44 AND COUNTING

SERGIO, your plans as outlined will establish a new way of seeing the Seven for the larger population! Your vision is nothing short of spectacular. I don't know how your Seven is received in Milan, but here in Modena (supposedly the "Heart of Motor Valley", with automotive events frequently and year-round), any Seven will turn heads, while new Ferraris are commonplace and don't merit a glance. My wish is that your journey and its by-products generate world-wide media coverage, and not just Italian features. The most commonly asked question about my Seven, usually when I stop for petrol, is "What is it?". Last guess was "Morgan"... Are you aware of Chris Rea's fandom? Chris passed earlier this year, after decades of poor health that did not stop him from constant musical and automotive pursuits. Most folks remember him for his one Top Ten hit, "Fool If You Think It's Over", from 1979. This one song made him very wealthy, and royalties and tour income kept the money rolling in. Where am I going with this? Chris recorded twenty-five albums, a few of which were massive sellers. The eleventh, "Auberge", from 1991, is an homage to his own Caterham Seven: "Auberge (a French word meaning "inn") is the eleventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in February 1991. The album, as well as the title song, is notable for its association with the Caterham Super Seven that Rea owned, which he called the "Blue Seven". The car appears on the album cover, illustrated in oil by motoring artist Alan Fearnley.[5] The album makes several references to the car over several tracks, as well on the video of the title song,[6] and its cover illustration was used for its adverts. In 2005, Rea sold the car in an auction." (from Wiki) The cover of "Auberge". The video for the title track features Chris' Seven prominently. Following "Auberge" were an even dozen additional albums. His peak was reached with the masterful deluxe package of "La Passione", which contained the eponymous CD, as well as his self-edited video of the film he wrote of the same name. There was also a booklet that he wrote and illustrated. The story of "La Passione" was autobiographical, and featured his tribute to Wolfgang Von Trips, and the Ferrari 156 "Sharknose" F1 car he drove, in which he lost his life at Monza in the Italian GP in 1961. Enzo had the entire production run of 156s destroyed. Von Trips in the 156 "Sharknose". To me, this model is the epitome of F1 Ferraris, and Rea seems to have thought so, too, as he had an exact replica of the car specially-built for the film, which he financed out of his own pocket. Admirable. I recommend the deluxe edition of the album and film. That's all I will say on this topic. My sweet wife calls me a Boring Old Fart, and she's right.

I bought my Westfield from an internet ad, up by Lago Isola. Not far from Milan. It came from Germany to Italy in '88. It's the most fun I can have on 4 wheels! These things get into your blood!

Hello! What a surprise to find another Seven owner here in Italy! Beautiful Westfield — and another 1700. After five years together, I imagine you know exactly what I mean when I say that these cars become much more than just cars. Modena is not far from Milan at all. Perhaps one day our two Sevens will have the chance to meet. Sergio

Hello, Sergio! I live down the road a bit, in Modena. I've had my Westfield Seven for five years. It's also a 1700, right hand drive, 1985 factory-built, with 23K miles.

In the spirit of friendly awestruck competion (jimSVO--congrats on your impressive stable!), I've decided to post some of the 44 vehicles that led to my screen name on this Forum. Most of these I've wrenched myself, from frame-up and frame-off builds to oil and filter changes: In addition to the aforementioned supercharged V6 Sunbeam Alpine, I've enjoyed 2 (two) low-mileage Citroën SMs. One sparked a LONG narrative on construction, specifically hydraulic and electrical systems; no reposting of that wordiness here. (No interest and no surprise at that!), 27 VW Beetles (I used to co-own a VW woodie kit car company back in the '70s); a lovely Diplomat Blue RR Silver Shadow from the "chrome bumper" era; an '85 Maserati Quattroporte--a real beast, Italian-Argentinian redefinition; several FIATs, two delightful Porsche 356s, an "A" and a "C", both coupes, and the Money Pit Trio, two 914s and a 924. Five 1955 chevy Nomad wagons, from a record-setting G-Stock drag car (my first car ever, in 1968) to a show-winning Coral and Shadow Gray restoration, in 1983. (Take a breath...) Two 1960 Chevy sedan deliveries that were parts runners amd semi-beater 6-cylinder reliables; two '64 Corvairs, of which one was a Monza Turbo COUPE; a pride-and-joy, mint restored '54 Ford Crestiline Skyliner glasstop; a gorgeous one-owner '65 Buick Riviera; one each '49 and '50 Mercury woodies--I love flatheads--and my first Jag, a '99 XJ8L in deep Amaranth purple. Those are all kinds of "highlights" that led to my career in auto design and fabrication, especially exterior design, fabrication amd full-sized clay modeling. I taught this when I established and then headed up the fabrication workshops in a university transportation design program for a dozen year prior to my retirement in 2014. All in the Past... Currently in my garage and on my street in Modena are my Final Selection, because I'm 76 and have cancer (in remission, they say...) are my '08 Maserati Quattroporte GTS--the last and only of the Ferrari-V8'powered sedans, faast and utterly reliable since I purchased it in 2014, and my wife's gorgeous BRG 2003 Jaguar X-Type 5-speed, purchased from the non-smoker OO with 40K miles on it, in 2022. I was not fond of X-Types until I bought my first one in '19 after driving it, and, soon after, selling it because the cigarette stench proved impossible to eradicate. These semi-Jags drive beautifully, are reliable and economical, and as everyone knows, they are Fords with better specs and builds, and lavish leather and burl interiors. Then there is my '06 Jaguar S-Type R in Metallic Red. Its supercharger makes it a bit faster (though a good deal quieter thanks to a stock exhaust system), than either QP. Last purchased is the '89 factory-built Westfield with about 21K that transports me here. if you've made it this far, thanks for sticking it out. Thanks to jimSVO for motibation ( "motibation" is a hybrid of "motivation" and another "m" word that I hesitate to use in an automotive Forum, (though we all should know that playing with cars is merely a sublimation of "the m" practice, with more satisfying and permanent results). Before I finish, can anybody on this Forum tell me why, with all of the implied and actual experience hinted at above, I can't get the 1600cc FF dual DCOE motor in my S7 to fire on more than 1 cylinder, since installing a pricey 123+ electronic Bluetooth distributor? Yeah, new coil, primary and secondary wires, tritium plugs, new blueprinted carbs fuel pump and regulator, to cover the obvious. Full workshop, of course. ANY AND ALL help is appreciated, and thanks to all! (To moderators--do I have to start a new thread on 123+ distributors?

Thanks!

Sorry, guys, for going off topic; didn't realise the etiquette here. Anyway, I said "K&N when I meant "B&M"...

CAUTION: ONLY PARTIAL 7 CONTENT! Twenty-five years ago I built a 2.6 for my Sunbeam Alpine. The only aftermarket parts available back then were cams and pistons. I had the block bored out to 3.0 or thereabouts. My shop was across the parking lot from Ed Isky's son's custom cam shop, so I gave him a core and he ground a custom cam for me. I had another friend who was an engineer who worked in development for Shelby, and he scored me a prototype shorty K&N blower. I machined a 19mm T6 plate to adapt it to a hogged-out stock intake manifold. This was topped with a rejetted 650 Holley. The blower ran at 2X crank speed. A local shop welded up a set of custom headers. Finishing touch was a scratchbuiilt nitrous setup that ran into the intake ports. First time I hit the button it made an unearthly roar and dumped coolant all over the road! Taught me the necessity of copper head gaskets...which I had to scratchbuild, too. Then it was crazy fast for a V6, though I never dynoed it. I wish I had this setup in my Westfield! Next chapter--photos of the faux V12 DOHC cylinder heads and distributor casing that I made with 6 actual and 6 dummy spark plug leads. Everything visible was finished in black wrinkle... The Cologne V6 had to have been one of the UGLIEST motors ever made, hence the cosmetic mods. When I took it to its first outdoor show, the "experts" were crawling all over and under it, scratching their heads. Maybe this was because of the raised aluminum "Isotta Fraschini" script that I inlaid into the cam covers... Stay tuned for more non-7 posts on this topic. I promise no more after this... Pre-digital photo. Sorry for bad quality.

What is a "beater"? Just kidding; former Chicagoan who left after the '78 blizzard and never dealt with another rusty bolt again. (I'm a geezer, so I can brag a bit...)

Just a status update on this install... The Westfield with the stock coil, newly-rebuilt FF head, tweaked 40DCOEs, and old silicone wires (off-brand; came with the car) was a pussycat, I realized. It ran fine, was quick enough to satisfy my street driving needs, and was altogether agreeable with no bad habits but one annoying "feature": At idle (about 900 rpm), it had a "chirp" or "wheeze" that sounded like an old air-cooled VW with a bad valve. I've had tons of experience with these old VWs, and this was irritating. Pulled out the compression gauge and found a warped head. Not bad enough to leak except between cylinder pairs 1-2 and 3-4, hence the teplacement with the blueprinted FF replacement head. Still a bit of an odd exhaust note, but slight improvement in power. So, here the saga of the bluetooth 123 began, as described above. Now everything is happily bedded in and dialed up and having the Iphone app is a gas! It's running new 8mm silicone wires and a new set of Champion FF plugs. Followed directions to a T and it fired right up. Did a tiny bit of conservative tweaking to the centrifugal advance curve (no vac on this one) and have been taking it out for brief spins of 5-10 miles. The car is transformed. It fires right up, no misses or flat spots, and runs right up to 6K rpm as quickly as I can nail the pedal! It really accelerates like never before. There is no more "kitty wheeze" at idle. Indeed, the exhaust sound on acceleration--fairly reasonable in the past--is now a loud ROAR. Note that I have done nothing to the intake except carb dialing-in, and the exhaust tract remains as before the install. I suppose I should chalk this ROAR up to more efficient combustion due to the 123, but it's new to my experience. Does anyone else share this issue?

Everything was set up correctly except I was not getting the green LED. Once I turned the ignition on and rotated the distributor until I got the LED, I had it running in five minutes. In other words, there was no power to the distributor to tell the LED when to light up,

I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to everyone who replied to my query with their helpful himts and experiences! The crux of the matter could be captured in one four letter acronym: RTFM ...which I did, but skimmed over some vital information. Suffice to say that once I realized that the green LED was the key to the entire setup, it was a twenty-minute task to get things set up once I got that LED to light up. Now it's down to the fun of fine-tuning the timing and getting those 40DCOEs to work well with the new electronics, tying the wiring back, and heading for some open Italian lanes. This thing is simply amazing!

I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to everyone who replied to my query with their helpful himts and experiences! The crux of the matter could be captured in one four letter acronym: RTFM ...which I did, but skimmed over some vital information. Suffice to say that once I realized that the green LED was the key to the entire setup, it was a twenty-minute task to get things set up once I got that LED to light up. Now it's down to the fun of fine-tuning the timing and getting those 40DCOEs to work well with the new electronics, tying the wiring back, and heading for some open Italian lanes. This thing is simply amazing!