SENC

To be reasonable, an offer would have to be above your asking price! Put it on craigslist for $4k and it will be gone for over $3k in a week. If I didn't have a trailer, I'd drive down there myself!

Thanks Chris! I'm going to work on it a bit more this weekend, so let me get a bit more done before I start giving how-to advice... but I will say the guidance I was given on starting with a standard rotary polisher, 7.5" wool pad, and Nuvite IIF7 was spot-on. With the size and depth of scratches in mine the Nuvite IIF9 (more aggressive) would probably have even been better, but to really remove them would require wet-sanding and my goal wasn't getting it to perfect - just to a good state of clean. And because of the flaws, I could probably skip the final polish with the IIS. I'll let you know how I get along this weekend. The big test will be how it holds up to prints, etc. and how often it needs to be polished. I've gotten a recommendation from Mike Phillips (autogeek detailing guru) to try Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Wheel Coating to seal the aluminum, so will be trying that in hopes that I can limit polishing to once a year. I am told that polishing aluminum gets easier every time you do it, as the process helps "heal" aluminum. I'm skeptical (and lazy), but we'll see.

Progress! Gets me excited about getting my bits returned to start reassembly! And, yes, that is a proper car on proper blocks!

Thanks, it was kind of fun to see more and more reflective detail. My concern with polishing is that it may show fingerprints more than oxidized as I get in and out, remove/install the bonnet, etc. I've had a recommendation from a detailer to use wheel coating designed for alu wheels to seal it, so may give that a try - if I find I'm having to polish or clean more frequently to keep it up, it will go back to the oxidized look quickly. My intent is to spend more time using it and less time cleaning it!

Restraint. I remember that, vaguely. Not generally seen amongst Seven owners. You might rethink your decision now, while there is still time. Otherwise, welcome to the roller coaster (the old school pre-Nader kind), you'll have more fun than you thought possible on four wheels!

Firsts efforts on the rear of the car - I figured if I didn't like the look it wouldn't be too visible with the spare in place. In sequence are the before, after compounding with a 7.5" wool wheel and Nuvite IIF7, after polishing with the Cyclo and Nuvite IIF7, and after polishing with the Cyclos and Nuvite IIS. As mentioned previously, this car was originally painted all over and scraped by a prior owner around 2008. Deep scratches from the scraping along with other dings and imperfections from 55+ years of life won't be removable without major sanding (even if then), so I knew the result would be far from perfection - and debated a long time whether polishing would be an improvement over oxidized state or just highlight the flaws. In the end, I'm pleased with the result and will continue on - though it is a laborious and dirty job!

well done!

This is the transport I want for my Seven one day... much easier than towing.

While waiting on the engine boring to be completed, I talked myself into polishing up the aluminum... so prepped today by removing all the fiberglass. Looks nekid!

Not the VIN, but a frame number is stamped on the frame, beside the master cylinder bracket (at least on my RHD). And here is a link from the lotus 7 register site, with a little more information... Lotus Seven Register - Miscellany (lotus7register.co.uk)

You might reach out to Mick at xtraspecialsevens.co.uk. The PO of my S2 Seven had him replace the loom and he did an exceptional and clean job. He does a lot of Seven work in the UK and may have a diagram. Very nice and responsive. Mike Ostrov, of Elite fame, Tony Ingram (lotus7.com), and John Donohoe (simplesevens and also a contributor here) are probably the most knowledgeable stateside and may also have leads or recommendations if you reach out to them. Keep us posted!

Not S1, but there are a couple S2 wiring diagrams in the download section... may be useful if you can't find an S1 manual or diagram.

Love those pics by the ocean - where is that?

Quite jealous! I should have pistons this week, so hopefully will get things back together before it gets too hot and sticky to enjoy - but did get a nice ride in my Elan today, in between painting exhaust manifolds and cleaning intake manifolds. The weather looks nice the next few days, think I'll take it to work in honor of Ross's drive up the East Coast.

Agree with this 100%!

If the various engine and machine shops I've been chatting with recently are right, anything for updating or modding combustion engines. These particular shops are the old school, mom-n-pop type shops and they have been surprisingly similar in their outlook, based on the fact that it is already getting hard to get many parts they could get easily just a year ago. Don't know whether their suppliers are amping them up, but they blame it entirely on recent and coming EPA changes, exacerbated by the Suez canal and Texas ice storm impacts. According to one of them, as an example, the reprogramming and various system deletes that have been popular among diesel truck owners has been all but prohibited and that they can't get parts or assistance any longer (legally). Guess I missed my chance on my 2010 F250.

Made a rig to reinstall my coil springs. Little by little getting things ready to get the Seven back together. These are what I believe to be the original 60s Armstrong dampers and springs, which all tested in spec. The vice grips are just to keep the compression hooks from slipping down the coils.

That is excellent, thanks!

Was just checking out this site and found it quite useful - a number of good articles and lots of good information, particularly for early Seven owners. Well done to Bill! I've encouraged him to join here, too. Henry

Nice! And welcome!

You make a good point. It really isn't that hard to imagine the Lucas/Lotus gods causing a plague of generator issues with bravado like that!