Automoda

Its normal for voltage to start off low and require a little blip of the throttle to switch to normal. My Birkin's red alternator light is always on until that happens. The MSD coils require new wires since they don't use the pop-on type of connector on the coil side. What they have is better but different. And the sad thing is the wires are too long so unless you move the coil away from the engine a few extra inches, it'll look stupid. I tried the crank sensor. They're about 30 bucks. Mine was fine after all. Once my car died suddenly and it was the main plug on my Megasquirt falling out. My friend's ZX3 using an Emerald has a break in a wire by the computer that also causes a similar problem. That kind of thing kinda sucks to figure out.

Zetec coils are garbage. I lost half of a summer of driving because of one of those. I traded it for a spare and had the same problem so I figured it wasn't the coils. After months of trying to solve the problem I went back to the coils. Tried another set from another car. Still bad. Then I tried all of the coils on a friends car. HIS did the same constant miss type of behavior, so it looks like we had about 4 sets of bad coils. I got a 120 dollar set of coils and wires from MSD and it runs great now. In short, it seems to me that the factory coils are garbage. To make it worse for me, I also had a TPS going bad at the same time so I was getting 2 sets of problems overlapping randomly just to confuse it all. Instead of dieing off, my car would pop and miss a lot and then suddenly go gutless for no reason (as the TPS cut out it'd get about 0-6 degrees of advance which barely runs). Fuel pressure can be tested easily enough. We just put a gauge in-line and propped it where it could be seen while driving, waiting for the problem to show.

*****Right after I posted this the Canadian hosting service had their main fiber optic cable cut. Pics will load slow if at all until the cable is repaired***** http://herb.linkrealms.com/lotus/club_drive_2015_01.jpg The Utah Lotus club did an impromptu drive over the Alpine Loop, a winding road that climbs up behind Mt Timpanogos and down again past Sundance and Provo Canyon. As you can see there were a lot of cars lined up to go up the canyon, but a lot of them were hunters rather than fall leaf spectators. There was really very little traffic in our way which made the drive much more fun than the last time I did this road-- Some woman would not pull over and did the whole thing at 10mph. Frustrating! http://herb.linkrealms.com/lotus/club_drive_2015_02.jpg I was leading the drive and decided to pull into the parking lot/trail-head at the summit. Unfortunately the aspens had all shed their leaves and it wasn't as scenic as it would have been a week earlier. The cars attracted a lot of interest from the tourists. http://herb.linkrealms.com/lotus/club_drive_2015_03.jpg I never did find a corner that was too sharp for my speed. I honestly dont know where the limits of my 7 are. Even after all these years it does more than I expect. The Lotus club is a bunch of good folks. I'll try to participate more often.

Well. You know you're smart to lease it. My dad's Cavalier Nat-gas/normal gasoline is due for a new nat-gas tank in one year (for a crappy Chevy with 100K-- may be best to let it go back to normal gas and chuck the natgas equipment). Suddenly that new tank would eat-up his entire fuel savings over the last few years. Same with batteries on hybrids/electrics. My sister's hybrid has had so many electronics problems (dead computers) that she's lost a lot more in repairs than she's saved in gas. Hopefully the maintenance fees hit after you're done leasing it. You'll get the benefits without the time bombs going off on your watch!

Someone was saying they were working on a big top secret project to put a new exciting motor in the Birkin widebody. I suppose there is a touch more room for something more powerful and I'm wondering... Did I miss the announcement?

Record times at tracks like that are always held by some 12 year old skinny kid that knows which car is the fastest, and he goes out in zero traffic in a car that has had its tires warmed up already.

Oh man. I was kinda hoping to go this year with my dad. I didn't realize it was this early in the month. Dang.

I think I could toast one of those things with my horse. With that 4 wheel steering they cant handle speed and they don't really have the ground clearance to go nuts off-road. They seem to me to be an over-complicated approach that doesn't really achieve the goal. I have, however, always thought that something light with a lot of suspension travel would be a fun vehicle to try to build. I knew a guy working on one and it seemed to be a good design but I lost track of him before it was finished.

Its called free-range parenting. Its how people grew up until the Sponge-Bob-Square-Pants generation of helicopter moms-- They never got the message in Finding Nemo even though they watched it 800 times. I roamed the city at-will as a kid. Parents get arrested for letting kids do that today. Apparently every male adult is now a creep kidnapper or something. Don't blame the doe. She's doing it right.

Now that is a beautiful rollbar! I absolutely love it. Creativity gone right. You know, I've daydreamed about getting a cheap lowcost that didn't look that good and building a one-off body for it based on something sexy like an Auburn or such rather than keeping the 7 look. If you've got a car like that, why not try some stuff you wouldnt try on an expensive Cat, Birkin or Westfield etc.

Rock walls, cliffs, boulder fields, mature trees. Very.... beautiful.

I cant wait to see what the newest Birkin looks like in detail. I have a feeling that very few parts from my 2003 will be interchangeable!

Certainly a rich man's sport if you're rebuilding the engine every 4 second run. Heat and pressure so great it turns steel into the consistency of oil clay. Vaporizing spark plugs. No transmission, but only a clutch. So awesome to watch, but dang, what is the average cost per run? Jet cars are fun too, but those top fuel and nitro cars are way faster, and louder, and frankly scarier. I check them out a few times per year since my friend races a 68 nova I restored for him. He gets me free tickets sometimes.

You don't need to fabricate anything except perhaps some tapered spacers to center the heim joints. Speedway, Summit, Jeggs-- They all carry aluminum and steel rods of the correct length. I might be able to look up the stuff I bought if you're interested.

Your problem isn't the joints. I've had both types and the only real change I noticed is that the urethane joints tended to throw the car slightly to the side after a huge bump, and the heim joints are less so. I'd say either the springs are too hard or the alignment is wacky. If you want to do a quick test, take the springs off of the shocks and move the suspension around to check for problems. Birkin's have amazing handling and you should never be described as 'scary'. Something's up. When I was changing springs to be a little stiffer to work better with the heim joints, I almost ordered springs that were 2x the correct weight. I guess someone told me what rate to get but they meant for the whole back end, not each spring. I'd have had the same experience you sound like you've had.

Perfect! I think Birkin did an even better job of hiding the width than the Caterhams. Very impressive. Are the headlights actually larger than the normal cars? If so, thats a very clever trick. Is the radiator wider? Does this allow more variety in engine choice? Like, might one fit a V6 in there or something? Remind us how much it weighs compared to the standard model, and how much more room it has in the interior. Also are the seats bigger and do they have more butt space. I'd love to see more pics. Side views and stuff. How do the AC, stereo, power brakes, power steering, power roof, OnStar, power seats, air bags, and anti-lock brakes compare with previous models???

Yeah I saw the article yesterday. I don't know if it means someone else is going to run it or if they're going to abandon it or build more stucco houses in the wasteland.

Wow thats awesome. I like how you have a red light on the tippy top of the bars. Thats how I'd have designed it too. Blue LEDs are too bright for me at night though. Consider a 'dim' mode or something for those or you'll feel like someone has their brights aimed at you all the time. Not that I drive much at night in the 7 anyhow. But just a thought.

WOW. Now that is awesome! In truth, for a second there, my first impression was that the game was the real one!

Its a nice cover. One thing I wonder about is how would I handle the sticky, tacky, nasty air cleaner sticking out the side of my hood, erm, bonnet. I'd have to carry a plastic sack to stick to it or I'd have some real problems later hehe.

I'm a maybe.

Honestly I don't get Lego kits anymore. When I was a kid, you got bricks in 1x1, 1x2, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, a few thin variations, a few long beams, slopes, and if you were lucky and rich, a few spinning plates etc. Now it seems like all you can build with Legos is what they show on the box. Its not stacking blocks anymore but a model kit with a boxy style. Since every brick in the Caterham kit looks to be custom, they could as easily make it an exact, spot on replica just as easily. Its like they're trying to keep the feel of the old days when people did what they could with what bricks they had available, but rather doing it with custom bricks shaped for that style.

Um. My VIN is a sticker. I could reregister it over and over no problem. They might catch on if it has a lot of rock chips and looks like it's seen the road though. If it were me I'd just drive it across the border and reregister it as a 65 Lotus 7. Canada would never know what happened to it. And yes. I always advocate for bypassing government whenever possible because I'm a rebel with a three-cornered-hat.

Boy, I would love to try driving that car. My Birkin is a different beast, to be honest. It'd be fun to try an original 7 on some corners! I bet it'd be a blast. I loved the build pictures. I restore cars from time to time too (working on a Europa now, and recently a 68 Nova drag car) and you know, some of those old pics of that car scare me with how much work has been put in to it. Its daunting when you're at day 1. I cant believe how nicely it turned out though!

I guessed correctly. Who do I PM with my address for the prize check?