jimrankin

The actual BD level from most of our cars while we are inside is below the level that will cause hearing loss, same for MOST bikes, unless you go for a set of bad neighbor pipes. The wind buffeting is much more damaging as although it is a fairly low frequency (much of it too low for us "older folk" to still pick up on) and doesn't "seem" all that loud the actual pressure levels are very high, and constant. Low cycle sound requires much more energy for us to register it as being "loud".

All of you "east coasters" should be aware that the National Submarine Museum is located next to the submarine base at Groton (New London) CT. Quite informative and adding new stuff all the time. (Destination for a "7" trip, not that any of us need a "reason" to get behind the wheel) The Submarine Veterans Organization and Honor Guard gathered quite a crowd of Vets and did a wonderful presentation of a "burial at sea" for my mother and fathers ashes from the deck of the SSN Nautilus, the first "nuke" sub. It is now docked there as a floating display you can go aboard and tour.

Watching Hollywood War Movies as a kid I got the mistaken idea that the bombers, all of them, were huge. After touring most of them at different Air Museums as an adult I was suprised at how small and cramped they actually were. The other thing that really hit home was how they actually managed to get to a target and back to where they took off from with the, by todays standards, primitive instruments they had to go by. Every flight had to be an act of faith and courage. My dad was a Navy 30 year officer who spent all of WW2 in submarines HE thought aviators had the cast iron pair!

Chrysler's biggest problem with the turbine car, other than fuel consumption, was that they couldn't dissipate the exhaust heat. If you were in traffic the car BEHIND you over heated. LOL. Hate to date myself but I followed that car when it was "new" in all the Hot Rod mags and Popular Mechanics etc.

Some states are looking at putting electric brakes as a mandate for trailers over a given weight because of problems with vehicals being able to easily pull much more than they can stop. While California hasn't adopted it yet it is more than worth looking into. Surge brakes are cheaper but don't work well and tend to lock up the wheels at the worst possible time. Electric brake controlers are cheap and easy to fit on anything (even a motorcycle) adjustable, deliver only the stopping power you need and work off an inertial chip that in some models can even tell when your sliding sideways.

My S2K has the headers like Mondo's and had the following problems. I had an exhaust leak at the head at #2 cyl. header pipe. When I took off the headers to replace the gasket I found two problems. (A) The header pipe had been resting solid against the frame diagonal brace so that the motor could not move in the rubber mounts, forcing the header flange to "tweek" a bit and leak. (B) there was only one exhaust gasket, between the header and the steel "spacer" plate, none between the plate and the head and that was where it had started to leak. I put a dimple in the pipe right where the rub mark was and got about 3/16" + clearance and now have room for the motor to flex a bit. Put it all back with two gaskets, lots of copper coat and it has been fine since. I now have a problem with the muffler to cat flange weld. The original weld did not penetrate far enough into the flange, just sat up on the muffler cover and gave out at the last track day. In the process of getting it welded by a "pro" as it is too light a gauge (and where you can see it) for my limited talents.

I wasn't at the meet this post is about but have been reading it and checking out the really well done 7's. Got my first (and last I hope) burn at a ThunderHill track day last week. Didn't have enough windscreen to stick my run group letter on so decided to put it on the back of the mirror. I was squating down concentrating on getting the flimsy sticky thing on without damage when I leaned in too far and caught the header just before the Cat. I think I'll trade in the shorts for some Nomex Jeans. LOL

The 16" Inke Superlites that clear the big Wilwoods by a paper thin margin help equal out the allwheel drive a bit, really get to go in late before braking and the MINI is just sooo predictable even Klutz (yes, capital K) drivers do well. It just about sends you a written notice that your pushing the limit.LOL

Didn't want to say anything (bad) about the EVO, hot little cars, but my Cooper S takes them on twisty tracks. As for the comparison with a 7, having both, the MINI is going to be staying home if the sun is out!!

For 80K it must come with a big can of paste metal polish, a buffer and a lovely young lady to run it. It definately won't go cheap though. Us old guys remember when if you could drive it in traffic, it wasn't fast. If it put out more than a HP per CuIn it was usually a lumper

I was looking at dry sump a while back but decided to start with a ride height increase and hope for the best. I'm sure that if the stainless steel skid plate can't stop what ever I might run over from taking out the cast bottom pan (or worse, the block or crank) that the $2,500 for a dry sump would be cheap in retrospect. If I have the motor out for any other reason I'll probably chance the divorce and go dry sump. Hope it doesn't turn into something more than pan and pump for you, just looking at the pan damage picture made me queasy about the road conditions here.

I just fitted two taller windscreens to my s2k as I was getting blasted a bit more than I wanted. Raised them about 2" and brought the "Curve" in a bit later to stay as wide as possible. Keeps the wind down quite a bit more (now off my forehead, I'm about 5'11"+) for such a little add in height. Not as good as a windshield by any means and you do get the side buffet, but not really any worse than a windshield without added deflectors. I have driven it in fairly heavy rain and I got wet but not by directly being hit and didn't slow me down. If your looking for fun and comfort, wrong cars, go buy the MINI in the photo next to the S2K, but if your looking for FUN, both 7's work. BTW, I don't feel like the S2K is any more wound out at cruise (4:44 gears) than my MINI Cooper S or the V8 Camaro (with 3:73's). Just so much RPM left at 4000 that it's just getting started. If the attachmet worked the lower line on the paper is the old windscreen size, the next one up was my first layout for taller and then the actual cut and final size is what you see.

That tank really does clean up the back end of the car. Have you thought about sitting the pick-up in a short "well" with small 'inlet" holes in it, mounted at the center of the tank with the fuel return line directed into it? I know that it is what a lot of the fuel cells are modified with for injected motors. Well holds enough fuel to feed through a corner and holes are sized to allow fuel in but build up when not running flat out. I'm sure someone here knows what it takes as Ive just seen it, not gone through how they engineered the well and inlet/outlet opening size.

That almost makes me want to pull that big square fuel cell out of the center of my trunk and fab a tank like that one. Did you find a way to foam the inside? That is really a great way of expanding the cars use from just shorter jaunts to actually travelling without everything strapped to the roll bar. Nice job!

Forgot to ask where you got the rear view mirror?

The car looks great and I'm sure your into it for nearly twice more than your asking. You would have a hard time putting together the parts for a low end build of anything except "maybe" one built on the recycled S10 pick-up. Question on your sump. Is it just a modified wet sump pan or is it a dry sump kit. If it's a wet sump, how much did you save on the depth and have you ever had any issues with oil starvation? Swinging pick up tube? My S2K's skid plate kisses the pavement a little more than I'd like, but it's the stock S2000 sump. At your asking price it shouldn't take long selling it, even in todays economy.

I just received a set of TD ProRace 1.2's, 17" X 8" and 17" X9" and they are, overall, really nicely made. I had intended to weigh them before I mounted the tires but got delayed by some center hub maching they had done wrong (they weren't up on Wilwood hubs) and when I got that fixed was too intent on getting everything on the car and forgot. I do know that they were a good bit heavier than I had expected. I was taking off a set of Motegi Racing Forged Tracklite wheels that were 16" X 6.5" that were very light by comparison, even when taking in the size diference. I have three sets of Inke's for different cars, all from their "superlite racing" type designs that also seemed to be lighter. Your going to have to find a way to get weights from the manufacturer for TD's (it's not listed on their site) but I expect they won't be as light as any forged wheels you may find. The TD's do look strong enough to put on a BMW M6 (hell, even a Chevy 2500 truck) and take on the world without a bit of worry. The wheels designed in strength for the real world and real cars is probably a bit much for something as light as my 7. The car feels fine with them on and I didn't notice a problem with rebound or a noticeable difference in mid-speed and up acceleration or braking (other than an impovement, having more rubber on the road) so they rate "fine by me". Thanks, Jim R.

Finally, after what has seemed like years but was only half of one, I have my Team Dynamics wheels in hand and remachined to fit, the Nittos are mounted and everything is on the car. Had to do a little fender brace mod in the front, move the emergency brake cable and the brake lines in the back and while I was at it fab some new mounting tabs for the hard lines. After having the 16" X 205's on the car for so long the 17" X 235's front and 275's in the back just look massive!! Re-installing the fuel cell this weekend with some better mounting and then I'm "done for now". Just booked a couple of dates in the Thunder Hill schedule so it's going to be time for some non-wrenching fun.

This is what happens when you live between a junk yard and a scrap metal dealer and then you develope a problem with meth........

After months of waiting I finally received my 17" Team Dynamics wheels Monday, they look beautiful, just didn't fit. It had been a real issue when ordering about what hub centers to use because of the Wilwood front hubs that TD didn't seem to know much about. Ended up with the rear 9" wheels being ordered standard 46 Subaru and the 8" fronts being 73's. There seemed to be some confusion on TD's part so my last email just said make them both 73 if it was easier. Anyway, they came machined "backwards" with 46 front and 73 rear. I found a machine shop that is going to correct the problem so it's just a matter of dropping off the wheels and the front hub I pulled off last night and waiting another week till it's my parts turn on the mill. On the bright side, my Nittos got delivered yesterday so I don't have any issue with tires anymore. Have to re-rout the rear break lines and the emergency brake cable a bit to clear the 9" rear rims so I do have something to do while I wait on the machine shop. I did get a 300 mile ride up into the Sierras on Sunday (including driving through three rain showers that Yahoo weather said wouldn't be there) so I'm fixed for a little while. Can't wait to see how it feels on those big Nitto's though!

Remember that gas fumes are heavier than clear air so putting a vent in the floor of the trailer will passivly allow the vapors to flow out when the solar fan isn't working at night, and allow cool air from under the trailer in when it is working in the daytime. Marine rated fans are explosion proof (spark protected like marine starters and alternators) so it might well be worth sourcing something from a marine supply store with that label. Always better safe than toasted.

Good new is that there is just about no chance of damage from just cranking it a bit with a gas/oil mixture. Also no chance of valve damage from Hydro-lock as that is a connecting rod/piston dome issue and a starter motor usually can't come close to that much torque. My Harley used to flood when I parked it in the sun and the tank was near full, was the gas cap not venting "out" and a new cap solved the problem.

Went with Rahul's set up (Nitto NT01's) as they have seemed to work out for him on his S2K and have a lot of good comments on blogs for other "lightweight" cars. Now, if only my WAY overdue Team Dynamics wheels would only show up I'd be such a happy camper! I'll post my impressions once everything is here. I'm running all pretty much brand new Dunlap Z1 Star Spec's at 16" X 205 right now and the car feels pretty decent cornering (without using a lot of right foot) but gets sideways real fast with a little too much throttle. I'm hoping that the new rubber will help with that problem since I do just love to be able to push out of corners.

Good thing you didn't have a video of the event, some bleeding heart bird lover would see it and try to pass a law against driving 7's without a bird deflector. LOL

Glad to hear your joining the California contingent of "real tin plate" 7's!! Summer is slowly getting here and I hope to meet a few more "7's" and their owners in person this summer. Hey Powderbrake, if you read this post, I'm under a year till my "projected" retirement date!!! (tax day next year) Already getting some practice by putting things off "till retirement" but I don't think my wife is buying it. LOL.