DeanG

It is typical, actually expected, that the chassis number and the ID plate don't match. A secret of the Lotus Seven community is that you keep your chassis number secret! Sevens are easily forged. Forgeries are made in order to get around vintage racing rules. Please contact John D at simple sevens www.simplesevens.org and John W the Lotus Seven registrar at www.lotus7register.co.uk Preserve history, register your 7!

Lotus Owners Gathering (LOG 28) autocross. It was only the third time (second run) I had driven the car in a non-shakedown mode. On a sweeping (for a 7) left hand turn the rear end started a controlled drift. It felt great. It was the oldest (1958) car running with the smallest engine (948cc nominal) and the narowest tires (135x15's I think).

It shows not sold at $25K. I don't think of this car as an original car as much as a developed car. At LOG I didn't get the impression that it was for sale.

Yum. It seemed like a good price. Maybe in a few years I can find one.

A tassel on the nose is standard practice on sailplanes. It provides out side the cockpit indication of a coordinated turn, lack of slip.

This is an awesome car. Lots of us were drooling over it at the Lotus Owners Gathering (LOG 28) this year. I just goes to show what you can do with money, taste and a full professional race shop.

The last VW harlequin that I saw was parked at a rectory some place in Virginia. The few that I have seen had great paint quality, much better quality than that of normal VW paint. The Se7en with its mostly easily separated panels is a natural for this. Especially since for not that much money you could have a spare set and paint them however you wanted, easily going from one paint scheme to another (traditional to wild in an afternoon perhaps). I’m not a fan of the car in the PistonHeads photos although I like the painted parts that clash in both color and pattern. I am mooved by the cow-7. At one point I had thought of getting some of the camo vinal and putting it on our M100 as a joke. If it was white, green or black rather than red I might have gone through with it. Are there any other wildly painted Se7ens out there?

Call me sick but I have thought that a harlequin Seven (remember the VW golf harlequin) would look great.

In reference to the blatchat post by AdamHay 1. Longer nose with smaller air intake 2. Faired in skinny front wheels with integrated fenders 3. No screen/mirrors/lights, a rigid driver's half door and a hard passenger tonneau 4. No cage, just a small hoop behind the driver's head 5. Skinnyish rear wheels and spats with bolt on side pods to cleave the air past the rear wings (which would have holes or louvres in the back of them). 6. Rigid boot cover with a spoiler extending over the rear to reduce turbulence 7. A rear diffuser to aid air flow under the car (works with the extended boot cover) 8. Fully panelled underbelly 9. Inboard front suspension (not much gain) 10. Aero wishbones (even less gain) I had expected to see a diffuser or two at the 50th anniversary at the dragon. It seems like a natural to me given that the Lotus Seven series 1 had a full belly pan and how some Se7en owners like to experiment.

Check the dip stick weight, some are massive. Put it in the tool box at home and use a plastic plug.

Can we get a picture of a Smart car with a Se7en body kit? And no, I don't meen stretching out the Smart car. A few years ago we spent a couple of weeks in London. I was suprised to see that the high end neighborhoods had clasic mini's and very few smart cars. On thinking about it I was able to figure out why. A mini: seats 4, fits just about any place a smart car will fit, has good milage much more sporting can be restored to like new condition for the price of of Smart car and Its British!

What was the serial number of the S2? If you know the serial number you should send that and any pictures you have to http://www.simplesevens.org/ It is my opinion that we should preserve the history of these cars. All the Se7en style cars are worthy of having their history preserverd. Unfortunately I only know of people and sites who are preserving the history of Lotus built Sevens.

My main problem is getting the swirls and cloudyness out of the finish. Does anyone have any words of wisdom? How do: Mothers Mag Alloy polish Autosol from Germany Nuvite Rolite compare? For the final polish I like Mothers better than the finest grade of Nuvite I have used both a Porter Cable random orbatal buffer and a Black & Decker polisher. Both are a bit big for working on the 7. That is the primary reason I haven't tried a Cyclo Orbital Polisher. It seems too big to get into many of the places you need to get to on a 7. Does anyone have any experience with the Cyclo Orbital Polisher? I have used both the Porter Cable and B&D machines with synthetic, foam and wool pads. Does anyone know where to find coton pads for either machine. If I could find a cotton pad for the B&D polisher I think I that might be the best option other than a Cyclo Orbital Polisher.

Try the NELLI folks http://www.nelli.org/ There are a fair amount of Se7en & Lotus activity in CT Interesting 1977 Ferrari Dino 308GT-4 for sale. I like the the somwhat similar thought of having a Ferrari Mondial convertable but I keep getting SCARED off when I see the maintanece costs.

I have the same issue with our car. Why did a prior owner take it down to a bare frame and then paint it black? Lack of thought? Care?

Both are dirt bags. The only difference, one was president, the other wants to be president.

I think the biggest problem with choosing a Se7en is figuring out how you will use it (the same problem as choosing a boat). Its all about the difference between how you will use it and how you fantasies about using it. Think, what’s your poison: auto-cross, track days, race, concourse, show and shines, formal car shows, Sunday drives… I was lucky, I knew exactly what I wanted (a series 1 Lotus Seven) for Sunday drives and eventually concourse.

Pulling the head shouldn't be too bad but will be more expensive (i.e., gasket and possibly new head bolts). It allows a good check of the flatness of the head and block. If you choose to leave the head on make sure you turn over the engine so that the valves on the cylinder in question are closed. Good luck.

With cars such as ours the joy of having a good shop is boundless.

I will be visiting the trailer place on Tuesday. Other than that I see a circut with three relays and two diodes. One good thing. I found another brake system leak that would normally be hidden by the transmission tunnel cover.

Anyone going to the Euro Auto Festival held at the BMW in Spartanburg, South Carolina? We are seriously thinking of making the trip but have not committed yet. http://euroautofestival.com/default.aspx We were there a few years ago, it was great fun, in a nice location with good food. The only problem was the lack of Lotus & Se7ens! The most fun part was the track time driving new BMW’s. This year there is the option ($100) for the following. Wet / Dry auto-X: Driving 335s or 650 (TBD) through a coned autocross course that combines normal dry asphalt with a wet polished concrete surface. Performance Drive: Drive an M5, around a large road course. Sports Handling w/ Timed Runs: Drive the all new 335 around a road course and try to post your best lap time. Off Road course: Driving the X5 or X3, you will challenge the capabilities of BMW’s X Drive all wheel system. Match / Rat Race: Driving the M3 6spd or 335 Steptronic, you will race your opponent around a course to see who gets back to the finish line first. I found out that BMW drivers are wimps! I was driving a 7 series when the rear started to feel light. I figured that I could keep feeding it throttle and see how the electronic drivers would save me. Not! The rear tried to pass me! Afterward I asked one of the instructors how many cars they lost in a year. He said “none”, they had never crashed one.

Wow, using a small child for both a battery hold down and a data collection system. Chapman would be proud.

Several years back we had the oil filter back out of the twincam on our Elan. My wife and I had gone on an extended 400 mile Saturday drive. When we got home I saw some oil leaking. While wiping off the oil with a rag I felt the filter move (rock back and fourth). Glad it hadn't unscrewed another turn!

I like the darker colors. Unless you color match the top air screens I think the lighter colors are too jaring against the black. White would look good with color matched grill screens although I think it would need something (e.g., striping) to make it pop.

That’s the wonderful thing about Se7ens. You can tailor them to what you want. I happen to like the early Lotus Sevens best. That doesn’t mean that I don’t lust after a motorcycle engined Caterham and a Super Stalker.