TheDingo8MyBaby

Very cool. I've always wanted to drive a seven in Japan's mountain passes (togue). If you can't find any minilites, you should be able to find very high quality Watanabe that are similar in style to Minilites.

Beautiful S2, Joe. Sorry I'm only seeing photos of it under these circumstances. I'll keep an eye out on the west coast.

The sandwich plates are referred to as "soft mounts." I highly recommend purchasing a set of the high-quality misab plates as they don't tend to have the o-ring displacement issues the plastic ring and groove plates have. In order to allow the carbs to flex to prevent frothing of the fuel in the bowl, you'll want to use either rubber grommets or thackeray washers. Dave bean recommends using the rubber on top and the thackerays below since fuel soaks the rubber and the thackerays tend to fatigue on the bottom. I've found the thackerays to be just fine, but I do check them often. One note - the thackerays sold most places (pierce manifolds, etc) these days seem to be different than the original thackerays that required a coil spacing of 0.04". I tend to use 0.02" as it is apprpoximately the same spring rate as the original thackerays at 0.04" coil spacing. The best option (to keep the carbs better sync'd) is to use nissan (nismo) mounts for mikuni 44's on Datsun roadsters. These are NLA from Nissan and are expensive, but can be found if desired.

With respect to the OP - this has gone a bit off topic, perhaps we should start a separate thread or PM (depending on how far we want to go into this) The filler I am referring to is the rod itself. I'm curious what nickel-bronze material you have used. How familiar are you with the eutectic point and liquation? Just because you can TIG weld with it doesn't mean it's a strong joint that's resistant to shock/fatigue/etc. As an anecdotal point, it doesn't make sense to me that Arch motors repair Lotus Sevens/Caterhams using gas welding if TIG was a viable option.

I am certainly not an expert in the field, but I understand the challenge with TIG brazing is that it is EXTREMELY easy to boil the filler, which will separate the alloying components and weaken the fillet. I should probably revise my statement to say that it can be done by a highly skilled individual, but I've never met such a person.

I don't have a chassis to offer, but you may want to be aware that many of these chassis coming from the UK are built with high-strength bronze welding that isn't compatible with a mig/tig, in the event you do find a project you want to move forward with.

http://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-fitment-type/parts-by-engine-ford/ford-cosworth-bda-bdg.html?product_area=594&product_group=274

I suspect the lack of air filters can be attributed to the comments about half way down page 1 of this thread: http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/lotus-carbs-f40/weber-carb-flooding-during-after-cornering-race-track-t32684.html

Gert, Best of luck with your sale. I'm glad we got to take a few drives together and I wish you luck with those future projects. I hope you stick around the forums, if it does sell.

Lovely Elan! There's something about drone shots at golden hour that put everything into perspective. Thanks for sharing.

I think these older dual circuit units are becoming harder to come by. Here's a couple leads for you: http://www.redlinecomponents.co.uk/ http://www.pastparts.co.uk/ http://www.powertrackbrakes.co.uk/wcylinder.html#cylinder

I use the hydramat in my 7 gallon tank. So far, I've been really pleased with it and I haven't observed any fuel starvation issues, but I haven't had a chance to fully explore it's envelope of operation.

There are very few MGBGT's that catch my attention, but that certainly is one of them. At first glance the gunmetal compomotive wheels look reminiscent of the Watanabe wheels that are found on older Japanese cars. Very nice, Michael. Regarding the BAT Lotus sevens with questionable history, it would be wise of BAT to ask the sellers to confirm with John Watson at the historic lotus seven register the stamped chassis # matches the SB# on the plate before selling. This would minimize any scrutiny around the authenticity of the car. It's also important that the frame number is not listed publicly so the matching numbers cannot be duplicated. I'd be curious to see the chassis plate on the 2005 superlight. The plate itself could be a fake as well and the DMV would never know.

Ultrasonic is the way to go. I recently cleaned my carbs that way - just make sure you take out the throttle shaft bearings. If the bodies are really bad, I've seen amazing results with vapor blasting.

John is correct. They are air bypass screws. If your throttle shaft is not twisted and your butterflies are setup properly, they should be all the way in. They are used for fine tuning during synchronization.

For anyone looking for an original Series 2 car, this one looks like a great deal. I'd want to see it up close, but it has a verified Chassis # and some very rare parts including the Wingard tail lights, original gauges and Springall Steering wheel. I'd be surprised if it doesn't head back to the UK since it's RHD.

Funny enough, I went through a similar process on my series 2 - not the least of which was fixing the bump-steer. Great choice with the livery, though the Gitanes livery may be fun to do at some point too. Sorry to hi-jack this thread. I hope I'll get the chance to make it out to this event at some point to see it in person and check out all those fantastic sevens.

I absolutely love the livery on that CSL, Mike. Can you share its history with us?

A friend of mine recommended this to me - though I haven't used them and can't comment on how good they are. https://www.transglobalexpress.co.uk/

If you'll believe what I read on the internet, Roger Waters owned a Lotus 7 circa 1967. Either way, this is them pictured on top of one in 1967: http://i64.tinypic.com/25pkbax.jpg I wonder how much damage Syd did to the scuttle.

When I considered tires for my series 2, I thought pretty hard about R888's, but they are a bit wider than the 185 tread width suggest and the tread pattern to me was a bit of a put off considering I'd tried my best to make the car look period correct. I had 4 main criteria: size, tread pattern, grip/feel and cost (as kitkat cat says - wear wasn't a concern of mine). Toyo R888 - ok size (likely to rub on my fenders - my 7 car is pretty low), modern performance tread pattern, excellent grip, moderately priced Avon CR6zz - perfect size, period tread pattern, excellent grip but very expensive. Avon CR322 - perfect size, modern all-season tread pattern, poor grip, expensive Vredestein - perfect size, period tread pattern, poor grip, expensive There are also a multitude of other cheap all season tires in the right sizes, that have a modern all season tread pattern with poor grip that are inexpensive. If you're brave, you could also run bias ply racing tires. I personally love the tread pattern of Dunlop CR65. They are used on all sorts of period formula cars and it's actually a lot of fun to drive on bias ply tires because they operate at much higher slip angles. They're light, have good grip, and are hard enough that they don't heat cycle to death. I do have Dunlop CR65's, but will likely be giving Avon CR6zz's a shot in the near future Another thing to keep in mind is camber. Modern radial tires like a good amount of negative camber and a series 2 (unless fitted with special parts) doesn't have very much.

The felt seals are standard and come with most bearing kits. Dave Bean has a bearing shield made from a thin piece of formed metal that seems to work OK and doesn't require the upkeep of a felt seal.

It depends: they may be herald or spitfire if we are speaking about a Caterham/Lotus. Some of the earlier Caterhams and all Lotuses used trunions (which is a believe what you are describing as the bronze part). You should be able to simply unscrew them off the bottom of the upright. Don't forget to lube them through the zerk fitting when you put things back together!

Hi Joe, My father has an elan and I have a seven and I agree they feel a lot a like. I suppose sharing the same basic steering rack, uprights and brakes helps. Please keep us updated on the progress and share photos. I, for one, appreciate seeing more of the original Lotus sevens on this site.

Saw this one through the local vintage racing newsletter: http://i.imgur.com/TfyNTe0.jpg A nice article as well about the lotus 7 and club racing in the USA http://www.sfrscca.org/news/lotus-7-notes-from-the-archive-1379/