SR27.Seth

:bigears: Now that is the kind of information this forum is all about- you could'nt pay for that gem. Now, Mr. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil- let us hear your final chapters- that should end something like: "... and with my plate and Regi in hand I drove off to Tybee island to watch the final glimmers of sunset illuminate the vast Atlantic." :thumbs:

Funky- the first 'winged' seven I have ever seen with a Busa motor- A nice mix of old skool and new school. I think some guys in Vancouver, B.C. make one similar. looks like a very clean job.

I'm so dissapointed that I have a family reunion to go to in Montana that weekend-I am going to miss seeing two powerhouse sevens (one in a nimble, high revving hummingbird sense and one in a ..um- what animal represents a 300hp 1400lb car?..sense.) I don't know what the racing criteria is, but if they are lapping VIR I hope the R1 has enough gears to pull 120+mph. GOOD LUCK TO ALL.

I feel your pain brother- But- it could be worse- I had to go through the same kind of B.S., but in two languages and I had to trailer the car to the 5 different appointments. The car had more miles in the back of our truck than it did on the track (the only legal place we could drive it) But I finally got a VIN #, plate and registration and the 'safety' inspection was a joke. Good luck- no matter what the hurtles- it will be worth it in the end.

Some fuel pumps have issues if any resistance is in the fuel line between the pump and tank- some pumps will suck and push- others only push. When we build the SR27, for the first tank of fuel I put a large micron, reusable filter before the pump and a regular small micron fiber type after the pump. After the first tank of fuel is used I pull out the pre-pump filter, because for 280+hp we need the full capacity of the fuel pump. I would say in your case- use two filters.

I found that the key to keeping electrical connections working is to use a corrosion protector when they are assembled and spray everything yearly with a electrical system water repellant- I prefer Repell, made by a company called Drummond and sold through Lawson Products. I had an MGB that I drove year around in the salt and snow- good test vehicle and after replacing all of the Lucas tube connectors with new ones coated in Ox-Gard I never had another electrical issue. In fact I have had more problems with my Ford Sierra rear tail lights and BMW electronics than I have with older british stuff. If you disassemble those flashers and glass bead or sand blast all of the parts then coat them during assembly they will give you years of service. Or as Al mentioned we could sell you a set of flashers- I would just need to know what color to powder coat them b/c they come in a garish chrome finish (and yes when we re-assemble them they are corrosion protected, we try to do everything 'proper'.

Careful with your right foot Bob- when that big bitch of a turbo kicks in you better be pointed in the right direction! Congratulations.

What kind of price are you talking about? I garauntee that a professional head builder could get more flow from the head on your car than the Cosworth will have And I am not saying anything bad about Cosworth- I have a picture of Kieth Duckworth over my work bench- but your still getting something 'generic'. When we have head work done by John Parker Racing, 'simple street' head work runs about $1500-2000, while race heads cost anywhere from $3000 and up. Results are certain- Given you can tune the motor!

No, that's FWD style- We call that 'going Acura' on the corner. If you look at the roll axis of the S2K it obviously starts higher in the rear and ends lower in the front (proven by this photo). It may be a (distant) Lotus derivative, but it's no Cortina.

That's a very interesting car- obviously Donkervoort inspired. Does anybody know what they sell for new?

WOW- Great car porn- thanks for sharing- imagine being crouched down on a superbike thinking your going flat out and getting past by a Caterham- with a passenger! And you have to love that torquey N.A. motor sound So Al- when is the club going?

What in God's name are you driving?! A 1958 Lotus with a plywood bench seat?! Granted, our 7 or to be more precise, our 27 is not as comfortable as my Volvo, but it's a lot more comfortable than 90% of the classic british sports cars I work on and test drive every day (and that other 10% belongs to the Jag MKII and MKX) And - If you drive with your lights on (which you should) the Seven is 4x more visible than a Bike- plus being loud and blatty is a safety bonus!

One more thing- Those Yoko RA32's (now discontinued and replaced by the A048) are great tires in the dry- they come in 3 compounds designated S M and H- the S or M is a must for this car, the H compound never gets enough heat in to get grippy and they are downright scary when cold. OH- and they all SUCK in the rain- you might as well have slicks on. And on more of a personal taste note- ditch those Alfa mags on e-bay- dated 80's styling at it's best (or worse) A beautiful set of Panasports (which I can provide you with at a very reasonable cost ) will always look timeless.

It looks pretty solid- I have driven a hell of a lot worse on 500 mile trips. The one thing that I personally don't like to see is that aftermarket MSD ignition set-up, I know some honda guys that race with those reliably, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the original Toyota ignition system- it was very simple and reliable. The more times you have somebody cut and in some cases 'hack' into a harness the more possibility you have for wiring issues down the road. Is the ECU completely stock? I guess the one thing I would be worried about on a long trip (other than wheel bearings and alligators) is that the ECU was chipped or poorly tuned for the street and that at low rpm highway speed it will run cool and rich and foul the plugs- If it is running a stock computer and still has the O2 sensor- your golden.

Seeing as how you can't buy a kit sans motor and drivetrain for $9500 and I LOVE the 4AGE 20valve motor- I say go for it, you just have to find a source for alfa suspension bits. Does it use the solid rear Toyota axle? BTW- I also love your city- it is by far my favorite destination in the U.S.

Hello All- I am planning a vacation in the end of July and will be driving from Calgary, Alberta south through Glacier National Park to Kalispell Montana, then back north to Calgary- Just wondering if any of you have driven in or around the park and had any advice like which roads are full of RV's or where I can find 318 corners in 11 miles:) And No- most unfortunately I will not be driving a 7, but I will be scouting for future trips!

Al- When I used to crew for rally teams, we had a set of Longacre scales that we would travel with- although light weight, they turned out to be quite delicate- the plastic plugs broke off of the cables almost immediatly and the plastic computer and LCD took a beating as well- and we were careful with these. Since then we bought a set of Intercomp scales- they are heavy at 25lbs each, but they seem indestructable- and the computer is housed in metal not plastic, as are the connectors- I think they are some sort of "pit" series. I do agree that shipping is going to get very expensive, and a bit risky with UPS. Anybody who wants to make the drive to Montreal, I'd be happy to put your car up on the scales. Maybe I can bring them to Run N Gun- depending if I fly or drive there.

Smashing a car sucks, but in racing it's inevitable, it hurts even more for guys like us that drive our streetable cars on the track. This is why we are going to build a race only car with quick frame and body repairs in mind. In my experience of repairing bent frames on thin tubed steel chassis cars- it is much easier to remove all the body work, start cutting off as far back (or in this case forward) as the damaged pieces go- then weld in new tubular sections- if the damage did not effect the diff mounting or rear suspension mounting (check the alignment of the entire car before you pull anything apart!) then the job is quite easy- just cosmetic really. I wish Kevin lived closer- I'd love to help out so I could be sure to see you at the Fireball and Run N' Gun.

Hello, my name is Seth and I am a Car-o-holic. (everyone in unison "Helloo Seth") I'm from upstate NY, but currently live a 'cross border' life between Montreal and NY. I am a Mechanic, or to be P.C. an Automotive Technician, started when I was 14 with an MGC barn find, 15 years later and I am still restoring and modifying MG's and anything else either British or old (in car terms I consider the 1980's to be 'old'). I was a die-hard Rally fanatic, I still love rally, but that year the SCCA cut off it's Rally program I got miffed and started building a GT series race car for somebody, that led to a love of road racing. I saw my first Caterham (the real McCoy) ironically enough in Montreal when I was just a young tourist there. I can still see that 20 sec. video clip in my head: I was on the sidewalk, warm, perfect summer day and it was the sound that caught my attention- I am sure like most of you we only catch 50% of what our wives are saying to us, but put a great sounding motor a mile away and our head tilts, ears perk up and our only focus of that point on is to see where that symphony is coming from- anyway, In retrospect it must have been a carbed Ford x-flow, with barely any muffling- my eyes tryed to focus on it as it takes off from a light, but the car was back lit by the sun, it reflected off the polished aluminum body and I could just make out the yellow nose and fenders- a striking first impression! That moment has carried me to where I am now- just finishing the first SR27 prototype with my limey business partner Len and Daniel Man (owner of Deman Motorsport). Nice to meet you all and I look forward to our chats.

Do any of you have some pointers for importing a new or used seven clone (full running car, not a kit) into the country? Shipping is not my concern and registering the car in NY seems to be a cinch, but I am concerned about the EPA and Customs. Any experiences out there? -Seth

Nice car! I've never heard of this Miata engine management system before, are you installing this because it gives 'tuning' control over the Miata lump? 1992, that is still a 1.6 liter OBD I, right? I my experience with wiring diagrams, they usually show the terminal at the ECU end, as if you would back probe the connector if it were plugged in. But to be safe is there any way to test at least one of the connectors, maybe from a continuity test of the ground?

The above comment was assuming that it is indeed coolant in the cylinder and not gasoline (which would only happen if your fuel pump (elect. or mech.) was pumping in gas and overpowering the floats in the webbers ie: flooding BTW..The gurgling coming out of the Weber (if indeed the engine was at TDC of compression) would be a leaking intake valve- for which you need to remove the head to repair anyway.

As a mechanic, I would recommend immediatly draining the coolant, removing the cylinder head and drying out all of the cylinders. Then replace your head gasket and inspect cyl. head and block for damage and absolute flatness. DO NOT let the engine sit in the state that it is in- your cast iron rings will rust to the cylinder walls and you will be looking at a hone and ring job instead of just a head gasket replacement. Good Luck.