Silber

Today I met up with @Frankie for a drive along East Canyon Reservoir. Great weather and a nice, leisurely drive. https://maps.app.goo.gl/tfgTPuN7eFgVYyoq7 A couple of pictures from my dashcam, and Frank may post some video after he goes through it:

I really meant to update this sooner.... I did enjoy driving the car late into the year. Even took it out on Thanksgiving day because we were having such a mild November. Then parked it until about March. A couple of updates: I finally got around to ordering a really expensive cable to be able to plug into the standalone ECU. I don't know anything about tuning, but there was one thing I wanted to address. When I first purchased the car the redline was set to 6500 rpm or something, which was lower than what I wanted and felt the engine was capable of, so when I had the car dyno tuned I had the tuner set the redline to 8k rpm, based off of the specs for the Crower cams and valvetrain. No problems running it up to 8k, but long story short I realized I don't actually know for sure what components are in the engine, and if the bottom end has been touched at all, so to err on the side of caution, I bought the cable to be able to set the redline to a more conservative 7200. Mostly have been occasionally commuting to work and doing little drives here and there. Went to a casual cars & coffee at my work with my three-year old. I also bought a new shift knob. I wanted something taller for ergonomics, and the JGTC-style knob from my old Miata wasn't actually the right thread pitch. Pictured is the Lotus branded knob the car came with, the JGTC-style knob, and the new one: I'm satisfied with the purchase so far, and keeps up the tradition of buying a shift knob for every car I buy. Fixed an exhaust leak from where a gasket blew out, including replacing two sets of four stacked washers being used to fit these bolts with some proper spacers. I pulled the muffler heat shield off and gave the muffler a quick polish. I kind of like the look, and might keep the heat shield off (until I burn my leg).

I also have hooded sun shirts when I don't need to wear something nicer (e.g. for work). Same principle as a sun hoodie, and can get them cheap on amazon. I still do the same baseball cap and neck gaiter combo with the sun shirts.

I like to wear sunglasses, a baseball cap, a lightweight hooded jacket with the hood over the hat, and a neck gaiter over the top of everything. The neck gaiter provides sun protection for my face and keeps the jacket hood from flapping, and the hood keeps the hat on my head. Ear plugs underneath it all and driving 70+ mph is comfortable. This is with a windscreen and wind deflectors. Without the windscreen I wear a full face helmet.

I'll be second in line if Origin7 doesn't want them.

Checked on this today. Registration has opened: 2026 LUG

For what its worth, with my Birkin having a Duratec and my FPR a different unit, the location is the same as yours: This is an old picture I pulled from my other thread, with an arrow added to point out the FPR.

The cupholder puts a smile on my face. I've never wanted one in my 7, but I guess even an entirely impractical car needs a little bit of practicality?

I've never seen another Birkin in the wild, so I would look forward to comparing ours if you brought yours. I'm planning on participating the whole event, but I won't be staying at the hotel. I can provide some local tips for good drives for the free day on Sunday. I've driven the majority of the best roads within 50-ish miles of Salt Lake City.

Here is a tentative schedule: * Thursday, Sep 24 – Check in, Meet & Greet * Friday, Sep 25 - Helper, UT Field Trip, Lunch, Group Photos * Saturday, Sep 26 – Kirkham Motorsports Factory Tour, Casual Concours & Voting, Dinner @ the Utah Natural History Museum * Sunday, Sep 27 – Free For All Day for scenic Utah drives culminating in lunch @ a TBD restaurant. * Monday, Sep 28 – Track Day at Utah Motorsports Campus

I was searching for local car events and came across an announcement for the Lotus United Gathering taking place in Salt Lake City from September 24-28, 2026. It is apparently an event similar to LOG and the West Coast Lotus Meet, sponsored by Lotus Ltd and the Golden Gate Lotus Club, and hosted by the Utah Lotus Owners Coalition. I have no affiliation with any of these organizations and have no part in organizing this event, but I wanted to post it here to find out if any of the folks on this forum knew about the event and plan on attending. It would be cool to meet some of the people from the forum if anyone comes out to Utah with their 7s. More info here: https://go2lug.com/ and here: https://www.lotustalk.com/threads/lotus-united-gathering-lug2026.559414/?post_id=6401032&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQKNjYyODU2ODM3OQABHokvgUeSr6VfcgN0GHry6f05jALSmDVsRD-3piSHMhQ1cadm7r3xPRtjszqF_aem_Udaz0vJzssZtApM2hDd93A#post-6401032

It was an NA8, low power due to high altitude here in Utah. I wish I still had it, but I wrecked it at an autocross back in 2019. I have a picture of it over in my thread in the Member Rides section. Apologies for hijacking your thread to start talking about Miatas. I'm looking forward to your build thread here with the 7.

I totally understand. My Miata was about 1950 lbs, but only a meager 108 whp, but it was so fun to drive. Wanting to replicate that feeling is what led me down the path to get a 7. Different cars, different experiences, so I agree that it isn't a clear cut answer. One thing I can say for sure is that I get a lot more attention from people in the 7. Everyone likes that car, little kids, old farts, car enthusiasts, and that makes it fun in a way the Miata never was.

I saw your post over on the MiataTurbo forum and read through some of your build thread with your Miata. What happened to that enginer is a bummer, but it looks like you have big plans with it. Which car do you think you'll have more fun in, this 7 or the Miata with a spicy motor?

The previous owner of my Birkin was probably about 6'2" or 6'3" and fit fine. My opinion with the size is fitting in it depends more on how wide you are than how tall you are (though both are important factors to consider). I'm just 5'7" with size 8 shoes, and I can drive with almost any shoe or boot, and am almost too short to comfortably drive the car.

I was driving the car quite a bit during the summer, even daily driving it for a couple weeks when our old Jeep Cherokee had a catastrophic water pump failure. It was fun parking it up next to the typical monster trucks people around here usually drive. But, the summer did not end without any problems. I was out at a local university for work when I went to start the car and drive back to the office, but the car did something like "chugga, chugga, clunk," and then I had no starter. I tried bump starting it and jump starting it, but neither worked. Hot, flustered, and a bit embarrassed as most of my coworkers were there, I decided to utilize roadside assistance and get the car home where I could diagnose the problem without pressure. I let the car sit for about a month as life with a young family keeps me busy, but finally had the chance to try and diagnose the problem. The symptoms were no starter and no fuel pump, which prompted me to look at all the fuses. Checked every one of them and all was good, but when I happened to turn the headlight switch on with the ignition on, I heard a buzzing coming from the fuse box. The culprit? The ignition relay. The parts store didn't have a comparable replacement, but I could hijack the relay for the heated windscreen, swapped it over, and boom, everything working and engine started right up. I'm so glad it was an easy fix, and happy that it was also fairly painless to diagnose. Could have done it in the parking lot at the university, but alas, you live and you learn. I'm looking forward to a bunch of drives before they salt the roads here and enjoying the nice fall weather.

Due for an update. Had a fun time at the British Field Day in Salt Lake City. Two Caterhams there in addition to my Birkin. I helped set up the "Race Course" with a good friend and experienced autocrosser to allow a course that flowed a lot better than last year, the main requirement was we needed to keep the average speed below 25 mph. I had the fastest time of the day by the end, narrowly jumping ahead of my friend in his Bugeye Sprite according to the "old man timing system" that was a gentleman doing the stopwatch on his phone. I calculated the average speed of my fast time to be 21.03 mph. Mission accomplished!

I suggest going with the R888Rs if you want to maintain a grippy tire in the same size. Another option is moving up to 195 width tires which opens up a couple of Falken tires that would both be adequate replacements for your Star Specs.

I also participated yesterday and today in a two-day charity car show in the town I live in. Last year I had to choose between the Utah British Field Day event and this one, but to my benefit British Field Day is next weekend so I will be able to attend both. Mostly classic American cars, but I had a nice neighboring Austin Mini and a Midget a couple of cars down that brought a British vibe to our side of the show. Imagine what it would be like if all cars were about this size, instead of the 8000 lb behemoths that are commonplace nowadays.

My friend's shop was home to some lovely cars. I only took pictures of the two that were in the shop, but in addition to the Bugeye Sprite and 914 below, there was also another Bugeye, a first gen Camaro, a Nissan Skyline GTR R32, and a nice E36 M3 sedan.

Overdue for an update. Spent a bunch of time working on the cooling system, which you can read about in this thread. Long story short, the car runs a little hotter than I would like, but the cooling system seems to be operating correctly. Once that was sorted, it was time to get the suspension dialed in and some new tires (finally!). A friend of mine offered to help me do a string alignment at his shop and mount my new tires, so I loaded up to drive a couple of counties over to where he lives. I saw at least one person taking a video of me driving down the interstate like this We were able to fairly easily get the specs I wanted. End result! Decided to go with -2.0 degrees of camber in the front, -1.6 degrees in the rear, and zero toe all around. As mentioned in an earlier post, the intention with these specs is to try and dial out the understeer. Initial drives show little change on turn-in characteristics, but the front end has more grip once the suspension is loaded in a corner. I'll need to take it to an autocross to really tell, and I'm excited about the new tires as well. I went with Kumho V730s, 205/50r15 front and rear. I love the nearly semi-slick look, and I think they will be much better than the Bridgestones from 2018.

From what I've seen the thermostat is integrated into the housing, so the whole housing is replaced. It sits on the left side of the engine near the front, and is thankfully really easy to replace. It's more work to drain the coolant than replace the housing. 210-215 °F is still safe, but my preference is to keep the coolant temps closer to 200. Maybe I'm fretting too much over 15°, but I can imagine that in 95° heat cruising down the 1+ kilometer front straight of my local track I will probably see even higher temperatures. Yes on 50/50 coolant and a pressure cap.

Due for an update. I finally got around to working on this problem. Here's what happened: Removed and tested the new thermostat along with the old thermostat in a pot of boiling water. Both thermostats were functional. Re-routed the system to eliminate the heater core, capping the bypass on the thermostat housing. Removed the heater and covered the holes. Removed the thermostat out of the old housing and reinstalled to allow full flow. Flushed the system with water two times. Reinstalled the new thermostat/housing and burped the system. The result? Mixed and dissatisfied. Everything seems to be working, but this thermostat keeps the system between 210-215 °F, which is hotter than I like. Stayed in that range on both the drive to work (47 °F ambient) and the drive home (68 °F ambient). I'm not confident it'll stay that way when it's 90+ in the summer, or during track/autocross. Positives: the car warms up faster and warms up regardless of the car being stationary or in motion, and removing the heater has reduced footwell temperatures, which will be very nice in the summer. I'm considering trying another standard replacement thermostat from the local parts store, or even trying a lower temp thermostat like this one.

That makes sense. Simplify and add lightness, right?

Pinching the thermostat → heater hose is easy enough. I'll give it a try. I believe the indicating temp sensor is coming off the connector between hoses 2 & 4 per your diagram. There is another sensor directly in the manifold. I plan on testing the thermostat. I appreciate everyone's feedback. I'm going to try MV8's suggestion to pinch the one hose to the heater first just for another data point, but after that the plan is to: Tear into the system again and remove the thermostat and heater Test the thermostat and depending on results install it again, install a new one, or install a modified housing that allows constant flow Properly flush the system instead of just drain and fill I remade my diagram to hopefully make it easier to read. First picture is the current system, second picture is how I plan to bypass the heater.