escondidoron

Morgan said: If the fenders were made with pre-preg cloth then it is very likely that they are not sealed. The pre-preg resin does not flow out like you would expect with a wet layup process. If you look at the underside of the fenders and they look porous, then they are likely pre-preg. If you determine that they are not sealed on the underside it would be a good idea to seal them as a part of your attempt at refinishing. This would be pretty easy to do with some epoxy resin (not polyester). Just clean the fenders thoroughly, give the back side a light scuff with a reasonable grit sandpaper, say 220 (you don't want to dig very far into the carbon as you could damage the fibre's integrity if you go to far), and then mix up the resin and brush a couple of coats on the back side. Or you could just paint the back side to seal it up too. Same preparation requirements / issues apply for paint. Contact me off-list if you have any questions.

1) Drive one or more of the Loti at least twice a week. 2) Keep at least 3 out of 4 Loti operational at all times. I will have 3 running tomorrow. Just finished the annual valve adjustment and new timing belt on Turbo #2 this afternoon. Might as well go big on the resolution thing.:rofl:

On a somewhat related topic, here is my wife's favorite engineer joke: 2 engineer's wive's are talking with each other. Wife 1: So do you know what engineers use for birth control? Wife 2: No, not really. Wife 1: Personality.

the BRATs (Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter IIRC) had seat belts for those rear facing seats.

slngsht wrote: Next time you might want to get a couple of rolls of flash breaker tape. It comes in various widths. I keep 1/2", 1" and 2" around the shop. The tape is 1.75 - 2 mils thick (.00175" - .002") and quite strong. Its very handy stuff and designed for use in moulding wet lay-up composite reinforced parts. It is readily available at composite supply shops or at Aircraft Spruce.

and just a few more...... Of course there were vintage drivers too: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2528/4137913535_bbeecc8708_b.jpg And here's Moss in action in the W196 Benz: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2680/4137353267_41c055b4fb_b.jpg And the "Wee Scot", Jackie Stewart in action: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/4137540843_27e0363ab5_b.jpg Stewart yet again, piloting his late friend Francois Cevert's, car: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/4138197002_abf55b5f2e_b.jpg

and a few more pics.......... Pre-war Audi (Auto Union) F1: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2789/4137901498_7225c52d3c_b.jpg W12 engined Ferrari: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2591/4137093875_0a9ef34c30_b.jpg Spare W12 engine: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/4137073517_6ce0d579fa_b.jpg

This is probably a bit of a stretch.... The Audi Sport transporter: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2623/4137993877_09f4627e65_b.jpg The Scuderia Ferarri team transporter http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2684/4137054013_b5ea0d0267_b.jpg And the Scuderia Ferrari chase vehicle: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2595/4137051813_466f27936f_b.jpg I'm thinking that these qualify as transporters of vintage race cars because the pics were taken at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this past July. The cars that were transported were all "old" race cars (i.e. vintage). Pre-war Mercedes F1: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/4137135035_632f43a2f3_b.jpg

There was an assembled kit listed sometime in September. It went fairly cheap. I think around $100.00 or so, not sure. But I remember that it was much less than a kit.

Dean asked: I concur with Budlite's comments on an 11 with the 1275 and skinny tires. There is a show currently running on Discovery HD Theater called GT Racer. The episode before last was at the 'Ring. As for lap times, maybe there are some posted lap times for this racing series somewhere on the web. The featured cars in the one episode that I have seen (at Magny Cours, France) were a small block Cobra, a pair of E-type Jags and an exquisite Morgan. All from the 60's. There is much on-track footage. There are a couple of original (I'm guessing) 11s running in the series and they can be seen in the background. They are suprisingly quick in the corners but down on power compared to the big engined cars.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/3675902963_399e9bf809_b.jpgYou You see some pretty interesting street cars at the 'Ring.

Definitely just for fun. I've never raced there. Except for some drag racing when I was a kid, I've never raced a car anywhere. I just like to drive the 'Ring. It is a childhood dream come true for me. I try to go there every chance I get. My work takes me to Germany several times a year. I wouldn't say the car was underpowered. It just wasn't a monster. You see a lot of Elises and some Sevens there. It is not unusual to see Kent engined Sevens there be quicker (not faster) than the Elises. The Sevens are always among the quickest cars there. They just get eaten up on the longer straights by the bigger and more aero cars. Even with the 1600 K-series engine the Academy would pull redline in top gear. I think that it was about 120-130 mph. I wasn't able to watch the speedo at that speed! It had the aero screen, semi-slicks and a full cage. The front end definitly started getting light at the 5th/6th gear transition. That's funny. Thanks for the compliment. I'm not that fast. Thiss is all for enjoyment. Also, after our first few visits we conciously stopped using a stop watch. I feel that it is too great a risk, for me at least. It seems that at some point, if you keep pushing the envelope you are going to have a shunt. I can't afford it, physically or financially. That said, my fastest times there are in the mid - low 9s. That is with an Alfa 75 Twin Spark that we have there. I possibly could have gone a little faster with the Caterham but I never got a clean lap. It was pretty cold in the morning (about 45 - 50F and then scattered rain throughout the rest of the day. It was totally fun in the wet though. Maybe not that fast, but a real blast. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/3676773504_a8e8d21960_b.jpg Note to Mopho: That is my youngest son in the picture. I have a friend who lives in Germany. We share the Alfa. We bought it in late '07. I put up the initial investment and cost of the improvements (the usual track car stuff: full cage, adjustable suspension, sway bars, chassis stiffeners, bigger brakes, wheels & tires). He takes care of storage, all of the maintenance, insurance, etc. and picks up all of the operating costs. It's a good deal for both of us. I'm not sure exactly. I can remember bits and pieces from almost every one of them. Over the years I think that I may have done somewhere between 75 - 100 laps in total. The most that I have done in a day is 13. In the Alfa. I did 12 in the Caterham. I shared it with a friend. And we also did a few as passengers with our instructor. It is difficult (for me at least) to do more than 25 in a day: Assume that it takes 10 minutes per lap. Add another 2 - 5 to deal with traffic at the entrance / exit (usually more like 10 minutes an a warm claer day). So you can get about 4 laps in an hour. Factor in that you have a co-driver or 2 and the need to eat and also not kill the car (we drive to and from the track). Then there's the usual track closings due to accidents. Add in driver fatigue and it makes it tough to get more than 25 laps in a day.

The ability to memorize the 'Ring is quite challenging. On top of that the changes in surface due to variable weather conditions add a serious degree of difficulty to the drive even if you have enough laps to know where the track is going around that next corner. There are some pretty cool bits in the video: At about 1:50 in the video, getting airborne at Flugplatz is classic (Flugplatz = fly place). Very nice recovery too. A little later, up around 2:13, there is another little airborne moment. The real culprit there is not so much the crest of the hill as it is basic front end lift at speed. I found the Caterham Acadmey that I've driven there to be quite a handfull along that pretty much level and straight flat out section of the track. Even the Academy with it's 1600 K series would pull redline in 6th there. The steering got very light. Passing or being passed in that situation required full attention! Possibly the fastest section of the lap is at about 2:41, at the bottom of the valley between Aremberg and Adenauer Forrest. There is a little left hand kink just at the bottom of the hill. You are flat in top gear there and need to keep the inside line. If you run out of room there it would be a very bad day. The pass on the downhill and subsequent x-up / recovery at Wehrseifen (about 3:50), just before Ex Muhle is way cool. That hairpin can be exciting. You are going downhill and all you can see at the entry is an Armco barrier directly in front of you. Pretty intimidating. The downhill left-left-right combination at ExMuhle is another difficult section. There are always big crowds there because of the good access and vantage along the hillside, proximity to the town of Adenauer and because this section is very difficult with resulting passing and crossed-up excitement. This section is really three turns, downhill left, downhill left, bottom out and finally uphill right taken together. You have to brake hard, downshift (two gears in this case), turn in (left 1), reduce steering angle, turn in (left 2), ease on the gas, turn right and blast on up the hill. Watch the steering input and front wheel angle at the entry to the initial left hander then note how quickly the back end wants to snap around. This is likely the result of the car's balance being upset a little by the two gear downshift along with the steering input. At about 4:30 there is a third gear right hander. This turn is officially named Bergwerk. Locally it is called Barbecue Bend. This is the turn where Niki Lauda nearly burned to death on the 1st lap of the European GP in 1976 (Note: The last GP run on the Nordschleife was in 1977 due to safety concerns.). It looks like the car is exhibiting a bit of understeer (push) here. It is common for this section of track to be wet or otherwise slippery in the arboreal tunnel. Another thing to note: Either that video camera has some good vibration damping or the Caterham has some seriously great suspension. This is particularly evident at Carrocciola (about 5:40). In the flesh, that caroussel is fantastically rough. It just hammers you and bounces the car full-on the compression stops if you are truly on it (watch the front wheels bouncing up and down). Also, the 2 caroussels are so rough that a car like a Caterham must be set up artificially high to allow adequate ground clearance. If you don't, you run the risk of bottoming the chassis out on the ridge at the edge right hand edge of the concrete and simply sliding off into the Armco on exit. If that is how the car in the video is set up it would contribute to the front end getting light at speed and also possibly to some twitchiness. Another excellent vantage point is at about 6:35. This is Brunnschen. It is a blind entry downhill left, a second downhill left, bottom out, right section. Large crowds gather here. If you carry too much speed or turn in too late to the left hander at the end you will end up in the grass on the outside or into the Armco on the right a little farther on. A great overtaking spot though. Here is a link to another great 'Ring video. It's my favorite. While this one doesn't have any Seven content, it is a really impressive drive. It's Hans Stuck a while back in a BMW M3 GTR. I think that it was practice or qualifying for the 24 hours or something similar. It starts out on the Sudschleife and then goes onto the Nordschleife. [/url]

Is there anybody out there who was active with Lotus West or knows anbody who was involved with the club or SoCal Lotus / club sports car events from the late 60's or early 70s? I am looking for historical info about my '62 S2. Any info would be appreciated.

Supersportsp asked: Yeah, that's a real GT350 under the cover. It's got about 100k miles and is totally straight and original. No door dings or any undercarriage damage of any kind. It's been parked since about '85. Yeah, they know what it's worth, and no, they don't want to sell it. They have a full appraisal data sheet for the car from SAAC (Shelby American Automobile Club). The cars were his and hers. She was ready to sell the Lotus. He's not ready to sell the Shelby.

Will post some pics in the coming days. Its been a very long day. Just got home at 2115. Left the house at 0430 to beat the traffic in Los Angeles (had to pass thru there to get to where the car has lived it's entire life). Spent all day digging the cars out of the garage (the Lotus went into the garage about 1975 and has sat there on it's trailer ever since), getting paper work taken care of at AAA (waaaaaay better than the DMV :blueangel:), finding and then going across town to America's Tire (the name for Discount Tire in the L.A. area) getting tires on the trailer (the trailer came with the Lotus), cleaning the garage, moving the other car back into the garage, driving back home to unload the car and then dumping all of the trash that I cleaned out of the seller's garage. Oh yeah, and then there was all of the work related issues that I had to take care of over the phone and internet 'cause today was also a work day. While I'm exhausted, I'm also pretty euphoric. I got the car out into the daylight and back to San Diego County successfully in one day. :auto: The sellers are in their 80's and had good documentation on the car that includes their racing history. They were an absolute joy to spend time with. Once they got started, they just went on and on with stories about the people that they met and the adventures that they had with their cars in SoCal sports car racing circles during the 50's, 60's 70's. Basically, for me, today was like spending the best day ever with your grandparents and then having it be Christmas and your birthday too all rolled into one. Here's what the scene looked like just before we rolled the Seven out into the daylight: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/4018774230_b8f3a2c635_o.jpg Maybe someday I will be able to get it running and then actually drive it.:drool:

I have looked at this car in person, about 2 weeks prior to it's posting on ebay. I can confirm that the car is exactly as represented in the ebay listing and the seller seems like a straight up guy. I had never met him prior to looking at the car. My inspection: There was previous front end damage and a new front frame section from Arch Motors (the original frame manufacturer) was installed after the damaged section was removed. Smaller plug tubes were installed in the ends of the cut section prior to installing the replacement front section. These plugs were then rosette welded to both sections. Finally the two frame sections were welded together. The current owner showed considerable welding sills and has a nice shop for this purpose. I thought that the car was a good opportunity when I looked at it. It would make a great winter project. However I found a Lotus 7 S2 at a price that I just couldn't pass up. I have no connection with the seller and the opinions expressed herein are just that, my opinions. YMMV. Regards, Ron picking up my "new" '62 S2 tomorrow :hurray:

I rented a 1.6 litre K-series Rover engined Caterham Academy at the 'Ring last summer. It would redline in 6th. Not sure how accurate the speed was but it read about 130 mph (not kph). I do know that the front end got pretty light on top end. It was a little bit exciting in the rain!