SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT LIMITED EDITION SEVEN

Caterham has revived the spirit of one of its most illustrious Sevens – the 1.6-litre Seven Superlight – with the launch of a new special edition model.

Just 20 of the special edition cars, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the original Superlight in 1996, will be built.

The original Superlight’s production run ceased in 2004, but it heralded a new era of purposeful, track-biased Sevens designed to offer even more performance and low weight at a pared down price point.

Despite its ultra-minimalist character – even for a Seven – the Superlight went on to become one of Caterham’s most coveted models, More >

ZERO HOT IN SWEDEN

The Great British Sports Cars Zero range is sold all over Europe and North America and one territory that really have grasped the Zero concept is Sweden, where the Nottinghamshire company’s dealer, KitCarSweden is doing a great job.

GBS recently received a message on their GBS Facebook page from customer, Eddie Jansson, from Uppsala Sweden, who says he has just finished racing his Zero for the season and since commencing his build in November 2013 has covered many miles in his car.

Eddie’s friend, Johan Ostling, owns a Zero too and he’s covered over 2000 miles in Sweden since May, this year. More More >

JENVEY GIVES PINTO THE BEANS

Jenvey Dynamics has launched a new manifold and throttle body (ITB) kit for the Ford Pinto engine. The new kit is intended for use with 1.8-litre and 2-litre Pinto engines running without a distributor, and is highly modular by design – perfect for configuration for a range of engine bay packaging requirements or aesthetics.

The Jenvey kit provides power gains, improved throttle response and reliability, and is ideal for road, track or race use as a modern alternative to a traditional twin carburettor set-up.

“Jenvey is proud of its innovative reputation, and we invest a lot of time talking to customers to More >

VINTAGE CLARITY

Most of us are increasingly aware that the poor lighting on classic and classic-type kitcars cars is a cause for concern. These treasured and much loved machines have none of the safety features we now take for granted and, especially compared to new cars, are virtually invisible on the road.

One of the worst offenders are vehicles that use the ubiquitous Lucas L549 rear lamp, where the bulb faces downwards and there is no reflector, so most of the output is wasted. The same problem stymies LED bulb designers. One conversion involves having to remove the light unit from the car, More >

TOM TOM BANG THE DRUM

TomTom has launched RoadDNA, an innovative new product for vehicle localisation that will help make automated driving a reality, faster. Designed with vehicle data storage and processing limitations in mind, RoadDNA delivers highly accurate location information that can easily be integrated into the on-board system of a vehicle.

“We know that the future of automated driving hinges on the ability of a vehicle to continuously know exactly where it is located on the road,” said Harold Goddijn, TomTom CEO. “TomTom RoadDNA is the only technology of its kind (patent pending) that delivers highly accurate vehicle localisation content in an efficient and More >

SPECIAL K

MJS Turbocharged K-Series under build

In recent years we’ve seen plenty of Rover K-Series engines undergoing tuning and TLC in the TKC Mag/totalkitcar workshop. As a result, I’m a big fan of the engines, particularly in VVC guise.

Lots of instant experts wring their hands about head gasket failures tales of woe, most of which is bandwagon jumping. However, the engine does have an Achilles heel but there are readily available and effective cures.

Our K-Series always go to Charlie and team at CTM Performance in Dagenham although someone else I’d highly recommend is Littlehampton-based MJS Auto & Marine, who in addition to their More >

TAKE A DEEP BREATH

Filtration expert Pipercross has reminded us all of a small-but-perfectly-formed performance essential in the form of its stainless steel crankcase (or valve cover) breather.

This simple but effective part has been designed to fit onto existing engine crankcase breathers and oil catch tanks to allow oil vapour to vent to atmosphere rather than back into the engine inlet, thus protecting the engine and allowing it to run more efficiently.

Made of sintered stainless steel it has a rubber inlet neck with a simple clamp mechanism for securing and a built in stepped neck to fit 13, 16 or 19mm pipework.

The filter inside More >

BOING…BOIIIINNNNGGGG

V-Maxx’s busy team of engineers have been at it again – this time perfecting and tailoring a range of effective chassis upgrades for the now criminally affordable Toyota MR2 Roadster.

This kit is a direct replacement for the model’s factory springs and has been designed to work effectively with the OEM dampers – or any quality aftermarket offerings. Fitting all of the 1.8-litre engine variants, it’s a great way to get any MR2 sitting and handling better.

As this car is now used as the basis for many kitcars, it’s also an essential when trying to make your car look believably Italian, More >

A RAIL SERVICE THAT WORKS!

Webcon has launched a range of In-Rail fuel pressure regulators, which replace most popular OEM types, and changing fuel pressure is now as easy as removing the old unit and replacing with a new, higher pressure or adjustable regulator. Webcon In-Rail regulators are available as follows –

Pressure (bar)              Part Number                RRP £ (inc VAT) 2.5 fixed                     WFR048                     £59.94 3.0 fixed                      WFR024                     £59.94 3.5 fixed                      WFR029                     £86.33 4.0 fixed                      WFR057                     £95.54 4.3 fixed                      WFR055                     £71.74 4.5 fixed                      WFR043                     £109.26 0-5 adjustable              WFR060                     £83.09

Available now More >

PLASTIC FANTASTIC

New from Frost is Eastwood’s Plastic Re-surfacer Aerosol will restore and re-surface your plastics, returning the materials to their original lustre. Not just another wipe-on coating – this is a permanent repair and gets deep within the plastic to reflow and re-surfaces all faded and chalky bumper, dashboard, car trim, or other plastic automotive parts.

The maker’s claim that survives over seven years of UV light and has passed 2500-hours of ASTM D4587 QUV testing.

Unlike many wipe-on products it actually etches and reflows the surface embedding black resins into the substrate and maintaining the original texture and is compatible with all More >

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