Thanks Mal, the issue with an "upload" button is that usually that then uploads your image to the host server using up the storage space far faster than would be normal, if everyone uploaded high res pics then there would be very little room for anything else the forums sql database for example. Using off site hosts is a way around this but does involve you copying over the coding back into this forum, once you get the hang of it it's easy but can take a wee while to work out if you are new to that sort of thing...

Great news about your pic host site nice to see them expanding, more often that not it's the other way around....

Westy Owner
Ahh! many thanks that explains everything, I never realised there were web space constraints, I guess space costs £'s.
It also explains the small 50x50px avatars, I've never had a website myself and never realised there was a site web space limit

Have a play around in the sheds thread, that is for testing out stuff to see how it will look on the main forums, you can see what does and doesn't work then . I have run many forums over the time and unless you have your own server storage space it can get expensive, for folks like us who don't pay to use such forums there has to be some limitations along the way, but I don't consider off site hosting to be a limitation personally.

Anyway , back to S4 talk... I do like the lines on that as I said before, I think a set of clamshells might just have to be ordered , whilst I understand the "lift" aspect of that, for me I would happily drive 20mph slower to be able to use them, are there any other issues with clams that I am not aware of??

Westy
Clams are an acquired taste kinda like 'Marmite' you love 'em or hate 'em. Having always had a car with clams I find it strange when I drive the wifes Caterham fitted with cycle wings, the constant front suspension movement I find slightly disconcerting, others say clams keep spray down - don't believe that, I hate driving through puddles coz the spray seems to come over the bonnet and into the cockpit, obviously this is worse when car has aero's fitted. obviously the faster you're travelling makes the splashing worse Here in Wales I always keep my mouth shut going through puddles, coz beside the water there tends to be rather a lot of tasty sheepshit floating in the puddles
If you have cycle wings then you're probably better off keeping them, unless you're after the 60's or 70's look for your car

I would have assumed that clams were better at keeping the crap out, I got some brand new cycle wings when I rebuilt the car and had to extend the rear drop as it was causing all manner of rubbish to fly into the car, I have subsequently extended these further to keep the horse crap off the bodywork ( what do horses eat because it wrecks my paintwork !) , my new "flaps" just miss the road and now work well at stopping that, before doors I would regually get covered in stuff, not always very pleasant smelling either as you have eluded to..... Whilst I quite enjoy watching the susp do it's stuff , I do like the classic look of clams, although I believe the original concept by Chapman was to use cycle wings and clams came in for folks who wanted more weather protection, or so I have read anyway.... But if you still get wet then I may have a rethink..

This is what I have ended up doing...

Westy
I thought about fitting similar flaps to the wife's Cat but by the time I got around to it the stonechips beneath the carbon wing protectors had removed the white paint - the fibreglass gel underneath is black so kinda matches the CF wing protectors so i never bothered with the flaps. Many Caterhams have a clear plastic film applied over the bodywork paint to prevent these stonechips, but this really needs applying immediately after the car is painted.
It's surprising how much damage the stonechips do to the painted rear wings. The clams on my S4 prevent this, so I guess that's a plus for the clams, the clams also prevent the passenger burning their leg on the hot silencer when getting in/out of the car, so a 2nd plus for clams
As far as front lift is concerned, well TBH I don't go fast enough, often enough to notice or worry about the front lift which is supposed to happen with clams, For road use not worth worrying about IMO.
If you check my PH Lotus 7 s4 thread there's plenty of pics of S4's fitted with cycle wings which again IMO don't suit an S4 - but other's will strongly dis-agree, what's not apparent is the body mould line which is hidden by the clams but visible when cycle wings are fitted to S4's and which looks odd IMO , clearly the S4 was designed for Clams

Where is Captain Plugwash when S4's are mentioned ?

Cheers Mal, there are a few Westys with clams as well, although many prefer cycle wings, the hot silencer can side of it is a plus point, I took a mate out last year for a run, and he wrecked his jeans on the system when getting out, I did actually warn him before we set off, but there you go.. I have also wrecked a few car covers as well, putting the cover on before the can has cooled enough, so there is another plus point... My speed days are over now, I had intended to complete again with my car when I first got it, hence all the go faster bits, but it soon became apparent that funds would not allow it, so the lift issue is not that much of a concern to me. I will see if I can find some and I cann always swap back if I change my mind

S4's have Self adjusting Mk1 Capri 9" rear drums which [at least on the 2 S4's I've owned] Have worked really well, that is until now the self adjusting Mechanism has decided after 44 years that its worn out, and doesn't adjust the rear brakes anymore
My options are to try and source a new self adjusting mechanism, or maybe to swop the drums for discs.
Trawling through both this and PH forums I can't find any threads on this subject, anyone on here swopped 7rear drums for discs?
Anyone know of any suppliers, the one thread on PH on this subject the links to the suppliers no longer work
TA muchly

See this thread: http://www.7-dna.com/forums/index.php?action=vthread&forum=2&topic=512

Eugene
Ta but your link is for an ITAL axle conversion - S4's have the modified Ford escort 'English' axle fitted, like earlier Caterhams [till about 1981] I believe.
Mal

Indeed - but the process is the same...

Be nice if someone on 'ere had swopped drums for discs on the ford axle though, looking at the pics from the ital axle article, ital hubs look totally different to mine.

Quite a few rally specialists offer conversion kits.

SPC in Redditch might be able to supply the required bits. http://www.spcomponents.co.uk/gpage6.html