pete east

Robert, Prs, and GJT thank you once again for your replies, they are much appreciated. After working through quite a bit of the postings on tyres, it would seem that for my set of Seven circumstances, Toyos would probably be the best option, plus theres is a Toyo tyres dealer just a few miles up the road from me! 😬 Thank you all once again for your valued comments.

Johnty, Cagey, GJT thanks you for your advice. I think I will probably end up going to George Polley`s, I guess the tyres for my car might be a bit more expensive because they are a bit bigger, I was kind of hoping for something around £60 - £70 a corner because my Seven is not exactly a road burner. As posted before what I hope to avoid is getting a suit of new boots for the Seven only to find they are not all that clever, in the handling, ride, grip departments! so your comments are much appreciated.

Thanks for all your replies, even the ones which were the `Ill get my coat type! 😬 I have since been talking to several tyre dealers, and they have recommended a tyre called the Yokohama 195/55/15 C Drive. saying that the slightly higher profile, tends to give a better ride on lightweight cars because the side walls have got a little more `give' in them. Has anyone here used them, or know anything about them? the problem I guess is that I dont what get a set of tyres that then turn out be pretty awful for the Seven. That said, as mentioned by Cagey anything should be better than the Goodyear Eagles I have now!

Now Guys Dont get upset , just because you dont know the answer! 😬

Regarding tyres for Sevens, it would seem there is no consensus as to which tyre type is best for a road use Seven. As posted before my car is currently on 195/50 Goodyears on prisoner rims, Has anyone bought tyres for this wheel type lately, and if so were what you got any good? I am mainly interested in dry grip, as i dont use th seven in the wet very much. As usual any advice/help would be appreciated.

I want to change the tyres on my Prisoner wheels, and if anything would like a tyre type with a slightly higher profile, to give a bit better ground clearance than the goodyear Eagles currently on the car. Anyone in the southeast done this exercise lately? if so I would be greatful if you could give me some advice, on what tyres you got, where you got them. and if where possible where the best deal on the tyres can be had. Regards Pete.

Eugene...Regarding the speed of the stone, I couldnt possibly say what speeds I `might' have been travelling at! 😬 You are spot on regarding closing off areas and creating sealed boxed areas not being a good idea, keeping areas open and able to `breathe' is definately the best way forward. I use a thin plastic tube taped into the pipe on the vacuum cleaner, to suck out the crud which can build up on the chassis rail, between the footwells, and outer side skin of the body, then give the general area a shot of waxoil. one thing that seems to work reaonably is take a small length of the neoprene wing seal strip, and araldite it to the side skin just ahead of the grot traps, this seems to keep most of the crud out, but still leaves the area visible, and accessible.

As I dont use my car in wet weather, so the chassis is in good general condition, but I can assure you that some of the tubes ARE thin enough to be punctured by a stone. How do I know this? because I had to dig a stone out of one of the circular chassis tubes, where it deeply embedded itself in the tube. No rust whatsoever on the tube in question, just bright metal around the hole left in the tube. which I then had to weld up. Checking for rust means generally means checking that the powder coating is sound, Some of it can `look' Ok but give it a tap, and large sections can be found to be loose, and just falls off. Where this happens I just sand back the rust, and give the section a coat of Hammerite which seems to last OK. Like I said before I have seen a number of sevens which looked great from the top immaculate even, but were a corroded mess underneath.

Arch chassis frames are extremely well made (in some respects a work of art,) but a seven is not made or protected from corossion in the same way as a mass produced tin top. They last well, especially when not used regularly on wet / icy / salted roads. (and for those that do use them this way, its worth cleaning and drying them off after every run) but bear in mind that some of the tubes are very thin walled (such that they can even be punctured by a stone) so regular checking for rust is quite important, especially where the car is used in wet / winter conditions. As posted several times before I have seen sevens which looked immaculate from the top, but a corroded mess, when viewed from underneath. As those people who bought series 4 Lotus sevens (thinking they were like a sprite/midget/spitfire etc type sportscar), found out to their cost, sevens are not like mass produced cars, and are normally owned by people who expect to get their hands dirty looking after them, every now and then.

Like I said. a small dose of WD the day before I wanted to take the bolts out, and every single one comes out smoothly and easily, no problem, and no constant replacing of gaskets.

I use cap head bolts for the exhaust manifold/s on my crossflow, and it `may' be that when they are hot, they increase in length slightly, allowing exhaust gas to creep past the gaskets. Since I started tightening them a second time when hot, (after fitting new manifold gaskets), I have not had to replace manifold gaskets at all, except when taking the engine out, or cylinder head off, and my gaskets are the standard CC items, not the expensive copper type. Be interesting if people did check their manifold bolts, when the engine is hot, a bolt that simply could not be tightened any more without destroying it, when the engine is cold, will usually give a half to two turns more when it is hot. Taking them off does`nt seem to be a problem either, I just give them a dose of WD a day or so before I take them out, and they turn out easily..

Ps Although expensive the copper gaskets sold by 7 workshop are a good idea, because copper expands faster than steel, when heated, this will have the effect of increasing the pressure of the gasket against the mating surfaces of the head and manifold, but ie would still advocate re tighteneing the manifold bolts once the engine is hot, because replacing the copper gaskets every few thousand miles would be a bit expensive.

The trick is to tighten the manifold bolts a second time, after new manifold gaskets have been fitted, but when the engine is HOT. My gaskets used to let go after a just a few thousand miles, until I started doing the above, What is surprising is that you can get the bolts as tight as you like, when the engine is cold, but run the engine until it is hot, and then you will find that you can easily get several more turns out of them when the engine is at working temp. If the bolts are not tightened in this way, exhaust gas can start to get past the gaskets when the engine is hot, and once that happens, they are stuffed.

When fitting my new alternator, i checked the ACR Europlug as I had a wiring problem, which turned out to be inside the plug itself. It appears that the heat from the leading header pipe had not only cooked the back of the old alternator, but had also cooked the wires leading to it (the insulation on the wires just crumbled apart) The plug in question is a Durite product, and is known as an ACR Europlug (part number 54960402) I am going to make up a new plug with new wire tails, and connect these into the loom, away from the rear of the alternator. Caterham do not do these as the looms are made up by another company who will not sell the parts to individuals. I Just thought I would pass this on to any one else who might have similar problems with their alternator / connections etc.

Hi Andy - The company is Jayar car parts, who I believe have branches in Kent and Essex. Got my alternator from the Colchester branch for around £22. 40 + VAT, (about £27-30 in all) exchange. Went on without a problem, but I have a problem with a wire break in the lead (exciter wire) leading to the ignition warning light. The problem is the wires get pretty well cooked by the lead exhaust header, and I wouldnt be surprised if the insulation hadnt hardened and broken somewhere near the alternator. Wont have time to check it until saturday. I asked if they (Jayar) minded if lots of Seven people came in looking for alternators, at £22-00 They said no, the more the merrier! Hope this is of some help.