lancifer77

I like the honeycomb/carbon idea, but the cost shoots up so fast...that stuff is so expensive and in the end, you will only save about 150-200 pounds...great as long as someone else will pay the $20,000 difference in price! The other problem is that you don't really have any good hard points for engine or suspension bits. Two guys can easily pick up the Centaurs' tub (weights about 300 # with all the fiberglass) and you can weld a hard point anywhere you need to. Get it on the road as cheaply as possible, THEN worry about making it faster or lighter. I know you will have a lot more fun DRIVING a 1,400# car with a 100hp engine that you ever will dreaming about a 900# car with a 300 hp engine. I'd even venture to say you'd never even know the difference until you got on a real race track, because the 1,400# car will still be in the fastest 1% of every car on the road, and in the top .001% of turning and stopping. Without a doubt,the number one reason thee cars are not getting built [okay number 2 after money!] is analysis paralysis. "My car is gonna be soo bitchin because I'm gonna use titanium A arms and one of those $50,000 formula one steering wheels"...Those are all things you can add on later...get it on the road first! You will be so glad you did, you will probably forget about all that other stuff! We have all been in fast cars, but to me and everyone else that has driven these things, it's not how fast you go that knocks your socks off...it's how fast you stop and how fast you can corner. I've raced fast, light sevens, but get A LOT more enjoyment out of just driving the ol' Pirate....you can do it everyday if you live where the weather allows, and I get treated like a rock- star wherever I go...it may even get you that job you always wanted! In fact one night, just after I got the car running, we went to see a friends band, Ex-voto, [ http://members.aol.com/exvoto69/index.htm ] play at the local club in downtown Long Beach on a Goth night. There was a extremely small space, no more than 11' directly in front of the club. We had parked around back, but I asked the bouncer if I could park in front. He replied "Buddy, if you can fit there, you can park there" So I went back to my car and maneuvered it into the small space right in front of the club. Later that evening, My wife and I were talking to our friends, the band keyboardist, Linda and the bands singer, Larry in front of the club. this guy walks up to us, and I could tell Larry was getting ready to sign an autograph. The guy looks kinda sheepishly at Larry, and just as Larry is getting out his pen, the guy asks Larry "wow that is so cool..is this your car?" I think Larry was a little embarrassed, because he walked away, but Linda, my wife and I thought it was pretty funny! try doing that in any car that cost $7,000!!!http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1810344900_v27.jpg.JPG

http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/468491648_parts13.jpg.jpg :7head: here is the one using a stock mustang II/Pinto font end....just weld it in and go... great hard-point for the drivetrain also. another nice thing about the Centaur is that is easy to ship...just a stack of sheet metal http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1221266602_parts12.jpg.jpg 4 link rear end from a mazda with panhard rod brace and it's a roller! In less than 2 days!!!!! not the 2x4 shocks!

http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1220731574_7 hood dimsj.jpg here are some more dimensions to let you figure out if the Centaur 7's hood and scuttle might work on your car...

http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/432926549_parts10.jpg.jpg drawing not to scale (duh!) I believe these dimensions are pretty accurate... if you can wait a couple of days I can get more accurate, and take some more detailed pics...

Leon Ellory started selling these kits back in the 1970's The Centaur 7 made the cover of Kit Car Illustrated in December 1986 and always got rave reviews I have built several of both space frame 7's and Centaurs, and boy, are the Centaurs A LOT easier to put together! We bought all of Leon Ellory's kits back in 1990, the original molds were lost in Australia, so we made new ones from his parts. We have a couple of the original kits left, and are thinking of making more if interest keeps growing!

I made the molds from the original Centaur pieces...with Leon's blessing! Molds are still in California, but I am planning on picking them up and making new parts here in Casper. http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1443913025_fiber03.jpg.jpg http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1037108999_fiber19.jpg.jpg

This car has won Knotts Fun in the Sun two years in a row! scary fast! Street legal, registered in California, smog exempt! more pics at www.pirate7.com lots more info if you want to email me lance@pirate7.com or lotuskits@yahoo.com http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1272254433_7@7stock.jpg http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/427513079_steves11.JPG http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1309853581_steves12.JPG http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1606702865_steves10.JPG

http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/560652698_steve_leons7.jpg The only Seven without tubes! The Centaur 7 is unique in the world..it has no tubes and in the time it takes to go to the steel supply store and bring back the 20 pieces of 1” tube, you can have the tub assembled and ready for running gear! Oh,... and almost no body work. Remember that 1000 hours (full time 8 hours a day for six months) for frame construction and surfacing on a locost 7? Trim that back to about 10 man hours! [literally 1% of the work!!!] The kit is assembled like a jigsaw puzzle from 35 preformed pieces of 16 gauge sheet metal. No jig or assembly fixture is required, and the tub comes out straight and true, even more rigid than a skeleton frame with 1% of the work, and none of the frustration! This design and construction method provides both maximum strength and torsional stiffness, while also being very economical. Monocoque steel construction has been proven for decades by the major manufactures of the world, and cancels the problems that are inherent in some other type frames. Broken frame tubes, squeaky or broken sheet metal rivets and excessive frame twisting just can’t happen with the Centaur Seven. The only thing you need to get started is a sturdy workbench (unless you can tolerate working on the floor!) a little mig welder from home depot (even a gas welder will work!) and a small hand grinder. things can still go wrong though: http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/583692768_7 bad day.jpg.JPG

http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/2004496044_v34.jpg.JPG http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/191838041_v18.jpg.JPG http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1875137134_v26.jpg.JPG lots more pics and building help at www.pirate7.com feel free to drop me a line at lance@pirate7.com

http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1740661702_v29.jpg.JPGgotr I've got LOTS of pics and building help at www.pirate7.com Please drop me a line if you have any questions or comments!