Cueball1

@MV8thank you! Good suggestions. All stuff my newb brain didn't think of. Nor all the vastly more experienced folks that have worked on and maintained this car over the years! The hoses weren't against the expansion tank until I moved the pedals back so I guess that one is understandable. Thanks for the ideas.

Is anyone familiar with the cast aluminum wet sump oil pan from Armstrong Race Engineering? They no longer make it and the company has not responded to my inquiries. It's looks similar to the Raceline pan. The bottom of the oil dipstick in the Cincy Birkin is broken off. I don't remember that being the case when I checked oil when it first arrived. Afraid it's floating around in the pan. Need to pull it. Wondering if there is anything special I need to know, what gasket they use plus it's oil capacity. I can put back in the amount it has but I have no idea if that's full or not with the broken dipstick. Anyone have any experience with them? Was installed around 2005.

Here are a few engine compartment pics. Will do a proper photo shoot of everything soon. These are phone pics under garage lighting. Not ideal. Pretty clean and very tidy. When I moved the pedals back to a comfortable position it pulled the throttle cable a little tight. Other than that I don't see much I can improve on!

Unfortunately nothing like that exists on my Birkin. Doesn't appear to have ever had a front plate in it's lifetime. No brackets or mounting points were added during construction.

@Jesse DUnfortunately to the side will block the turn signal on that side. On my birkin it's mounted low. You can also see in this pic an aluminum plate across the bottom side of the nosecone. Looks like my solution will be something like the last couple old school pics with the plate laid back some, mounted to that. Good news is they did title it through replica rules as a 1964 vehicle. No deq test needed!

Birkin, Tipo, 2-eleven all in the same garage?!? 😳 It's gotta be tough to decide which set of keys to grab!

I had a hinged bracket at the top of the mouth of my 94 miata. Allowed the plate to swing back and not interrupt air flow to the radiator/oil cooler/intercooler. Was pulled over for it and given a warning the plate needs to be visible at all times.

@Jesse Dthat looks like a well thought out and elegant solution. Not completely sure I can bring myself to cutting the holes in the side of the nose cone 😬 but will certainly use the idea as inspiration!

Fidanza flywheel, extensive head work, pistons, lots of other parts. Will post more specs when I get the info package from the original owner. Transmission has aftermarket gears. Original owner was a track rat and this car is well sorted and built to a fairly high spec. Will post engine compartment pics later. It's pretty dang sexy how clean and tidy it is.

Honestly have no real opinion since I haven't driven a 7 without them. Exhaust is loud enough I don't hear the intakes. Trying to come up with a plan and parts to quiet the exhaust. Maybe that will change my opinion. It's a healthy free revving zetec. Gotta think the itb's play a part in that.

Thought I'd start this now that I've had the car for a week. Still fighting the Oregon DMV and their contradictory rules regarding replica vehicles though. Many of you will remember much of this from Crocs epic for sale thread. This was a craigslist find thanks to him. Kitkat lives in the area where the car was and generously volunteered to check it out. He returned with a glowing report and after several years of lurking I finally pulled the trigger on a 7! The car was originally commissioned and built for George Hillard. Some of you know him. He attended and drove in a number of 7s track events. I've been in contact with George and he is sending me all sorts of pictures and history on the car. What an unexpected bonus that is! Car was built by Dennis Tobin, a former Birkin dealer. The 2.0l zetec motor was rebuilt by Focus Power and put out 182rwhp when completed. Will post a lot more info on specifics of the build when George's package arrives. For the owner in Cincy it was a sunny day car. He installed leather Birkin seats, carpeting and other interior dress up, installed black 949 racing wheels and had the windshield surround and exhaust powder coated black. It's a pretty car and in very nice shape. Here's a few pics to get the thread started..

@Davemk1i am hoping I will be able to get away with doing something exactly like that!

Spoke with a friend who's a cop here in Oregon. Said Oregon is still as my experiences taught me. No leniency at all on a front plate. I'll have to figure out some sort of bracket and how in the world I can mount it without interrupting air flow to the radiator. Ugh. As you said LoTush, less than ideal. 😑

Earplugs are definitely a must do sadly. Mild tinnitus and it seems to be ramping up lately anyway. High pitched warble. Ugh. Even with good foam plugs in yesterday it seemed pretty loud. And fast. 😉

Thanks Bruce! Was going to ask if there is a popular muffler folks use. Thankfully there is a 2 bolt joint just ahead of the muffler. Easy to remove to have someone duplicate it. Used to do a lot of track days in my old turbo'd Miata. Knew that car inside and out. Knew exactly what the expect from it at or near the limits. Will take a lot of seat time to get that comfortable with the 7. Seat is my #1 priority. Definitely insufficient and potentially dangerous as is. Already moved the pedals back. Will remove slider and add bracing tomorrow. Will likely get a kirkey for track days. Just need to figure out what size fits best.

Just unloaded the car off the transporter. It was on a truck with a Porsche gt2 RS, a gt3 RS, m4 and a viper. Sheesh. First impressions? Beautiful. Rear wings have some chips and cracks in the paint (an excuse for installing carbon wings! 😉) but the rest of the car is in fantastic shape. The engine compartment is just flat sexy it's so well sorted out. Definitely going to take some time to relearn how to drive! It's quick, direct and feedback galore. Will take a little time getting to know the car and do a proper write up in the members rides thread. Couple of obvious changes needed. 1. Earplugs or a more effective muffler is in the cards. That exhaust is loud even standing away from the car. With your ear 2' away while driving? Stupid loud. 2. Drivers seat is on sliders and sits a few inches higher than the passenger seat. It's also floppy. Looked and it needs additional reinforcement where it bolts to the runners. 4 little bolts and tiny washers are not adequate for that thin fiberglass base.

I'm not a fan of even wearing hats! Having worn a helmet for well over 100 hours of track time and many hundreds of hours on a motorcycle, wearing one to run errands in city traffic just seems like no fun at all. Propeller beanie I might be able to get behind though! 🤡🤣🫣

Cincy Birkin is loaded and on it's way! Thank you all for your help and input on this purchase. Hats off particularly to kitkat for looking at it for me. Great group of folks here!

Seems like that rotary car would be a hoot. 120 miles in 3 years of ownership? What a shame. Interesting looking collection of stuff the seller has though.

I always knew you were a spambot! 😉 Just sad not to be able to continue a big portion of the amazing work you do. You were instrumental in me finally finding and pulling the trigger on a car. And I'll still be looking at your ad posting every week as I get the feeling 7s are a bit of an addiction.

I just tried autotempest. It works for me. Trouble is it does not say if there is an ad in a particular area. You have to go to each individual area yourself just to be told "no listings available". Found one that is already posted here so it does work. It's just not that easy to use.

That's just stupid and ridiculous on their part. Horrible blocking you like that. I thought they were trying to sell stuff! Craigslist contributed a great deal to putting newspapers out of business by killing classified ad sales. Now they're doing it to themselves. Seems I may have bought one of the last Craigslist cars found through this forum.

Tom replied. In stock. $229. Only fits standard narrow bodied cars. Perfect!