Joe Petty

Yeah, that's quite a thrill cutting that exhaust header hole in the nice fresh aluminum! I recall mocking up the header with a coat hanger wire to see where to first cut and ten making 5 or 6 larger and larger cuts to get the pipes through with minimal "damage". My frame was drilled horizontally through the bottom square tube in 2 places in the left side floorboard. Just a hole through the frame, no welded sleeve or other reinforcement. The aluminum is close to the side of the frame at the bottom, and I don't recall needing to fabricate any spacers to keep from pulling the aluminum against the frame. Bolt from the inside through the frame holds the "vibration isolating" mount and the stud holds the muffler. The rear brackets for the front clamshell fenders attach at the front of the foot well and those bolts use sleeves to keep from pulling the aluminum against the frame. Good Luck!

Wow! Sounds like a survivor! I'm surprised at the white with aluminum finish. Not aware that any were sent out in anything but solid colors and very few choices. The ones you see now-days with polished aluminum (like mine) have probably been reskinned and are kept shiny with modern polishes. My understanding is that kits were sold to avoid the 50% purchase tax on complete vehicles. Exported vehicles were exempt, so it made sense for Lotus to only assemble cars for export. The potential USA market for the "7 America" and a reasonable (cheap) entry level racer made the cars attractive. For SCCA racing, this car should have had a roll bar, clutch scatter-shield, cutoff switch... You may find some of these items or evidence that they have been removed for street use. Try and figure out why the wide rear fenders. It was common to replace the Triumph sourced rear axle with something more robust, which may have meant a wider rear track. Check that front and rear wheel bolt patterns are the same. I'm sticking to my bonnet defroster theory on the twin bumps. I don't think BMC engines make a lot of heat and louvers or side NACA ducts would be an easier (?) and more conventional solution. Could this have been used for ice racing? As I mentioned before, lots of date codes on Lucas electrical equipment. Most of them will be within 3 months of the ex-works date. Also, my 6/62 frame is U1249, so you would think that U1148 would be earlier. For my car I have history from 1971 to present, but (thanks to John Watson and Andy Graham) I have the original owner's name and address from 6/62 but have not been able to locate him or any one in the 1962-1971 gap. Like these folks have said, root around and look for anything that may possibly be helpful in filling in provenance. Regards and Good Luck with the project!

"The Universal Radiator ID tag looks correct." Yep, mine has the same font with the little end caps on the "U", "1" and "4" My frame was still in original paint and it was slightly lighter than what is typically on older cars. In fact, it is almost a perfect match with Rustoleum Charcoal Grey!

And the adventure begins! Yes, John Watson is THE MAN! I'm not sure of the current state of Lotus Archival support and Andy Graham, but John and the Historic Lotus Register should be the starting point (www.historiclotusregister.co.uk). Also check John Donohue SimpleSevens (https://simplesevens.org) site. Lots of good reading and tips on the pre-Caterham 7s 10 years ago I found U1249/SB1478 (through a post in USA7s - Thank You!) in west Texas and drove out from Florida with all the info I could find about Seven verification and hoped for the best! Your target looks good. The Universal Radiator ID tag looks correct. It's welded on the left floor brace and has the correct style stamping... The rear fender looks wide and that front bumper is definitely unique, interesting to see what is under the covers! The bonnet bumps are very odd but given the fog lights and Colorado location, I would guess that they served as defrosters. Never considered the 7 for snow duty, but studded tires and trials heritage... Always be on the alert for fakes, but considering the history, I would seriously question how much effort someone would put into faking a relatively low value 60 year old car. Much easier to claim distinguished ownership or racing provenance! My car had been registered in California and had 2 aluminum Cal DMV assigned VIN tags, one riveted to the lower left frame rail in the engine bay and one glued to the top of the rear axle. For "your" car, the U tag and the Lotus Components plate should be the only IDs from the factory. Take careful note of any others you might find! My car (U-1249) was ex-works (that means sold from the factory) in June 1962 Hopefully, John Watson can determine exactly when your car was ex-works and possibly other unique info. Info is available from several good sources, but John is the Gold Standard. USA cars are easy since back then we changed the body style every year and you could check the date on the taillight lenses, not so with "foreign" cars! In fact, my car was listed as 1967 model instead of 1962 since that was when it was imported. When you are taking pictures, try to find and record date codes. Lucas items usually have month and year. I have found them on generator, starter, wiper motor, voltage regulator, fuse block and even the turn signal flasher! Gauges are also dated, but items under the cowl are not easy to see. Serck made radiators and fuel tanks for the 7, look for their metal tags. SimpleSevens has lots of pictures, so you can quickly see differences over the years and mods people have made. So Good Luck and enjoy your adventure! Joe

Good time last year and great to meet you folks! Really a nice venue and well run event with many very rare cars. I'll be down here in Sanford for the Central Florida club's British Car show at Henry's Depot that weekend, so carry on! Regards - Joe

The lever with the round ball is the rare part. The collar, plastic swivel, spring... are shared with the Cortina and fairly common. Trouble is that the Cortina shifter uses a flat sided ball to engage the shift rails and that just will not work. The blowup parts picture shows a plastic cup and spring that sit down inside the long internal shift rod. I have never been able to locate those parts, so mine is metal to metal. Good Luck! Joe

See the "Lotus Seven S2 Shifter" topic on how I cobbled up a shift lever. Good Luck! Joe

Please keep us posted on your progress. You have attracted the right people on this topic and they are getting harder to find. You may still have some "challenges" getting all the right pieces together! Good Luck! Joe

I believe the heater was required for defrosting the windscreen, long before heated screens were available. Any heat that made its way to the occupants was unintended! I don't see any evidence that my S2 ever had a heater or the slots cutout for the defroster. Lotus Eye: Inflammation caused by wind/cold due to looking around a fogged up windshield. Lotus Elbow: Soreness due to driving with elbow hanging over the siderail. Joe

NSU Ro80, Rotary engine well appointed 4 door sedan. Excellent condition! Never saw one before and I thought it was French!

I try to setup a trip every year to a "destination" car show and this year I trailed my 7 up from Florida to the Euro Fest. Very well done by the organizers and of course beautiful weather! The "Hybrid" theme was kind of quirky, but brought out several cars I had only seen in pictures (NSU, Bitter, Scimitar...). Maybe these are common in the Greenville area, but that was part of the reason to travel and see something different. And, I got to meet Bill and J and put faces to fellow forum members! Great event and well worth the trip! Joe

Some shows may have specific instructions. If there is a judging team, they will probably inspect the engine and may even want to see lights, wiper, horn... Generally, you are on your own. Looks around and see what others are doing. Most of the C&C folks are gearheads and may have never seen a 7 much less the mechanics! Hood off - Yes I have 2 square pieces of tool box liner/cushion that I put on the clamshell fenders to keep the front corners from gouging into the paint. If anyone asks to help my standard reply is " Thanks, but I would rather do the damage myself". Once off, I stand it on end behind the car straddling the spare tire and secure to the rollbar with a bungee. Guest seating - Yes Kids do great! Only problem I ever had was a 2-3 yr old who screamed when his folks tried to take him out. Be careful with grownups, many don't know realize getting in is like going down a slide and get their inside leg trapped between the tunnel and the steering wheel! Good Luck - Joe

I built my own exhaust: Maniflow 4-2-1 header, 1 3/4 flex, tractor muffler, various sleeves... I can't find the receipt, but the muffler is 1 3/4 in and 1 1/2 out, the can portion is 13" x 3" It is a standard tractor muffler that I bought online somewhere. These mufflers are straight through and kind of loud. I stuffed some expanded wire mesh inside to baffle to an acceptable level. The flex pipe has sleeves welded on to adapt to the different size pipe and is also welded to the muffler. The flex pipe and sleeves is 12" Maybe not the most elegant arrangement, but saves trying to get the pipes to fit and not leak! Not obvious in the picture, but there are 2 short brackets welded to the inside front and back of the muffler can that bolt to rubber mounts to the frame. Good Luck! - Joe

My original Weber carbs for my 1962 1340cc were long gone before I ever found the car. The CoP shows: Weber 40DCOE2 12059 & 11795 Good Luck!

My 7 uses a driveshaft with a straight collar like that black one. My transmission is the "Internal Remote" which is slightly different from yours, but I suspect it is the same overall length. Thing with these old cars is that the owners pickup parts at swap meets or wherever so they have them for the rebuild. Unfortunately, many "English Ford Line" cars use very similar parts and it takes a sharp eye or a good reference book to know what interchanges! I got 3-4 disassembled pre-crossflow and crossflow engines with my car. I sorted out 3 complete sets of different length pushrods, multiple valve rockers, oil pumps,... Looks like you have a good engine/transmission pair, be careful adding anything or swapping stuff. That one rear axle looks to have the proper emergency brake ball crank and rods, don't lose track of that! As always - Good Luck! Joe