Kitcat

I have had sizable road rash to my rear fenders since moving to RA1's as my street tire. Price of admission, I guess. Also the best improvement to the car's performance to date, easily better than all other improvements put together. Mike

He was 3rd at the Ultimate Track Car deal, his top speed there was 170 mph. With a pretty minimal roll cage.

Dean: I got my confirmation letter too. The schedule of events, and the LOG website, list a bunch of tech sessions, early Saturday, but no details. Is there any way of knowing ahead of time what the various topics will be at the different sessions? Also, I see there are still spots available for the trackday-Come on Se7en owners, here's the prefect chance to open up your car, and take its measure. Mike

As a car guy, I gotta go w/Motown.

I sold my Evo VIII and bought a Caterham. I have put 13K miles on in just over 3 years. I use it as my daily driver in good weather/daylight. I liked both cars a lot, but as a daily driver, the Evo is much better. It has a locking trunk, all weather protection, is quiet, has a radio, a back seat, etc. It is apples and oranges because the visceral thrill of driving a se7en, to me offsets all of its short comings. It wldnt work if I didn't also have several more practical cars to drive as needed (T-Bird, M3, Prius). The Stalkers are amazing and a great LISS option. Mike

Who here, besides me, has signed up? Which configuration are we running (Shenandoah?). If so, it looks very challenging/wonderful. Who has a link to a video of the the course at speed? The course itself has a kind of lame video of a large Ford Crown Vic ambling around but it really doesn't show what the course is like when driven on the edge. Dean-the forms require a mechanic or garage to sign off on the tech form regarding track worthiness-what do folks (like the majority of Se7en owners ) do who do their own wrenching? Can they sign off themselves? Mike

twobone: How did you "seal" the oil filler cap? Do you have the type (as I do) that does not screw in but just squeezes in?

On the majority of Se7ens I see there, the driver's and or passengers head(s) were above the roll-over bar. They wldn't pass tech at a typical track day here. Nonetheless, it looks like huge fun and a great day.

Hopefully the weather report is favorable, enjoy. I blasted into work this a.m in my se7en, with the exhaust echoing off the houses and buildings, and the tail totally hung out on some my favorite curves, my ears are still ringing! It never gets old! Mike

Hey, Westtex,I'm shooting for 40 centuries:)!

I have a friend who says people are like plants, they need to be re-potted every 10 years or so, or their roots bind up and they stop growing. As a lawyer, I have switched thru a variety of legal specialties over my nearly 40 decades of lawyering, and that has helped me find work enjoyable. I can say I have fun doing what I do. On the other hand, my ex-partner resigned and went to full to time retirement as soon as he inherited the $ to do so. We both did exactly identical jobs, he was miserable, I was thrilled. Four years later he is the happiest person I know, just walkin the dog, watering the plants, puttering and more puttering. What makes one person happy is not necessarily going to work for the next guy. Self employment is ideal in my opinion: No bosses, no meetings, no absurd rules/orders. But you soon discover that you have a slave driver for a boss-the upside is that if you are doing what you want, it doesn't feel like work, which is good because I have been working 60-70 hour weeks for 25 years . So I guess change is good, tho challenging (terrifying). When I opened my law practice, I likened it to diving into an empty swimming pool in the hope that by the time I landed, there would be water there. Luckily, thru endless hours of work, there was. Mike

Steve that's right, 10 year old tires, plus I had a cough, my socks didn't match and my helmet was too tight!

Steve: Ouch:)! (But so true!). Hey I was running on the notorious Michelin "pileups". I never had a chance:). My car was built with a Petronix distributor, not sure about its advance potential. Mike

Dave: No drive train loss, etc., adjustments were made. Out in the real world BBall and I ran a track day together once and he had no trouble pulling away from me on the straight, so I am inclined to believe his dyno number, relative to mine, regardless of actual hp. My engine is very tractable and easy to drive. I would always like more power but enjoy being able to go flat out much of the time. What is the top speed in your car, in 4th? I can do about 108 (per GPS, 113 mph on the Caterham's optimistic speedo). I am hoping someone will demonstrate the balancing of carbs technique at LOG 30, which I an attending. I do have the balancing trumpet device. Mike

Brunny: You make good points about Caterham values, its been discussed quite a bit here. And this site is especially non-snobby. You make a good point about the pet issue in Iran and Afghanistan also. But, no need to insult the poster by calling his comment "idiotic". We are all sensible and can grasp your point, and your perspective, especially if made respectfully. Mike

I like the hood stripe color and location. With the side stripes it starts to look like a motorized candy cane.

Power seems to depends on the cam. When I had my X-Flow on the chassis dyno, it made 95 hp, and 93 lbs torque-this from an engine advertised as having 135 hp. And after a expensive dyno tune-up. When I discussed it with BBall, who also has a Kent X-flow, he said his engine dynoed at 115 hp. But he has a hotter cam. If you do a search here, you'll see that Z-tecs advertised at 210 hp have made around 145-148 hp on the dyno. Seems to depend on the dyno as much as anything. One of the things discovered when I had my engine dynoed was that it was running dangerously lean. So the search for power has to balance A/F ratio as well. I suspect, without knowing, that you have a normal Kent X-Flow engine-torquey, easy to drive, not all that powerful. There are ways of adding power beyond the cam (wh/is not easily replaced BTW). You can beef up the internals, add rpms, etc But then longevity becomes an issue. The race tuned X-flows have a shelf life of 20-50 hours between rebuilds. I am not sure how Bruce gets 140 hp from his engine, but I'd love to know his secret:)! Also, if you have a 1600 cc engine, rather than 1700 cc, then you are at a slight power disadvantage to start with. Mike

My X-flow pumps a fair amt of oil out thru the filler cap but it pretty much lands on the hot side and burns off. When I am at a stop light after the car is warmed up, I always have a faint haze of smoke of burning off oil. Since I only use a quart of oil every 1-2K miles or so, it hasn't been a concern. Mike

Several thots: If weekend touring w/wife and dogs are your thing, a se7en isn't ideal. There is no security (locking trunk), while the cockpit holds 2 people, your inside arm overlaps with your passengers (think airline seats, w/better foot room). Adding dogs to the equation is not going to work-space for stuff is far too limited-again, think abt what you can carry onto the overhead bin of an airliner-that's what you can get into a se7en. Price: If you are patient, I think you will find a car like mine for $22-26K. New vs. old: My car has "ample" power and really scoots, up to abt 70 mph, then tapers off to 108 mph where it runs out of oomph. I think the newer cars with double the hp are almost different vehicles, the driving dynamic is so different. So do you want the fastest car on the track, or just one that's faster than a Miata, and a blast to drive? A cool thing about buying a used se7en is, after you drive it a few years, you shd be able to sell it for abt what you paid. Not so much on a new se7en. Enjoy your search. Mike

"Deal of the Century" comes to mind. I take it that an '82 Canadian Porsche could not be legally imported into the U.S for street use, due to emissions etc? I have subscribed to Excellence Magazine for many years and have drooled over similar cars. Whole thing kinda makes a committed se7en owner question his commitment:)! Perhaps move it to the the "For sale" section here? I'd also post at the Lotustalk website under other cars for sale. Many enthusiasts there. Mike Mike

Are you sure its oil and not coolant? I had a similar prob and it was coolant/antifreeze mix (leaky hose). It finally shorted out the distributor.

In no particular order, I am impressed that you are doing all that outside on your drive way, at how stout the Birkin frame is, and that you have gotten so far on a single case of Miller Lite! Mike

For those of us who are aficionados of (or are stuck with) Kent Crossflow engines, an interesting source of info is at: thekentlives.com. Their name says it all. Mike

After 3+ years of ownership, I gave my wife her 1st ride this week. She was stranded at the neighborhood pool, 2 miles away. Since I was in the se7en, that's what I picked her up in. She complained non-stop about the fumes and smell of gas in the cockpit (Funny, I never noticed any smells). It was a success only in the sense that she didn't jump out at the end of the ride and order me to sell it-wh/was my reason for not offering a ride earlier. I will say that I discovered a way to get even more attention and stares than the se7en usually produces: put a woman in a bathing suit in the passenger seat! Mike

Skip: I am exhausted just from reading your post. I can't imagine living it. Can you get PTSD from car repairs? If so, your post is giving me flashbacks:)! Mike