Christopher smith

I usually do not take the bonnet off as the reinstall with the 2x40DCOE velocity stacks is tricky. I encourage kids to get in the driver's (right) side-----a bit confusing for some---- "this car is just your size" but keep a careful watch for anyone who thinks the wings are seating They just grab the roll cage and swing in after I remove the steering wheel, then reinstall for parent's happy photo session. "this is not a show car" but I got a prize anyway. Great fun!

Apparently my 1959 Lotus 7 series 1 had a twin cam Alfa engine for quite some time in England before it was refitted for a Ford motor and I bought it . Strange choice I guess.

I like the five and six point for all uses. It just gives me a much more secure feeling

Being involved in racing for decades I got the impression that 5 point and 6 point harnesses were the way to go even before they were required since they keep the belt from riding up and also prevent "submarining" in a serious shunt if the seating position is laid back. Driving our small cars on the street may be less dangerous than on the track but competing with trucks and giant SUVs with stupid drivers doesn't seem all that safe either. Maybe keep that anti-submarine belt buckled. Also, I thought the early nylon webbing was more of a problem with UV degradation. Maybe not now so much? A street driven car that is usually in a garage may not get that much UV?

That is what I use

For even more info , If you have not already, you might want to check with Bean Engineering about sourcing all sorts of info and parts. The catalogs are great.

For sure we had some great times at the old Marlboro track. I attended various SCCA races, some drivers schools and pit crewed a couple of times. I also ran autocross there in my outrageous full sized Ford wagon with a 406 engine I installed plus suspension tweaks. I think the guys in the Corvettes were very shocked when they compared times with me. I did not beat them all however.

Lots of interest and input since I started this about a Lotus exhibit-thanks. Has anyone been to the Barber Museum, I think near Birmigham AL? It apparently has lots of Lotus cars along with motorcycles. I don't think it has anything to do with Skip Barber. I visited his garage in Philadelphia with a mutual friend after he acquired a new, really fast 23 around 1964. That would have been a start of a great Lotus collection of course but I think Skip went another route forming a race training school. Another great museum is the Revs Institute in Florida that I can recommend. Loads of famous and rare road race examples.

I guess that Mk1 GT running gear has a lot in common with some of the Series 2 Super 7s like the 1500 pre-crossflow (minus 2x40 DCOE and Cosworth cam originally anyway) 4 into 2 into 1 exhaust and same gearbox. Is yours an early one with the early rope seal rear crankshaft set-up?

I sure remember the early days when the team was racing lotus cortina. Jim Clark of course was driving one but there was another fellow I saw I think it Watkins Glen that was really impressive. They certainly lifted a wheel very high going through the corners. But they somehow kept the cars upright at least most of the time. I think that driver was Sir John whitmore. Lots of great memories with the early lotus cars and now having a seven helps relive some of that although not on the track as I'm getting a bit old for that sort of thing

The 30 certainly was a great looking car. I don't think it had a great deal of success in Can-Am since it was up against McLaren and the Lola t70s but I still like it. The lotus 19 was in on the ground floor before Can-Am when it was called us rrc and people started putting V8 engines in the back instead of the Coventry climax. The lotus 23 at the exhibit was a tremendous success and lots of people tried to copy it.

Nice exhibit .They have examples of 6,7,9,11,23 Elan ,Elite , Europa and all sorts of more recent Lotus varieties and a couple of formula cars ( F5000 looked great) Plus in the permanent collection real treasures from Maserati, Ferrari, Alfa, Ford GT, Daytona coup, 917, lightweight Corvette, Cunningham, Jaguar 120, C and D type etc, etc. Definitely go if you can.

I hope the weather guys are correct that the snow will hold off until very late in the afternoon but who knows. I live close enough so I'm not too worried. Hope to see everybody there who can make it

Looks like the Simeone Museum will be having a pretty big Lotus event this Saturday. It is very near PHL airport. and worth going at any time but this Saturday may be special with a number of 7s and lots of other Lotus models along with a great bunch of historic race cars you might want to see. Worth the trip if you can make it.

It is the rectangular 8 gallon ATL sports cell like we always used for SCCA in other cars. But it is too big to fit in usual 7 place so we mounted it above the axle. Higher center of gravity of course. I think the custom ones can go behind axle but they are even more pricey. I was setting up to go D production racing but it took so long I felt too old for serious racing. Almost 80 now.