KiwiBirkin

I found it its 30mm offset Cheers KiwiBirkin

Hi does anyone know what the offset is for the standard Birkin mags that are supplied with the car around the 1996/97 year of manufacture. These mags are still on my car and can be seen under the members rides section, I cant find the offset on the mags anywhere and would like to know as I want to replace them. In mm if you can please Cheers KiwiBirkin

The place behind the cars had a small side parking area so we used the low part of the kerb there to get up on to the grass and drive along to get in front of the building.

I also meet up with some Sevens , this is the write up for our club with pics Well what a awesome day we had on Sunday, just over 300kms clocked in the run and a turnout of 9 cars all members of the Southern Lotus Register (SLR) we had 5x Lotus 7 replicas 1x Sprite, 1x Élan, 1x Elise and 1 MX5. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/Trips/HanmerSprings3.jpg The day started off with us all meeting at Pine acres just north of Christchurch at 10am every one was on time and it was all ready 20 deg, the forecast was for 23 deg and fine weather with some showers in the southern alps, we all headed off in convoy with the next stop at Waikari to form up again, by now both drivers & passengers were shedding cloths at the Waikari stop as we had hit a very warm norwester and the temp's had all ready hit the mid 20s it was then on to Hanmer Springs for a lunch stop with us arriving on time at 11.30. Those of us who decided to have lunch headed off to the local Robbie’s bar which is now in the old post office opposite the thermal pools, we had a lovely lunch and some great conversation, when we all started paying the bills the manager asked us what club we were from and after a chat we were asked to put some of the cars outside the old post office for a photo shoot. We brought up all the Lotus 7s and arranged them on the front lawn. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/Trips/HanmerSprings7.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/Trips/HanmerSprings10.jpg After the photo shoot we re-grouped and headed out of Hanmer and back down to Mouse Point where we turned for the run to Waiau and the run up the Leader Valley to State Hwy1 for the run home. The run to Waiau and up the Leader valley took us through some great scenery and we were also on a fantastic bit of road for the cars we were in, myself and Malcolm in the Fraser both took off and had a great spirited drive up the valley road waiting at the other end for the others who took it at a more sedate pace to catch up, from the turn on the state hwy 1 we then decided as it was getting late we would head straight back towards christchurch and meet for coffee at the Pukeko Junction coffee shop. It turned out to be a great day, great roads, great weather & great people what more could you want from a day and it’s the reason I got my car. Cheers KiwiBirkin

Wow that looks mean man

I would take mine every day if i didnt car pool to work

Cheers Southwind Update on the seats Well my new seats arrived back from being coverd today and Mark at McGregor Motor sports fitted them in for me, I really pleased with them and the wife is going to be a lot happier that these ones dont have the tight fit that the bucket sides provided with the Birkin seats (it dont bother me at all) it should provide here with a more comfy ride for longer trips than 3-4 hours. I plan to remove some foam from my side so that I sit a bit lower as they have been packed up a bit but its a easy job as the upholstery people put a zip underneath for this reason. Here are some pics http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/newseats5.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/newseats2.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/newseats.jpg Cheers KiwiBirkin

I knew I had seen that car before, nice seven and very well presented and he has another one there too http://www.lotusowners.com/ForSale/Caterham%20For%20Sale/pages/062_JPG.htm

Buy some racing boots, all seven type cars have the same narrow footwell and most people have the same promblem as you

Another update for those who wanted to see the seat shells. I have just picked them up so I can test fit them and mark the fiberglass up where I want it trimed up so they look even before they go off to get coverd. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/glass_seats2.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/glass_seats3.jpg

Cheers for the comments, here is a pic of my car with simlar seats mine are being based on, these were built by McGregor Motorsport (http://www.mcgregormotorsport.co.nz/index.html) for another client and I spotted them in a corner of their workshp when I was visiting them and thought they looked better than the standard Birkin ones, so I tried them in the car, they felt much better to sit in and put me futher back in the pit and a bit lower too, mine are having the head rest kicked up to 90 deg's and not back like the ones in the picture. I will post a new picture when mine are fitted in. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/newseats2-1.jpg

Yehh its a bit of a bugger and takes some time, the whole car needs some wet a dry to bring it up to Slomove's car, I keep swinging back and forwards to painting it / not painting it

Hi Croc its nice to see your ride, 12 countries hey not bad, so your not hankering for a VB then ??? or a bit of cane toad bashing

Cheers Pi7ot for that info I have some thing to work with now and check the GAZ shocks against.

Im in the process of looking around for new shocks to replace my spax shocks that come with the Birkin, I have a chance to get some good front GAZ shocks from a supplier here in NZ, so what I would like to know is what should I be asking for I know that there is a recommended length of 294mm between the shocks mounting eyes when they are in place and the car is sitting on the ground, there will also be a compression size and fully extended size too. I know a few guys here have put new shocks & springs on there Birkins so any info would be most helpfull. I also will be getting new springs too, I would like to know whats recommended just for road use on the front & rear. Cheers KiwiBirkin

Well Grace (my cars name) has had some updates over the last 3 weeks, new exhuast and a new front grill, the new exhuast has made the 1600 xflow pull much better down low and has improved the middle range too, the orignal birkin grill has been cut and a caterham 7 put in to the middle and has been painted chrome to match the aluminum I think the new grill makes the car look very smart along with the new exhuast too. The next upgrade for Grace are some new seats which are in the process of being made and coverd, these will give me some longer leg room and also put me lower in the cockpit. Anyway here are some pics of the grill & exhuast. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/No74.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/newbirkin3_resize.jpg

When I first purchased my Birkin I had the same promblem as you my knees where at the bottom of the wheel with no way to move my legas around, the Birkin had the stock 320mm wheel, i removed it and put a Momo 280mm wheel on it and ended up with lots of room under the wheel.

Cheers for the imput guys and DB6 thanks for the link made for some good reading.

I sit very close to my steering wheel in my seven compared to my normal car (98 WRX) my arms have a good 90-120 deg bend in them, other people I have seen in Sevens seem to sit quite far away with out stretched arms. I quite like my driving position it gives me good feel for whats happening through the wheel, whats others thoughts on their ideal driving position for a Seven. Are there any pros & cons to being closer/futher away.

Were coming to the end of our summer here in NZ, we have about 8 weeks before the snow hits the skifields but there will be plenty of driving days yet , mind you we do get some really nice winter days here and I plan on taking advantage of them with the polyprops on. I really enjoy seeing pics of members sevens out and about so keep them coming, it will make the winter go faster.

Ah sorry John I figured you for a New Zealander when you said about the Crusaders in the earlier post (Cantab = some one from Canterbury in NZ)

Hi DB6 from what I can gather from info from forums and around the net Birkin & Fraser (the full red car) build as near as they can to the series 3 Lotus and are the only factory build cars that come that close, also most of the Birkins sold around the late 80s early 90s had the paint jobs you can see on the red Birkin & mine with lots of aluminum on show.

Your not missing anything with the Crusaders John there playing pretty crap average this season. BTW where are you in the world and im guessing your a Cantab ??

Nice

Hi guys, well had my first trip out with the Lotus club I joined here in NZ, it mostly has seven owners in but there a quite a few members with other Lotus marque cars. Anyway we meet up at 7.30am for a early morning run to a small town called Akaroa in Canterbury we went this early as its a popular run with the tourists in there campervans as its one of the main tourist routes here, the road is a great driving road in a seven and we didnt want to be stuck behind any slow cars/campervans over the main pass road. The town was the first place the French settled in when colonizing NZ and is very pretty to visit. Anyway some pics Cars are 2x Birkins, 1x Dixon (NZ build car 40 produced) 1x Fraser 1x LoCost and a Lotus Exige (club president) Birkin, Locost, Fraser http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/7s at Akaroa/7sAkaroa5.jpg Dixon, Birkin (Mine) http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/7s at Akaroa/7sAkaroa7.jpg Top Summit road on the way home http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/7s at Akaroa/7sAkaroa17.jpg Had to stop for the view (actually the Dixon dropped a lead and was running on 3 cyl) http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/7s at Akaroa/7sAkaroa18.jpg There are more pictures here if you want to view http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/7s%20at%20Akaroa/