David Mirylees

...and there's always the option of wrapping. A local owner now has an academy car which is wrapped in white and it's pretty well perfect - including the louvres. (A full wrap would probably cost circa £800)

I know the owner who has done this (on the FB site). This is what he did: "Removing Paint from Caterham: Note that what was done was done mainly through 'gut-feel' from years of experience in Aerospace which stood the owner in pretty good stead. Paint stripper, but beware some of the ‘modern healthy’ options are more like polish than paint strippers. In the end used Nitromoors. A cheap flat wooden spoon was purchased then the end shaped to be like a broad wooden chisel enough to get under the paint but being wooden was much less likely to damage the aluminium. Then plenty of time to do the job carefully and thoroughly. Also made sure there were good covers/troughs under where working to catch anything that fell and the water used to rinse of the paint stripper. Then hand rubbed down the aluminium starting with, probably, 180/240 grit. (Obviously anything rough will produce deep scratches in the ally). Worked up through the grades to something ridiculously fine. The last ones being on a rotary polisher – trizact was brand name of the polishing pads – and probably used small amount of WD40/silicone spray to lubricate and prevent heating the ally up too much.. After that, went through the Nuvite grades (G6, C, S) with a polisher. Found that mechanical polishing of the bonnet produces some bounce and thus struggled to get the result I wanted with machines. Eventually made up a buck for the bonnet so polishing could be completed off car. For the other panels placed microfibre cloth onto orbital sander (not rotary!!) for polishing Nuvite. Nowadays it’s all by hand. Best not to go circular with hand polishing." Hope this helps.

A local (Dorset) owner was recently asking for a short-cockpit standard roll bar. PM me when you wish to part with it pls.

Great news! You will be pleased .

You're welcome! Their 1st batches also sold very quickly. Good idea well executed.

These work well and look really good. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Caterham-Mirrors-Aero-Race-Pair-Matt-Black-billet-aluminium-immediate-dispatch-/272002904811?fits=Car+Make%3ACaterham&hash=item3f54a2f2eb:g:C44AAOSwMmBVuIR7 Not fitted them to my old car but a couple of locals have. Just by the bye, as all the interior 'barnacle' mirrors I have used have proven useless, I simply modified one to clip over the top of the windscreen - works well and is easily removed.

Well, I am amazed that no-one has come forward on this one and that such a comment is made without having any apparent knowledge of the person involved. The owner of the Seven, Barry Sweeney, is a lovely guy that put pretty much all of his time and a mass of effort to get the original club website up, running and maintained (you remember the one that a great percentage of you said you wanted back) with no financial reward. Circumstances dictated that Barry wasn't in a position to keep the car running as he would have liked and it has unfortunately fallen into the condition that you now see. I'm pretty certain that anyone else would have sold the car years ago but Barry is a real Seven enthusiast and obviously couldn't bear to see it go. I know just how enthusiastic he is because way back in the formative years of this club, Barry drove hundreds of miles just to come and see me for a chat which was just one of the reasons that I asked him later to take over the club's accounts. I really hope that the car gets sorted and that Barry will be able to return to the life and enjoyment that the car really gave him before things changed for him. He could do with your support - not this sort of post.

If you go for the MG Midget unit, the early cars had a chromed lever .

I fitted an MG Midget handbrake to the passenger side of the tunnel. Just needed a small sheet of alloy the same pattern as the brake mount on the inside of the tunnel to reinforce it. It's been there since the early 80's and works well (cribbed from Robbie Philpott who used to autotest his Seven very succesfully).

Probably already been answered but if I comment/answer a thread I cannot go back and read it as it gets 'removed' from view. I can see any threads that I have answered only if I log out. Perhaps there's a setting that I have missed? I am using Opera.

Spoke to a friend who has a couple of BGH's fitted to his cars and he mentioned that the rattles that he had were due to the nylon bush at the root of the gearlever being worn. He sourced a Bronze replacement on-line which cured the problem (4 times the price but worth it). May be useful info anyway...

£22K for a real Lotus (type 60) with a twink (£8-10K). Elans and Europas fetching £30k+ Not really bad - IF you like series 4s. They're also a very nice car to drive - did my first Swiss trip in 1970 in an S4. Most of the series 4s went (eventually) to Switzerland (and Japan). Personal choices.

Thanks for the info Doug. Jonathan, I have had speakers in my 7 since about 1969 when the first radio/cassette players for cars came out and really appreciate being able to point the car at the sun and relax with gentle sounds for driver and passenger or turn up the volume for the occasional party :-) I do also nowadays have the Starcom so that I can converse with my passenger and listen to MP3 music when needed...

Always had a radio/stereo fitted in my 7. It's mounted up under the dash between the Steering wheel and the side scuttle. Speakers are appx. 5" diameter mounted into the side panels either side just over thigh level. (Mine's an old std cockpit car without the honeycomb filled panels. Yes, it's audible and I like driving with music. Have to be careful to remember to lower the volume when reaching built up areas as on the occasions when I have forgotten and then switched off the engine, I am very conscious at just how loud it has been!! Doug, your dash speakers look really neat, what are they?

Just by the bye, checked my Silver top Dunnell wiring for the water thermostat. Although the plug type take off on top of the thermostat has the plug fitted, the cable is short and not connected to anything. The only connection from the thermostat to the loom is the single wire that is attached to the underside of the thermostat the exhaust manifold side. My set-up maybe '2D' as the loom only 'sees' the TPS, Crank posn and the coil pack.

I'll have a look on Sunday and see what set-up I have. In the meantime, why not give James Whiting a call as he did the Dunnell Zetecs - inc mine.

Short of taking the trunnion off, maybe pumping the oil in may force the grease out? Never had to try it but I suppose it depends upon the viscosity of the grease v oil. Should be quickly apparent after a stroke or two. ...and apologies the manuals state EP90 (not 80)

Lotus manual and Triumph manuals state EP90 to be used.

"Then the bit I'm most concerned about, fitting the wheel holding bolt, sleeve assembly." Early cars didn't have the central fixing for the spare wheel, the wheel was/is secured with a strap. (The strap also retains the luggage carrier if used) The wire passing through a stud hole is a lock.

I use one of these: It's available from http://www.stephenslube.co.uk/wanner_lubrication.asp and it's model number 31963. Used it for a good few years now and it's really easy - just keep pushing aginst the nipple.

You're quite right, identical as per the Europa. The two UK Europa specialists may be able to help you, particularly Richard Winter at Banks. (possibly with original pressed steel parts as the 'upgrade' path is usually to the tubular versions...) http://www.banks-europa.co.uk/index.php http://www.spydercars.co.uk/ rgds, david

Sorry but can't resist passing on the name of the people that I used for many of my engineering years http://www.thenippleshop.co.uk/ They have a great catalogue so may have any part that may be required in the future.

B. hell, I'll never keep up!! .... I'd better retire from our blats!! Great news on the PPI 'return'. and.... my lips are sealed :-)

Already!!? Must have been a slow run back from last sunday's Haynes museum breakfast meet

"but the reflectors are 1950s era and don't have the depth to match a modern projector headlight with a conventional bulb." You can easily change the reflectors to the later 'crystal' type - massive improvement as the reflector is the rear of the 'lens'. Then use whatever the best bulb that you feel is right. I use these on my 7 and Europa. (both no problems with MOT's) http://www.powerfuluk.com/products/other-other-vehicle-lights-headlights---crystal/crystal-halogen-headlight-conversion-bedford-(pair).html Really expensive at £29 a pair!!