75TwinCam

I'm in, but of course you knew that already. Looking forward to the day!

Sunday the 21st sounds like a fine day to head over to Erie. I'll bring the Twink if Skip'll have us. Already looking forward to a few days of Seven that week!

I've been running with the lights on just for the little bit of added visibility it provides. That, and the full harness . . . Godspeed, Dana

I see scannon is on the list - "onablat"

The fuel filler is in the S2 location. Hopefully the frame had some structure added to go with the very non-S2 power it's got. Anyone know where this car is in Colorado?

There's a way to make a Seven an all season ride. Some Trax on the rear and some skis on the front end--viola! Snow-mo-Seven! Surely someone up north might be temped--Alaskossie? There's some bling for ya!

Oh yah, link to a vid about Jay's Elan-- http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/sports-cars/1969-lotus-elan/#more

I spent a while nosing around "Jay's Garage" and he's got some fine rides for sure. Though he seems to be missing one certain hallmark of classic design and performance--Jay, where's your Seven? At least he's got a dang nice Elan. I'd sure like to have a twin cam revving to 9500!

Is the Twin-Cam book still available? PM with the info if so--I've got one and am quite interested in having this book.

Finally getting to the pics I took last weekend. Only one good shot of the Sevens, plus a Lola T70 (once upon a time Parnelli Jones car) and a Lotus Formula 2 (US Formula B). Sevens in a row--front to back: 75TwinCam, jleclainche, scannon, bsimon, and unknown black and polished aluminium. Lola T70 Lotus Formula B

It's not looking too promising for me making the rally on Saturday. I'm having a similar navigator problem as Skip--all of my friends seem to have things going on. In addition, there's a previous commitment that I made that I'm not looking able to get myself out of . . . The show on Sunday is looking much more promising. I may even be able to get the old man to show--though with the weather threatening to turn next week, I'm sure that he'll be out on the links . . . Bob, are you gonna have any of your mirrors there for sale? See y'all at some point this weekend! Cheers!

Running an original Lotus Big Valve Twin Cam engine through a 4 speed Corsair gearbox I top out at 115 or so. Like with the whole horsepower thing, you don't need to be incredibly fast in a straight line when you don't have to slow down to turn . . .

Based on the information from catracer and bball7754 referencing the Rees and Weale books, respectively—this car seems to be the #65 Twin-Cam from Caterham. It also has an actual Lotus, not Vegantune, built motor. This confirms for me what both Nathan Dowd and Jeff Ball have told me—for intents and purposes, it is a Lotus; the only thing keeping it from being and “actual” Lotus is that it was made post 1972. Nathan said that none of the engineering changed prior to the introduction of the “Long Cockpit” car in 1982. Rees' book The Magnificent 7 says that the Cat 7 S3 Twin-Cam chassis was built to the specification of the Twin-Cam SS. Jeff had one of the 13 made, and he said that it was built and delivered by Caterham in Surrey, not, in fact, Lotus in Hethel! Food for thought--I've also learned that this car has a sister here in the Colorado Front Range that is still in the crate . . .

A couple more details on this gig . . . There will be no entry fee this year. Registration will be on-site. My friend, Jeff, also asked if I have any idea on how many Sevens, he wants to be sure we are all parked together. bsimon, 7veloce--what's up with y'all. Is there anyone else in Boulder/Front Range here reading? Speak up!

Hi all, A friend of mine works for Boulder Creek Events and is involved in the organisation of a car show at the Labor Day Hometown Fair. He has asked me to spread the word and invite all the Sevens in the area to participate. They have space for 70 cars and he's hoping that there might be several Sevens there to represent. Information here: http://www.bceproductions.com/hometown-fair/events/classic-car-show/ I'm hoping that scannon and bsimon will sign up, and that there might be a few more willing to come take part. You don't need to be show quality to be a part--the Twin-Cam sure isn't, but I'm gonna bring it and have fun!

Finally posed the Seven in the yard for a pic after installing wing protectors. Fabricated at home from 22 guage galvanized steel and Duplicolor spray on Bed Liner.

Hey there, I stopped by Thomas on Friday hoping to show Nathan the TwinCam, but he wasn't there. I did look at your car, and got a little update on the progress . . . all I can recall is that the clutch is in. There was more that I don't remember, such is my aging process! I can report that your Seven is in fantastically good company in the shop. Next to it was a Lola T-70 (ex Parnelli Jones) and a Brabham BT43 Formula 2! Next time I stop by there (hopefully next weekend, when Nathan is there on Saturday) I'll try to remember my camera and put up a pic or two of the progress! Cheers!

Hi All, Indeed, I have a bag of pieces of scannon's mylar satellite insulation (hubble spec, if I recall . . . ) and just yesterday pieced together a layer to back the tunnel carpet on our car. Rocket science on a 33 year old Seven, imagine that! Haven't had the car out yet, but I imagine that there will be a difference. I also picked up a roll of DEI 2" glassfibre exhaust wrap for the headers. It looks like it's going to be much easier to do if I pull the headers off of the engine, so this isn't going to happen today . . . Soon enough, I'm sure. On the subject of Alaskossie's "Executive Superlight", I'm curious to see when it's completed, but I think that he may be the only Cat to use the heater for its intended purpose, rather than as an auxillary radiator! I hope he doesn't get cold in Alaska! Derek

Thanks, y'all! @kitcat--it's had engine mounts replaced as regular maintenance, as well as a-arm bushings on the rear annually, this spring, I rebuilt the front suspension with new bushes on the lower a-arm and sway-bar, new tie rod ends. The dampers and springs were replaced a few years back, and it's due for a new set of tyres before long. 13's are hard to come by these days, I think it's gonna be a set of Sumitomo shoes, as we can get 4 for the price of one Toyo or Khumo . . . There's also a list of things that the car/drivers would like to have. Not cooked feet and a comfier bum up there at the top of the list. I'm looking at insulating the drivers foot-box and trying to find a set of seats that are affordable! I've been looking at Cobra's for something adjustable, or even having a new, better bolstered set of classic seats made. We've also been discussing replacing the flared wings with cycles, but due to the upright being old (and a slightly different dimension), that project is at the end of the list. We'd like to put some stone guards on the rear wings and get a Soft-Bits half top. I'm thinking of making my own guards out of a heavy guage poly material coated with Rhino Liner. Learning what I have in the last couple of days about the early production numbers, I'm suddenly hesitant to make many radical changes to the car. It seems that this is about as close as it can be to being a Lotus TC Super Seven without actually having a Lotus builders plate. Cheers!

So, here it is. It took some digging to find the photo album with pics of the car when it first hit the roads in the summer of 1976. The car was imported through Sevens and Elans, and built by Jeff B. in Loveland, Colorado. The car was supposed to be polished aluminium with black glass-fibre wings and nose, but the chassis was damaged in shipping. I believe that it was dropped as the crate was unloaded from the ship in Houston. As I understand the story, the chassis was also stolen and recovered whilst in transit. The shipping company paid for a replacement chassis which was traded to Jeff for the build. Consequently, the car was painted Corvette Yellow after the minor damage was repaired. This is chassis #CS3.3622.TCL2, frame # AM 75 23. There have been no major modifications made to the car in almost 35 years of driving. This is car discussed in the serial number thread -- http://www.usa7s.org/vb/showthread.php?t=3934 Some pics, past and present: Fresh Seven Brand new and Buttoned up Poised for the Road Future Chief Mechanic, barely 6 years old (that's me!) Wanting to drive already! Same kid in the cockpit, 33 years later . . . With bsimon, scannon, slomove and Bill's Super Stalker (photo credit 7veloce) more pics here -- http://www.usa7s.org/vb/showthread.php?t=3214&page=7 Twin Cam Big Valve Dellorto trumpets Still Life with Trunion My favorite place to be! Peace y'all, and thanks for letting me share!

Thanks for the info! The 7faq page is where I got the S4 info, but doesn't say anything about the start number for the S3. The whole number for our car is CS3.3622.TCL2 -- dots, not slashes between the numbers . . . My dad bought it new, it was built by Jeff Ball and on the road for Independance Day 1976. I was 5 at the time. Now I am the chief mechanic, and hope to keep the car in the family! I'll put a thread in the "Rides" section when I can get some good pics together. D

Does anyone know anything about the early Caterham S3 serial numbers? I know that the handful of S4's they produced were numbered 3501-38, did the S3's start at 3539? We have an early S3 with Lotus TwinCam (Cat #3622, AM 75 23), and I am trying to establish where ours is in the production numbers for 1975. I'm thinking that we've got one of the first 100 S3's that Caterham made, can anyone help me with this? I saw someone else out East has a '75 with the same engine, are there any other 'old' classics here? I'll have some pics up when I can find a few good ones . . . Derek in Colorado

Ok, with the help of the FAQ I think I have this pic posting thing figured out!

Alright, y'all got me to join up . . . it was a great time at your shop the other night! Great to meet everyone, and fantastic to see a group of Sevens hanging together. I believe that our car always likes to see some younger siblings and cousins! Maybe when Tom's car is done we can do it again? I know there's some other Sevens in the neighborhood, there should be a meet to welcome the Duratec to the road and give Tom a sendoff to the great north! A few pics of mine will be forthcoming when I figure out how to do it! Derek