Marek

A knife, once dull, is no longer a useful tool. It becomes just an implement for randomly hurting yourself.

What is the largest Seven? I believe a Rotus is 1124mm x 3660mm x 1665mm (HLW). Basically a SV with an extra foot of length and a smidge at the hips. But parked side-by-side, the differences seem greater. My suspicion is the somewhat squarer body (especially the nose) exaggerates the difference.

Anyone with Stormcap experience? I've toyed with a custom spec'ed Stormcap as a more useful car cover for my Rotus with a speedster windshield.

Rotus might be unique in the use of a rocker arm front suspension and in theory it should be an advantage. But Caterham never went down that road and others on this forum have commented that they are not fans. Any comment @Croc, Slingshot, or Mazda? (or others?)

Well summarized. I too visited the factory, but was too young to serious consider buying one at that time have only a set of original literature. I've been in contact with a former long-term employee who may have fixtures, molds, and documentation and have considered visiting them to make note of what is available. Feel free to encourage me (I have family in the area.).

For those of us for which winters are serious and not a source or drama, mild conditions can be unsettling. Good to hear condition have returned to something more reasonable and familiar.

McMaster-Carr carries coupling nuts in 3/4"-16; though also not cheap. The real answer here is longer rocker arms to reduce the number of exposed threads. I'd like to give the factory the benefit of the doubt by saying the exposed shaft is intended to make the balljoint sacrificial in a shunt, but that seems optimistic for an early 80s application.

A shot of the hood louvers from the factory. I have no reason to believe this was a standard fitment and could be unique to this car. There is an air-air intercooler below the rear most louver section and the car does struggle to stay cool under sustained boost.

The aforementioned balljoint sleeves. They are the handiwork of the previous owner. The pictured balljoints are "Moog Problem Solver"s. I can imagine the Problem Solver or your F150 ball joints are sufficient on their own. Here you see the original ball joints and the problem they suffer. (Note that the nut in the second picture was later correctly wired!)

Welcome back! I don't think I've seen one of these with louvers on the side of the bonnet or that close to the cowling. What is the engine in the car?

Tough to overemphasize @Croc's comment on the implications of aero to driving style. In my time engineering for semi-pro and pro teams, this was probably the toughest hurdle for drivers to develop through. The old driver mantra for aero is, "The faster you go, the faster you CAN go.". That takes a leap of confidence made even more difficult by the fact that grip from aero load is neither constant or even linear to speed. And then getting your head around it for a low aero car does not mean easy success with a high aero car. There were frequent examples of drivers making the move from FF to FF2000 or S2000 (wingless to wings) but then really struggling when moving to high aero cars.

Yes, a NSU Ro80. In the end I contracted with Gartho Logistics to transport the car. Now just waiting for some snow to be moved so the truck can get to the car.

Ditto on that advice. I shipped a car from the northeast to the midwest last fall and started with a Uship quote. Stopping the spam has been whack-a-mole. For that transport I used Gartho Logisitics and would use them again. I'll report back on what we learn this time. As others have commented, the trailer is the easy part and it is the truck which is the hurdle.

1000 miles. Akron, OH area to north of Wichita, KS.

Are there secrets to renting a truck and trailer one way to bring your new found, non-running, car home? Few companies appear to rent trucks for towing and most want to give you a moving truck. We only need to trailer the non-running car. The moving van is an option as is paying a carrier. But my son is trying to keep down the transport cost as a percentage of acquiring the project (which is not a Seven).

Mine is just a "Seven". Or when I am referring to it, "the Seven". If anyone searches on "Seven car" they will reliably find all sorts of good information. If they persist, I will add, "The car was built by a US company in Maryland called 'Rotus' and has Mazda rotary engine. It is similar to a Caterham or Lotus 7.". At that point, most of the conversations turn to rotary engines. (Fact: 82% of car guys under 36 are star struck by rotary engines.) The Rotus name is simultaneously confusing, marginal, and too clever; so I don't dwell on it.

Mountain Detective, S3 Ep3: At 25 minutes in, the protagonist arrives at a villa where outside is parked a red Seven. A couple walk up, gets in, you hear it start, and they drive off. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15085688/ https://www.pbs.org/video/cold-case-eecifw/

From my years in direct-drive karts, I can tell you they only turn by unloading the inside rear wheel. The rear grip is high enough to over-power the front, causing the kart to push. But the engines are rarely at a rev range where there is enough on-demand torque to rotate the kart with the loud pedal. If you don't unload the inside rear, you will scrub the fronts into the corner and find yourself braking far sooner than everyone lapping faster than you. Doing this successfully requires both a setup and line as @Croc suggests. I have never attempted this on a conventionally sprung vehicle. I'd expect doing it consistently in differing corners would be very difficult.

Others will have better insight into mileage. My Seven came with a set of 888R and I replaced them based on age (and a decision to reduce the front tire width). Based on experience with the 888R on other cars, the aged ones on the Seven were well past their best days. I gather this is common on Sevens that aren't tracked - to replace on age rather than wear. @wdb makes a good point on aesthetics. My Seven has a more modern look than most and the Toyos do not look out of place. I don't think they would look as good on a more classic Seven.

Tires are always a very personal choice, and so I can only share my own experience.... I am on the second set of 888R on my Seven in dry, damp, and light rain. The grip has always been predictable. Be careful when they are cold and when the road is wet. But once they are warm, you are fine. Do note the Load Rating. I believe all 888R are XL, which is well above what any Seven needs. And so you will want to run low pressures. Ideally, probably lower than you think.

Penciled in. Maybe three tries is the charm.

If I were to buy new, this is what I'd look at. For light & low cars, a tilt deck is so much nicer than using ramps.

Previous rig. Honda Ridgeline and Featherlight 3110-17'6" with brakes. A nice trailer, but definitely not light. We were trailering all sorts of cars at the time and the 5000# capacity was handy. You could feel the trailer behind the Ridgeline and the V8 4Runner we used, but never a real problem. New trailer. Worthington 14' deck, single axle with brakes. 2990# capacity. Much more manageable. Tows easily behind the Ridgeline and a ML350.

What a nice setup. We've found the Ridgeline tows very well and is a comfortable ride; and that even with the heavier Miata, the single axle with brakes is never a problem. There is so much trailer anxiety in the US and we only have to look at the trailer and tow vehicle configurations common in the UK to see it. Add Lightness works for towing too. A tow rig with a capacity 3x the weight of our cars doesn't really add comfort, convenience, or safety. If you are looking for a good budget tow vehicle and don't mind something a little older, the previous generation diesel X5 is a great candidate. They are cheap, the drivetrains are very low maintenance, and the tow very well.

@savagete2860 Have you considered a Softbits Storm Cap and an open trailer. That would give you a very light, compact, setup which is much easier to load than an enclosed trailer and still provides weather protection. Don't underestimate the convenience of a trailer you can disconnect and easily maneuver into place by hand. In the UK, clamshell covered trailers are quite common. But hard to find in the US. Futura might have a clamshell model.