J.R.

Just my two-pennyworth from the discomfort of my world travels. I did not try to sell the car on and off for over 12 months, I put it up once for a very short time (at a high price) to guage interest the result was pretty on par with these postings. Someone (who shall remain nameless) contacted me several months later claiming to be very interested, suffice to say that he was not only just a test pilot he scared me to death with his driving, complete lack of mechanical sympathy and left me with a minced gearbox after a very short drive. Even journalists left in sole charge of these cars have never managed that. From then on no-one else was allowed to drive the car. To Waheys credit he was the first and last bidder and committed to buying the car unseen and turned up promptly with the money in time for me to commence my travels. Several other people viewed the car and/or tried to get me to accept offers and take it off E-Bay which is in breach of the site rules. If I had the time I could certainly have sold it for more (especially judging by the bidding from across the globe in the final morning) but was pleased with the outcome and to sell it to such a genuine enthusiast. If you do put it on E-bay my advice to you is to say to anyone trying to bid "off auction" to Naff off and place a bid and that you will not deal with them otherwise. Given that there were as many people trying to bid off auction as did on line the price would certainly have been higher but hey I am happy enough with the result.

Now for sale on E-bay, listing number 2470549375. Only 2 more weeks before goodbye to the UK!

Now on E-bay listing number 2470549375. Only 2 weeks now before goodbye to the UK! Edited by - J.R. on 29 Mar 2004 12:36:08

Steve, I saw their ad by chance last night and have made contact but thanks very much all the same.

Built by Paul Harvey (prosportif - creator of the Caterham Blackbird) for the Nurburgring 24 hour race but unrun due to rule changes. 15 months old with 2k miles. Road registered taxed and SVA'd. Stunning in Bahama Green with black nose/wings. All usual Blackbird refinements i.e - fuel injected, dry sumped, stack dash, tillets, FIA bar, JPE screen etc etc. Fitted with 60 litre long range tank, 3.14 AP suretrack LSD, carbon dash and SPA mirrors, lightweight aluminium dampers, AO32r super soft Yokos. Reluctant sale (due to moving overseas) at fraction of build cost £19750 ono Tel John (evenings) on 01342 712763 Please no timewasters, test pilots or photo collectors All enquiries via phone please as not near computer most of time, will also be abroad from Tuesday 16th - Sat 27th.

A very quick, well built and maintained car, undoubtedly the best of the fireblades.

Does anyone have one spare or know where I can get one with the minimum of hassle - and expense!

Angus Am sure I have the complete works hidden away somewhere and you are welcome to it, it would be good to see you again. I am off to France myself until Wed 10th so please contact me then if you still need it - I trust you still have my nimber somewhere.

Wanted - 9" brake drum for Ford english axle. Replies via E-mail or 07768 695599. No problem to arrange collection.

I have 2 Caterham Blackbirds, both race spec (i.e no screen, weather gear etc). Both have relatively heavy wheels and tyres (22" A032"r's) There are various differences between the cars that add weight in one area on one car and vice versa. One is 467KG The other is 468 KG Or if you use journalistic/marketing Kilogrammes They are both well under 400KGs *cool*

Peter T. Ignoring your comment not to talk to you about propshafts I think I know where you would recommend "not to go". My question is did you resolve the finacial issues with the company? - I understand that you wont wish to go into detail.

Neil I have a full dash with instruments and a complete wiring loom unused from a 1987 De-dion. The car had only done 600 miles before being stored. I subsequently rebuilt it into a blackbird using bike instrument pod & home made loom. You can contact me evenings on 01342 712763 as will not be back at computer much from now on. Regards JOHN

December 2002 (52 reg). 2k miles, built by Paul Harvey. Bahama green with black grp. Fuel injected + power commander ECU. Usual blackbird spec: Dry sumped, tillets, carbon dash with stack display, JPE aeroscreen, momo wheel. AP suretrack LSAD, A032r's (super soft) on minilites, endurance fuel tank, FIA roll bar & master switch. 20K - NO OFFERS Will be away from computer so no queries via E-mail or on this forum please. Serious enquiries by phone (evenings) to John on 01342 712763 No test pilots or photo collectors please Car can be seen in action on Tuesday at Brands GP circuit at the club track day.

Hi Steve Its John (Silver/Red old Blackbird, - green new one). Feel like an ambulance chaser after seeing Graham Booths reference, havnt had a chance to check up what happened to your car with Andy driving, hope they are both (relatively) OK. As I am in the process of facelifting my early car and we have the same running gear could you please send me the list to jrbird@waitrose.com. Call me if you need any blackbird parts or help. JOHN

Francois Just saw your posting. I have a 1700cc X/Flow supersprint spec engine from my last 7 which had been nicely run in before I upgraded to an all steel engine. It has been mothballed ever since. It is lightened and balanced, has a big valve head that will flow far in excess of the 234 Kent cam fitted, forged pistons, steel rocker gear, duplex chain, VP bearing shells, etc etc etc. Also many ancillaries if required. I will be travelling to Normandy / Somme area in the near future so could deliver. I can be contacted via e-mail on jrbird@waitrose.com or mobile 07768 695599

"In the bike world mileages over 30K are thought to be high"..... Maybe that is because most sports bikes are only used occasionally and dont clock up great mileages. When someone looks to buy say a 4 year old bike and all the ones for sale have less than 10k they may well form the opinion that 30K is high mileage (ie well above average) but it doesnt follow that - "I would think that you need to plan for a rebuild every 10k". There is always lots of "opinions" from people who dont own, drive or maintain BEC's. Surely the absence of qualitative responses such as "mine wore out after 10K" or "when it was refreshed lots of parts were well worn" must tell you something about the reliability. I agree with DanB - every engine I have stripped, inspected and rebuilt (for other than catostrophic failure where it is not really worth the labour) has shown no measurable wear. Please also bear in mind that the bearing shells are selected to match the crankshaft and crancases in grades of two 1/10ths of a thou and the service limits are a fraction of those on a car engine before the crank needs replacing (no regrinds here). In my opinion it is a risky prospect to strip a perfectly good engine for a "refresh" unless done by a skilled (and honest!) professional. When rebuilding such an engine (ie no perceptible wear) it is common to replace the bearing shells as a precaution, the measurements necessary and process of selection for the correct grade of bearing (remember 2/10ths of a thou) is extremely difficult and time consuming. If a mistake is made, or the builder decides "Oh 1/2 a thou will be fine thats much tighter than say a BDA" then the previously perfect engine may go bang in a big way. It only takes a couple of seconds on the track at high revs / oil temps for an incorrectly selected bearing to pick up, seize, and spin in the rod or for the hammering to make the rod oval followed by the above. If the engine is shut down immediately the damage will be confined to the crank and rod (still not economic to rebuild) if the driver pushes on soon the internals will become externals.

In my experience bike engines in 7's etc only exhibit two stages of wear. 1 - No perceptible wear regardless of mileage and will likely go on for many years of the same type of use / maintenance / neglect. 2 - Gone bang in a BIG BIG way!!! It is very easy to spot one in condition 2, it usually will not run, may have a con rod through the side of the block etc, etc. Because of the revs involved if there is a problem with lack of lubrication (although usually it is mega high oil temps that cause problems before lack of oil pressure) it very quickly becomes catastrophic before you even notice the lack of power or hear anything untoward. Ther drivetrain is very strong so long as the person driving understands what is involved and drives it accordingly (like a bike not a shopping car). Novices trying to drive fast before getting to grips with the basics can very quickly trash transmission components, by comparison I know of some engines that have raced for several seasons including two 24 hour races, they have never been rebuilt and are still as fresh as day one. If you are thinking of buying a bike engined car dont get hung up on "how many miles has it done?" (the owner probably has no real way of knowing) instead listen to it, rev it, drive it. If it sounds good it almost certainly will be good.

Make sure you have not got the front calipers reversed so that the bleed nipples are at the bottom.

Will your prop be coming from approximately 1 mile due south down the road? *eek*

Grant I have plenty of these assuming that the stud thread is the same on the Ital axle as the Ford/De-dion which I think is M12 * 1.5 Contact me on 07768 695599

Lucky for him that you will be paying for it Rob

Definitely try new slicks first. On my recent testingsession at Croix En Ternois I was running the Avon control slicks which I bought at the beginning of this season, they have done about 3 races and a few track days and had plenty of wear left in them. Unusually for my car it had push and wouldnt turn in on the high speed corners. I put on a set of 18 month old 1/2 worn Avons of the same compound and it turned in as it used too. Old slicks may be cheaper than road tyres to use on track days but dont expect too much of them. For racing if you want to remain on the pace you must change slicks regularly, if you run them to the end of the tread over say 6 months you notice your lap times steadily increasing while the handling gets worse and you have to fight the car very much. Stick on a new set and go out for a "moderate session" to scrub them in and often the lap times will be better without even trying.

It is one of the many purposes of the rubber to metal bonded bush to allow suspension articulation without metal to metal wear. If you fail to tighten the bolts to the full torque then the metal inner bush will rotate on the bolt and eventually seize wherupon the bolt may turn in the wishbone eyes wearing them oval. Altogether not a good idea.

PR5B Please call me on 07768 695599 I know of your situation and may be able to help.

Felix If you want to automate a canopy door you must fit a canopy convertor "bow arm" mechanism, this will reduce the height under the open door by about 5 or 6". By far the best convertor is the chamberlain one and their operators are quite good. Whichever type you buy you should ask yourself how much are replacement remote controllers (the companys sell the kit cheap and make their money on the extra remotes) and will I be able to buy replacements in the future. As you can probably guess I used to install them before moving on up market! The trade pay about £110 + vat for an operator and around £50 + vat for the canopy convertors. I have 2 unused canopy convertors gathering dust in my garage roof, if you want one its yours for £25 I also still use a lot of radio gear if you need any. My mobile is 07768 695599