Marek

I do like the fuse block cover and battery switch. Nice, clean, solutions. Exhausts are a whole other topic. My car was built with dual rear exits which came out the sides and routed inside the rear wheels. The most recent previous owner simplified this with a nice single 3" pipe on the right side with a resonator. But it needs more. The pipe length is less than the turbo rotary wants; and the decibels is more than you want for touring any real distance. A tried a Supertrapp; but that was not the right answer. I may try a Spintech next. Originality is an interesting question with these cars. Each of our three are largely original factory cars and notable in the history of the company for different reasons. Does that much matter in the world of Sevens?

Starter button on the far left. Non-canceling turn indicator stalk hiding to the left of the wheel. Below the starter button is a blanked hole with no wires near it. (Would be a handy location for a battery isolator switch.) Matching horn button to the right of the wheel. The top row is self-evident. The switch marked 'Lights' activate the driving lights mounted in place of headlights. (to be corrected) Just out of sight to the right is a boost adjustment dial for the HKS computer. I assume one switch should be for the heater and one for high beams. But that still leaves one unused switch. Perhaps the mystery will be solved once I pull the cowl to refresh the dash wiring. I am not sure what parts bin donated the switches. The tips are illuminated when the switch is on.

The hot question for me at the moment is the purpose of the four toggle switches in lower center of the dash. Only two of mine are connected, and are not using the original wiring, so I have no idea of their original function.

There is a well known parts cross reference which is about a page and a quarter long. If yours is more extensive, several of us are very interested.

We are a small group, and easily excited when someone new joins our sub-club. But yes, keeping the forums general does make sense. It would be interesting for those of us with less common variants if it was easier to search for other users with the same variant.

Welcome to the club! @ptegler Also has a Rotus and has been active recently.

The red car (https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1203044494197797/) appears to have been sold to @solder_guy in 2007. Maybe he can fill us in on history. It is also at a dealer; who shared a letter showing this car was in Chris Custer's estate at the time of his death.

Two Rotus at the same time! And at the same price. More details on the green one in Illinois here: https://www.autohouseofbloomington.com/details/used-1992-lotus-super-7-replicarotus/103425924 This one is particularly well optioned and with what might be the preferred engine choice.

I've yet to see, or see mention of, any Rotus schematics or loom diagrams. I do wonder if Dennis Hedges has any such information. I've been meaning to meet up with him, but times have been busy when I've been in the area.

Off to the skate park for some exercise.

I do like the Low Light Look. You've struck a nice balance. I'd argue mine are too low.

I can't say enough about how well designed, well made, and useful these lights are in the shop. https://www.streamlight.com/products/detail/stinger-switchblade

Having never driven a De Dion Caterham; but having extensively enjoying De Dion Alfas, this does not seem a limitation of the De Dion as a design, but rather in setup. The transaxle Alfas (Alfetta, GTV6, Milano/75) work best when run soft. Even on the track. Stiff or metal bushings and pivots are fine. But don't push the spring rates or over damp the rear of the car. As I am currently wrestling with an over-sprung Seven, I can understand the source of Farrah's comments. But I suspect what he is describing is less a 'disconnected' feel and more likely an unfamiliarity with driving from so close to the rear axle. It changes how the front communicates and I find that until a driver dials into that communication it can be harder for them to be precise in describing the front mechanical grip. @slowdude is on to something regarding modern and non-modern cars. Modern car all live in a narrow range of (safe, predictable, comfortable) behaviors. Cars from the 80s and before have a wider range of handling behaviors and driver feedback. I've found drivers without older car experience often struggle to be as comfortable driving or precise in describing car behaviors outside their experience.

@Chris D Spares from my long gone Europa TC. Let me know what you need. You might have my email/number, or Dan G. can give it to you.

Many online car communities have similar origin stories. For a time I was a member of Team.net, an online community of autocrossers which included a large contingent in the Rochester, NY area where I lived at the time. Their logo was clever. But my favorite was the back side of their t-shirt.

For those of us in Boston, NYC is the one place we can rely upon to make us feel better about our traffic and congestion. Not that Boston is actually better - it just covers a smaller area. We also don't have nearly the options for white glove parking. (Though I do know a group looking into putting a facility together. Let me know if you are interested.)

My Rotus is also 4 turns lock-to-lock. Given a choice, I would make it a bit faster. But I've not found it to be a particular distraction - especially give the ease at which the right foot contributes to rotating the car. But a 295mm wheel is a thought.

Nothing has struck me yet on the new wheel front. I did run across a local set of 8.5x15 wheels matching the current style. That would let me run 8.5 in the rear and move my 8" to the front. The left field option is to riff off the 80s Japanese connection of the car and pick up a set of Hoshino, Advan, or similar period wheels. The are unlikely to be light, but the look would be something!

What is the size of the wheel on your car? Mine is 320mm and the largest I would want. One size down would be nice and not add much steering effort.

Correct 7 on the front, 8 on the rear. For matching tire and wheel widths, I have been working from this chart: https://www.tiresandco.ca/tire-equivalence-advice.html The logical next step. And this doesn't have to be once and done. If a 205 turns out to have shortcomings, I'll go hunting a set of 8" for the fronts. After all, if I am satisfied with the rubber on the car that leaves one less thing to tinker with. Here is one of the few areas where this forum is tough for a Rotus (maybe non-Caterham?) - parts interchange. With the 80s Toyota running gear my bolt spacing is 4x114.5 (4.5"), meaning all the wonderful wheels discussed and for sale are of no use. Searching for wheels on AE86 and other JDM forums is an entirely different experience. Detailed specifics and concern for lightness are not regular themes. The answer is probably yes. Minimum pressures deserve more research and I will do some testing with alignment marks on the tire and rim to detect any sign of movement of the tire on the rim. Even with a narrower tire/squarer sidewall, I will want to experiment with low pressures. I am waiting for someone to leap in here and say, HEY, WAIT, XYZ tire has a soft compound on a soft sidewall... This deserves to be used as a tag line somewhere!

Time for an update. A bit of rain and a dry Saturday in the 50s made for a nice early February tire test. Changing nothing but pressures, I dropped my Toyo R888s from 32/34 to 18/24 cold for the first run. The improvement was immediately apparent and significant. Tramlining was less frequent and less sharp. Just the dulling of the effect was enough to make the car easier and more relaxing to drive; though the ability to set a line was only slightly improved. After getting some heat in the tires, at which point the fronts had risen to 20.5, I lowered them to 15 for the second run. Another step improvement with more of the same. Steering still required vigilance and (less) frequent corrections. For the third run I dropped the front to 12. This was the dramatic step. Tramlining as a persistent effect was gone. There was still the occasional pull which could be attributed to the toe setting. But for the first time, the front of the car would take a set and follow a line. Finally you could point it rather than guide it with constant corrections. The car was finally relaxing to drive. One of the charms of a Seven is how they pull you out of comfort zones. Let this experience be one of mine. Despite experience running race tires at low pressures, I saw this as a street car and was stuck in tuning it as such. Lesson learned. So what is next? @Croc asked about goals. I want a car with predictable enough handling that I am confident inviting others to drive it. I also want to run the same compound/construction on both axles. The car seems to want the 235s in the rear and they fit well. Given the difficulty putting power down, I am hesitant to go narrower. I might be able to fit a 245. In the front, a 205 has to be tried. It will answer so many questions and is one logical next step in the tire test program (another being to try the 225s on a 7.5" wheel - some research on options still needed there). Looking at Croc's tire catalog, the obvious option based on size availability is the Toyo R888R or Avon (providing there is availability). A LL rated tire, even in a harder compound, would be a fantastic experiment. But my research on that path is not finding good data or recommendations. LL rated tires seem to be very uncommon and not made in 225 and wider section tires. I still want to check rake and I might try the car again at 10 and with a hair more toe-in. But now we know the real goal is to get rid of the sidewall stiffness and reduce the tire's spring rate. Thanks to the group for the questions and encouragement; including someone who sent me helpful food for thought on checking whether scrub radius was playing a role (the answer is maybe as an aggravating factor, but not a primary cause).

Thanks for extracting the thread, @JohnCh.

I am slightly dismayed by those lovely Thiel speakers oddly placed by the garage post.

The disassembly-on-arrival practice is typical across professional motorsports. Why take chances. There was a certain popular British 90s FF constructor of whom was said they only assembled the cars for ease of shipment and not actual use.

To close the loop.... Yes, ⅛" toe-IN. Caster is 3 degree positive; which is the factory setting. The dampers would likely benefit from a rebuild. That won't cure the problem, but there is an outside chance it is magnifying it. Looking at tire options, I am not finding a 215-15 in a suitable tire. So staying with a 225 front and going to a soft sidewall might be the best option as a 205 seems a too drastic change. But I am not finding options for 235 for the rear aside from the R888R. Avons appear unobtainable. A wider front wheel means a new set of wheels as the XXR 557 is no longer in production. And that makes this a bigger problem.