Slonie

@Fabe let me know if you want to join the Bay Area 7s mailing list for drives!

I wasn't on the rally but I remember when this guy participated. Drove up from Socal to the Sierras, endured some truly epic weather during the rally. An inspiration to us all!

Also, before he did the Midlana he wrote a book Kimini which is more of a general book about doing that type of project. https://web.archive.org/web/20160614031923/http://www.lulu.com/shop/kurt-bilinski/kimini-how-to-design-and-build-a-mid-engine-sports-car-from-scratch/paperback/product-4858803.html

You will find a lot about it if you google "midlana car". The official website for the project doesn't exist anymore but is on archive.org https://web.archive.org/web/20260000000000*/www.midlana.com The designer is also on Instagram at @midlana1, however his last post was 4 years ago. There's also a thread on locostbuilders I believe. Another car to look at for possible inspiration is the DF Goblin. but the Midlana came out a lot more 7-like in the styling department, to be polite about it...

Welcome to the forum! I'm not sure if anyone has tried that here! Of course, if you're starting from scratch, have you considered transverse layout and stick the motor in the back? (You might also consider asking around at https://www.locostusa.com/forums/ or https://locostbuilders.co.uk to see if anyone's tried it)

I know I should have waited until I could actually drive with it before making another post, but my car is still mid-oil change (don't ask, actually I made a thread about that) so I just test-fitted it in the garage. The clamp feels okay but there's definitely flex in the whole setup given how far it extends out from the clamp. The little adjustable stabilizing arm seems good though. Finding a spot that doesn't block gauges is another story. Hopefully I'll get out for a drive to test it soon!

As promised, this went on sale for Give Jeff Bezos Money Day and I ordered one. I'll give a report soon! I'm hoping for superior grip strength on the lip of the scuttle without permanently mounting anything, but we'll see. Next up is actually wiring some USB power into the car for the phone. (I didn't go with a magnetic charger as wired charging is still superior in my opinion... as long as you remember to plug it in)

Looks like they’ve got free shipping on pairs or sets of tires in the US, so my only question is how much a set of the ZZS is going to run us and when they’ll be available…

Congrats! Hopefully your experiences will also be a resource for folks negotiating the SB100 process in the future. Enjoy!

That makes sense that the evacuator works well on it then! I'm not convinced it's the same in the case of the Zetec (but I haven't seen anything yet that lets me visualize how it works on the Zetec)

Hi folks. I was wondering if anybody had any experience with these two together. I feel like I potentially (okay likely) over-tightened my drain plus on the Raceline sump during my last oil change, and I am afraid to open it up in case it won't seal again. I don't want to sign on for re-tapping that hole and removing metal shavings from the oil pan just yet, so I'm trying to kick that potential situation down the road. Unfortunately, the topside oil extractor I'm using (Mityvac fluid evacuator) can only seem to grab about 2 qts/liters (out of the 5ish that should be in there). I think the double windage trays in the Raceline sump are keeping the tube from getting to the bottom. I did a bunch of googling and I think I found that @JohnCh and others have had success with these evacuators on the Duratec raceline sump, but I am just having a bad time here. I'm not sure where the Ford dipstick actually makes it to in this application but I don't think it's the actual bottom? Of course I was using the dipstick tube to insert the extractor tube. Photo from https://www.prevanders.net/europa/zetecoilpan.html showing the ford windage tray installed. Photo from Raceline showing their windage tray underneath Photo from Raceline showing the bottom of the sump with three partitions and the oil pickup tube installed: So for anybody who has had their tray off, I was wondering if the three separate "pools" at the bottom of the sump are connected in anyway or if oil is going to be stuck in the first and third pools. I also realized that I might be able to use the evacuator if I remove the front plug on the sump, which is meant for access to the finger filter. It seems like this would give me a straight shot to the bottom center of the sump as that's where the oil pickup tube goes to: Has anyone ever tried this? It seems like it's worth a shot, and low risk (unless I overdo the torquing on that front plug... I'll try not to! I believe the installation manual specifies 30 ft-lb for the drain plug and the "finger filter cover nut" which I assume is the front plug). Thanks as always in advance for any insights here. I did email Raceline with some questions, but didn't receive a response.

I gotta try that out sometime. How big of a difference does it make without the doors?

Example photo of when I saw an owner who chopped their carrier off. I believe they can re-attach as described by theDreamer above, although I don't know what they have under those caps. I've definitely seen photos of the removable setup as described. I stopped carrying my spare early on but keep the carrier for future luggage opportunities, and it gives me a LITTLE piece of mind that somebody will bump that before the rest of my car.

The fact that these kits come with the column-side "spigot" (as their site calls it) means you'll have an excellent opportunity to build a wall-mounted display for your extra steering wheels. We await the photos of that!

You should post the pics and videos that you posted on Facebook — The ones here are a little suspicious combined with the AI-massaged post text.

This is definitely thinking outside the box. How does the foam under the wheel arches work under suspension compression?

Just needed you to know that I love it!

Direct youTube link since the OP is a weird-tracking URL

Is anyone distributing those MRFs in the US? I take it it's the MT12s (available in four compounds?). Seems like the ZZS will return to being the tire to get for sporty street use (including coming in "correct" 55-series sizing), but I'm still eagerly awaiting the Proxes Sport R impressions...

You might not guess from looking at it but this one is quite spicy under the hood (purportedly "near-JPE" level of tuning on a HPC mill, plus a dry sump). Also according to our own member in the comments it's a 1994 Arch chassis so I'm not sure why/how they got a 1977 chassis tag on it. Cool car! Might fly under the radar just like that SLR a couple weeks ago, or maybe not considering how many comments are promoting the superiority of clamshell-fenders

I don’t know for certain but I’d throw a socket wrench on each side of it and give a tug on those, if it moves at all it definitely wasn’t torqued to spec (the spec is I believe 81Nm with a 3/4” socket plus deep socket, ie pretty darn tight) In my case I don’t think I could identify any movement by hand, but definitely noticed the lack of torque on this one during my bolt check. Scientifically speaking I also tightened every other rear suspension fastener as well as my differential mounting bolts, but this one was both the easiest to access, most loose, and most likely culprit for a clunk. One of my diff bolts was also loose — these warrant a torque check as well but don’t be like me and trust the modern IKEA manual for torque specs — older diffs have a lower spec and I definitely overdid mine before realizing this. Check the build manual that matches your car! Hopefully not a huge headache for future me.

Check the middle rear one first (very easy to access!). I had a clunk coming off throttle and that was the likely culprit as it was the practically the only suspension bolt I found that was noticeably not to torque on my car. You won’t even have to lift the car for this one!

Looks killer! What's the ETA for shipping? (and I assume they're going to remove the powertrain before shipping it?)

*checks the ever-updated drive log on Notes.app* Shoot, I've only driven about 800 this year. Those are rookie numbers in this outfit, I gotta bump those numbers up!

I was all set to buy the Kenu but then I saw this new Pioneer (yes Pioneer, for some reason) magnetic mount that also has a little adjustable stabilizing arm below the clip that might work really well on the dash. I think this might be the one, but I'm hoping for a sale.