Alaskossie

I just received my May 2013 issue of Low Flying from the Brit Sevens club, and I see that our own Morgan Segal earned pride of place with the cover photo. It is his action photo of the orange Seven with a Stig-lookalike at the wheel....which I think he posted on this site earlier. Nice going, MoPho! That's what happens when you let a professional shark swim amongst us photographic minnows.... Alaskossie

xcarguy -- I guess you can call me a maximalist.....

I got the Caterham carpet pieces (one with a driver's side heel pad), and put three large nickel grommets at the corners and middle on each side. Then I got 7Speed's carbon-fiber floor panels, and using threaded aluminum spacer posts/coupling standoff pieces (don't know what they are actually called), tied each carpet down to the c/f panel beneath. I also put a grommet at the trailing edge of each carpet/c/f panel and attached a short piece of nylon webbing as a pull-tab, so that I can remove the carpet panels for cleaning, etc.. The carpet stays in place nicely -- no bunching up at all. Between the c/f panel and the ali floor is a thin piece of bituthene rubber roofing waterproofing (the builders call it "bitchathane") cut to fit, to eliminate any rattling or noise between the c/f panel and the ali floor. The vertical remainder of the footwell/scuttle panels have removable carpet/insulation rectangles bolted to them, for heat insulation. After hearing of one of the Sevens in the 2005 Brits' Tour running over an oilfield pipe wrench on the highway, I decided that having a c/f panel between me and the floor of the Seven might be a good idea -- I don't want any sharp foreign objects on the road slicing upward between my legs!

Sean, Sorry for the unintended hijack! Tom

Sean, Unfortunately, no c/f clams on Henrietta's car (or on any other Seven that I've seen photos of).. Before the untimely death of Richard Lee (Richard in France, "RiF" on Blatchat), he and I had corresponded re c/f clams, and he said he had some patterns made up but no time to do the production. Sadly for him and for all of us, he was prescient. Neil in Norway, are you still interested? I'm assume bsimon is, also. It would be good to get something moving on this, with one or more of the folks who responded by saying that they could get it done.

Bob, Do the bolts that hold your horizontal bracket to the rear crossmember coincide with the seat harness bolts/bolt holes? I assume they do.... Do you see any particular disadvantage associated with cutting into the rear shock tower covers to attach any of the commercially-available triangulated braces?

Al, What headlights are those? They look like the original Series 1 Lucas 4 1/2 inch lights -- but perhaps two driving lights. (The original S1 Lotus teated by Autocar back in '57 had one 4 1/2 inch Lucas long range light and Lucas 4 1/2-inch one fog light -- that was the total lighting complement for the car). Talk about minimalist....! Hope you are planning your trip for the daylight hours....

jlumba, bsimon on theUSA7s list may be able to help. I believe he has had his Type 9 apart a few times -- and he runs a custom machine shop; so he knows nut sizes.... Shoot him a PM

Croc, It may be too late for you now (with your plans already well underway), but for anyone planning a garage, or improving an existing garage, or just dreaming about a garage, here is an indispensable website: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/ The variety of clever ideas, elaborate restorations, unique approaches, Garage Mahals, and wise advice, etc. is just mind-boggling. A lot of you may already know of this resource; it can be a real time-consumer, if you get hooked (as I have been on occasion).

Dingo, Yes, perhaps, but the language barrier would incline me toward Banks, if I were to be building up a "new" Europa, or a recreation of Lotus 47, or something like that

Automoda, Is that a Banks Europa replacement body on your friend's car? At one time, I has a wild idea of building up a Banks Europa with Porsche 944 Turbo power. That bod/chassis-powertrain match would definitely have been one of a kind..... I save some photos of a beautiful Banks Europa with VX power (200 hp) that was on eBay, from Texas, in 2006. The seller wanted $29,500. This is what my dream Europa would look like....

Slomove -- OUCH!!

Based on my own experience -- yes. I have c/f front and rear wings, rear wing guards, nosecone, mirrors, headlamp buckets, airbox, cam cover, turn indicator pods, dash, and seats -- the works. (The nosecone is painted body color, not clear-coated). The only items i did not have clear-coated were the dash (since it was already installed) and the seats. The dash and seats are probably not so important, since they are not exposed to standing water on a regular basis. The valve cover I could have passed on clear-coating, but did it just for the looks and extra protection. All of the external body parts were clear-coated. And you'd be surprised how much clear-coat the c/f will soak up -- it took the body shop 5 or 6 coats on each item before the little air dimples stopped showing up. I only arrived at this decision after going to LOG 27 in Aspen, and seeing a Caterham with uncoated c/f fenders that had been driven up from Texas, through a couple of rain squalls. The fenders looked really bad -- chalky, dry, white splotches all over, and very hard to remove. Clear-coating has another benefit on c/f --it gives the part tremendous depth, and makes the weave almost 3-dimensional in appearance.

That is quite a spec! Must be fun to tick each and all of the option boxes....! Be sure you clear-coat your c/f rear wings, or they will retain moisture and grow chalky white spots.... Did you get c/f wings on just the rear?

Nick, I did get mine from Sevenspeed -- before Linds turned to another line of business. My foils are supposed to fasten around both the front and rear legs of the A-arm; the "airfoil" edge is not left unsupported, but is moulded in with the rear-leg support. I understand that the Sevenspeed foils can be fitted to the Caterham aero arms with a bit of twiddling; just haven't done it yet. Your message to USA7s prompted me to visit the Fluke site, to ask about a pair of c/f sidescreens. I received an immediate reply that Fluke is now being handled entirely through the MOG site in Germany. Did you deal with Fluke before this occurred? I've got some ideas about a c/f sidescreen with a removable lexan window panel).

Nick, And they've lightened your wallet, also.....("add lightness...") To install, how much disassembly of the front suspension did you have to do? I bought a pair of these, not realizing that I have the Caterham "aero" wishbones, and the spoilers were instead designed for the standard wishbones. I'm told that some trimming and fiddling with the spoilers can get them to fit on the aero wishbones, though. Haven't tried it yet. Did you fasten your spoilers onto the wishbones with any adhesive?

Hate to say it, but this is the original Fright Pig Seven......

lancylad, Are you talkin' centigrade, or fahrenheit? We only speak fahrenheit up here, so I have to think twice (and run a rough conversion in my head) before proceeding to either be amazed, or to wonder what's the big deal....

Terry, For any potential GBB participants from USA, they need to remember that they will need a valid, current US passport to cross over into Canada, and to get back home. We Americans often think of the Provinces as just some more interesting and more beautiful States, but there are some formalities involved..... and more than before 9/11. It is not difficult to get or renew a US passport, but it is not something that can be quickly done as an afterthought. Best, Tom Meacham Anchorage, Alaska USA

Mike, What you needed for the Elise was the reverse of Skip's "Electric Butt Extractor" -- a "Butt Inserter"? Tom

Mike, Good thought. In a Seven, getting in is like dropping into a slot. In a conventional car (one with doors, for example!), ingress/egress is more of a "swing" maneuver. So for daily use in a non-Seven, high bolsters might just be a royal pain. Have you thought of getting the Oxted Trimming seat pads for your Tilletts? I have them in my Seven, and am pleased with them. I fixed an adjustable lumbar pad to them with a Velcro strap, and it works well. Tom

Mike, I'm not worried about the physical fit of the seats in the car -- I'm sure they will go into a Miata. I was just speculating on how much of a"bucket" effect these Tilletts might offer, with their lowered sides compared to the high-side Tilletts in my Seven. (Of course, a broader range of people can fit into your Tillitts than can fit in my Seven!). Tom

Mike, Thanks for posting the photos. Did you get the seats from the US Tillett distributor (in Florida, I think), or from somewhere else? How do you think these seats would work in a car (a Miata, for example), where the tunnel and car sides don't form a close, adjacent "bucket" for the seats themselves?

My frame is just corner clips on plexiglas. But I will forward photos as soon as it is up in its intended location.

Tom, I know you're looking at routes, and mountain passes, etc. but there is one little-used Colorado road I'd like to toss in, if it works in a route plan. It is the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colo. Hwy. 92. i drove this in my Seven in 2010, and it was a fantastic 41-mile run (if it worked out, I'd turn around and run it the other way also). There are a lot of Seven-worthy roads in the book "The Complete Guide to Motorcycling Colorado," by Steve Farson (Whitehorse Press). This is one of them. Tom