lotusman1951

:cry: The 7 and 11 were designed at the same time. The way the numbers went was 1234568910 The seven was skipped or rather built and not made as a lotus. I belive it was the Clairborn Special The divided ford front axel from the 6 was used in the 8, 9 and 10, (I owned an 8 and several Allards that used this design). The lower wishbone and sway bared upper wishbone was part of the 7,11,12 and others, The truer Upper lower A arms with seperate sway bar was a common improvement in DSK and Dave Bean cars in the late 70s and used by Westfield in their early (1980ish), alloy 7s and 11s-Caterham did not do this until about 1988 (I also owned a Westfield 7 #7 built). The rear suspension of Series 1 7s and Clubman 11s was basically a 5 link system with panhard rod-not the POS A frame to the diff in the series 2 and 3 sevens, 7s and 11s could be odered with the deDion back in the day and Caterham went back to that historical connection in current cars. So the 7 and 11s are twins under the skin--The 11 rattles a bit more with all that bodywork and goes faster past 70mph

Got kicked out of my Yacht club--something about sexual harrassment-she was to old anyhow-SO rain Saturday and a very Very hot run along River Road to Harpers Ferry for lunch at the Cindy D-great cobblers-hear that COSSIE wind, Meet up at Hunters Inn POtomac Sunday 10/26 10;45 am Lotustalk folks notyified and will show--lets scatter those leaves----SCREAMER KEVIN

I have been called away on Saturday, Can't make it--Stupid Yacht Club BS:cry:

Washington Post claims rain on Saturday IF SO --I won't go-if dry I will-7s with wide slicks hydoplane on spit Kevin

7 interested folks from lotustalk, is this a sign?

Lets scatter some leaves FUN RUN. Departing from POTOMAC MARYLAND Hunters Inn Northeast corner of Falls and River Roads at 1045am and running 10 miles out to Seneca Locks/Homestead Farm and returning for Half Price Burgers Saturday special at Hunters Inn around Noon. Show up 1030 AM kick tires and leave by 11am. Kevin Kearney lotusman1951@yahoo.com DSK7/Cosworth YBM

:7head: 25k

:banghead: Perhaps taking Carol Smiths , PERPARE TO WIN, advice to use AN bolts on everthing is helpful, No stock Loti or Caterhams use AN bolts and from a high performance/saftey perspective are lesser as a result.

:7head: TONY WEALE Lotus seven Reatoration --a book, has alot of cross reference numbers

:7fume: Lotustalk gathering 3pm Saturday Total Wine Mclean Virginia-Kill that winter funk-don't get drunk, 7up

:7fume: Lotustalk gathering 3-4pm Total Wine Mclean, I'll be there

:7drive: Think better foam, closed cell, latex, lumbar support-its all contact cement and sissors-plus they wont soak thru when wet.

:7head: KISS Keep it simple s upid. Avoid RHD cars, 7s are low and you can't pass the typical rolling roadblock with the steering wheel on the wrong side. having owned 7s with 70-240hp most of the thrill is the closeness of the road, the instant steering and the ability to make children of all ages smile. Start at 100hp-get used to it, pass it on to the next newbie when you,if ever, become bored. Some on the list feel like they have alot invested, compared to what? Miatas? These are truly the cheapest, easy to maintain, truly joyous things in the motoring world. Go!

Hi All, I have been to the kit car show and the big Fall shows 6 or 7 time now over the past 20 years. The Big Fall show is overpowering, miles of stuff, the Kitcar/Import show is very doable in 4-5 hour, double loop-usaully a day trip for me at 125 driving miles from the DC area. If you are a real buyer/looker Friday is the day-all those Cosworth rods and Porsche engines get snaped up before noon on Friday, after that its leftovers and overpriced boring stuff. From the perspective of HOW MUCH? I would questimate 300 vendors of used stuff, 200 for sale cars, 100 new kit cars, 50 vendors of new stuff, 300 show cars on the field. The fall show is 10X that amount but ya gotta like 1953 Dodges-If you want a Meyers Manx or a toyota powered 7 its the kit car show. Its really a corn dog experience-its better as a buyer than as an observer, but if your hot for a Puma GT, Devlin, or Crosley Hot Shot-its the place to shop. Bring cash make a deal.

Sounds good, I'll be there, Kevin Kearney DSK7

I ment lumbar support. K

With limited suspension travel and little in the way of weather protection-most of the bench seats and many of the bucket seats in 7s need a more springy not water absorbant foam. Wet siut material/closed cell foam (sleeping bag pad) and latex foam in combination make for a happy bum-It was Chapman who designed the squished tush seat, flattening the bottom (methinks the type 22) in order to get the driver another inch lower. This stuff is easy to do by pulling the cover off and doing a contact cement glue up and you can build in lumbat support as well.

Before I make comments about the desirability from a historic point of view on the use of Lucas 576 headlanps (seies 1&2) verses as JC Whitney calls them Dune Buggy/tractor headlights commonly installed on 7's. Are there female 7 owners/builders out there ? If so apologies- The 576 lights are smaller than the DOT legal high/low beams, and have from a male perspective viewed from the front shape of a delicate female breast. They are lower on the bonnet line and blast a deep hole in the night, don't giggle as much and are often called flamethrowers-which my exhasut on overun accomplishes at dusk. All 7's look better with the as designed, historically correct, lights, legality is another matter.

My former DM/GT2 DSK competion chassis uses a very wide crossle/F2 A arm setup front and an offset by 1 inch rear axel and drivetrain (compensates for drivers weight). When converting it to a street car (it had been running 12/14 rim widths) I went to 15X7 and 15X8 to do kumbos at 205/50 and 225/50, track front and rear is 64 inches. The front required a Front wheel drive offset where the wheel hub is on the way outside and the rear (escort/cortina)was opposite that, a deep dish, with a 1 inch offset difference to accomidate the drivetrain offset without a spacer plate. I found and have been happy with (except for their weight) Star pattern CENTERLINE wheels. Very few wheel builders offer simular pattern wheels for fwd/rwd applications. So in a perfect world some full range wheel builder in lightweight alloy or a steel wheel builder that can deal with major offset differences perhaps from circle/dirt track worlds, Anybody know someone? I have cut wheel weight before on 7s and they fly better-cheaper than HP and more responsive.

UK prices about $2K with turbo/$5k for carbs, $6.5K Ebay, 12K plus from Cossie Cal.

Having owned several 7s-and other british exoctia, Allards/Cobras/Healy Slverstone, et al I had reduced my collection to 1 car and decieded to make it exceptional-your basic Series 3 with all the DSK mods. Anyhow-although rare in this country and as common in the UK as a small block Chevy is here , the Ford Sierra Cosworth is a remarkable choice for Sevens-A total Coworth build, over 20,000 produced and when in stock trim, Turbocharged and fuel injected 225hp, all steel internals and with the Iron Block 20 pounds heavier than a 1558 Lotus twin cam. From a bolt up perspective the 4 bolt engine mounts are the same as the kent and the bolt up of the bellhousing is identical as the base block is the 2000cc/not 2300cc Pinto. Staying with the turbo modified commonly to 350hp (chip/injectors)-A stock RS500 sierra put out plus 500hp and modified beyond that 800plus Hp is out there. With 45-50 webers 175-300plus is available with rev limit of less than 9000 rpm, In my street car the power/torque experience is strong to 4500rpm, wild to 6500 and tunnel vision to 8500, My combination of 9.3 cr, 48 webers, tuned exhaust is 240hp on pump gas with a 4.4LSD-my top speed is rev limited to 133mph at 8500rpm. With Ford based 4 cylinder engines you hit a HP/$ wall past 150hp-after that its steel rods and crank. The same critical components are standard ,cheap , and available used from ebay UK or new from Cosworth California-several times less expensive than the stuff available for Kent/lotus engines. From my perspective of HOT FOOT having owned 7s with LHD and left hand exhaust the right side exhaust on the Cosworth is a delight-the engine is accepted as a replacement for all ford based engines in some vintage racing groups. mounts to the 4 or 5 speed transmissions . Keeps me off those tippy motorcycles. Kevin Kearney Cabin John Md.

:_deadhorse: Hi, been messing with my windhield choices, I have spent time behind the traditional airbrake, airbrake with wings, brookland and brookland with fairings , recently without anything/naked. Its generally a question of self punishment, these windshield experiences. I have been using 1/4 plexiglass about 12 inches wide by the lenght of the shuttle for a beautifully sculpted windshild/fairing. It throughbolts to the base of the shuttle left/right and with two small clips mid section. Its a beautiful curve like those used on some Clubmans Lotus 11s. Without any center support it bends slightly at speeds over 120mph,as a sort of wild moment warning. Decent areodynamics, lightweight, cheap, good looking, eliminates side winds/backwinds. Basically a lotus 11 plexi-windshield adapted to a seven-smooth.-Paper template available for Series 2/3 Kevin