BirkinBernie

Here is the Birkin parked next to my Crown Vic with their tail ends lined up.... :-) Bernie

Hi all! We have arranged to meet Johnty and his wife tomorrow (Sunday the 17th) at 5:30 pm at the Texas Land and Cattle Company in Bedford: 1813 Hwy. 121 Bedford, TX, 76021 121 Service Rd & Murphy Dr, next to 24 Hour Fitness 817-318-1811 Please reply to bclong7@verizon.net to let me know you are coming. I have talked to the restaurant and space should not be a problem that time of day, but I would like to let them know how many are coming. Hope to see you there! Bernie Long

Great! Let me know when you will be here, and where you will be. We'll see if we can get some folks together. Regards, Bernie

Hi all, For those of you in the DFW area, we would like to get folks together for lunch this Thursday Dec 30. I would propose Texas Land and Cattle Steak House at Hwy 121 and Hwy 183 in Bedford: 1813 Hwy. 121 BEDFORD TX, 76021 121 Service Rd & Murphy Dr, next to 24 Hour Fitness Ph: 817 / 318-1811 Fax: 817 / 318-1891 http://www.texaslandandcattle.com/files/home.aspx Let's say 11:30 am. Please let me know if you are coming. The weather forecast of for a high of 71 so bring your Se7en! If you know a Se7en owner who may not have seen this, please forward it to them. I know this is kind of last minute but we just thought of it..... :-) Hope to see you there! Happy New Year! Bernie

I'm 6'4", 225 lbs and have narrow size 13 feet. I have a 2000 Birkin, and while I can drive it (carefully) in sneakers, it works just fine in narrow sole racing shoes. Yes, the Birkin pedal assembly is very adjustable, and unless your feet are very wide you should be able to find a workable arrangement. Oh, and my seats are custom made upholstered pads that sit in the chassis - gained me a bit of width and leg room vs a standard type seat. Quite comfy - I've gone as far as 400 miles in a day and the only real fatigue was from the wind. I've never driven an SV, but I sat in one once and was very impressed with the foot room. I am sure I could easily drive one in street shoes. So, try different Se7ens on for size. If I can fit in one, you should have no trouble at all. If you can make it to the Se7ens Festival in Fort Worth in May there should be a selection of Se7ens to look at there. Bernie

Hi all! Photos from the 2009 Hill Country Tour are posted: http://picasaweb.google.com/sw7fest/2009Se7ensHillCountryTour# Thanks to Lana and Gale Newlin, Dick and Lynn Brink and Phil Anderson for providing the pics! Bernie

Hi Jeff - actually the knob was turned from a piece of aluminum bar stock by a friend of mine. I hate wimpy shift levers! :-)

No Big Red Button - the stock key switch works for me. I also built a custom dash - I cannot see the stock tach or speedo behind the steering wheel and I bought aftermarket gauges when I built my car. To design the layout, I scanned the instrument faces, printed full size pics and cut them out. I then sat in the car and taped them in various layouts till I found one I liked. I did the detailed layout on my computer with a drawing program, printed it full size on a plotter at work and used that to centerpunch the panel. It is painted with black wrinkle paint. I have more pics of the project if you are interested. It was a fun project - I think you will enjoy it! Bernie

AACK! I just realized that this is the same weekend as the Hill Country Tour! Well, if you absolutely cannot make the Tour, this is a good show.....

This is a very enjoyable small show. Hope you can join us! > From: Sheela Kadam > Date: September 16, 2009 10:55:22 AM CDT > To: britemp@yahoo.com > Subject: INVITATION to British Emporium Halloween Car & Bike Show 10/25/09 > > YOU'RE INVITED! > For more information call The British Emporium: 817 421 2311 or check: http://www.british-emporium.com > > BRITISH EMPORIUM'S ANNUAL HALLOWEEN BRITISH CARSHOW IS ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 25TH 11AM-3PM IN GRAPEVINE AND WILL FEATURE CLASSIC BRITISH CARS AND MOTORCYCLES! > > Join us for a celebration of classic cars and great British motoring history....AND VISIT OUR HAUNTED TEAROOM IF YOU DARE! > > AT: The British Emporium Carpark, 140 North Main Street Grapevine TX 76051 - one block North of Northwest Highway, (East Side) on Sunday May 17th, 11am-3pm. > FREE and open to the public and to participants - BRING YOUR FRIENDS, > WE HAVE GREAT PRIZE CATEGORIES THIS YEAR! > Call us on 817 421 2311 if you'd like to display your British car or motorcycle, and we'll save a space for you! > Expect to see some beautiful British classics at the most British spot in the Metroplex! > > HELP US WITH OUR CANNED FOOD DRIVE! Together we can assist those in need...Bring a can of food for donation to our local GRACE food pantry. > > PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ANY INTERESTED PARTIES... > Happy Motoring! See you soon, > > Sheela & Alexandra > The British Emporium > British Groceries & Gifts (Est. 1992) > 140 North Main Street > Grapevine TX 76051 > 817 421 2311 > http://www.british-emporium.com >

I tow with a '97 Subaru Outback 5 spd that has a 2000 lb tow rating. It's my wife's daily driver. To stay within the 2000 lb rating, I needed a very light trailer. I ended up with an aluminum trailer from Aluma Ltd. It weighs just under 500 lbs, the deck is 78x123 inches, and it has a 2200 lb gross capacity. So it won't be carrying any Miatas or MGs. But it hauls the Se7en very nicely. It wasn't cheap at $2200, but the steel trailers I looked at were $1500 and they were too heavy. So I spent a little more on the trailer, and avoided having to spend money on a bigger tow vehicle. I still have some work to do on ramp storage but overall I am very happy with it. Bernie

Here is a collection of photos from the 2009 Southwest Se7ens Festival: http://picasaweb.google.com/sw7fest/2009SouthwestSe7ensFestival# Thanks to all who contributed! Bernie

Hi Martin, Yes, that's my car, then Carlos Fenny's Birkin, Dick Brink's Birkin, Chuck Spera's Ultralite, Gale and Lana Newlin's Stalker, and Phil Anderson's Caterham. There were quite a few other cars at the track days - I'll post some more pics as soon as I can get them from the other participants. We also had a Westfield at the track day on Saturday so a pretty good selection of the different brands were present! Bernie

Here are a couple of pics from the 2009 Southwest Se7ens Festival, taken at the Lodge at Lake Palo Pinto. See all those smiling faces? You need to add yours to the group next year! More pics to come! Bernie

Hi all, For those of you in the Dallas-Ft Worth area, there are a couple of events coming up that should be fun. On Saturday Oct 18 is the last Christian Classic Cruisers cruise night for 2008. See: http://www.christianclassiccruisers.com/ They even have a pic of my car from last month! http://www.christianclassiccruisers.com/septshow2.html They are asking that each entrant donate a new unwrapped toy at the event for a needy child this Christmas. Sunday Oct 19th, Jeff Sloan of British Auto Specialists is having his annual open house again, but this year with a twist. The party will be held at his family ranch in Valley View not at his shop. And he is putting on a rally through the countryside to get there! See: http://www.britauto.net/ He is asking for an RSVP so please contact him if you are planning on being there. Seeya! Bernie

I think you will find that the serial number is indeed on the flat boss above the starter as in the picture of the yellow engine above. It is very, very hard to see. It appears to have been etched with a laser or something - it is not stamped like we used to see. When I registered my car they wanted a rubbing of the serial number, but try as I could I could not get it to show up. The lettering is just too faint. But it is there.... Bernie

I use a local agency that writes collector car policies in Texas. In 2005 I had a fire in the car that damaged the boot, tonneau, boot cover, seats etc. It was a real mess, and happened the day before I was to leave on the 3 1/2 week USA 2005 Tour to San Francisco. Anyway, the insurance company's response was outstanding. With the help of friends, I was able to get the car fixed and on the road in two days, and when I got back the insurance company took VERY good care of me and settled the claim very much to my satisfaction. The policy has a 3000 mile/year cap but I rarely get close to that. But they will write a rider to extend that for a nominal fee. They covered my usual year, plus the 4000 miles I drove on the Tour. It also has the usual collector car rules where you cannot use it for commuting to work, it has to be stored in a garage, etc. And it is an agreed value policy. It is the "Smith Insurance Agency", run by Wally Smith. You can reach him at 1-888-465-3467. They won't cover you while you are on a race track, but my experience has been very good indeed. Regards, Bernie Long Keller, TX

You might give a call to Craig Taylor at Taylor Racing in Dallas. http://www.taylor-race.com/contact.cfm Solving problems like this are Craig's business. He is also a very Se7en's friendly guy - he has given fantastic tech presentations at two Southwest Se7ens Festivals in past years. Good luck! Bernie

Hi Bob! Do you have a picture of the dash? I don't think I have seen a Birkin set up with an electronic dash. Sounds interesting! Best regards, Bernie

My Birkin with a bone stock '98 Zetec, including the factory fuel injection, averaged 33 mpg on the 2005 USA Tour......

This was my wife's first ride in the Birkin over 45 minutes in length, and the first time on interesting roads. As you can see from her smile in the picture above, she really enjoyed it! She commented on how you really experience the countryside from the seat of a Se7en - the temperature changes, the smells, the sounds and the unobstructed view. We passed a long row of Porsches going the other direction, and she made the comment "Those people don't know what they are missing!" :-)))) She also noticed a sign marking an approaching curve as "25 mph". She said she looked down and the speedo said 65. She wasn't concerned - she has enough autocross experience from years back to understand - but I think the little car impressed her...... Seeya! Bernie

What a great weekend! At least till the clutch broke on Sunday. Oh well. Loren did a great job and we can't wait to go back! Here's how to stay warm in a Se7en with a cut down windscreen when it's 36 degrees outside! http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/112759681_coldweathergear.jpg

One of my favorites from the USA Tour in 2005.....http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/613251633_colorado yellow.jpg

A nice gathering of interesting cars. See http://www.allbritishcarday.com/

Hi Loren, The ".est" files you have posted are, I take it, "Microsoft Streets and Trips" files. Since I don't have that software, is there a way to get the info in another form? I have a Garmin GPS and it would be fun to have the route in it. Even if you were only able to output a text file of the directions, that would be fine.... Thanks! Bernie