Hyper

Thanks for the offer. I'm down in LA every couple weeks for work, so I'll send you a PM next time I've got a trip planned.

Hi everyone. I'm considering a Birkin S3, but I've only sat in the cockpit of a mid-90s Caterham which seemed okay, but I'm not sure about the fit with the Birkin. Is there anyone in the Bay area who would be willing to let me sit in your Birkin? Thanks so much!

I'm almost certain that's Graeme's car http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?4124-05-Caterham-Super-7-and-Trailer-for-sale

Hey I recognize that one! I work with the guy who built it and is now selling it. He's trying to free up some room to make a 4 person locost so he can get the whole family in.

Red 99 NB1, replaced the stock wheels and super-economy radials with 15x8 6ULs and 205 RE-11s. Bought it last May with 39k and have put 20k on it only driving during the summer.

The R35 is massive. Compared to the R34 it's huge.

http://joesaward.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/caterham-f1.png "What is not widely known is that a Lotus 7 took part in a Formula 1 race in South Africa in December 1962. The Rand Grand Prix was held at Kyalami and attracted a sensible field, including Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Richie Ginther, Innes Ireland, John Surtees and others. It was won by Clark in his Lotus 25, followed home by Trevor Taylor in a similar car. John Surtees was third in a Reg Parnell Lola while Gary Hocking was fourth for Rob Walker. Down in 11th place was a local hero called Brausch Niemann, at the wheel of a Lotus 7, who had managed to qualify the car 21st with a lap time of 1m44.5s, which was a pretty good effort compared to Clark’s pole of 1m35.0s. Niemann was the last qualifier as the organisers had set a 1min45secs limit. Thirteen cars failed to make the cut, including some pretty sensible racing machinery from Cooper and Lotus." From: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/caterham-and-f1/

Scott, where are you at in Michigan?

Reminds me of the Evisol Thorr from 3 years ago. http://www.autoblog.com/media/2008/04/02_thorr_evisol_450-op.jpg "If a company set out to develop an electric sportscar, the Lotus 7 (or one of its various replicas) would be a good place to start. Considering that the main ethos of the vehicle is light weight, relatively heavy components like the battery aren't going to kill performance. Using a Siemens AC motor which is capable of a heady 272 horsepower and weighing in at 1,664 pounds, we don't think that the acceleration will suffer too much. The battery is made up of 196 Kokam lithium polymer cells and has a capacity of 29 kWh. Find all of the specifications here." http://green.autoblog.com/2008/04/29/electric-super-seven-from-evisol-thorr-offers-high-power-and-lig/

I found these last night at Walmart. I couldn't help my self and bought 3 of them. Now I'm going to figure out how to take it apart and paint it.

Any more info on the 23?

What wheels are those?

I feel kind of bad, there are 4 sevens that got left out. Also, something hiding in the grass, hopefully not a 5th.

I actually like the livery, but those doors and that interior...

Another big consideration is transmission design. A bike transmission has straight cut gears and sliding clutch (dogs), while a car transmission has helical cut gears and synchronizers. Single clutching with a dog box can be problematic because the input shaft won't slow down to match the new engine speed without the clutch engaged. That means when you try to force it into gear with the clutch fully open you're slowing down the input shaft you're using metal/metal contact which slowly wears the sliding clutch. What Andrew is suggesting is basically synchronizing with the clutch disk itself, which probably works quite well. As soon as he breaks torque the sliding clutch can disengage, the drag on the flywheel from the clutch slows the input shaft and then the sliding clutch can re-engage. I also agree shock loading is probably much higher, but I'd be interested to see what a BEC transmission failure really looks like.

With a dog box you need to either float shift or double clutch. The company I work for has automated heavy duty transmissions where we float shift by controlling the engine. The input shaft needs to slow down (for up shifts) which a normal synchronized transmission is accomplished by the synchro. If you double clutch you've got to de-clutch to break torque and get of gear, re-clutch at the new synchronous engine speed (to slow down the input shaft), then again de-clutch select the gear and resume. I've double clutched for Semis which is all well and good (the engine inertia is huge so you've got plenty of time), but most good drivers float shift. To float shift you've got to break torque (lifting off the accelerator), select neutral, slow the input shaft (let engine speed drop), then select your gear. Of course, it's much easier to explain than to to actually do, but my suspicion is that motorcycle gear boxes are designed for float shifting.

Ok, here's a joke my Dad was fond of telling about efficiency experts. I can't help but post it now...(kinda long) Last week, we took some friends out to a new restaurant and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It seemed a little strange. When another waiter brought our water, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to serve our soup, I asked, "Why the spoon?" "Well, he explained, "the restaurant's owners hired an efficiency expert to revamp all our processes. After several months of analysis, he concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per waiter's shift. They determined that if our personnel were better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 5 man-hours per shift." "Amazing," I said. "I can see how that would really increase efficiency." And as luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he was able to replace it with his spare. "I'll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen, instead of making an extra trip to get it right now," he explained. I was impressed. I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter's fly. Looking around, I noticed that all the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So before he walked off, I asked the waiter, "Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?" "Well, management doesn't like us to talk about that," he said in a lowered voice. "Not everyone is so observant, and I see how interested you are, so I'll tell you. That expert I mentioned also found out that we can save time in the restroom. By tying this string to the tip of our peckers, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 50 percent." "But," I asked, "After you get it out, how do you put it back?" "Well," he whispered, "I don't know about the others, but I use the spoon."

Found a Morgan 4/4 with a S2000 swapped in on Bring a Trailer. It looks like a hoot, the tires might be a bit skinny, but talk about a sleeper. http://bringatrailer.com/2010/03/29/stodgy-delete-s2000-powered-1991-morgan-44/

The candle's don't sound like they do much other than help someone relax, but it's a personal choice. There seems to be a huge push this year against herbal supplements and athletic supplements lately. This year McCain and Dorgan have already introduced a new bill which is aimed at increasing government oversight in supplements. Not a bad idea, but I'll wait to see the implementation. Making sure that supplements don't contain dangerous substances is good, but you could easily use the law to change the marketplace drastically. There are examples of the FDA overstepping it's bounds to punitively attack companies.

As a graduate of Cornell, I've got to say Go Big Red!

Obviously the global warming is all on the west coast. Apparently it's the warmest winter in years. So warm that they have to helicopter in snow for the Vancouver Olympics. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/vancouver/2010-02-08-weather-concerns_N.htm

There are parts I like: nose, headlights, engine and even the front fenders are growing me. The bonnet is a mess, the stock windscreen doesn't fit in with the rest of the car and the back end is an unspeakable abomination. I wonder if you could get the nose and keep the stock Westfield for the rest. I also wonder about the usefulness. The turn lamps wouldn't meet DOT requirements and the front fenders seem like they'd rub the body. I would have liked to see them go with an enclosed canopy or completely windscreen-less. It could have looked like a cooler version of the Donkervoort D8 GT

I'm a bit to young for the slide rules, but I can use Vernier Callipers.

I've done wet lay-up with carbon fiber, kevlar, and fiberglass when I was in college. If you want to do a wet lay-up it's pretty easy. Get a good mold, some release agent, and the right epoxy and it will work pretty well. A vacuum pump and some batting will let you get thinner parts. They won't be quite as light as pre-preg carbon, but they tend to be pretty tough. I'd suggest practicing wet lay-up with sheets of fiberglass and then moving up to carbon. Getting the weave to line-up nicely is tough. Of course, if you want a light and dirty piece, then you don't care too much about a nice weave. You can also build a quick and easy oven out of some 2x4s, foam insulation and heat lamps. Just keep the temperature in your curing range and resist the urge to unwrap uncured parts. There are lots of places to get information on the right epoxy, then just read all the data sheets. You want to pick something that won't start to kick before you're done with your part and something that cures at a reasonable time. It's been a while since I've done anything, but I've got a friend who works in the composites industry, I'll get some more info from her.

http://www.explosm.net/db/files/Comics/Dave/comicannefrankblah.png