11Budlite

One of these years Nancy and I will make it over to the vintage weekend at the Glen. But my youngest daughter is getting married on Saturday so I don't think I can make it. If I did go, I think it'd have to be a one way trip! Hope you have fun!

I know Jack P. (aka Birkin42) is putting a Honda S2000 drivetrain and a DeDion rear in his Birkin. I've been very impressed with what I've seen of it so far. He still has some work to do but you can check out some build photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10827861@N07/page4/

Hi Dave, We'll be heading up early Saturday morning and I assume we'll park in the Lotus corral as well. Look forward to seeing you again!

Neat! I want one that looks like this:

Sweet looking ride Rune! Thanks for posting the photos.

Listed as a S3 Twin Cam. No affiliation, etc: http://www.cars-on-line.com/34993.html

Nice looking ride, congrats!

I'm running 300 lb front and 175 lb rear with the MSI heim joint trailing arms. My car originally came with 150 lb rear springs.

No affiliation, etc: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lotus-1989-Lotus-Caterham-Super-7_W0QQitemZ270444813334QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item3ef7c45c16&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

Details here: http://www.limerock.com/content/events-rolex-vintage Nancy and I have tickets for Saturday the 5th. Anybody else going?

Great article, thanks for sharing. I was surprised to find out about the modified Lotus Seven Series 1 racing against Grand Prix cars and having a qualifying time 9.5 seconds back from Jim Clark's Lotus 25 at the Rand GP at Kyalami in South Africa. Pretty impressive! Article here: http://www.lotus7register.co.uk/springbk.htm

Not sure if this one has been posted before but it looks nicely done. No affiliation, etc: http://www.lotusowners.com/ForSale/CHCAT2/index.htm

Kiwi, Sorry I don't have all the info you need, but I think the overall extended length should be 17". There were several US cars that had rear AVO shocks with I believe 17.5" extended length, that would let the rear axle hit the frame on full extension. It might be worth a search on the yahoo.birkinowners site.

I know of a few people running Zetec's in the 220hp range. Dunnell seems to have a pretty good reputation and have several different Zetec options. I think when you start going over 220hp you're starting to go into more of a race set-up. Check out their site here: http://www.dunnellengines.com/zetec_engines.php

Looks beautiful Gert. I really like the new color!

What a ride! That video reminds me of the saying "Any landing you can walk away from is a good one..."

Jeep Wrangler yellow?

School bus yellow?

Since I'm at work and can't view any of the pictures, I'm just guessing that it's John Deere yellow?

No affiliation, but the car does look familiar! http://lotusowners.com/ForSale/GICat/index.htm

Geoff - On my intake, I have three ports in the same location that you have (2) arrows to in your picture, two of which are capped off and the third one has a hose that goes to the fuel pressure regulator. That is definitely not the same as the two areas that were in my previous photo. I've taken another photo from the rear of the intake to show the location of the IACV and EGR bosses that are plugged. This photo should show it more clearly. If you spray carb cleaner in the throttle body, yes it will bog down some. What you want to do is spray it around the intake manifold and gaskets, basically anywhere downstream from the butterfly that would have vacuum. If there's a leak anywhere the engine should smooth out and the rpm should change. You have to make sure that all open ports that are not used are plugged and that any gaskets are sealing properly. You should also check that the accelerator cable is not hanging up anywhere near the pedal or the throttle body. If you can't find anything else causing the high idle then you can remove the throttle bracket upper torx bolt and adjust the idle speed. The way I understand it, you usually only have to set the idle once on a FI car and the IACV should fine tune from there. But since on a Zetec Seven installation the IACV is removed, that ability is no longer there. When I was running the stock FI setup, I remember the idle was really low when cold and only got up to the normal 800-900 rpm once it warmed up.

I have let him drive it in the past...maybe it's time for a refresher blat! :driving:

Geoff - Good advice by Martin to check for a vacuum leak. I use a can of carb cleaner and spray around the TB/intake area and listen for a change in rpm. Pay particular attention to two areas at the lower part of the intake manifold (closest to the block) where I believe the IACV and EGR valve bosses are blocked off in the typical se7en installation. The second picture shows the two plugged off areas on my manifold. The following picture is from my '96 Ford Contour ZX1 set-up. The idle adjustment screw is in the threaded boss with the orange sealer/locktite. I would think your set-up should be similar.

Hmmm, it looks like I'm going to have to be more careful where I leave the keys to the Birkin now! :toetap05: Actually the WRX is Laurens. All Dad had to do is co-sign for the loan and she's paid every penny on it since. I love it when kids are responsible! :blueangel: My choice of drivers is the Birkin, Honda Ridgeline (tow/snow vehicle), 64 MGB (yellow lab transporter), and occasionally Nancy's 2003 Mini. "Bruce, I think you need to direct your daughter here to buy a Seven for herself. Otherwise you will lose out...." Croc - If she wasn't getting married in September and didn't just buy a house, then maybe she could. Maybe I can convince Andy (her fiance) to trade in his hot rod Turbo Celica on a se7en! :cooldude:

That's the quote from my youngest daughter Lauren thanking me for letting her and a friend (also named Lauren) take the Birkin for her first drive. She wasn't intimidated at all and did great! Nancy and I followed her in her WRX and took some photos. It's pretty neat watching somebody else drive your se7en!