JB455

Congrats on your purchase! Such an original and unmolested Seven is a rare find. It has a kind of sedate look to it right now with the steel wheels and hubcaps. I'd throw on a set of the Revolution wheels (or Minilites) and remount the roll bart that came with it. That would give a whole different, more aggressive look. Kind of a Jekyll and Hyde transformation- without losing any of the originality as it could easily be swapped back. On a side note, those vintage pics above with the white line tires really give a Seven a classy, almost luxurious look. I don't know if anyone reproduces those in these small sizes, but it's an interesting look, for sure.

Finally pulled the car out today for the first time since doing the lights. I'm really starting to like them. I think I'll keep them a while. Here's some pics with both of them installed. Light off. They look modern, but not gaudy. Running Lights on. The blinkers are sequential (meh), but they sure are bright! No way anyone could miss them! This picture doesn't do them justice.

@Silber Don't forget to buy LED compatible flashers. I didn't realize that I needed a separate flasher for the hazard lights, so I need to order another. This the one I got- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1VVJLQV?ref=fed_asin_title These are neat in that you can adjust the flasher speed. There a ton of different flashers available- just make sure you get a "CF 14" unit. The CF 13 flashers are visually the same, but the polarity is reversed.

These are the lights that I chose. I chose them because they had separate amber turn signals. These also have back up lights. There are many different brands, styles and functions of lights available in the 6" oval trailer light size that will also work. I'm guessing that since the original lights were also generic trailer lights, the fact that these cut out work so well is not just coincidence. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2QJH6BY?th=1 I used standard grommets- again many different brands that all do the same thing. If I were buying again right now I would get ones that have the fully enclosed back like this, to contain the wiring.https://www.amazon.com/UBLights-MTGR2239-Closed-Grommet-Lights/dp/B0D54RG6XG/ref=pd_sbs_d_sccl_1_1/135-1034964-9018662?pd_rd_w=oWHPs&content-id=amzn1.sym.aa738fbd-ad05-4d11-aae2-04b598db6305&pf_rd_p=aa738fbd-ad05-4d11-aae2-04b598db6305&pf_rd_r=B7S8HY7V4E0WWKK0M8JR&pd_rd_wg=yZWrp&pd_rd_r=1315e7f9-6e79-4e08-92b1-11e82afe0d06&pd_rd_i=B0D54RG6XG&psc=1I used some nylon wire retainers mounted to the built in studs on the lights to keep the wiring from rubbing on the tire.

Finally got the lights installed yesterday. I've included pics of them in each function side by side with the stock lights. The LEDs are significantly brighter in every function. The red running and brake functions are very red to the human eye, but don't show well in pictures. The brake function is significantly brighter than the running function, so they should do their job. The blinker is sequential, a little too "bling" for me, I'd rather just on/off. It is yellow, but not a deep amber. They are VERY bright and will get other driver attention. The installation is very straight forward and is easily reversed. I crimped on blade connectors to the new lights so they plugged directly into the existing leads. I did need to open up the bottom of the openings in the fenders. The grommets fit fine, but the ones I used had small small ridges added at the mounting point, presumably to make the mounting extra secure. That would be fine on a heavy steel trailer mount, but the light weight fiberglass needed to opened up slightly to avoid deforming the opening. I took off approximately 1/8" just from the bottom. You can use dish soap on the rubber to allow the light to seat more easily. Ignore the cluttered garage in the photos! 1st pic is running lights. 2nd pic is brake function. 3rd pic is turn/hazard function.

Didn't get them installed today- yet. The good news- I did try the grommet in the hole. It's perfect! Even covers the screw holes. So these lights will work. I left the silicone (and dirt) on the fender so you can see the size of the original light.

I thought I had bought myself some time by disassembling the offending tail light and reseating the socket components... but last time I went out I noticed that brake light wasn't working again... AND now the parking light is out too. As an aside, I realized that , with a little twisting, I can check the tail light functions from the driver seat. As a temporary (and possibly permanent solution) I bought a set of grommets for the smaller oval lights that I'd bought. It looks like the rubber grommet mount, common on truck and trailer lights, will fit into the existing hole and possibly even cover the stud holes on each end. That set of lights has both stud mounting or grommet mounting capabilities. The grommets are supposed to come tomorrow, so hopefully I can have them working by the weekend. One bonus of going this route is that I don't need to make any more/bigger holes in my rear fenders. We'll see if/how they work and how they look once installed to see if they're temporary.

I ran up to Lime Rock this morning for Sunday Motoring Meet. Was a nice surprise to meet two more Seven owners there. Great to meet Gavin and Dezzy!

I just saw those lights last night, but without the cool mounting blocks. They're available for GBP 39.95 each light on eBay. Plus shipping and import fees, of course. I'm surprised there is no US distributor for those. That's exactly what I was looking for, and the size is right.

I was talking more of an actual upholstery shop- the kind of place that does car interiors, convertible tops, boat covers, etc. I don't see any reason a competent shop couldn't make one as good or better than you'd get online, and from any material and color that you'd like.

While out with the Litchfield Lotus Group last weekend someone pointed out that I had a brake light out. I stopped to grab a new bulb on my way home- I worry enough about being seen by other traffic in such a tiny car, I didn't want to be down a working brake light. Turns out the bulb wasn't the issue. The cheapo Birkin spec taillights are getting pretty rough. Loose sockets, cracked lenses, etc. They were never that good, even when they were new. I figured it was time for an upgrade. Something brighter. Something LED. After a quick search of my options online I ordered three different set of lights from Amazon as soon as I got home. They shipped quick. I hoped to have one of them installed this week. Well, it turns out I should have pulled the old lights before I ordered anything- the holes in the fenders were bigger than I expected. Nothing I had bought was big enough to cover, height wise. When I was doing my shopping I found that there weren't really any lights that were approximately the same size as the originals. 8"x3.5". They are a little smaller or a LOT bigger. I figured that 9"x2" would do in a pinch and the size would look right on the fenders. I do like the proportions of all of the lights I bought and they would look decent installed.... if only they covered the existing holes! I know that the newer Caterham tails are available, but their price point is significantly higher than I'd planned on spending. All three sets I'd bought off Amazon cost $75... combined. Obviously, I'm willing to spend more, just not the $600+ that the Caterham lights cost. Anyone have any other options they've found that would be appropriate for a Seven? Here's a pic of what I bought in case anyone else is looking... and doesn't already have big holes in their fenders. All are stud mount with parking, brake and yellow turn signal functions. The lense from the original Birkin lights is at the bottom.

Alternately, you could go to a local upholstery shop. They should be able to make one up pretty easily. I'd love to have one for my car, but my head sticks up higher that the windshield and the roll bar, so that wouldn't work too well for me. 🫤

I just did a quick search on Amazon and saw a whole bunch of towing mirrors for the '21-26 F-150? I did this a few years back with one of the Titans I had, swapped out standard mirrors for tow mirrors from Amazon. They were surprisingly good quality and had factory connectors... except my truck not originally having tow mirrors the wiring harness was a little different and had to do some modification for the power adjustments to work... and well, the heated feature didn't make the cut.

July 4th weekend driving around Litchfield County- Cruising around Lake Waramaug- not visible in this photo was the 8 foot 1x6 (with window parts secured to it) in the passenger seat that I was delivering to a customer in Kent. Cornwall covered bridge. Even got to put a few miles on my other yellow car- which feels so big, sloppy and ponderous after driving the Birkin all morning... but oh, the torque! Note the guy running with the flag- not sure how many laps he did around the lake, but it was more than two. Each lap is about 7 miles.

The side shot looks more like a NASCAR Modified than anything related to a Lotus Seven!