thegoat

That looks like fun. But those guys don't even put a price or how to buy one on their website. I guess it is one of those - if you have to ask...

I could think of more enjoyable ways to risk my life.

Skip, yesterday was both a happy and sad day. Tom called me with the engine running - happy day. 10 minutes after getting off the phone I realized that I will not be there for its first test drive - sad day. Alaskossie, I plan on bringing the car down from Gypsum to Erie on March 21 - IF the weather cooperates. The car will then stay at friend's garage in Erie until April when I drive it to Tahoe. Maybe we can do a brief meet up in Erie on March 21. If Skip is going to be around, I was going to swing by his place so he could take a look.

IT IS ALIVE! Starts and idles smooth. First run to come this weekend.

Welcome. I am not too far away in Incline up at Lake Tahoe. My car is nearly finished - but is a "modern" Birkin. I would be interested to hear of any groups you are a part of in the area.

Aren't all Seven owners part of some weird cult?

Here are some updated photos from Tom. You can see the upgraded stainless braided fuel lines, the throttle bodies, and the currently very ugly hosing for cooling. Tom and I discussing dressing that hosing up a bit with black braided hoses and AN fittings.

I understand the general principle that it takes power - but what I am surprised is how much power it takes. One hp is something like 550 ft. lbs per second right? I just wouldn't think that that pulley sucks that much from the system.

Performance. There are no clearance issues with the water pump pulley. You can see where it is blanked off in the last photo above on front right side of the engine. Tom installed the ewp on his car and then went back to the stock pulley setup. He said that the temperature would fluctuate quite a bit from when the thermo was open and closed. He tried various ways of counteracting this, like drilling a few small holes in the thermostat switch so that cool water always flowed into the block - but then he had trouble getting the car to warm up. So, he went back to the stock setup. One thing he wasn't sure about though was whether the temp fluctuations were really as significant as he thought based on where the water temp sensor is located. I think it is more an issue of where the sensor is located which gives you amplified readings. Tom left his ewp in the car, just not connected to the system. If I find I am uncomfortable with the system, I can always just put the stock pulley back on and leave it there as well. I think Dick sets all his cars up with the ewp and has had no issues. Here is question though for all you engineers: How is it that an ewp can add 3+ hp? Is the drain from a pulley really that great? 3+ hp is a lot of actual power, and that is a small pulley. Same with the crank pulley. I have a lightweight one on my car, which should add another 3+ hp (in addition to other nice benefits like throttle response). I was talking this over with my father-in-law (a civil engineer), and we both didn't understand how a pulley can take that much power from the system - although I have seem people prove pulley/ewp changes with dynos.

New photos for everyone to enjoy. Tom put the engine and transmission in yesterday. He also added a 12V outlet for the radar detector/phone charging. There is also a photo of the electric water pump mount that Tom fabricated (rather than zip tied as is customary). Also a picture of where the wiring comes in. Tom does some clean work.

I have driven I-80 across the salt flats before. You are correct that there really isn't anything out there - just flats to the right and to the left.

That is your wife? Impressive. I can't even imagine having my wife ride shotgun...

Here is the newest route: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=2074+Primrose+Ln,+Erie,+CO+80516&daddr=Arapahoe+Rd+to:CO-72+W%2FPeak+to+Peak+Hwy+to:CO-7+W%2FCO-7+Scenic+W+to:Trail+Ridge+Rd%2FUS-34+W+to:US-40+W+to:US-40+W+to:Co+Rd+29+to:CO-13+S%2FCO-789+S+to:CO-64+W+to:UT-45+N+to:500+W+St+to:UT-35+W+to:E+Canyon+Rd%2FUT-65+S+to:Burr%27s+Ln%2FEmigration+Canyon+Rd+to:E+500+S+to:W+400+S+to:I-80+W+to:40.677514,-112.398376+to:I-80+W+to:US-93+S+to:US-50+W+to:Geiger+Grade+Rd%2FNV-341+W+to:808+Carano+Court,&geocode=FUiIYgIdl3q9-SkplgdahgpshzEeCMvIZFctsg%3BFRaUYgIdvLC8-Q%3BFequYgId1_q1-Q%3BFfLXZQId6L21-Q%3BFW7kaAIdrDuy-Q%3BFfDMaQIdINif-Q%3BFWv2aQIdi-Ob-Q%3BFfhSZwId2ICZ-Q%3BFc-eZwId1a-V-Q%3BFeRDYwIdYa6N-Q%3BFXyGZAId6H58-Q%3BFbOSaAIdeJd4-Q%3BFWHCaQId9vRh-Q%3BFVoTcQId3vRZ-Q%3BFVoIbgIdJmdW-Q%3BFQztbQIdnFFV-Q%3BFUr1bQIdIJdU-Q%3BFRwebgIdFrhR-Q%3B%3BFUCWbQIdFT1C-Q%3BFY3NYQIdPuop-Q%3BFdJrWwIdyAQS-Q%3BFfBVWAIdamTe-A%3BFeQCVwIdPpLZ-Cnb21JKHHCZgDFod5HtA0GTQg&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=18&sz=10&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22&sll=40.743095,-111.930084&sspn=0.930173,1.788025&ie=UTF8&ll=42.374778,-110.500488&spn=14.504927,28.608398&t=h&z=6 If you zoom into the SLC area, I now have heading north on 32 to and catching I-80 to Emigration Canyon and then running on surface streets down across downtown SLC to catch I-80 again across the salt flats.

In looking at this further, and adding Emigration Canyon, I think I will have to cross the salt flats on I-80. The road I had picked across the salt flats looks even less reliable than CO-8 - almost like you are driving straight across the salt flats. Anyone know about this? I guess if I did end up on the salt flats I could always do a top speed run! I guess I will stick to I-80.

Here, it looks like it is paved and unpaved: http://www.scenicdrivesusa.com/colorado Better steer clear, it seems.

So, I saw this article on CO-8: http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2009/sep/27/flat_tops_trail_byway_makes_scenic_drive/ I can't tell if the author is saying the road is paved or just passable? I took at a look at google maps street view as well, and it is hard to tell if it is paved or not. Some of the pictures shows the car's dust trail, but it doesn't look so dusty to clearly be a gravel road. 80 miles of gravel would suck though.

Thanks for the comments. Any reason to avoid Big Cottonwood Canyon? Or is it just to take Emigration Canyon instead?

Well, that embedding doesn't seem to be working, so here is a link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=2074+Primrose+Ln,+Erie,+CO+80516&daddr=Arapahoe+Rd+to:CO-72+W%2FPeak+to+Peak+Hwy+to:CO-7+W%2FCO-7+Scenic+W+to:Trail+Ridge+Rd%2FUS-34+W+to:CO-131+S+to:Co+Rd+8+to:Co+Rd+8+to:CO-64+W+to:UT-45+N+to:Unknown+road+to:UT-35+W+to:State+Route+152+to:N+Little+Cottonwood+Rd%2FUT-210+S%2FS+Watsatch+Blvd+to:S+1700+W%2FCamp+Williams+Rd%2FS+Redwood+Rd+to:UT-73+W+to:UT-199+W+to:Stark+Rd+to:39.965543,-114.698639+to:US-50+W+to:Geiger+Grade+Rd%2FNV-341+W+to:808+Carano+Court,&hl=en&geocode=FUiIYgIdl3q9-SkplgdahgpshzEeCMvIZFctsg%3BFRaUYgIdvLC8-Q%3BFequYgId1_q1-Q%3BFfLXZQId6L21-Q%3BFW7kaAIdrDuy-Q%3BFTDAZwId4rCg-Q%3BFaqEZQIdVpac-Q%3BFUpuYwId0N2Z-Q%3BFeRDYwIdYa6N-Q%3BFQasZAIdljB8-Q%3BFVW8YgIdSER5-Q%3BFWHCaQId9vRh-Q%3BFfChawIdat5Z-Q%3BFQ8fawIdXFhW-Q%3BFeR4aQIdBNxT-Q%3BFXoHZgIdPL1Q-Q%3BFWSMZwIdjtNK-Q%3BFeaPZAIdiulC-Q%3B%3BFdJrWwIdyAQS-Q%3BFfBVWAIdamTe-A%3BFeQCVwIdPpLZ-Cnb21JKHHCZgDFod5HtA0GTQg&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=18&sz=10&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20&sll=40.069665,-114.639587&sspn=0.939526,1.788025&ie=UTF8&ll=41.013066,-112.08252&spn=14.811894,28.608398&t=h&z=6

All, I may be posting this a bit prematurely, but am starting to plan my trip in my Birkin from Erie, CO to Incline Village, NV. Just really looking forward to breaking it in and bringing it to where I live now. The main goal of the trip is stay off interstates and find interesting roads and sights. Maybe this is a bad idea altogether in case of a break down. I plan on carrying a few extra gallons of gas in case of a lack of gas stations and running only during daylight. I plan to make the trip probably at the last weekend of April. One concern is potential snow. I would think that most mountain roadways are open by then, but I haven't verified. Any and all comments are welcomed - different roadways, travel points, etc. Here is the route I planned so far. It is a long road trip, not just in miles, but I think it will be the road trip of a lifetime:

very cool. we'll see how it runs.

I made a 1000+ drive in my Elise the day I picked it up in Vegas. I left Vegas at 5p and drove through the night to Erie, CO. It was a great drive - but I was warm. I did wake up the next morning with a bruise on my left ankle where it rested on the floor of the car and another on my hip where the seam of my jeans met the seat and provided a little extra pressure. Still, a great memory and good way to get comfortable with the car. I will never forget the image of that orange elise sitting under a single overhead light at some small gas station at the beginning of the mountains in UT streaked with road grime. Just looked tough. Too bad I didn't have a camera with me. I plan to make a 1000+ mile trip in my birkin this spring when it goes from CO to NV. I will probably take two days though so I don't have to freeze during the night (no weather gear other than a bikini top for the sun), and also so that I can take back roads and not worry about potentially closed gas stations at night. I absolutely love long road trips. And this will be a great time for me to get acquainted with the new car. Thanks for the great write up!

That is Tom's personal car. I think it was the first completed Duratec Birkin.

The turn signals are the cheapies that came in the Birkin kit. simple drill through the headlight upright to mount. I can't imagine they are more than a few dollars each in the market. I don't know the headlamp manufacturer, but one of my first "upgrades" will be to replace those large ones with some smaller non-chrome (black) ones.

Well, the car isn't finished yet, and it is still in CO. Here are the latest pictures from about a month ago. I have left the car in the capable hands of Tom Carlin in Gypsum. Maybe before I drive it out to Tahoe using backroads, we can meet up. I will be running down to Erie to check out the house we left there and show some others the car.

Congrats, Mike! You did get quite the steal on that. Does it get to park next to the Elise? I can't wait to see the custom touches you put on it. Your Elise is a very, very nice specimen.