JohnCh

The google map routes are hyperlinked into the route option titles (e.g. Route A 952 miles)

Following up my earlier thread about a short tour of Northern California, I’ve been researching possible routes on Pashnit.com using the following criteria: • 4 days of touring • Great roads and scenery – must include Hwy 36 and Oroville/Quincy Hwy, which are reputedly the top roads in NorCal. • No gravel or poor pavement • Reasonable daily legs • Overnights in areas with hotels and food • Start and end points that are close to I-5 to ease the arrival and return legs and that are within a hard day’s drive from both Seattle and San Diego. I’ve discovered that this sounds easier than it is I have two options that I would like to put up for a vote. I am leaning towards Route A due to the shorter days, but want to get the opinions of those interested in attending. As for dates, we had talked about Labor Day weekend, but I propose we do the following weekend to avoid traffic and make it easier to get hotel accommodations. But again, I want to hear from participants. Please note: the actual distances provided below differ slightly from the Google maps. I am using different software for primary route planning and the different algorithms used mean slight deviations in mileage. Route A 952 miles Pro: all legs less than 250 miles which makes it easier in case someone breaks down, or we want to make a lot of stops to take in the scenery. It includes Alderwood road which sounds nice (although it may have a few short stretches of gravel – still trying to confirm current condition) and all of Hwy 299 which is another highly regarded road. It also includes Hwy 70, which is known for its scenery (and CHP, so we need to take it easy here). Con: Misses out on Hwy 96 to Happy Camp, which is a highly regarded road on Pashnit. Day1: Chico to Lake Almanor – 250 miles Day 2: Lake Almanor to Weaverville – 216 miles Day 3: Weaverville to Fort Bragg – 238 miles Day 4: Fort Bragg to Red Bluff – 248 miles Route B 1116 miles Pro: Includes Hwy 20, which was a hit on PNW2007 and Hwy 96. Because Day 2 begins in Oroville, it is much easier for someone to join up then and participate for just 3 days. Con: Daily legs are on the long side. Misses out on much of hwy 299. Happy Camp is not the greatest place to overnight. Day 1: Chico to Oroville - 275 miles Day 2: Oroville to Hydesville/Fortuna - 299 miles Day 3: Hydesville/Fortuna to Happy Camp - 296 miles Day 4: Happy Camp to Red Bluff – 246 The miles to join/depart tour from the two most distant points I expect folks will travel from are: Seattle to Chico = 663 miles San Diego to Chico = 591 miles Red Bluff to Seattle = 623 miles Red Bluff to San Diego = 634 miles Please use the buttons above to vote, but also weigh in here with your opinion. If anyone is familiar with any part of the route, then please let us know the positives and negatives. Thanks, John

The three hard days to get there don't bother me. It' the three hard days to get back to work that kill me. :banghead: BTW are you paying MoPho a license fee to use his car's image in your avatar? :jester:

Seats fit great and are very comfortable. I've done over 600 miles in a day with no complaints. I use Sparco kidney pads when touring to provide a little more lumbar support, but I have a bad back and do that in almost every car. The Mogs use the standard Caterham adjustable runners, and are designed so that your butt is just off the floor when the runners are fitted. This page has a picture of the runners and also a dimenisonal drawing of the seat. Tillets are another option. I've tried both and marginally prefer the Mogs from a comfort perspective, but the carpet fitted to the Tillets is a nice feature. It really locks you in place. Of course the carpet gets wet, so it is a trade off if you tour in wet weather. -John

Rob, good to see you finally made it! -John

Blame the rising cost of carbon fiber and the tanking dollar. I paid significantly less for my Mog seats when I bought them 4 years ago. BTW if you think those are expensive, then check out the ReVerie seats. Yikes!! -John

The look like Mog parts. I don't think they sell to the US due to liability concerns, but I believe their UK reseller, Fluke Motorsports, still does. I can vouch for both Fluke and the seats. -John

BritishV8.org has brief write-ups on a couple of turbo Miata se7ens owned by forum members. Skip Cannon's SV and Bill Cardell's Westfield. -John

So much for the theory that BEC don’t have much torque… Have all three halfshafts broken in the same spot? Any pictures? -John

Not sure why you are surprised. It's not like I said that was a bad thing I used to live in Santa Barbara, so I am quite familiar with perfect se7en weather. But getting back on topic...I just subscribed to Pashnit and wil try to put together a few options this week for 3 and 4 day tours based on information there. -John

My wife loves the Westfield. We covered 4000 miles in 2 weeks for USA2005 (almost 630 miles on the longest day) and she is thinking about joining on NorCal2008. When we go out for lunch on weekends, she is usually the one who suggests we take the Westfield rather than one of the tintops. Like Gert, I tend to keep the speed down when she is on board, but to her credit she didn't even complain the day we drove with the S2Ks from Page to Las Vegas on USA2005 (RDROCKT may remember that day ). -John

I read that was a pretty good road. I take it the pavement isn't the greatest? I had planned to pick up a copy of the new Destinations Highway for Nor Cal to help with road selection, but they have jacked the prices way up, so I think I will try a subscription to Pashnit instead. MoPho, the Lotus event sounds like fun, but OR in October sounds pretty risky to me. The weather up here tends to take a turn for the worse in late September, and although the inland area may not be that wet, it will probably be pretty damn cold for se7ens. -John

Or this? Definitely some great roads in the area. I'll order a copy of Destination Highways Nor Cal so we can begin the planning in earnest. I am fine with Labor Day weekend from a timing perspective, but I wonder if we will have trouble booking hotels? Assuming we don't, then I propose we meet at the hotel in Weaverville/Redding area on Thursday night (8/28), tour together for three days, and head home Monday morning. That is a 5 day commitment including travel time to join up. I am happy to stretch to 7 days total (5 touring), but it sounds like that may not work for everyone. Does the fact that we do this over Labor Day weekend make it easier for people to extend the length of the trip a bit? If we do, then is it better to start earlier in the week, or to extend the ending date further into the first week in September? -John

I’ve had clams and cycle fenders. With regard to debris, the clams work much better than standard cycle fenders, but cycle fenders with mud flaps work a bit better than clams. -John

I spent a little time yesterday looking at maps and drives listed on various car/motorcycle sites. It appears that there are some fantastic roads on either side of I-5 near Redding. That may make a great place to start the tour. Straight shot up or down I-5 for everyone and fairly equidistant from Seattle and San Diego (you listening Brad?). What is people’s interest in length of time? For some of us, we will need to add 2 days to the tour total to account for getting to the starting point and then returning home. I’d prefer to have 3-4 tour days to keep it interesting, so that’s 5-6 days of vacation time for me. Do people want something longer? Shorter? BTW I am going to post on CCC and ask people to post all further comments on this thread. -John

Uh oh, thread hijack! For some reason very few people on the West Coast seem to belong to USA7s. I opted to post on CCC as well since I felt I could more readily identify interest in a Nor Cal tour with that group. I do plan to move the thread over here soon and if this tour happens it will be as a USA7s tour. -John

There is discussion on this over at CCC where early thinking is September in Northern CA. Once we get a little firmer on the plans, I'll move the thread over here and see if we can drum up additional support. -John

This is a great time of year in the PNW if you like to do yardwork. Within a week we went from a few weeds to a carpet of the suckers over a foot tall. I am keeping my old wheels with Toyo TS-1s as rain tires. -John

If you are looking for a good suspension, then I wouldn’t say that limits you to a Westfield. When set up right, they do handle very well, but then so do most se7ens. Bike engine vs. car engine always fosters great debate on the WSCC forum. The consensus is that for a road car, a car engine is better thanks to the torque, more progressive clutch engagement, and lower revs when cruising at freeway speeds. The tables are turned for track use, where the lighter engine, sequential gearbox, and the fun of spinning to over 10k rpm make it shine. How do you plan to use the car? -John

Is there any interest for a really short tour this summer in the Northern CA, OR, or WA area? I’ve got the bug for 3 or 4 days of winding roads. -John

In that case, unless there are other reasons to sell the car, then I would investigate extending the inner panel. Looking at this picture of the foot box (shamelessly stolen from banjo29’s build site), it seems reasonably easy to cut out a section of the inner panel and fit a small aluminum box that extends the area to the right of the accelerator. Just shape the extension out of aluminum sheet from Home Depot, add some silicone to seal it, and rivet it in place. http://www.marshsite.com/116-7.jpg -John

How much space do you need to free up in order to work the pedals safely? Is it possible to find some of it by extending the panel to the right of the accelerator pedal or is there already zero clearance in that area between the inner panel and the bellhousing? -John

A couple of weeks ago I drove the Westfield to the grocery store to pick up dinner (and some wine – have to keep your priorities in order). When I returned to the car 10 minutes later, I found a black and white photo on my driver’s seat that featured a young man behind the wheel of a seven. The car had external control arms on the rear which were reminiscent of the 7-1/2, but rather than one arm per side, there were two. On the back of the photo was written “Rod, 1965” along with a phone number. I called the number and much to my surprise, Rod answered the phone. After a brief conversation I learned that the car was a clone he built to race in the 60’s and it featured an IRS setup borrowed from a then current Lotus formula car. Further, Hugh Haskell of Lotus fame had a hand in the design. Apparently Rod has seen me driving through town on a number of occasions and has been trying to meet me. These days he is a driving instructor and was with a student that day when I went flying by. They saw me turn into the parking lot and tried to catch up, but by then I was already in the store. For some reason he had the photo with him and dropped in on the seat as a very compelling calling card. We are still trying to find a time to meet in person so I can hear the whole story about his car…and return his photo. I love this hobby. -John

2,091 miles and 30 hours for me. Not sure that is doable :banghead: -John

The folks at Flyin' Miata have a forum devoted to the Westfield Miata that might be worth a look if you haven't already been there. Unfortunately we don't see a lot of the Westfield Miata folks posting here, so you may have to go to them to get their opinion on the car, and find out why they chose to go in that direction rather than a different brand. Mazda, sorry for linking away to another forum! Let me know if I have to pay some sort of fine... -John