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Stephen Long

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Blog Entries posted by Stephen Long

  1. Stephen Long
    Preperations for the 30th International Swiss meeting have been underway for some time now. This started with the Fish and Chip run which a chance to understand what it would be like to drive a Cateham in excess of 500 miles in a day. Mostly we learned it is good to share the driving and it is very easy to become de-hydrated. The Autocom system was very good but being new we found the earphones crushed our heads and so we ended up modyfying them with hand fulls of brute force.
     
    Debbie Stott who organises this event has been very helpful and produced an email list of all the runners and riders for this great adventure. Information and advise has flowed freely. So it is that we have aquired a french motorway tag to ease our passage on the motorways of France. We have purchased our Swiss Vignette and made fablon cut outs for the headlights. Our new friend from Penn sevens (BIO) took a good look at our car and tightended up the odd loose nut !!! and gave me a better understanding of how the car is put together and what the various parts doo. I feel very confident in his understanding of my car but I am still not confident in my own. We gleaned information from Chitchat and the AA website that suggest we need to put two high vis vests in the car and carry a warning triangle (all behind drivers seat, not in the boot).
     
    Last week I had a run out to some friends in Essex and on my way home I detected a rattle, on closer inspection this turned out to be a broken jubilee used to secure the heatsheild on the cat. Being a non mechnic I was filled with pride having purchased two clips from CC, removed both the old ones and replaced with new parts.
     
    So apart from constantly checking fluid levels and filling her up with fuel and few essentials I just can't think that there is much else to doo. Oh apart from packing my AA card. Very much looking foward to this adventure.
  2. Stephen Long

    Afew weeks on

    By Stephen Long,

    It has been a couple of weeks since we collected scarlett and we have been very busy since then.
    we had a big party to go to and we took the car, we have a lot to learn about luggage. This weekend we visited Penn 7's ang and a nice lunch and a chat.
     
    Things we have learned since taking ownership.
     
    We NEED, a half hood, new tyres, a change of brakes, an E bag, etc etc etc.
     
    We must stop washing and polishing the car or we will be in trouble.
     
    So far it's been a blast, and the more miles we get under our belts the more we understand the car. We are having the time of our lives.
     
  3. Stephen Long

    One week on

    By Stephen Long,

    This time last week we had one sleep before we collected our car, we are now one week on and what fun it has been. Last night Helen was out so I spent the evening taking off the bonnet and removing the nose cone so that I could get a good look at "Scarlet". I was able to check the fluids and wipe it round with a bit of rag, very satisfying and about as much as a non mechanical monkey like me can manage. I am after all a polisher not a spanner man, i dream of having one of those big red painted cabinets full of tools to make the garage feel like a garage though. So this weekend Helen and I are away for our 30th wedding aniversary and this willl involve luggage. As its a posh do some of our luggage is being taken to the venue by a kind neighbour. So a great weekend to come.
     
  4. Stephen Long

    Three sleeps

    By Stephen Long,

    I finished the extension to the drive this evening, it has been very hard work but it just had to be finished for the weekend. It is only three sleeps before we get our car. It has been a long time since I have been soooooo excited.
  5. Stephen Long

    Test drive

    By Stephen Long,

    I have just managed to get a video up. It has to be said, with the help of my wife, who has a nack with these things. the video was a last minute thing as I was taking the car back from the test drive. After this I handed over a deposit. I am very excited. It is nearly too much for me.
  7. Stephen Long

    its been a while

    By Stephen Long,

    I haven't been here for some time but hey I've been busy. Scarlett was treated by my wonderful wife to a caterham high level brake kit for Christmas. What a fantastic surprise that was. I spent the day after boxing day fitting it. I found drilling three holes on the back panel of my car stressful to say the least but what a nice job in the end. I was also told a new  FIA roll bar is on order. The brake light kit came without any instructions and my friend Nick sent me a pdf of the build manual which contains the fitting instructions. So next stop roll bar. Bring on summer. 
  8. Stephen Long
    It is amazing to me that I have had my Scarlet for a year and what a year it has been. After all the fun of the past twelve months it was time to get down to some maintenance. The first big service happens after 4 years and there is a lot to do. As I have no real idea when it comes to cars I decided to enlist the services of my brother-in-law who luckily enough is an excellent Saab technical wizard. I turned up at the garage on Saturday morning bright and early with my a boot full of parts and fluids and a service manual with a complete list of the jobs we needed to get through.
     
    I was surprised how long the whole job took to complete and delighted with the job that was made of the allen key modified by Graham so that he could get the gearbox filler plug out. The same tool works well for the diff.
     
    So Scarlet has a clean bill of health and is ready to run for another 12 months. It was great to be able to see the whole job done from start to finish it gives me real piece of mind.
     
    Just got to give Scarlet another wash and polish and then Helen and I are off the Hampshire for our 31 wedding anniversary.
  9. Stephen Long

    Got out today !

    By Stephen Long,

    It has been a while since I was able to drive the car, we have had so much salt put down due to cold weather, however the last week has seen tons of rain and I decided that it had been enough to clear the salt way. Helen was away last night so that means I don't get a very good sleep( I miss her) but it does mean I can get up early and that's what I did today. With the promise of a dry morning I got up and headed for the garage. Over the Christmas period I knocked the rear number plate of the car and that had to re attached before I could set out. I had prepared the plate and the bracket before hand so two new double sided tape panels and the job was done. First off to the petrol station to load up with fuel and then I set out with no route in mind. I drove for some time before I turned off onto the road from Codicote to Hitchin. I had a wonderful drive out to Hitchin mind you the roads are very greasy and I had to take great care over braking and applying the loud pedal. Still it was a fab half and hour or so. Then it started to look a bit more like rain than I was expecting and I decided to make a run for home, I was surprised how dry the car was when I got back, I gave it a quick leather checked the fluids and put the hood up to give it a streach. I purchased a CTech battery conditioner after losing a battery before Christmas and this has taken the worry out of having a flat battery. so that got connected. Now I have to wait for the exhaust to cool down and then the cover can go on ready for next time. Roll on spring.
  10. Stephen Long

    Scarletts first MOT

    By Stephen Long,

    Well she is booked in and having her first MOT friday afternoon. I have chosen an nice little garage in Letchworth, not too far from home. I have no reason to worry about it, but for some how I am.
     
  11. Stephen Long
    Gosh............ Summer has gone and I am shocked at how long it is since I last posted a blog. As Toby pointed out I have said nothing about my trip to Switzerland. This would be due to the fact that we were absolutely shattered when we returned and had to get straight back into work. Switzerland was predictably fantastic a combination of fabulous roads, people, scenery, food, entertainment and adventure. To top it off the weather was just sweltering some 30 degrees everyday it seemed to us. We did make the odd mistake with this trip the main one being driving all the way to Freddys garage from Welwyn Garden City in one day and returning the same way. But then we had no more time to take off work so we had no choice. We shared the driving which made it a little easier but it was still very hard work. I was very worried about the car before I left as I had not had it long and I was expecting things to fall off it along the way. It is with delight I report notihng did fall off and the car was very comfortable to drive, only the heat in the footwell was bit of a problem. I can see it must be hell in the more powerful cars if it was that bad in a 125 Sigma. So that was the Swiss trip.
     
    Since then we have been to a few wonderful club meetings in Herts and Penn, we visited the Klopp Hill climb and saw some truly glorious old cars on what turned out to be the coldest day I can remember. Then there was the Graham Nearn Memorial Blat. I took an old school friend Andrew with me for that as Ian didn't have enough bownie points. We elected to go with Penn sevens from Caterham Midlands. This involved driving from WGC to Hemel Hempstead, to collect Carl then onto Milton Keynes to collect Markiebabes and a few more cars then off the Caterham midlands to the start of the event! This turned out to be a wonderful day culminating in a well earned hog roast and that iconic photo.
     
    Last month we ended up in a village hall to watch a series of rally films and spend some time in the company of Fred Gallagher, for a rally fan like me this was awesome and the food, well let me tell you we started off with tea and bickies in the morniing, moved on to lunch of curry and rice followed by Plum crumble with cream and custard. Then Afternoon tea with a choice of homemade cakes. The only fly in the ointment was not having the roof on the car and discovering it had peed down with rain. More of a problem in a roadsport with cloth seats than some other cars. It was after this that I had trouble starting the car. Inevitably the battery was at fault and I made an enquiry on blatchat as to where to get a new banner battery. During the course of various postings up comes Stationary traveller with the offer of his old battery and while he is at it he is coming past WGC and he could meet me on route and drop it off to me. When I joined the Lotus seven club I had no idea how generous and kind and friendly club members would be. When I read things on blatcaht about people leaving as they are pissed of with blatchat I wonder if they have missed something. The said battery is in my car and running a treat. Contribution on its way to Nuke the Luke. Thank you Stationary Traveller.
     
     
    So we get round to the L2B sausage run this month. This is one of those events I have read about and put on my list to do. So it was little chilly and the sausage was a tad over done but it was all in a good cause and as usual a memorable day out. The weather was very kind to us and we made it home in time to watch the penultimate Grand Prix. Which reminds me last one today.
     
    I have been out for the odd blast to Waitrose for Mrs Long and next comes my first MOT at the end of the month..Roll on Summer.
     
  12. Stephen Long
    Today we managed to clock up another 75 miles. Helen and I set off this morning to find a nice pub for a sit down and a cup of coffee. We drove to the three tuns in ashwell which is the pub Herts are using for the monthly Sunday run. It's a nice run for us and it was good to see the place. It has a good car park, a nice back garden and as soon as we can get to a meeting I am sure it will be fun.
     
    Our next big run will be for fish and chips, boy am I looking forward to that. One thing I have learned today is I should wear a hat as my head got cold and this gave me a bit of headache. A couple of jobs have come up on the car, I need to fit some new sponge strip on the scuttle and nose cone to stop the rattle from the bonnet and a new dzus clip on the nose cone as one of them is suspect. I am feeling a lot more confident with the cars handling, I have found losening my grip on the steering has helped and keeping all inputs nice and smooth makes for a very pleasent drving experience.
    oh well, back to work Tuesday.
  13. Stephen Long

    New Shoes

    By Stephen Long,

    Well I took the advice of many who know better than me and purchased a pair of Puma Future cats. I found my old training shoes so big in the footwell of the 7. Five days to go.........I hope I have a lot of work to do this week. I started the drive widening project and made excellent progress in good but very cold weather yesterday. Today I need a skip to remove excess soil.
  14. Stephen Long
    It's a week tomorrow when we go down to collect car and frankly I am going nuts. I have waited 5 years for it and the nearer it gets the more the excitement builds. I have been trying not to think about it. The only thing I can do is put all my effort into widening the driveway.
     
    Oh I feel a little better now.
  15. Stephen Long
    So, I finished reading my Valetines present last night. Great book. Full of facts. I hope to understand the models better and was fascinated to read about how the car has developed.
     
    And Three weeks to go before we collect our Car... time is going very slowly. I may go out to the garage and sweep the floor again !
  17. Stephen Long

    Autocom

    By Stephen Long,

    Ohh.......... picked up an Autocom system today so we can talk to each other on long journeys and listen to music and answer the phone. Been like a small boy messing about with the system this evening. Can't want to try it out in the car. Not making time go any quicker, oh well !
  18. Stephen Long

    DVLA

    By Stephen Long,

    Today I visited my local DVLA office to tax the Caterham apply for a new V5 and transfer my reg number and guess what happened? It went very well, in fact it was easy and the staff very helpful.
  19. Stephen Long

    5 weeks to go

    By Stephen Long,

    So with luck 5 weeks from today Helen and I will travel to Millwood to collect Scarlett (as she is now called) I am getting too excited by far. Just like when I was a child waiting for Christmas. I seam to spend all my time looking at the photo's we took during our visit last week.
     
    I have just received the insurance cover note, so I hope to be able to tax the car on Monday sort out the V5 form and change the regisrtration number. We will see.
     
  20. Stephen Long
    Last Saturday I took Helen down to Millwood to see our new car (new to us) I had test driven the car before Christmas on my own and handed over a deposit, but as Helen had only seen pictures of the car I was feeling a little nervous to say the least. I need not have worried the car looked better than I had remembered and Helen was very excited and pleased with my choice. So now I have to get insurance organised so that I can get the car taxed and have my number transfered. So lots to do to while away the time until we go to collect the car next month. I can say as many have before what a nice man john at Millwood is. We also met Eric ( I hope I got his name rght) the mechanic who seems to have a good understanding of the demands of your average Seven owner.
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