DaveStruve

Agreed, even feels nice. Although I seem to burn my head a lot more frequently now.

Without a drivetrain included, I cannot figure out where the $8k price difference comes from. I was reading someone's r500 build log earlier today and cannot for the life of me fathom buying a kit especially in the US when they seem to have some of the worst quality control when it comes to packaging parts. Seemed like every day of his build he found a wrong part or was missing something all together.

Took my son up to the Barber Motorsport Museum today, for the first time since I started my build. Got to say I've got a lot more of an appreciation of Chapman's early work after doing mine. It was nice to see how terrible the welds on the Type 12 chassis looked, gave me hope that mine might actually hold together http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/IMG_1490_zps26062a46.jpg http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/IMG_1492_zpse953b837.jpg http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/IMG_1495_zpsded66b2c.jpg

So I bought them used off a guy, and while they have the probax labels on them, the bladders were removed. Not that that matters though, as the location for the pump tube would be almost impossible to route to a usable position... at least in mine. As for comfort, I like them a lot, they have a decent amount of foam padding in them, and make for a nice ride. My last 2 rides were 90miles each and there wasn't any real issue of comfort related to the seat. I think they would be pretty good for track. I think they are will be good for track, they are solid, come from another proven track car, and are setup for 4 point harness and can easily be converted for 6. Mine already came this way. I used this setup for the exige belts to create solid sub belt mount point. http://www.sector111.com/parts/track/interior/sys.cfm

Basically the complete running gear from the miata was used. You can just about remove the miata body and reuse everything thats left depending what your budget it. I made a number of upgrades. Motor Trans Driveshaft Diff and axles Uprights Brakes (i upgraded to wilwoods for some reason) Steering Column, Rack, tierods ( these all had to be modified to fit the new dimensions). As for what has to be made. Its a pretty long list, chassis, control arms, diff mounts, a ton of brackets, etc. This would be very comparable to a miata based westfield (Believe the chassis design is almost identical). Mine is made from the plans in the haynes "Build Your Own Sports Car" book.

I would have done the arched doors, but the exige seats prevented that from being possible. Probably can't see it from the pictures, but I took some rounded aluminum trim and wrapped it in black suede, then riveted it to the top of the tubes so you get a nice soft armrest. Engine is a mazda 1.6 out of a miata with a supercharger added. Put down 150hp on the dyno, with a total weight with full tank at 1390lbs. I borrowed a number of visual elements from various caterhams (csr, r500 and 650r) which is why it could be mistaken for that. My goal was to have a hand built car that did not look hand built. I've had it at our caffeine and octane car show in atlanta the last 2 months, and listened in to a number of peoples conversations, and its either referred to a caterham or lotus 7. It's fun to correct them and then tell them that it cost less at $10k to build.

I'm registered. Here's hoping it doesn't rain now.

Came from http://www.aerodynamix.co.uk They have a couple options to choice from and they are all pretty flexible. So you could fit it to just about anything.

I shall join you this year.

Thats a good question, that I don't know the answer to . There is nothing in the state law that says you have to have one, only that you need a wiper if you do have one. My understanding is they defer to federal laws for manufacturers, but that doesn't count for a hand built car. Thats my take on it at least.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot7_zps4daf0797.jpg Video from the road.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot4_zps8817ffa3.jpg http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot8_zpsfa273187.jpg http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot9_zpsd14ea89f.jpg http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot6_zps17522e2e.jpg

Hey guys saw a birken at Atlanta's Caffine and Octane with a USA7's sticker, and thought I would join and add my car to the mix. Just finished building this in June 2014. Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15496 http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot1_zpsc310e414.jpg http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot5_zps7e5ee4aa.jpg http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot2_zps2c2eb797.jpg http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/xcritic/Lotus%207/carshot3_zpsfb01cc14.jpg