11Budlite

Nancy and I went for a nice 45 minute drive this afternoon. Beautiful weather but a few too many people on the road. I like the early morning drives the best. Bruce :7drive:

Great result Keith and Janel! Congrats :thumbs: Bruce :7drive:

Looks like we're good for October 4th at 9:30am. Meeting for breakfast at: Olde Blue Bird Inn 363 Black Rock Turnpike Easton, CT 06612 After breakfast a tour through the countryside, route to be announced.... Bruce :7drive:

Geoff, The reverse switch (black in the photo) is mounted to the rear near the shift lever housing. The switch that is a few inches in front of that is the neutral safety switch (yellow in the photo) which wasn't used on all the T9's. The speedo drive is below the neutral safety switch and at an angle. My Birkin uses a speedo sensor on the driveshaft flange so the tranny is plugged. If I remember correctly the reverse switch should have a plunger-type arrangement and the neutral safety switch should have a ball-type arrangement. See the photo below: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1917459643_IMG_9500.JPG Hope this helps, Bruce :7drive:

"They lied about the release date." - The barstards! :toetap: Did they give you a new release date? Bruce :7drive:

From the CT DMV website: "WINDSHIELD - Shall be approved Safety Glass, AS-1 certified, and bearing markings stating AS-1. Should be at least 10" vertical with unobstructed view. It must be free of breaks, cracks, pit marks, or discoloration that would impair a driver's vision or create a hazard and not tinted darker than 70% transmissibility. Cracks more than 20% of the width of the windshield or more than 3" from the edge of the windshield, or pit marks 3/4" diameter or larger at the line of sight are cause for rejection. Windshields as low as 7.0" may be allowed on fixed roof vehicles provided that a 1" by 8" strip type, wide-angle viewer is installed at the top of the windshield and sufficient headroom is available. Windshields on open body roadsters may be as low as 7.0" if the top of the windshield is 29" or more above the drivers seat measured 5" forward of the seat back with the seat adjusted to the rearmost and lowermost position." I would think that at a minimum a couple Brooklands screens should be used with goggles. Bruce :7drive:

Hope you're feeling better Jim! Keep us updated on your progress. Bruce :7drive:

Thanks to Doug's efforts it looks like we are going to shoot for a Saturday October 4th meeting in Weston, Ct. The preliminary plan is to meet for breakfast at 9:30am, with hopefully a group drive to follow. The rain date would be October 11th. It looks like so far we have five people that will attend: Jeff – Tolland Bruce – Wolcott Doug – Orange Eric – Westport Paul – Old Greenwich More details to follow... Bruce :7drive: Holy crap, I just reached 500 posts!

My registration process was a little more difficult than Paul and Doug, but it's done now. I had the license plate mounted to the front bumper for the inspection, but the bumper mysteriously fell off on the way home and I never got around to re-mounting it. I've seen plenty of LEO's and even had a stern talking to by one of them, but he never mentioned the lack of a front license plate. I think he was actually surprised that I had all the required paperwork! Bruce :7drive:

Here's a link to their website: http://www.notasportscars.com/ If you check out their history, they had some neat looking cars. The hillclimb cars, Formula Junior, Consul, and Streamliner all look pretty cool. Bruce :7drive:

Bill - That would be Jeff U, forum name "R1 Seven". I've seen his car in person and he's done a great job on it. :thumbs: Bruce :7drive:

7evin, Another post on blatchat with a good discussion on top speed. Specifically, if 200 mph is possible: http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=155703&pn=3&ps=15&c= If you go to page 3 of the thread and look for a post by AdamHay, he has a 10-item list that looks to have some good ideas in it. I would think that anything that you can do aerodynamically would give you the best bang for the buck. You seem to have a good handle on the horsepower requirement. They even mention the 100mpg Caterham that I had posted before: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=2444 Here's a photo: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/475014114_1006214696_1_jul26_mpg_1.jpg "We would like to see the 7s title be held here in the USA7s group." - I agree Kevin, I hope you do it! Bruce :7drive:

Good looking car with some nice upgrades: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1967-Birkin-replica-Red-S-3_W0QQitemZ260284972605QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item260284972605&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245 Bruce :7drive:

Hi Doug. I sent you my email address and I'm definitely interested. I had started a separate thread in the "Northeast" section but there was no response yet: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=2941 "Steve T - she's a blast and am already thinking about how to up the horse power!" - It's a slippery slope Paul!! Bruce :7drive:

Thanks for the updates Tom and Stan. 107 degrees - yikes!! :shocked: Bruce :7drive:

Good job Russ, looks like a fun time!! :thumbs: Bruce :7drive:

Well, I took the alternator to Autozone to be tested. The guy couldn’t tell me what was wrong with it, but he could tell me it was NG. Any alternator problems that I've had in the past have been with the diodes so if I get a few extra minutes tonight I'll check those. The new alternator should be in tomorrow (no charge) so I'll soon be back on the road! Has anyone ever seen a bulb like the one above and do you know where they're available? I forgot to take it with me when I went to the parts store. Thanks, Bruce :7drive: PS: I found a nice explanation on alternators here: http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/alt_bwoh.pdf

Here you go: http://www.goingtothesunrally.org/ Bruce :7drive:

Thanks for the assist Al. Nancy says Hi! Appreciate the help Cherik. I'm off to the garage to check some things out and maybe take the alternator back to Autozone to be tested. It's a Nippondenso alternator that was originally fitted to a Geo Metro. It's very compact and I think puts out 55 amps or so. I changed it from the original Bosch to move it to the intake side to get away from the exhaust heat. Here's an old photo: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/721282905_IMG_0861.JPG Sorry I don't have a picture of the back with wiring connections. It has the main power B+ terminal, plus a 3-wire connector for the ignition, sensing voltage, and the charge light. I checked out the bulbs and they are 12V/40ma tiny little things that measure 31-32 Ohms. Here's a bad photo of the bulb. Don't think I've ever seen one like it before: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1241235318_20080906_0001.JPG I'll let you know when I find out more. Thanks, Bruce :7drive: PS: I'm going to need some great weather for many years to catch up to you Cherik!

Mazda, Have a fun trip! Are you going to be able to meet up with any of the local Clubbies? Bruce :7drive:

Thought I'd follow up on Doug's idea for a local Se7en get-together. It'd be nice to meet some place to eat, swap stories, go for a drive, or whatever. Would love to see how many Caterhams, Westfields, Ultralites, Stalkers, Locosts, Birkins and any other Se7en-type vehicles there are in the vicinity. Original Lotus Sevens would obviously be welcome as well. For anybody that doesn't own a Se7en yet, you'd certainly be able to come along and check out the cars and hitch a ride. Saturday or Sunday would probably work best for me and I'd prefer no heavy rain, hail, or snowstorms. If there's any interest out there let me know. Bruce :7drive: PS: Surrounding states would be welcome too!

I agree with Tom. Start with Lotus 7 and go from there. Pretty soon you'll be able to tell the people that are genuinely interested and the ones that are asking because they can't believe someone would actually drive that "thing" on the road. Bruce :7drive:

Thanks Al. I posted it on the Birkinowners list but not the usa@se7ens list yet. I'll be able to investigate it further tomorrow morning. Bruce :7drive:

Welcome Doug. Nice choice on your Caterham. If I didn't already have my Birkin, the one you bought from Sevens and Elans would have been at the top of my list. Nice enough specs and you gotta love British Racing Green! "My parents still shake their heads thinking I'll grow out of it...I don't think so." - My parents gave up a long time ago. All they say now is TRY to be careful, you're not as young as you used to be! Bruce :7drive:

Congrats Paul! That picture at the Wethersfield DMV brought back many "fond" memories! :ack: "If you or Bruce would like to get together some weekend for diner food in a neutral town to swap stories, please let me know." - I've been thinking along the same lines Doug. Maybe I'll start another thread to see if there are any lurkers that would be interested in meeting up too. Bruce :7drive: