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A few guys have left the exhaust at the rear but added a section moving the exit to the side. Apparently it solves all the noise vs. backdraft issues. There's a picture here, to illustrate what I mean: http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4878

It appears that they don't want us to participate, though. In the General Rules" "3. Tube chassis vehicles are not permitted to compete."

I have Crower stage 3 cams and a 65mm throttle body with stock manifold. The manifold needed to be modified a bit for the 65--I filled in the O ring recess on the top of the manifold and opened up the hole so that it matches the throttle body. With 10:1 pistons, and the above setup, I get 174 hp at the wheels.

Mike, A trip down to Arlington, TX and a visit with Dick Brink at Texas Motor Works may be the best investment you can make in choosing a seat. He will probably have several options for you to try--though I'd call first to be sure. He'd probably also be able to help you fit new seats into your Birkin. Randall

Aw shucks. I'm sure that others have gone further. I did 677 miles that first day, from home to Park City, UT. It really demonstrates how important it is to find seats that work for you--every body is different, and you can only find the right seat by trying out several. Or being lucky. Randall

That's correct, the seats are rather thin FRP in one piece with removable seat, back and headrest bits. My seat pieces have a bit of additional foam in them, as well. These seats worked very well for me, initially, because they were easy to lower through the floor. In practice, they are amazingly comfortable--at 600 miles on the first day of the Badlands tour this summer, I realized I was more comfortable than I would have been in any of my other cars.

Here's the sport seat (if I've managed to upload correctly). I don't have the original seats, I gave them to my daughter for her locost project. Besides, you *don't* want the early seats like I had (pre-2002 I believe)...they were HORRIBLE--little more than vinyl covered planks developed during the Spanish Inquisition.

I changed out my original seats to the new Birkin "sport" seats, and have found them to be very comfortable on long driving days.

I just installed one, and recall seeing a Ford trademark and a number cast into it--"818F-8260-AC." Maybe a Ford dealer can cross reference that number for you, or find another generic Ford housing as replacement. You might even find one with the hose connection on the front, where it belongs, instead of the side. Add--the cast number might be "81BF-8250-AC" The 8/B and 6/5 digits are a bit faint on mine. **update--under magnification and in better light, the number looks to be 81BF-8250-AC. The prefix and suffix don't match Ford numbering conventions, but the 8250 does indicate a thermostat housing. So, a bit more research may be in order to match the casting number with a part number.

I'm glad you were able to sort this out. Good luck registering your car in Belgium, and enjoy driving it. Randall

I believe the original Birkin wiper arms are shortened 1985 Volkswagen GTI units, and the blades are one 18" blade cut in half.

Okay. There's a Series 3 on Lotusowners.com, and New England Classics usually has a few listed. Hemmings on-line shows 8 Lotus 7s.

I haven't gone by lately, so I don't know if it's still available...but, not long ago there was a 1992-ish Birkin at a dealer in Newport Beach, CA. Here's the dealer URL: http://www.econpch.com/inventory_detail.aspx?@page_inv_id=10057 Randall

Well....not exactly. I retired in March, so "doing nothing" might be how some see it--but I may be starting a new venture soon and don't know how that is going to play out over the next year or two. Randall

Can I put myself down as a strong "maybe?" I'll go if I'm not otherwise occupied, but it's too soon to have any idea how August will be.

Aluminum and red would probably be Paul heading home.

"The" book seems to be "Build your own Sports Car on a budget," by Chris Gibbs. Another good book is Keith Tanner's "How to build a cheap sports car." Gibb's book is mostly focused on building the frame, while Tanner's is more what to do once you have a frame since he started with a kit frame. There's also loads of good info, ideas, and helpful people over on the locostusa.com site. Randall

I don't think WY and SD require the oxygenating additives that are required in CA. I suspect all of the symptoms you noticed are a direct result of that.

Wow, today was crazy hot. It probably wasn't as hot as South Dakota, but the heat combined with four or five hundred miles of droning freeway full of idiot drivers in big SUVs and pickup trucks drove me to near madness. I left my luxurious overnight digs this morning after a terrific breakfast. Unfortunately, the breakfast made me a bit late leaving. It was aready pretty warm in Cedar City and I knew it would quickly get worse. Even though it was dull interstate, there was still a bit of scenery to look at as the miles rolled by. Southern Utah has some spectacular geoligical formations--I know I was close to Radiator Springs, but somehow I missed the exit. The North West corner of Arizona was also beautiful. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Nevada or California. It was a real chore to press on through the desert, but I was very ready to be home, and there was no other way I'd get there but through the baking heat. It was 98 in Las Vegas, and even hotter through Baker and Barstow. The famous Baker thermometer didn't have any numbers lit, so I have no idea how much higher, but the misery value was huge. I was, however, thankful that I was not going the other direction. The traffic going to Vegas was incredible; it looked like bumper to bumper commute traffic all the way between the Strip and Victorville. Once I crossed the Cajon Pass, the temperature started to moderate, and I knew I was closing in on my final destination. I stayed focused on the goal, and finally reached my driveway. I was exhausted but thrilled to by home. After a quick cool shower, I even feel human again. I'm sure looking forward to sleeping in my own bed after two and a half weeks on the road. My final mileage tally is almost exactly 4,000 miles. The trip odometer reads 4,461 and the speedometer is about 10% high, so... Until next time....

Today was tough. The euphoria of the tour has worn off, and it's a chore to drive the thousand miles home from Jackson. We had a nice dinner last night, choosing Thai over burgers and steaks. I think we're beefed out after two weeks of nothing but. We all slept a bit late, and consequently got a late start. Even though we were traveling independently, we seem to have fallen into complimentary habits during the tour. By the time I was packed and ready to leave, I had decided to just go straight home rather than take any chances breaking down on a super lonely two lane highway through the wasteland. So, I made tracks for the interstate. I took a different route out of Wyoming than I took in. It was beautiful. I followed the snake river for a while, then turned away through the hills. After a few scenic miles, the hills gave way to sagebrush. Beautiful in it's own way, but not my preference. Mile after mile of sagebrush passed, then I was in the Utah red dirt and outcrops. Provo Canyon was beautiful, Provo traffic was horrible but soon I was just doing the boring I15 drone. I stopped in Nephi for a break, and Gert drove up. apparently he and Dion had been caravanning and followed the exact same route I took. We had been playing leap frog all morning without knowing it. Dion stopped in Nephi for the evening, Gert had reservations in Beaver City. I have no plans, so I continued until I was tired of driving. Well, not quite. I drove until the sun went down and other driver's inner idiot came out. I ended up in Cedar City. The nicer motels were all full, and I wasn't willing to stay in on of the lesser places. A nice girl at the Holiday Inn counter called a B&B that her mother likes. I was lucky, not only did they still have one room left, the owner discounted the room rate. At this point, all I want is a dark, quiet bed and a shower to clean off the road grime. All told, I drove about 600 miles today. All I want to do now is to get home and put the Birkin away. Until next time....

Today was a Very Long Day. It started normally enough, in the usual way. Kelly and I got up early, enjoyed a cup of coffee as the sun rose, then walked to a nice cafe for a light breakfast. After breakfast, we hurried back to the Motel to tell everyone how great the cafe was. At the motel, we learned that Skip and Tom had decided to leave for Colorado right away immediately. Good byes and well wishes were said, and they departed forthwith. Everyone else went to the Cafe, leaving me a few minutes to pack and warm my engine--my cold engine mapping is next thing to awful, so I need some extra time to get heat into the engine or it's essentially un-drivable. After several minutes at high idle, I shut it down. At about the time everyone returned from breakfast, I noticed a small pool of fluid under the nose of my car. Suspicious, but actually hoping somebody's dog had marked my car, I pushed it back to inspect the puddle. The good and bad news was that it wasn't dog pee, it was coolant. Unable to definitively determine the source of the coolant leak, I removed the nose and gathered a crowd. Crowds of concerned onlookers always make things better, don't they? I have a plumber's nightmare between the radiator and the water pump, with scads of hoseclamps and little short bits of hose. The consensus was that one of the clamped junctions must be leaking, so I needed to tighten all of them. Including the completely inaccessible ones. Off came the radiator--well, almost, I unbolted it and pulled it forward enough to tighten all the clamps. As that was being done, a new leak appeared at the crimped-in fan temp switch bung. Wonderful. As Gert, Dion, and Bill all roared off to the Beartooth Highway, I set off in the other direction to find a bottle of radiator stop leak. By the time I found the auto parts store, bought it, and poured that sludge in my cooling system, I was at least a half hour behind. So, up the Beartooth I went. It was still pretty early in the morning as I approached the nearly 11,000 foot top. And it was near freezing. It was so cold, my temperature gauge needle was trying to burrow into the left side to keep warm. Did I mention how my car doesn't run well when it's cold? What a bear it was to keep it going forward...especially when I came upon one or another of those lost souls who have no idea that fivee miles per hour is not appropriate on a highway like that, no matter how spectacular the scenery. I nursed it over the top, and mercifully the temperature rose to comfortable levels as we descended the other side. Soon enough, we were at the north gate into Yellowstone. The cute Rangerette was interested in the Sevens, but hadn't been able to ask questions "when those other guys came through," because there was a line of cars behind them. So, I was still about a half hour behind. As soon as we entered the park, I knew it wasn't going to be a good day. The road speed limit was 35 mph. And, there was suddenly traffic. Bad drive traffic. Drivers who thought that since they had paid an entrance fee they were free to do whatever numbskull thing they wanted to. We had about a hundred miles to cover with those idiots. In the park, we finally saw a bison and an elk. There was a huge crowd at one point, blocking the road. Apparently there was a grizzly in the adjacent field, though it had just gone over a small hump and laid down amidst the flowers so nobody could see it. Great. These idiots were all gathered to look at a bear they couldn't see. Get out of my way. Yellowstone is full of all that neat steamy stuff, but I didn't want to park my car anywhere near it because I don't want it to learn any more bad habits. So, we buzzed through the park, only stopping for the obligatory Old Faithful show. Once it blew it's top, we were off. Back into that horrible traffic and ridiculous speed limits. After Yellowstone, we passed through Teton National Park. I suppose you have to do that to get to Jackson, but there wasn't much to recommend it. I'm glad I didn't pay to get in. The traffic was a bit better because the tourists were all stopped taking photos of themselves in front of the Tetons. Have you ever wondered how lonely those early explorers had to be to name a jagged heap of rock "Large Breast?" Those had to be some uptight folks.... Down teh road and around the corner, and we were back in Jackson. I had just checked into the Motel and Gert called. It seems that after a full day of driving and sightseeing we had arrived at nearly the same time, he at his friends house and I at the Motel. Amazing. Not quite as amazing as my wife, however. This morning, as I poked at my coolant leaks, she struck up a conversation with a woman in the expanding audience. It turned out that they had both gone to the same High School and sung in the same music programs. It just goes to show how small the world is, except when you're driving through it at 25mph behind a lost tourist from Kansas. Tomorrow, Gert, Bill, and Dion all head for home with their cars resting comfortably trailers. I, on the other hand, just can't get enough of these seemingly endless minor mechanical irritations. I'll set off for home in my Birkin. I don't know which route I'll take, but I'm sure it'll be an adventure. Until next time...

It **isn't* Focus/Contour. It seems to be some obscure Ford only made in/for South Africa. Neither the Bosch or Ford part numbers on the starter cross to anything. Fortunately, it turned out to be a bad crimp on the solenoid signal wire. That fixed, I was on my way again. Thanks, Randall

Today was one for the books. You know the kind...the ones with everything going wrong, and an unexpected ending...? Early this morning, and I do mean early--3:30am, I woke and decided to get an early start on my car. I had left it at the Sheridan, Wyoming ford stealer because I expected that they would be best equipped to discover any useable starter for a Birkin. The standard unit is from an obscure (and so far unidentified) Ford from South Africa. I had been a bit concerned that, while I could afford to fix my car at my leisure, my wife needed to be in Jackson on Friday to fly home. I arranged for her to ride withthe others back to Jackson, so when I left a Oh-dark-thirty, I was assured that I wasn't actually abandoning her in a strange inn 27 miles from the nearest town. When I got to Sheridan, I was a bit early for either the stealer or the local parts counter, so I found a cafe with wifi and both posted yesterday's saga (sorry I couldn't do it earlier, the mountain inn wifi was completely flaky and died entirely when a local transformer blew up). Once teh sun came up, the local parts guys arrived tfor work. I already knew they'd not be able to help me with the starter, but I asked anyway. I was right. I just got blank stares. But, the real reason I bothered them with hard questions was to find out if there were any starter rebuilder businesses in Sheridan. Unfortunately, there were not. that was a real setback. I had counted on a city the size of Sheridan, somewhat cut off from the rest of civilization, to have one. So, I went on to plan two--I called Dick Brink at Texas Motor Works. Dick had a starter in stock, and was more than happy to next-day ship it to me. Meanwhile, as I was talking to Dick, the ford guys arrived for work. No, Sheridan isn't really that small, the two places just happened to be nearly next door to each other. I asked Dick to find out if there were any cross fit starters/solenoids, and he gladly set off for his shop to findout. the Ford guys, on the other hand, were sort of hopping from one foot to the other in excitement, waiting to tell me wha tthey knew. It seems that the newest tech at the stealership had a few free minutes to spare and he started checking the wires. Imagine my surprise and happiness when they told me he had found the original wire crimp at teh solenoid was so poorly done, the wire was only in place from tradition. There was no contact between teh wire and the solenoid. He cleaned everything up and recrimped the wire. The car fired right up yesterday evening, and he took it for an eye-opening spin around the maintenance building. His eyes were still wide when I arrived this morning. So, I was back in the race. I was about an hour behind the other guys, so I wasted no time heading back iinto the mountains. There were, however, two scenic roads between Dayton and Cody. I fell victim to the Fifty-fifty-ninety rule. Whenever you have a fifty-fifty chance at making the right decision, ninety percent of the time, you'll choose the wrong one. I had a great drive down Shell Canyon while everyone else took the upper route. When I re-entered cell-phone civilization, I discovered my mistake (if you can call it that), and arranged to meet in Cody for lunch, which we did. Re-connected, we set out for Red Lodge across the Bear Tooth Highway. The Bear Tooth Highway is another of those superlative roads everyone needs to drive once. We're planning to do it again tomorrow in the other direction. The road's summit crests at 10,960 feet, and there are still snow banks on both sides of teh road. It was a bit chilly as the wind blew across the snow fields, but it was also incredibly exhilerating. I had fallen well behind the other guys because of road maintenance delays and my grandfatherly slow driving. But, I didn't care. It was absolutely amazing. Over the top, the road decends quickly and before long, we arrived in Red Lodge. As we pulled up, Dion was putting the last finishing touches on his alternator replacement. We are a complete troupe again. Tomorrow, we plan to attack the mountain and traverse to Jackson where the tour officially ends. I will be driving home for a few days after that, and will try to keep posting until I get home. So far, this has been an incredible experience filled with amazing people. thanks guys. Until next time....

OK. I was a bit smug about how great yesterday was, and today Karma bit me in the behind, big time. We left Hulett early since we had a long day ahead of us. It isn't like there was anything to do in Hulett, anyway--if you ever find yourself there, I suggest you find someplace else to be. Otherwise, eat at the deli, not the cafe. I never really figured out if they actually use the same kitchen, but the deli is cheaper and has really good soft serve ice cream. Also, visit the antique shop/museum. They have some very rare and interesting artifacts in the back room, and the admission is free. Anyway, back the road. The Hulett area is sun-burnt red soil with rocky outcroppings and trees. It's very beautiful, but the town is not much more than two motels, two bars, two pizza places, and a bank named "Bank." The road, on the other hand was pretty nice. It rolled over and around gentle hills. The hills gradually gave way to somewhat flatter grassland with somewhat straighter roads. It was still very nice driving. At one point, in the middle of rolling grassland, we came across a 15 mile section of "road repair." We stopped and waited for the pilot car, and followed it to the end of the "repair." The trouble was, there was no repair. That road was as nice as any we've driven, it just didn't have a middle stripe on it. Dion proposed that it was pilot car driver training. I think that it's more likely a make work program. There were six pilot cars plus two flag people at either end. Eight jobs funded by the Feds in the middle of nowhere will buy at least eight votes. Immediately after we were released from the "road repair" convoy, Dion's alternator quit making enough electrons. We stopped, and despite everyone standing around with concerned looks, Dion couldn't convince it to make more voltons. Into the trailer of shhame it went. We continued on to the Little Bighorn Custer's last stand monument, where we spent an hour or two looking at exhibits and listening to the Ranger talks. At the end of our visit, my car wouldn't start. Symptoms seemed to indicate that the starter solinoid had packed it in, so a push start was tried. The car started, so I left ahead of everyone, and headed independently for the nearest town that might have a starter--Sheridan, WY. As I write this, my car sits in Sheridan awaiting a starter that I now know is not compatible with my Birkin. I'm in the mountains at our scheduled stop (I rented a car, that's how.) and will return to Sheridan in the morning. While the remaining members of the tour continue to Red Lodge, I'll be working to get back on the road. Until next time....

Does anyone know of a direct replacement starter/solenoid for a Zetec/Sierra trans Birkin (mounted under the exhaust)? I'm on the Blackhills Tour, and my solenoid is dead. I'm abut in the middle of nowhere, have limited internet access, and can't find anything in archives. Please help, Randall