Croc

Can I borrow your private jet? Pretty please! :jester: Unfortunately, I do not organize the event so it will not be moved - it is always in the last week of April. So we can always have our own event - probably better anyway - less people for you to buy beers for!

Thanks for the input Guys! Martin - I think you are on to something. I think what happened is that some residual fluid (probably the preparation flush fluid) was not fully cleared out of the system prior to replacing with the glycol-based (non-water based) new coolant. I think this preparation fluid is heavier than the coolant and so it trickled down and sat at the lowest level, froze in the cold weather and split the hose. The coolant has an operating temperature of -70 deg before it freezes and even then it is supposed to just become a slurry and shrink - not expand. However, the preparation fluid will expand on freezing - makes a likely candidate here I think. The splits are very localized at low points in the hoses so I may have got off lucky without any issues on the radiator - it looks ok but a thorough check will confirm this. Fingers crossed. Brad - I agree with you - I always buy the better quality item as it usually is false economy to go with the cheap one - unless I have some good knowledge on the topic. The Samco hoses that you mention are the ones I was using. Samco make the regular and silicone hoses (as upgrade items) and sell them through Ford (as Ford brand) as well as other retailers like Napa. I know I bought the Samco Focus hose kit and supplemented it with a few of the Samco racing hoses. I cannot find the invoice but I am almost certain that I did the same thing you did. I cannot remember any 32mm vs 35mm issues so I will check that out when I finish the morning brew and face the garage. As an aside, I find kitty litter is wonderful stuff for soaking up miscellaneous outflows from my Cat. Mopped up the garage floor nicely!

The LEO Group has organized what they call the annual fish and chip run in Milford NJ for Sunday April 25. I have done this before and it is a great time. This would be ideal for Bruce but I bet you will not be back from Bonaire. Message from Lotus Talk Board: 2010 Lotus Fish and Chips Run (East Coast) Yes, in spite of all the snow on the ground, spring is just around the corner and that means the Sixth Annual Lotus Fish and Chips Run! This year's event will be on Sunday April 25th. We will meet at our usual spot at the municipal lot in the center of Milford N.J. at 12:00 pm (noon). After a scenic drive some of the regions most picturesque roads, we will return to the lot and walk across the street to The Ship Inn (The Ship Inn) to sample some of the excellent British cuisine. There is an RSVP need but post here I will cross post it to Lotus Talk

Well I went into the garage yesterday intent on touching up some stone chips as part of my winter projects (sadly delayed) only to find my little car has had a hissy fit and gone and dumped its coolant all over the floor. Further investigation reveals 2 splits in the cooling hoses near the radiator. Given it is only 6 months or so since I replaced all hoses with a brand new set of Ford Focus OEM silicone hoses, I am slightly miffed - I expected them to last longer, especially with the scars from my previous cooling meltdown still so fresh. Given the garage is unheated, I have a suspicion cold has something to do with it. I am also a little frustrated since I had filled the system with a new kind of coolant that can last 100,000 miles or life of car.... Should I shift back to regular rubber hoses? Any brands/hose kits recommended over the Ford OEM variety - looking for ideas or alternatives people have seen. Thanks!

Thats just lovely. Great color scheme, beautiful interior, very tasteful! Brings back fond memories of my old Series 2.

Good stuff! Now, is it too early to start him on upgrades?

Good Grief!!!!

Found for sale in Hemmings - no relation to me... http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lotus/unspecified/1011383.html Chequered Flag International is pleased to offer this 2004 Birkin SE7 in Brushed Aluminum with Black fenders and Black interior. A true replica of a 67 Series 3 Lotus Super 7. It was built as a turn key driver, titled as smog exempt California car. 8733 miles. 15" aluminum wheels, roll bar, bucket seats, tonneau cover, spare tire rack with matching wheel. The body is a combination of aluminum, fiberglass and carbon fiber. The engine is a 2.0 liter Ford Twin Cam Etech (Ford Focus ZX3) producing approximately 160 + horsepower. Aluminum radiator, fuel injection system, 4 wheel disc brakes. Brake master cylinders have adjustable brake bias front to rear and adjustable pedal box. It also has limited slip differential and semi close ratio 5 speed gearbox. Heated windshield. Weighs approximately 1300 lbs, runs and drives superbly - a lot of fun to drive! Inspections encouraged. All sales AS-IS. Sales tax and lic fees due if delivered in California. - Contact Chequered Flag at 310-827-8665 or sales@chequeredflag.com for more information. - Please see more inventory and photos at http://www.chequeredflag.com. - $25,900

I may have a problem - a family event that will take me out that weekend. If I cannot make it - then I can always follow up with a mini-drive and lunch the following weekend.

Bruce - I think you picked it. It does look like a Dellow Mark V with modified rear body work and clams, identical wheels and nose. http://www.dellowregister.co.uk/

Excellent! Good to see you made it home before the snow.

oops! I guess this will kick off the Hank and Skip niggling act again!

I learned to race in an Elfin Formula Ford in Australia. Wonderfully rewarding car to drive. I would probably not fit in a FF anymore. Good living has taken a toll! Still I do get turned on by the GT - I would just go for one of the GT40 replicas by CAV before the modern GT by Ford.

Great introduction - really good videos. You obviously have set your car up well - it looked nicely settled on the Ascari track. I have always like a yellow 7!

Great post! The thing that gets me about your car is its sheer reliability with no work needing to be done or sorted from the previous owners neglect. I am still working my way around my car fixing mechnical and electrical niggles - no sooner than I finish one than another pops up. This week it is a coolant leak - probably because the garage is down to 19degrees Fahrenheit! No driving for a while

I had the same concern when I was car hunting - so I deliberately drove the cars with different types of shoes. I have a little more heft in the waist (ok...a lot more..:blush:) and a very wide size 13. What I found is that the Birkin was easy to adjust the pedal box to drive in regular shoes if I was careful - I tried both with trainers and dress shoes. if I did not pay attention I could get two pedals at once. In narrow sole moccasins I had no issues - very easy. In the SV there is more room again. Again I can drive in regular trainers and dress shoes without an issues - just need to careful - but I prefer the narrow sole driving shoe. One thing to look out for is the ability to slide your left foot behind the clutch pedal on long trips so you are not holding it at an unnatural angle. For me this is a godsend on long highway stretches. In the birkin, we could not get the pedal box to adjust far enough to do this in the narrow sole driving moccasin. I know others do this but they must have smaller feet. However, no problems in the SV with the driving shoe and it does not have the same design flexibility that the Birkin has with its pedal box - so there is obviously more usable space in the SV down there. I cannot perform this trick in anything but the narrow sole driving shoe

I can understand the feelings of desparation to get in and drive! How did you find it in Japan? Do you speak nihongo?

I beg to differ - I think it would look much nicer in my garage!!!!

Wow Skip! Thanks for this. They are stunning - if I did not know they were models I would not have guessed. Abolutely brilliant. I hate to think how many hundreds/thousands of hours went into such detail perfection. I almost wanted to hop in and take a drive

Congratulations!!!!

Sorry I beg to differ - China Airlines is Taiwanese and not Communist China http://www.china-airlines.com/en/about/about-1-1.htm Air China is the Communist one. Damn confusing with the virtually identical names. Either way - your assessment is correct - the safety record is atrocious. :ack:

Having spent my time in third world countries on overloaded, no safety, poorly trained pilots and survived 2 crash landings - 1 in Indonesia in a 737 and 1 in PNG in a Beechcraft - that sent shivers up my spine. China Air (Taiwanese Airline) does not have a great safety reputation - they have lost a fair number of planes over the year. They are on my do not fly list. From listening to the Japanese news service, it happened at a Japnese airport. From what I could work out with my rusty Japanese the pilot set the wrong takeoff weight in the flight computers so that inadequate thrust was applied for take off. These days, modern aircraft dont just shove the throttles to full and go, they only use the amount of power computed by the engine for the weight of the aircraft - less wear, safer overall.

You just reminded me of something funny recently I was visiting the parents and it was the usual male bonding in the garage with the cars and bikes. Dad with his vintage boxer BMW bike was telling me how well it performs. I asked what is the secret - so he popped a little blue pill out of his pocket and dropped it into the fuel tank. With that he quipped "you would be amazed what it can get up to" I was left doing goldfish impersonations....

Paul Great suggestion - I have been on rt 521 before and loved it. Never tried rt 97 before but I will save that up. We may have to give it a miss this time - we will probably be all converging on Frenchtown/Milford NJ area - little bit far south. Come and join us!!! cheers

I dont know what you are talking about....my brake lights are just fine from where I sit I think your problem is that you just need to be in front.....go faster!!!! :D