Dave W

Yupper! I see what you mean. Someone forgot to tell the track designer that when you hit a barrier that close to the track racing surface, you typically bounce back into on coming traffic. Not a lot off run-off or pull over areas in a several places to prevent a pile up. $*#%T happens, you need a way around, to prevent a pile up. DaveW

The odds are very good Rick. We should meet up and trade lies. Maybe we can share secret Seven type road info. I know of another Seven in AA, Dave Watkins has a Dax Rush. I've also seen Sevens in Milford and Brighton. I'm usually free on the weekends, but this coming weekend is booked. Daughter is graduating this Sunday from U of M. Dave W in world famous South Lyon

What is amazing, is that the 3 sets of strings are not twisted all together! DaveW

"Doesn't mesh" just might be an understatement! Unless you can get a new ring gear for the flywheel, I see a new flywheel in the future. You should be able to get the starter pinion gear. The only way to get the correct teeth engage is grinding clearance and rotating the starter so you get full engagement. Is it possible that you have the wrong starter with a smaller pinion gear? One that has 9 teeth Vs, 10 teeth or a smaller spec. Dia flywheel ? I've seen different size flywheels on the same engine type, one for a FWD or a different one for a RWD. Dave W

You can not go wrong with a K&N cotton filter. They will last a life time and will flow about 50% more then a foam filter. I would look into locating the filter so it can draw in cold air, or fab a cold air box that ducts in cold air, if you can not extend the air intake tube forward so it is in front of the rad. Adding a cold air box on my Seven made a noticeable improvement. DaveW

Foam filters are NOT very effective and a lot more restrictive when compared to your cotton filters. I would suggest that you add a short extension so you can pit up cold air in front of the rad and add a cotton filter. Dave W

Do not get me started on insurance. Every 6 months, AAA would increase the premium on the Seven. The price more then doubled in 8 yrs. I had 4 cars with AAA, and when we drop an under 25 driver they raised the premium on the other three car!!! After that, I switched the Seven to American Collectors Insurance. Very little restrictions and only a 1/3 of the cost. If you are looking for insurance check these guys out. Dave W

When designing the first Z06 aluminum frame it was found that the electrical grounds attached at the riv-nuts connections would build up an oxide between the aluminum and the riv-nut case. The solution was new drive screws and an 18mm thick aluminum button welded to the chassis for all the electrical grounds. If you have an aluminum chassis, extra care is needed when making grounding attachments because of the oxide layer on the aluminum. Dave W

Try these guys for bushings englishparts.com Engel imports [866-467-1776] Their P/N 119451 Replaces suspension bushing: Y419, 611-075, QHY419, & Y16 1.35 each + shp Dave W

Another small and lite Wt option would be the 40 Amp Denso that is fitted to a Daihatsu and Suzuki bandit. P/N A073, also Tractor Spares Co. P/N 196300. but you would probably have to change the pulley, I'm assuming you have a "V" belt. Dave W

Johnny Nice start and the model will help in the planning and fab of the project! Search Ozzies mods, for added structural improvements to your typical Locost frame. Do you have a donor or have a particular donor you plan on using? Where are you in SE Michigan. Dave W

Robert It may take a few outings to get use to manual brakes, if you have alway had power brakes. I do not think you should be in a hurry to go to assisted brakes on such a lite vehicle. After a couple months of driving if you still think braking effort is to high, you could look into changing the pedal ratio or master cylinder size. But both changes will increase you pedal travel. My bet is you will get use to the brakes rather quickly. Dave W

Loudes13 Are you located in Michigan, [i see Gingerman reference]. I'm in SE Michigan. I have a bump steer gage if you would like to use it. Dave W

What state inspection do you have to pass? I used the standard Caterham rear lights. My police inspector only checked for function and not the DOT markings. If your state inspection process is that nit-pic, you probably will have to raise your front head lights to meet the min height requirements. Have you talked to some one who has already gone thru the same state inspection? Dave W

If you go the sun visor route, I would recommend designing a bracket using an extruded aluminum Tee section that bolts to the windshield frame. Mount [2] alloy Tee sections for each visor to the top of the windshield frame via two 6-32, tapped holes for each bracket. The design should allow the sun visor to swing either down or up above the windshield using see-thru plastic for the sun visor. Typically the Aluminum windshield frame is made from 1/8” thick channel stock, so you can just tap two 6-32 threads into the windshield frame to fit each of the Tee mounting brackets. You will need a total of 8 threaded holes in the top horizontal channel area at the desired spacing depending on the width of the base of the extruded Tee stock you are using. If you do not have an aluminum extrusion, you could just as easily fabricate the brackets from steel. You will need to tap the aluminum windshield channel before installing the glass into the windshield frame. Each Tee section hinge will need a single pivot hole for a 10-32 screw that uses a Ny-lok nut to allow for adjusting of the tension/friction on each pivoting hinge. For the bottom half of the hinge that attaches to the plastic, I used left over the windshield frame channel material. I cut off one side of the channel to make the four “L” shaped sections for the top half of the hinge that the plastic visor attaches to. These “L” hinge brackets where also taped with two 6-32 threads. I installed the plastic see-thru visor material to the lower hinge section using nylon screws and washers as a safety measure. I would recommend that you find some 7” or wider plastic for your visors. Narrow visor material that is less than 6 inches wide will not help late in the evening because at sun set you will need a visor that covers most of the small windshield. As a side benefit, once installed the visors actually help reduce some of the wind buffeting when set at a 20* to 30* angle above the windshield, which will help direct some of the air flow over the cockpit area. [i would attempt to drill and tap holes in the windshield aluminum frame, with the glass already installed in the windshield frame] I found a material supplier “Pop Display” in South Bend IN 46614; that fits the bill for material that is excellent for a see-thru visor. Green Acrylic Plexiglas sheet that is 1/8” x 48” x 7 7/8”. Their part No. 2092 for $14.50 plus shipping. They will also cut it in half for shipping at no cost. Their phone number is 574-233-1934 or you can contact them at http://www.go2pop.com . The Plexiglas comes covered on both side which helps prevent scratches while fabricating the visor. The attached photo show my first visor which was too narrow, as mentioned, for the late evening sun sets, but shows bracket fabrication. Dave W

The shiming is not for the scale thickness but the floor pads. You needed to level the set-up surface. Your typical garage floor in not level but slopes towards the door. I had to shim almost a 1/4" front to back. Once you have fabricated the leveling pads, make a note right on each pad as to which location the shimming pad is built up for and mark the floor locations. You are going to end up with four different pads thicknesses to get a level surface in your typical garage floor. Try to get all 4 pads within 1mm level. The lateral movement is not that great if you are just lift an 1/8" clear of the surface when changing out the scale. It will take a lot longer, probably 2 hrs Vs 1/2 hr, if you had professional corner wt set-up to use. Dave W

When I corner weight'd my Seven I only used one bath scale. I just made three spacers the thickness of the bath scale. You need to make sure your set-up pads are level. [ may have to shim ] It takes more time to move the scale to each of the wheels, but the wts where repeatable within 1lb. Dave W

Kurt Contact Russ "trailsmangasgas" over on the LocostUSA forum. I believe that He had the same problem with a crossflow a couple years ago. Dave W

A botton head bolt should help resolve the clearance issue. If you can not find one locally, try McMaster Carr. Dave W

You can actually have both a lighter pedal and short travel. Install a clutch stop! I feel the same way, I definitely prefer a short travel cltuch pedal. You can adjust the stop so you only have about 1/4" of pedal travel after the clutch disengages. Dave W

You want a smaller diameter master cylinder. Will give you higher pressure but a longer stroke. You my also want to look at changing the clutch pedal ratio. Typically they are around 5 to 1, but depending where you are at right now, you could go to a 6 or 7 to 1 ratio. Dave W

I opened up a pear shaped hole in my hood using an air nibber after it was painted. I layed out the lines on masking tape, and cut about an 1/8" inboard. The final hole size was opened with a fine grit sanding roll and die grinder, then deburred with a file. The only problem using the air nibber was it would dig into the tape, if you where not flat to the surface. Dave W

Dan I had a problem with a 4AGE TPS, not aligned correctly. My solution was to remove the TPS and pull the tab bracket that engages the TPS, off the TB shaft. It was postioned by two locating flats on the shaft. I just filed the flats about a .04" [in opposite cross corners] allowing it to rotate slightly. Then re-attach the shaft nut while hold the tab bracket in the new location. Dave W

I had the same problem. My tank only has one internal baffle, and with hard cornering or auto-x I needed half a tank + to prevent fuel starvation. My solution was to add a sump to the tank. The walls extend 4" up into the tank, with hinged gates on each side. With the pump extanded to the bottom of the tank sump, I can now suck very last drop of gas without any problems. Dave W

Drew I actually flat floored my seven first before going to corner wt'ing. I was within 18lbs using that process with a 5/8" rake. To be honest, my middle name is not Shumacker, I could not tell the difference between the two processes. Dave W