the highlighted 'termination' means? Can anybody shed some light on it please? Many thanks david

I couldn't immediately see the model of Protex over-centre lockable latch (they are appx. 40 years old!) but a search on Google and a look at the images threw up a number of possibilities and these looked about right but I didn't see any size mentioned. https://www.demon-tweeks.com/grayston-over-centre-panel-clips-243649/?sku=GRYGE65&istCompanyId=a2904180-3a7d-4e56-b876-cf81c9512180&istFeedId=6fbc4b04-fd28-4ce1-8513-835c8f118690&istItemId=wptwlxamr&istBid=t&gclid=Cj0KCQjwusunBhCYARIsAFBsUP8h-r-PJfgpiRt9QRwgq9PYZiIznBAEt12Zrlq_F6ck1FfDX_7Owl0aAnGmEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds david

I have been using the lockable over-centre latches on my S3 since the early 80's. They don't come undone so playtime can be enjoyed without worry. (I went through many adventures particularly with the rear latches become undone). I obtained my latches from a company called Protex - I assume they still exist as they were/are a large supplier to the engineering industry. They also fit the original mounting holes (well, at least mine did!) I just use 'R' pins to secure them. David

I have a long time friend and owner of a Caterham who has been running Evans waterless coolant for the last four or five years with no problems. David

Cheers ECR, Someone else had a 1991 rad but with the number S7358 but probably the same unit. I think it was called a 'High Capacity' radiator which would make sense. Thank you all for your help. david

Thank you chaps. General consensus is that it is indeed a CovRad item, The redacted sticker on the underside is almost unreadable (as obviously intended!) but I can just make out the part number "ACE 5...." Further investigation now to update my listings David

Can anyone help me with information on where the radiator was sourced from in a 1988 Seven? Cheers, David

I have heard from Derek Howlett (Caterham Tech) "When we built these cars the standard spring rates were 105 Ibs front and 75 Ibs rear, we did do an upgrade which I have been informed was a better set up and that is 240 Ibs front 96 Ibs rear" That makes sense to me as Mick at Redline sold me the (probably!) upgraded fronts in 1993 which would explain my running an 8 coil front spring! It also makes sense that Redline are supplying 104 lbs rears which look pretty close. Cheers, David

Stephen - Good idea, sometimes the obvious is easily overlooked

I have pretty much the same problem and am scratching everything trying to ensure I buy the correct springs. My chassis is a 1988 with everything bog-standard (eg. small anti-roll bar and cruciform top link) I need to replace the springs front and rear due to high mileage and wear but can't find the info on the rates anywhere (except maybe here!!) My car is a live axled (Ford) short cockpit and is a crossflow. Any further info to the above would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Spoke to Burton today and they reckon that: As they don't have such an item for the Zetec, then they don't believe that one is required. TBH there are no gaps - at least when using the Raceline sump. dsm