Kitcat

Speaking of Stalkers, I note that on one of the pages of the CHILL website for Indy Lotus owners (Which is sponsoring next year's Lotus Owners Gathering -LOG28) there are two Lotuses pictured: an Elise and a Stalker (!).

Junkies: 3185 posts Addicts: 250 posts

The Forum is helpful? Without the answers to my many dumb questions over the last 18 months, I wouldn't have had the guts to actually buy a Seven. Without the for-sale section, I wouldn't have found the Seven I bought. Without the tech section, I wouldn't be able to keep it on the road. Plus, this Forum gives me my daily "Seven-fix", sort of like a methadone maintenance program for addicts. Except my irrational addiction is to Sevens and so far it has not been incapacitating, tho I do now have permanent ringing in my ears:).

Among my many (mis)adventures at the Dragon was this: I was attempting to repair my broken throttle linkage. For reasons I don't recall (and can't possibly now imagine), I took the fire extinguisher out of its holder in the passenger compartment. Later when I finally got everything repaired ,and being exceedingly late for Saturday's Sevens' festivities, I hurriedly shoved it back into the passenger area, between a bunch of junk I had stuffed there. Way too busy to secure it properly. Unbeknownst to me, the safety pin had fallen out, so when I shoved the extinguisher back in, the trigger was compressed and out came the fire suppressant . Man, that stuff really shoots out fast! By the time I figured out what was happening, I had bought myself another hour of delay, this time for cleanup. And yes, one of my many recent repairs was to a leaky gas hose connection above the carbs. Thanks for the reminder that its past time for a new fire extinguisher. You know, you just don't get stories like these with regular cars:).

Southwind: You nailed it! Currently (no pun intended), I am without an oil pressure gauge and a starter. The last thing I need is a sophisticated monitoring mechanism to announce additional system failures:).

John-I have the Lucas starter. Ian-Why take out the 4 spark plugs? If avoiding ignition is the concern, can't I just unplug them? (Of course, if the starter wont work, it's all pretty theoretical:)).

John-I am not sure what I have but it is a '97 unit with the solenoid mounted piggyback on the starter. It looks huge. I just sent an e-mail to Dave Bean & we'll see what they have, thanks. Ian-where on the block is the oil sensor? Driver's side, passenger, front/back, high/low? Is it always in the same location on Kent engines? I have the "How to rebuild/tune a Kent Engine" book and, assuming the location hasn't been changed, I can look it up there. Thanks, Mike

After many wrong paths I finally diagnosed my car's intermittent failure to start as a solenoid/starter issue. I had them rebuilt. That worked flawlessly for 8 weeks. Then the intermittent failure to start resumed, but infrequently. And, it was easily solved by pulling the hood & taping the solenoid & starter. Yesterday that technique stopped working. I had to combine it with using a long screwdriver to connect the terminals on the solenoid which gives it a jolt. Then climb back in & try starting it with the key. After 10-15 attempts, climbing in & out of the car (with the top up/side screen in place BTW) it finally started and I got home. Of course, part of the fun was the bystanders it drew, full of questions about the car, the engine etc., etc (Folks, I just want to fix this & drive home). So I am inclined to replace the entire unit and buy myself some peace of mind. Hence my question: Is there a commonly available replacement starter/solenoid for a Crossflow at an Auto-zone type place? If so what model # does it carry and how do I identify the engine (My hunch is they have never heard of a Kent Crossflow). I can buy the unit thru RMSC but the price will be outlandish. Question # 2. After the car finally started I noticed I had zero oil pressure. All the other gauges worked fine. Oil is topped up, car ran great, no overheating, coughing, etc. Earlier in the day the pressure was fine. So I drove it about 7 miles, 15 minutes & finished my trip home. So how do I diagnose this? I am hoping its just a problem with the gauge or sending unit and the pressure is fine. Is there a simple way of testing the system? I am not a mechanic and will take it to a shop I trust but I don't want to drive it there (about 20 miles, mostly Interstate) if I am hurting (killing) the engine. If necessary I will have it towed but want to avoid that cost if possible. Thanks!

Another kit car? What about a Noble? You can get barely used ones for mid 60's-mid 80's and they will run circles around the Porsche. It sounds like you have gotten a great price. Last weekend I looked at the same /model/year/mileage car at a Porsche dealer's lot that was advertised at $54K, and I am sure they would deal . Given that a comparable new 911 is $90K, it's tempting. Since you aren't talking about selling the Seven, that makes it easier. But to my eyes, there is something un-inspirational, even bland, about that model. If I were going to buy a lightly used Porsche, I would get a Cayman S. However, given the price advantage you seem to have (probably what the Porsche dealer has offered in trade) I might end up with the friend's car too. I wish I had this problem:).

You have now entered the "moron zone". The amazing thing is he finally looks up, sees his car is missing and doesnt give it a second thought.

OK, I am dragging out and installing the arm restraint kit that I have but have been procrastinating on.

My hat's off to any parent with kids at home who can also pull off Seven ownership. I agree, a tow vehicle and trailer is a small price to pay given the alternative that I employed (no Seven til kids left home).

Guys-simplify-stop towing and just drive your Sevens. You will have more fun & adventure, make lots of new friends and accumulate many more stories. So what if you have a little tinnitus and back pain when you arrive? That's nothin an extra beer or two won't fix!

I am very happy with my Garmin NUVI 270. It comes with both US & Europe maps already loaded. We went to Italy for 2 weeks in October and were lost leaving the airport. The GPS (nick named "Lucy") saved our butts. We went with another couple and they were highly skeptical. They were loaded with maps and directions but we kept getting lost, only to have Lucy rescue us. It had "pedestrian" mode, so you can put it in your pocket and it will run for abt 5 hours on the built in battery. (Also handy in a Seven w/no cigarette lighter). We bought a recharger and refueled it at nite. It was amazingly helpful in Venice (no cars/roads, just a maze of narrow sidewalks). Again, it saved our butts. Of course, remembering to turn it back to "Automotive" mode is critical (wh/we learned as I was directing my co-driver down what looked like a side walk, which it was-oooops, it was still on pedestrian mode). Need a bathroom? In Europe they don't have fast food places every block so finding a "WC" was critical. Lucy always knew where they were. Ditto restaurants, gas stations etc. Here in the states I used it yesterday on my blat into the unknown. The system has a loud "voice" so I just turned where directed. I also used it to reconnoiter. It also tells you your speed and is much more accurate than the laughable device in my Caterham. It has a trip data function that tells you what your top speed was. Of course, in Europe, our daily challenge was to beat the top speed from the day before-we finally hit 103 mph-not bad for a 1300 cc diesel mini van loaded to the gills It can be hooked onto the windshield with a suction cup so you can watch its excellent visual directions too. Cost was about $500-worth every penny. I have a 2007 Accord without nav and use this all the time. Same with the Seven.

Blatting here also. Poor weather had kept me from doing much more than cleaning/waxing the car. Road & Track says when you are spending more time rubbing your car than driving it, you have a problem. So my 3 hour blat yesterday has helped restore balance to my driving:rubbing equation. BTW-I am a big fan of cold weather Seven driving. I can control the temperature in the vehicle with the heater as long as the top is up, unlike the summer when the car is almost too hot to sit in. Also, the raised top actually cuts noise substantially (a quiet 7?). And the engine seems much happier in cool weather.

Any updates/progress?

The Constitution applies to DC. So the citizens there enjoy free speech, freedom from discrimination, etc. But, the part of the 2nd Amendment establishing gun rights seems to predicate it on the need for a STATE militia. Since DC is not as state, the gun-rights part of the Constitution mite not apply. In spite of their frequent claim to being "strict constructionists", and not adding or subtracting anything to/from the Constitution, I expect the conservative Court majority will decouple the right to a gun from the language about needing a militia (Wh/were pretty much replaced by a professional army for the last 100+ years). The Court got itself into trouble over Roe v. Wade and abortion. It will not repeat that mistake since the gun rights folks are no less passionate. So you can count on the DC gun law, which is extremely broad (all hand guns are banned, period), being struck down. Regardless of any inconvenient language in the 2nd Amendment that would support the ban.

Slngsht: On the gun control issue: the US Supreme Court just accepted an appeal of a gun control case-first one in 70 years. It specifically will decide if the "right" to a gun is conditioned on the existence of a well regulated state militia, as suggested by the wording of the 2nd amendment. It has to decide that since the case comes from DC-which is not a state. Since it is not a state, there is no state militia and thus, if the literal wording of the 2nd amendment is given meaning, no right to a gun. Early betting has the DC ban on hand guns going down and the Supremo's deciding that the existence of state-regulated militias has nothing to do with the right to a handgun. In fact, I will give odds:).

Subtracting lightness?

Did this sell? Did you get your price?

Lovely driving up to that point, nice lines, little wasted track. Looks like it really started to go around the 7'40" mark. How long did it take to get all the f*&%ing sand out of the engine compartment?

I suspect that the percentage of Ron Paul supporters in the voting population is roughly the same as percentage of Seven drivers out of the general driving population. Return to the gold standard? No thanks Ron, we WOULD all be living like Atilla the Hun. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I like the guy who sees flying saucers myself. I say if you can believe in UFO's, your imagination has no limits. That's what I want in my president: a person untethered by reality, who thinks out side of the box and thinks really big. Sort of like Ron Paul in a lot of ways, but he thinks small.

Based on above, my 1700 Kent Crossflow weighs about 260 & the T9 tranny 90 for 350 total. I like to think of it as being stout, not heavy. My car weighs 1225lbs, or 875lbs for everything minus power train. The wheel/tire combo is about 30 lbs per corner so that's another 120 lbs., leaving the rest of the car at about 755 lbs. Lightness abounds.

I am no expert. I do trust experience over theory and you already are running considerable stagger w/no ill effects so bumping it up a notch may work great. At the track, I catch people, if I do, by a combo of late braking & quick turn in. I got nuttin out of the hole (93hp) so my car is set up differently than yours. I have 205x15 all around. I am toying with going to 225 in the back just to keep the tail more planted, esp in trail braking, which as with you, isn't always planned! Such instances have been the only times my car has suddenly wanted to go backwards, an experience I prefer to avoid:).

EburgE. What is the estimated delivery date? How do you replace the foam without returning the tank (cut it open yourself)? Is it your understanding that it just bolts right in? I am v close to making the same purchase, but may wait to hear your experience as to quality and performance issues. Mike