Mondo

Some of the guys down south (L.A. area) have been up here (this is from Bakersfield to Glennville thru Woody) but I have to admit to having an awesome 100 mile loop that is very enjoyable, little traffic (though you do have to be on the lookout for an occassional horse/cattle trailers taking up the narrow road) and seldom a cop. There's not a lot of places to turn around so they don't even bother unless your a complete idiot. A lot of what's in the video is road that you can see a few corners ahead as you travel it so you know if a car is coming... hence a lot of the yellow line crossing:) Plenty of other roads as well as I'm kind of surrounded on 3 sides with mountains. Not to mention Buttonwillow & Willowsprings Raceways close by (now I'm just rubbing it in..). Only downside, no A/C, as it's hot as hell in the summer (plus a little smoggy at times). No ash here yet

Took my daughter's boyfriend out Sunday and he brought his camcorder. He was so excited he couldn't wait to post something on Youtube. So I gave him some pics/info to go along with the ride. He was dissappointed because some of the best twisties weren't on the tape... he hit "pause" instead of "record". The bad thing was he spent a lot of time mixing music and the sound of the exhaust and when we put it on Youtube they muted the sound due to copyright. I put one of their generic songs on there (but it sure lacks without that beautiful exhaust sound). It was recorded with HighDef so looks pretty good but you'll need a pretty high speed connection for it not to be jerky if you choose to hit the HD button.

Thanks Kevin, It'll definately be while before I can afford it but nice to know I won't have to re-invent the wheel. I assume you decided on the dry sump after your "how to JB weld an oilpan" class at Buttonwillow;)

V-Robb, Curious how it went today?

Can't wait to hear about the build! Any custom bracketry/parts from your current set up you won't be needing;) I'm finally getting used to the car, eliminated some squeaks, rattles & had it on Buttonwillow raceway! I'll have to take off the big windshield if I want any top speed though. Putting on an exhaust heatshield next week. Last thing to really fix is making a bigger opening on top of the fuel tank, for access, and putting in a good fuel box thingy(?) to keep gas near the fuel pump. Took my daughter's boyfriend for a ride today and he took his video camera. The guy was amped up when we got home! He's making a little something to put on Youtube shortly. Poor kid, he was embarrassed that he hit the pause instead of record on some of the more "entertaining" bits of road. I'll let you guys know when it's up.

I think my oversized tires and oversized windscreen keep me below 125:( But having done it at the track and on the road, I'll definately save it for the track as the roads I travel are not that smooth and the little dips etc.. make things too dicey for me in the triple digits. It's almost the exact opposite of my old sportbike... the faster the smoother on it.

I thought of incorporating this helmet light into the dash... then you could mount the unit more conspicously (though where you mounted it would give you the best protection front/rear) http://www.radarbusters.com/radar-detector-accessories/other-accessories/hardsystem.cfm

Once I get a little more padding in my seat I'll be up for multi-hour drives (couple hour freeway drive is borderline for me right now). Should be fun, sorry to miss it.

Having ridden in Kevin's car I can attest to his craziness.... now where can I find $7K to get my supercharger;)

Thanks guys. I have Falken rt615 tires, though a bit wider than normal (185 front & 275 rear), so I think I'll lower the pressure a bit on the rear as our roads aren't too bad. Also agree that the senses are heightened being so close to the rear tires and the backroads aren't the best place to be testing the limits of traction anyway. The cornerweights are based with me in the car and it's got a pretty low ride height, actually raised the car a bit after scraping my oilpan:( I'm way to inexperienced to play with spring rates and imagine Brian (WCM owner) knows much more than me. So, with all that, adjusting tire pressure should allow me to play around without getting things screwed up too much;) Nice to know I'm not off base, thanks again

Nice! My daughter is a senior this year and she drives my 67 Chev truck to school. But next year I plan on getting her a miata to drive to college (a little further drive). I like the fact that you can find one in just about any price range.

Thanks Loren, I'll try dropping the pressure a pound or two next time out.... really having fun with the car now:)

Well it's usually blazing hot around now but we have some overcast today so went out and had a great time in the foothills this morning. There's this one section that has over a dozen 2nd/3rd gear left-right turns that all about the same amount of degrees and are one after the other with no straight between them... great for trying to go a bit faster each turn. I've noticed that the front sticks like glue and the rear is the first slip, which I assume is a good thing. But I can't help thinking I could pull more Gs if the back was tuned in a bit more. The car is corner balanced with right at 50/50 front to back and only a few pounds diference side to side. Rear alignment has slight negative camber (can't remember off hand) and tire wear shows all across the tire (more than the front actually). I have 20lbs tire pressure all around in my 1450lbs car (plus my 200lbs). Even with the 275 width, the rear tires seem a bit loose... Don't get me wrong, the thing pulls some good Gs... maybe I'm just getting used to it and need to work more on smoothness and throttle control. But I think I'm getting a pretty good feel for the car lately. From my sportbike days, I know tire pressure can make a huge difference. My question is: with tire wear showing all across the tread pattern, should I still try lowering the pressure a pound or two? Will that be ok out in the foothills as I'd hate to roll the tire off the rim?

I'm sure you can find a ride in a Caterham near you (the guys at californiacaterham are great). I'm a couple hours away, in Bakersfield, if you'd like to try a WCM S2K (little bigger & 240hp honda motor)... pics in my album (click my name/profile). Lots of choices out there... plus you have to deal with California DMV, so I recommend doing your homework before you let emotions get the best of you. Being a previous sportbike rider (and living to tell the tale;) ), you won't be disappointed! These are kind of hardcore cars; creature comforts are more in tune with a motorcycle than a car in my opinion so keep that in mind.

The problem with full smog compliance is that it's not just the motor/ECU/catalytic converter.... you have to have the same transmission/ rear axle & gas tank (that's the hard one) that came with the origninal car... and no ECU errors (like speedo for example). If the State really wanted clean air they would just check tailpipe emissions for compliance and have the owner address gas vapors from the tank. That's what matters. And to top it off, I know of at least one rich bastard with connections that has no problems getting exemptions for the custom cars he builds.

A couple issues: I believe you can register an out of state car straight up if it has been registered and has over 7500 miles (not sure how the smog check works). Mopho can probably chime in on an out of state car with less mileage. You can build one yourself or buy a "turn-key minus" which is everything but the engine/trans, and then purchase a motor/trans from another business and have them install it. Then apply for SB100 exemption. This is what I did. The only problem is California only gives out 500 exemptions a year and they are gone in a matter of hours. So if you car is ready in March you'll have to just stare at it and wait until January 2nd (do all the DMV paperwork in December) and hope your DMV gets thru to Sacramento. Mine didn't the first time and I went a year on temp registration.... I've been told that they no longer will issue temps while you wait for another chance (though it seems they should give you back your registration money then). You can also buy a 7 that was made in the 70s and not have to worry about smog. I've also heard the custom/kitcar industry is pushing to up the allotment of SB100 certs. It seems the smog exemption will likely make the car more valuable if things don't change. Your best bet is to keep checking places like here, californiacaterhamclub.com and ebay for a California car.

I don't have a trailer but after scratching the heck out of the lower front side of my car due to the rear trailer height I bought one of these just in case I need to borrow/rent a trailer again. http://www.tiltahitch.com/photos/buick.htm

There are other 7 cars (and manufacturers) in Texas;)

Exactly! Probably have it made like this and then coat it (maybe radius cut one end to get close to exhaust tip. Still waiting for insulation material to show up.

That rear shot really shows how far they flew...

that was going to be my guess;)

Tom, I like the way you think.... we have very similar tastes

what would your hobby look like with an unlimited budget http://69.89.25.185/~trexsoft/t-rexsoftware.com/buzzandjackie/collection.htm

I just bought some heat material (expensive - $1.08sq. in) and plan on making a shield sort of like the one here. http://www.koolmat.com/side-exhaust.shtml It will be a lot shorter as the muffler is only 12 inches long (and the tailpipe a little more)will probably ceramic coat it to match exhaust. Don't think I'll go all the way forward to the collector due to the 2 sensors and the different diameters along the way (only exhaust pic I got)