JohnCh

I'm hoping to plan a drive this spring in the Seattle area. Perhaps we can retrace part of the PNW2007 route over a long weekend? -John

Mike, The picture below is the Lucas inertia starter without solenoid (which normally mounts remotely), and the sketch is the gear reduction starter with solenoid. Do either of these look familiar? http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/Images/L/1141.JPG http://www.rdent.com/images/starter.gif -John

I came across this post on another forum that features several pictures of Se7ens taken a vintage event at the Nürburgring. Most appear to be HKTs from Germany and few have some very interesting design elements. One car even has what appears to be faired in cycle fenders! Not sure I like all the things I’m seeing there, but interesting to look at nonetheless. -John

Do you still have the old inertia starter with the remotely mounted solenoid? If so, then this may be a good time to upgrade to a gear reduction starter. They are pricey, but much lighter and more reliable. I bought mine from Dave Bean, but other Lotus places like RD Enterprises should have them, and I believe Pegasus also carries them. -John

Given that you have a se7en, you should drive a 993 before you pull the trigger. The 996 is faster, roomier, quieter, has much better ergonomics, ventilation, and features, yet the 993 is a more visceral experience that I find more satisfying. The 993 community tends to knock the 996 because of the driving experience (it's often referred to as Lexus-like), while the 996 community tends to knock the 993 as outdated and slower. They are both right ;-) After driving examples of each model I bought the air cooled car and have no regrets. Fell free to PM me if you want info on the 993. -John

I have the Motogadget Classic. I use it strictly as a tach, speedometer, odometer, and for some warning lights, but it is configurable for water and oil temp, oil pressure, etc. The readout for those items (and a few others) appear in the LCD window. It also has a gear indicator for those of you with a sequential shifter (although I glance at it occasionally myself ) A few downsides: - You can only monitor one external sensor reading at a time, which means you need to toggle through screens to see everything. - The contrast on the LCD screen could be better. Consequently it is a little harder to read in some light conditions than the Spa Technique unit it replaced - The speed and odometer readouts are the same size. It would be easier to quickly read the speed if that was the larger of the two. http://www.motogadget.com/de/graphic/msc/msc_0009_300.jpg Over all though, I am very happy with it. Probably not quite what you are looking for, but it might be of interest to others. -John

Kind of like the Brooke Double R? http://www.brookecars.co.uk/images/brooke_sports_car-700.jpg -John

No, don't sell it!! We need more se7ens in the Seattle area! -John

Ah, those photos didn't appear for me when I posted earlier. You weren't kidding when you wrote that you will need an air filter I agree that an ITG or Pipercross is the way to go. Looking at the photo of your carbs, those appear to be backing plates for K&N filters, so that is probably the easiest route, since the hole in the bonnet is probably sized for those items. Not sure if an ITG or Pipercross would fit without additional trimming, but someone on here probably knows the answer. -John

Can you post a pic of the intake? Regarding seats, there are not a lot of options out there that don't break the bank. The one-piece seats like Tillets or Mogs are surprisingly comfortable, but they are also really expensive. There are some small manufacturers making similarly styled seats which are cheaper -- just make sure they are rigid and well made. Another option is the original Westfield Race seats with the optional padding, or their new version. They are a bit on the narrow side, but comfy. Looking at more traditional style seats, I’ve heard good things about the Cobra Roadster 7, but I’m not sure if they will fit in a Birkin. Another option is the Caterham S-style seats. They might be pricey new, but they do come up for sale occasionally when someone is upgrading to Tillets. Of course, finding a pair might take a while. -John

Did a search on BlatChat and came up with this interesting thread. -John

Someone in the UK weighed a ready-to-install Duratec with most of the standard mods at 262 lb. (see breakdown below). A Type-9 weighs 70lb and I weighed my Raceline bellhousing at 8.4 lb. Add another couple of pounds for the clutch master cylinder, and a ready to install Duratec/Type-9 combo is roughly 342lb. A Duratec running the very common Denso lightweight alternator (-5.5lb) and the later plastic valve cover (-2.2) would come in at ~334lb. Duratec engine (c/w steel flywheel) 94.07kg AP Clutch friction plate 1.159kg AP Clutch cover plate 4.369kg Starter motor (c/w solenoid) 3.118kg Oil Filter 0.721kg Throttle Body (cyl. 1 & 2) 1.125kg Throttle Body (cyl. 3 & 4) 1.064kg Brkt T.Body/accel cable mounting 0.111kg N/Side engine mount 1.057kg 4No. Bolts for above mount 0.056kg O/Side engine Mount (c/w rubber) 1.458kg Fuel rail c/w 4 injectors 0.921kg N/Side top fan belt mount/idle pulley 0.392kg Oil pressure switch & sender set up 0.256kg Idle Pulley 0.385kg Idle Pulley & Alternator tension brkt 0.512kg Alternator mounting brkt 0.305kg Alternator (Standard Ford) 5.10kg Raceline water rail, t.stat & housing 1.615kg Coil Pack & 4 plug leads 1.00kg 8 x exhaust studs & nuts 0.27kg (total for 8) Engine Total (ready to install inc. mounts) 119.064 kG -John

Thanks Al, that’s good to hear. Logically I know that the seat should be more than strong enough to withstand that type of abuse, but the illogical side of me keeps thinking “replacement seats cost HOW MUCH??” I remember when the Pound was less than a $1.60 Kyle, send me a PM if you want to see if we can arrange a time to meet. -John

Kyle, I live in Sammamish which is about 20-25 miles east of downtown Seattle. I don’t know my Thanksgiving weekend schedule yet, but you are welcome to do a trial fit in my Westfield if we can find a time that works for both of us. One caveat though: given your comment that you don’t fit in the Solstice or S2000 due to width, you may not fit in my car. I have Mog seats which are pretty narrow and unforgiving with respect to fit. Although there is some flex in the carbon fiber sides, I wouldn’t want to find out the hard way that they can crack. :shocked: http://www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/newImages/85_1.jpg -John

And here is another shot of Buzz’s car front and center for the USA2005 group photo (taken by David Daniels). I convinced Buzz to post here, so hopefully someone in the greater Cincinnati area will jump in. BTW Mazda, you’d like Buzz. He has a ~300hp V8 in his car http://home.comcast.net/~cobar/webphotos/USA2005-GP.jpg -John

I’ll second Al’s recommendation for a half hood. I’ve used my full hood once: the 14 hour drive home after the initial purchase. I didn’t care for it. Ingress/egress was a pain, it was like driving inside a drum, and the windscreen kept fogging up. When I rebuilt the car, I didn’t provision the hood and instead had a half hood made locally. A properly designed half hood will keep you nearly as dry as a full hood, but without all the associated shortcomings. They also weigh less -John

The Westfield stock rollbar is even more of a joke than the Caterham item. Although the tubing is much beefier, there is no bracing – just a single, unsupported hoop. Works great as a push bar. It was about the same price to have a local shop make a proper rollbar to my specs than it was to buy the RAC rollbar from Westfield and ship it over. Gotta love the strong dollar and low fuel prices I agree that an FIA/RAC/SCCA spec rollbar is a must have. The thought of rolling my Westfield is horrifying, but using my head to support the weight of the car is even worse... -John

When I took the Westfield to work last week, it was 28 for the morning commute. No heater or sidescreens, but I do have a windshield. Based on several other drives I have done with temps in the mid 30's, I discovered that my cold-weather gloves don't like breaking that 30 degree barrier. I couldn't feel my finger tips for the first couple of hours after arriving at the office For me, the biggest problem with cold weather driving is the lack of grip. It’s easy enough to stay warm if you dress properly (note to self: buy new winter driving gloves), but tires don’t seem to like temps below 50. I find that trying to accelerate hard in those conditions just results in a lot of wheel spin. Not that there is anything wrong with that… -John

I’m bored tonight (wife is working late) so I put together a list of se7ens that are available in the US today either new or used. I’m sure I am missing several manufacturers, so perhaps others can add on? BTW my criteria is that the cars are either available in the US new via a distributor/dealer, or I have heard of at least one such model in the US. Okay, not very scientific, but it is a start... Manufacturer / Website / Country / Official US Presence? Deman / www.deman-motorsport.com / Canada / www.deman-motorsport.com Donkervoort / www.donkervoort.nl / Netherlands / No Fraser / www.fraser.co.nz / New Zealand / No Birkin / www.birkindirect.com / South Africa / No Superformance / No longer produced / South Africa Caterham / www.caterham.co.uk / UK / www.uscaterham.com Dax / www.daxcars.co.uk / UK / No Tiger / www.tigersportscars.com / UK / No Westfield / www.westfield-sportscars.co.uk / UK / www.manikllc.com Champion Motorcars / No longer produced / US Rotus / No longer produced / US Brunton (Stalker) / www.bruntonauto.com / US / www.bruntonauto.com WCM (Ultralite) / www.wcmultralite.com / US / www.wcmultralite.com Laminar Concepts (Viking SRX-7) / No longer produced / US -John

Not sure how I missed that second diagram. But then again, I'm not noted for my attention to detail Check out this crash test dummy video. It shows the ASM vs. regular 4-point & 3-point harnesses. -John

I read this a little differently. I believe that comment was specifically referring to a crotch strap running to the floor of the car in front of the seat, not over the sides – i.e. you should run the crotch strap down a hole in the seat bottom rather than over the front. On page 25 they show that a traditional crotch strap which buckles into a slot on the rotary buckle should run down through the seat to the floor. It should run at an angle from 0 deg to 20 deg rearward. The Profi F models, which run the crotch strap through D-rings on the lap belts and then attach to the shoulder harness buckles, rather than attaching to the rotary buckle, can run under the legs as you described. See page 12 for a comparison of how the crotch straps attach on the F-model vs. normal mounting. Looking at the diagram of the Profi F models, it appears that crotch straps are much farther apart than a traditional 6-point system, and therefore run on the inner thigh rather than in front of the crotch. This is probably why they can be mounted differently. I would hate to think of the consequences of mounting a narrow angle 6-point crotch strap to the rear of the car. Those harnesses will use your crotch as the brake. A properly mounted traditional 5/6-point should prevent the lapbelt from riding up, which in turn will prevent you from sliding under it. It shouldn’t simply act as a crotch brake -- although I'm sure it does that a bit as well. Regarding 4-points, Schroth actually has a 4-point system that addresses the lapbelt movement issue in an accident. Their ASM technology employs an asymmetric shoulder harness system. The inner shoulder harness is longer and the slack is taken up by stitching the extra length over itself. In an accident, the stitching breaks, lengthening that belt and rotating your body outward. As this happens your hips also rotate, thus further tightening the lapbelt and digging it into you beneath your hip bone. This stops you from sliding under the harness. Lapbelt angle is crucial in this system. If it is a severe angle (like my Westfield had before adding new lapbelt mounts) then the lapbelt will ride up too high and won’t allow the rotation of your hips to stop your forward progress. -John

I'm confused. That picture is of a 6-point crotch strap. -John

Welcome Chad! I live in Sammamish, so not that far from you. I'd love to see the Ultralite when you get it. -John

Interesting article here on sealed lead acid batteries. -John

Is that Richard Morris's old car? It is beautiful! -John