Christopher smith

Sure is nice that special techniques/advice flows for us. Fancy bolt applications seem to be the trick on a number of automotive applications. Finding the easiest way to attach the intake/exhaust to the head on a 1500 pre-crossflow is a great example.

Wow-very impressive work! Some years ago when I finally got back to assembling my 1959 series 1, I had a 1500 GT Cortina motor but both Cortina gearboxes I had accumulated had serious issues. So I found an early Pinto 4 speed. I do not recall if the bellhousing was from the Cortina or a Pinto, but it bolted up. I needed a 1 inch 23 spline 7 1/4 disc to get it to work. Apparently they are not made any more. A Saab concentric clutch release ( T/O) system worked for a few years of occasional outings just fine but finally I got black color in the Tilton master cylinder reservoir. So replaced the master and slave and TO bearing. Never got it to work again however. I am part way toward trying a Tilton concentric system which I hope has the correct dimensions.

Would others like to contribute their experience and expertise? What has left you stranded or you spotted it about to fail? Some parts fail with age, some with road miles, some with track stresses ( not just crash related) , some with a combination and some with just poor application/design. I would be interested to hear everyone's experiences with Lotus and newer 7 versions, including model specific items, with details/opinions if you wish. Perhaps if there are a few frequent failures, we can then discuss better materials/designs for reliability.

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.

That is why I have an ATL fuel cell with internal bladder and foam.

For sure the Escort Mk1 was a great car. After experiencing many , many really boring USA rental cars on domestic business trips and a really scary one with a Lincoln Town Car on mountain roads, I sure appreciated the handling of UK based rental cars. I drove an MR2 Toyota all over England in the rain and then a basic rental variety MK1 Escort. Not huge on power, but still loads of fun on back roads for business of course but also side trips to find up race car parts and even a trip to Caterham Hill. If there was such a thing as a reasonably priced upgraded Escort (not the lame front drive ones we had here) I would go for it.

For sure I would use them only for mid-longer term reliability. I guess I missed some of the Toyota issues but was never in the market for one anyway. And maybe from now on I will only note models that look really bad and avoid them. But as a guide on reliability in the past, my experience found them useful.

For sure it is tricky to get long term reliability based on single inputs. That is why I have found the April Consumer Reports used car survey so useful. They survey actual a large amount of owners of each model and year of quite a few vehicles and run the statistics on around about 10 different reliability areas such as engine, brakes, transmission etc.. That is where I see a huge history of doing it right for virtually all Toyota models and a few others that do not seem to get anything right.

I am sold as well. I snatched the last Forester stick shift made as a special order 6-speed from Japan. Now they all have an automatic with variable ratios that nobody likes. I think some of their other models are still available in stick shift however. The Impreza a 2018 is a little more fun to drive then the Forester but it is a five-speed so I have to be careful not shifting it into sixth which is actually reverse. That could get pretty noisy. But an awful lot of people have grown up now with really lame handling front-wheel drive cars so it is no wonder that there are less enthusiasts around anymore. I'll stick to my seven for fun. But I do like the idea of the BRZ so if the Impreza ever has to go I might get one of those

I am going to risk a strong opinions minefield here- But searching for fun to drive vs. longer term reliability has been tricky. I have experienced some extremes here as almost all of us 7 guys have. First crack could be looking at the used car reliability ratings in both new and old April issues of Consumer Reports. You will notice some usually boring brands like Honda and Toyota who almost always get the reliability right but turn out mostly (not always) pretty boring models. At the other extreme are brands like Land Rover and Jeep who are pretty consistently unreliable (and recently Mercedes seems to have worked their way to the bottom-not sure why). From the more reliable models you might then pick something that suites your practical needs and keep your extreme fun factor with your 7. In the past, this approach might have had someone abandon a Europa to get an MR2 or get a Miata to relive just a bit of that old feeling they had with an Elan. Not sure what to get now however. I have experienced cars that Consumer Reports said were crap, and they were, and a couple that they rated reliable- and they were, but I would not rely on their picks for fun. My extreme example was being stranded for a few hours near the Kenya -Tanzania border in an open Land Rover surrounded by Cape Buffalo and Lions. Exciting for sure, but I would not recommend Land Rover. I am now thinking a Subaru BRZ might be fun.

The "Bondo", either the actual brand products made just outside Atlanta or their competitors' body filler products are all thermoset polyester/styrene monomer based loaded with talc and other fillers. Styrene monomer is the smell you will notice using body filler or making fiberglass parts. The styrene is not a solvent but rather an integral component when cured with peroxide paste or liquid hardener( common in a few countries) and these are much more resistant to attack by solvents than the older paints and primers. I would be concerned if a product called spot putty or lacquer putty was used on top of any patches of "bondo" prior to paint application to cover very minor defects. It is a composition quite like paint but with much lower thinner % and the acrylic or nitrocellulose polymer would be attacked by solvents in the paint stripper. If spot putty is removed by stripper or sanding you will see pinholes or minute scratches that must be covered again when refinishing to get that ultra smooth glossy finish you will want. So several layers of primer (with intermittent sanding) could be needed. Sorry to be so lengthy but all this was critical for a top quality final finish as I worked closely with the chemists in virtually all major body filler companies around the world 1975 to 2005.