11Budlite

Unusual seeing Stromberg carbs on a Lotus Seven... Bruce :7drive:

Good to hear Kyo! Weren't the Series 2 frames the lightest (and weakest) of all the original Lotus 7 frames? Just a thought in case you were going to make an exact duplicate. If you don't mind me asking, where did you find the plans? Bruce :7drive:

It looks like it's for sale again: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1965-Lotus-Series-2-Seven_W0QQitemZ270294177106QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270294177106&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245 Bruce :7drive:

Congrats Jeff! Good showing all year long by both you guys! :thumbs: Bruce :7drive:

Kyo - If you check out the Simple Sevens site you'll find a little info on the connection between Pat Prince, Tom Robertson (1977 SCCA National Champ), and Dave Kaplan (of DSK cars). Here's the link: http://www.simplesevens.org/DSK/history/dsk11.htm Or it looks like you could still contact him at Prince Race Car Engineering (815) 625-8116 Bruce :7drive:

James, I'm far from an expert but my original thought would be the 2.240 1st gear. I guess it would depend on final drive and tire size, but I would load in all the specs in a gear/rev calculator and see what you have. Something like this one which has a 6-speed version: http://www.our-nest.co.uk/Caterham/html_files/Files.htm Bruce :7drive:

That's one lucky grandkid Gary! :thumbs: I've also taken my 5 and 7 year old niece and nephew out for rides and they love it! Belted in, eye protection, relaxed pace, light traffic, and driven extra defensively should be fine. Bruce :7drive:

Thanks for sharing Skip! As a British car owner for over 30 years I can definitely relate to these!! Bruce :7drive:

Much better! Thanks Mazda!!

Thanks for sharing Steve, looks like a fun time. I need to make the trip down to NJMP to check it out at some point. Bruce :7drive:

Gary - When it starts getting even colder try installing the side curtains, it makes a BIG difference. I've used them several times in 30-40 degree weather and it's to the point where I might not install the heater. Nancy and I drove 1 hour to the shore on a 40 degree morning and she was surprised how comfortable it was...and she's a Southern girl! Here's a shot of the Birkin parked at Hammonassett State Park with the side curtains: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/75540224_20081025_0043R.jpg "Me, the car, the corners. That's all I'll see." - I agree with you Mark. Even took a few extra turns around the rotary on the way to Hammonassett just for fun! Bruce :7drive:

Good ones! :lol:

My Birkin with a Zetec has a 180 degree thermostat installed now, but I keep thinking it might run more efficiently with a 195 degree one. Even on the hottest of days in the northeast, the only time the cooling fan comes on is if I'm sitting in traffic for a couple minutes. The rest of the time it runs at 180-185 degrees and the oil temps are about the same, although it takes about 2-3 times as long for the oil to reach that temp. I'm sure the stock Zetec in a Contour/Focus uses a 195 degree thermostat. If I ever decide to install the heater I'm sure that would be more effective as well. What are other people using in their cars and is there any disadvantage to running a higher temp thermostat on cars that are tracked? TIA, Bruce :7drive:

"except it is really fun" :iagree: Bruce :7drive:

Nice pics! Not really a pumpkin, but it's halloween related. My best "buddy" is a yellow lab so I've always been partial to this one. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/85477415_dog_halloween_2.jpg Bruce :7drive:

Glenn - Are you sure it will fit on the SVT motor? I know it fits perfectly on my ZX1 motor, have seen plenty on the ZX3 motor, with a slight modification to the front mount it fits on the ZX2 motor, but I haven't seen one mounted on an SVT motor yet. From this picture it looks like there could be some clearance issues with that aluminum bracket above the #1 exhaust manifold: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1363202515_EngineSVT.jpg Maybe that's something that's not required on a Caterham installation. As far as if it's worth it, I guess it depends on the car. On my Birkin it really cleaned up the coolant plumbing and gave a lot more clearance to a frame member that was touching a rubber elbow at the original thermostat housing. The only "quirk" that I found in the installation was the drilling of the thermostat to allow some coolant to circulate until the thermostat opens. I took an idea from Folis J on the Birkinowners list and fabricated a stainless line that allows a small amount of coolant to bypass the thermostat and go directly to the inlet of the waterpump. From what I can tell this works more like a modern cooling system compared to drilling the thermostat which circulates the coolant through the radiator when it's still warming up. Here's an old photo of the front of my motor showing the stainless line: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/363103151_721282905_IMG_0861.jpg Sorry I don't have a photo from the exhaust side at work. Bruce :7drive:

Looks nice Ian! I agree with you about the quality, it's very impressive. Someday when I don't have so many projects going on I'll start working on it. Did a quick search on eBay and there's a couple for sale from Japan: http://cgi.ebay.com/TAMIYA-CATERHAM-SUPER-SEVEN-BDR-CYCLE-FENDER-1-12-SCALE_W0QQitemZ140254677055QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116 http://cgi.ebay.com/TAMIYA-CATERHAM-SUPER-SEVEN-CYCLE-FENDER-1-12-SCALE-NIB_W0QQitemZ260294000021QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item260294000021&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177 Bruce :7drive:

I think you are correct about them not being available anymore but I think $3800 is a bit much. I bought one of the BDR cycle fender specials many years ago for about $130 plus shipping from Japan. Still haven't done anything with it other than read the instructions. Could be one of my better investments! Bruce :7drive:

Wish I could make it... :ack: Bruce :7drive:

Sweet looking ride. Enjoy! Bruce :7drive:

Nice job Dave! :thumbs:

Not a fan of the wheels, but the rest of it looks nice: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1965-Lotus-Super-Seven-Series-2_W0QQitemZ270285481995QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270285481995&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245 Bruce :7drive:

Jerry - Thanks for the great update. Looks like a fun event! Bruce :7drive:

Another UK site, Burton Power, has a date code table that looks like the same info. http://www.burtonpower.com/technical_1/ford_date_chart.aspx Gary - You have a ZX3 in your car don't you? I would assume it's a 2001 model year but I don't know about the "L" in the second character. And maybe the US engines have (7) numbers instead of (5) because we're much bigger than that little island country across the pond! As far as the yellow engine paint, it was the typical hot rod yellow. If I could do it again I'd use silver, gray, or aluminum because that yellow doesn't cover worth a crap and took me way too many coats. :ack: Bruce :7drive:

The s/n should be on the boss that I circled here: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/589627137_IMG_0035.JPG I'm not positive on the dotted numbers but I would think it's a factory marking and not a rebuilders. Bruce :7drive: