powderbrake

I would appreciate a schedule of the USA7s planned activities for the time period. I would like to register for LOG 29, but don't want to commit to some of the stuff if it means missing out on a USA7s sponsored activity.

Karlo, welcome to the forum. Looks like a ton of fun. The open cockpit, cycle fenders and great power to weight ratio make it an attractive car. I hope you can do well and sell the kits. The fact that it does not have a front engine which is mounted behind the front wheels, takes it out of the seven category, and puts it in the Atom ranks, but we have a great affinity for the Atom style vehicles, and their owners. It's all about small open cars with great handling and performance.

This past summer, somewhere in very northern California, in my Vette, in a 60 mph zone, I'm doing a speed that I won't divulge, when the Valentine One goes off , Iv'e been hit by radar from behind. I slam on the brakes, look in the rearview mirror, and see this CHP pulling out of the weeds next to a railroad overpass that I had just went under. He pulls me over, and says, "do you know how fast you were going", and I replied, "Sorry officer, I don't know, because I didn't have my eyes on the speedo" He says he got me at 73, and asked about my driving record, I told him the truth , that I hadn't had a speeding ticket in 20 years. He went back to the car, checked my plates, and wrote the ticket. He came back, and said, I giving you a ticket for 65 in a 60 zone, and since it's only 5 over, you can go to traffic school on the internet, and have the record expunged. I thanked mim for that, and he said " do you have a radar detector? to which I replied yes. He said, " I saw the brake lights the instant I hit the trigger, so I figured you did, keep it on, it may save you the next time, have a nice day". I paid the $150 fine , did the traffic school on the internet($35), and paid the data transfer fee to the court ($35). I was lucky.

That is making a beautiful car simply butt ugly

I have been wanting to attend a LOG , so it's fine with me. It's only 500 miles to Birmingham. I have made my hotel reservations at the Wynfrey, and have cancelled my Branson hotel

Thank you Martin, for the terriffic job on the calendar

With 100% solids content, I assume the Wolverine 25 mil thick epoxy floor would be a lot more resistant to lifting than a layer of epoxy paint. As to the holes in the tiles, yes some really small pieces can fall in them, they are about 1/4 diameter in my floor, but the pieces can be fished out with a magnet, and you can always pop out a couple tiles to get to them.

The epoxy,in general, lasts very well, it's just those damned spots under the tires that lift. I do some welding as well, so I covered an area with two 4 X 8 sheets of 1/4 inch tempered hardboard around my welding table. As to why we do anything to the foor, it is primarily for appearance, but also includes ease of cleanup. I must admit, that an oil spill of several quarts may have been easier on an epoxy floor. I had that problem, but grabbing a claw hammer an a screwdriver, I popped up the tiles in the area, and blotted it up with newspapers, then popped the tiles back in place. :cuss: I was angry with myself for the stupid action that caused the spill. Another recommendation re epoxy. When I epoxied my previous garage floor, I added the non-skid quartz granules. BAD IDEA !!! You spend a lot of time kneeling down when working on a car, and it sandpapered holes in the toes of my work shoes. I usually wear knee pads when working on the car, as the sand is too sharp to kneel on. The gloss epoxy without the granules can be pretty slick when it's wet.

I can only report bad results with epoxy paint. In al three instances, it lifted due to the hot tires. 1) a relative had it done by a handyman with the epoxy paint from Home depot. 2) A friend had his done , the man cleaned and acid washed his floor, used the same paint, and it failed in a year. 3) I personally did my former garage. I scrubbed the floor twice with simple green, then twice with the citrus cleaner provided in my epoxy kit from Ucoatit.com and I acid washed it with muriatic acid twice (believe me, that is no fun , even with a mask on) then applied the ucoatit. It failed in 6 months under the tire patches. That was with over $500 in epoxy cost. I made up my mind that I would never epoxy another floor, and that I would use tile instead. In my new home with a four car garage, I used tile, which has lots of small holes in it, I can hose it down and wash it with a mop, and the water drains out through the holes, and under the tile out the garage doors. I got the tile from Motormat but the only link I could find to them is http://www.jnkproducts.com but they are out of stock. I paid about $2.50 per square foot, and with two grandsons, I installed nearly 950 square foot of floor in less than one day. You can cut it with a knife to fit to the walls, and there are "ramp" pieces for the entrace edges. Google garage floor tile..... there are sources as low as $2.29 / sq ft. Mine are made from a polypropylene, so are impervious to oil, brake fluid, paint thinner etc. I am happy with my floor, and when I move, I can take it with me, as it snaps together. It is also very easy on the feet, when working all day on the cars. Go for the tile, you will never be disappointed. The only warning is when lifting a heavy car with a floor jack or on a jackstand, put a piece of plywood under it to keep from denting the plastic. This can happen with my 7000 lb Tahoe, but NEVER happens with my Seven. here's some pics of my floor http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1977840075_8ftbay.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1735136186_16ftbay.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1094044720_lift.jpg closeup http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1650376545_IMGP4155.JPG

The pic I posted from the 777 Tail of The Dragon USA7s cruise was purchased from Killboy.com, who included a copyright notice on the cd they supplied. It grants private use rights, but asks they be contacted for commercial use. I contacted them and they were happy to grant approval for the useage on the web site and on a calendar, as long as they are credited with the pic.

Tail of the Dragon 7/7/07. This picture, taken by Killboy.com, personifies what fun in a seven is all about. A twisty road, good weather, and a group of friends in their sevens. But who let the fifth seven in the group without any yellow paint? http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/67080581_img_6577adj_edited2.jpg

I just received a notice that PC Magazine was stopping their paper magazine and it is now available only on the web.

Caster is your friend. Taking your hands off the wheel at 100+ mph, it's nice to know it keeps going straight ahead.

This is a very good video. It pits the R500, the Atom and the Lotus 2-11 against one another,I won't reveal the outcome, but watch the drivers hands and see which car requires the most inputs. Watch both Part 1 and Part 2.

Note it's like a bike engined seven: Hold down the reverse button to go backwards. It's like an older F1 car, the drivers feet serve as the front crumple zone.

It's in the teens, with freezing rain here. Thanks for rubbing it in about California. Well maybe we will have a white Christmas, which isn't the norm for the non mountainous portion of California

It now sits in the garage with a battery tender keeping the battery in shape, while waiting for the snow, ice and cold weather to go away, which will probably be sometime in March or April. In November, I got the urge to replace the rear suspension rod ends with ones with seals. That's done, and it doesn't need any other work, so it sits and waits for warm weather.

Mazda: I measured my WCM radiator. 22 wide X 12.5 to 13 tall tanks, so the core is about 12 1/2 X 18 2 1/4 core thickness, two row cross flow inlet upper left. outlet lower left It might be a Griffin, but I'm not sure, I can't find a name on it, as it is installed. the 2 1/4 core matches a Griffin 1"" tube size two row radiator with 3"tanks the part number is 65763, and it is signed by the welder and two assemblers Maybe Brian or some other WCM guy can fill in more info.

Randall: Welcome to the USA7s forum. We are very happy to have you here. The write up was terrific. No, it's not too long, the longer the better. You seem to be a good writer, perhaps you can contribute to the forum's newsletter. You have an the wonderful experience of a seven on a very long trip with no problems. While these are fun cars they are in need of occasional tinkering. I agree that a trip through the mountains in the West in a roofless car is the best way to see this country. I am happy that your first experience with your seven was so positive for you. Drive it like you stole it!

I also have Ultrashield seats. I added about 1"of foam in the seat bottom, added 1/2" foam to the seat back, and an additional 1" in the lower back (lumbar region). This makes it OK for a 250 mile day. I have the 20 degree layback drag seats, so they may be a bit different from the Road race seats.

You are truly at the fun part of seven ownership. Congratulations !!

I used a material called Cool It from Thermo tec Cool it I believe I got it from Jegs or Summit. I lined the inside of the passenger footwell and the passenger side of the car, and also the exterior of the footwell. I also have Jet Hot coating on the headers. My wife tells me it never gets hot in her footwell. http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/605798209_IMGP4620.JPG http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/686893469_IMGP4631.JPG Note the shiny, aluminized mylar goes towards the heat source, the aluminum covered side goes away from the heat source I then covered it with a corrugated plastic used for signs, very lite and replaceable http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/1570843928_IMGP4622.JPG

Great looking car, welcome to the Ultralite ranks. I like the windshield for passing the registration procedures, and it will work well for long trips, but the small screens work well for everyday driving. It is one serious looking car. "yoh, when I walk in the valley of darkness I fear no other car........"

very similar, but this one had 4 carbs http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/1768223807_IMGP1710.JPG Loren: The Ferrrari rod was absolutely the finest finished car I have seen. Here's a few more pics link to the uilder's website Moal Coachbuilders http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/2043668745_IMGP1582.JPG http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/339926619_IMGP1583.JPG http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/441335575_IMGP1585.JPG http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/1578613439_IMGP1590.JPG http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/1016994267_IMGP1592.JPG I liked the formed into the sheet metal accent ridge , from hood to tail http://www.usa7s.net/ASPNETFORUM/upload/1159899157_IMGP1630.JPG

Front plate ?????? We dont need no STEENKING front plates !!!! My front plate for my 7 is in the trunk, and on the vette , it is covered by the corvette cover plate. 14 years driving between the two cars and no tickets, so I guess i'm lucky