escondidoron

Kurt is a very talented fellow. He has built the car pretty much by himself after work in one stall of his at home 2-car garage (His wife's car is parked in the 2nd stall every night!). The basic concept for the build goes like this: Two guys (both engineers) are driving cross country in an Esprit and discussing Colin Chapman and the original Lotus Seven. The conversation eventually gets around to what would the Seven be like if Chapman was starting fresh today.

HO train layout Aurora Model Motoring (Still have it) Control line and free-flight gas-engine model airplanes 10 cent gliders Matchbox cars Whistling YoYo (our next door neighbor held the patent) firecrackers and sparklers Heath kits soapbox derby racer go kart Skyline building blocks crystal radio transister radio deck of playing cards candy red Schwinn Corvette 5-speed bicycle (it took me 2 years to save up from mowing lawns, picking berries and shoveling driveways to buy it. $83.20. I still remember how hard it was to part with the money after all of that effort!)

I've purchased parts quite a few parts from the UK and haven't found the shipping and Customs to be too bad. The shipping cost (DHL I think, arranged by the seller in the UK) for an aluminum cylinder head for a Lotus 907 earlier this summer was about $100.00. Just for reference, here's a couple of pictures of the original 3-rail 'box and bellhousing that came in my RHD '62 Seven (the engine is a Cosworth 109E): The bell housing is almost identical to the Ford unit with 2 exceptions: 1) It's cast from Aluminum 2) The two ribs on the top of the bell housing are unique to this casting

I'm pretty sure that the engines (both head and block/pan) were dark red in color with bare as-cast aluminum for the valve cover. I will ask next time that I visit The Octagon in a few weeks. For reference, here is a picture of an SCA engine from about the same early/mid-'60's period that I took during my last visit about 3 weeks ago: The head on the SCA is aluminum, hence the as-cast coloring. I think that the red on this example is brighter than they were using back in the day. Note that the SCA is built around a one litre (998cc) 5-main bearing Kent block.

Thanks. I wish that I could say that I fabricated it on my own. I worked with a young man named Jake Krotje here in the San Diego north county area. The pictures were taken in his shop, The Flying Dutchman Company. The other car in the picture is a Kurtis 500.

And all finished: [img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5579/14069512548_872d0bd88d_b.jpg[/img] It is MUCH quieter now and the air box w/ "scoop" ensures a continuous cool / fresh air supply to the air cleaner.

Concur about the noise. And here in SoCal, particulate damage to the rings from sand and/or grit is also a concern if driven on the street on a long term basis. This is the air cleaner / scoop that we made this spring for our '62:

I usually call during their afternoon (our morning out here in SoCal).

FYI: The Standard 10 rear axle has a 3.75 bolt circle diameter whereas the Ford is a 4.25" BCD. This is something you might want to consider if the car is already equipped with 4.25" BCD wheels. BTW my '62 is RHD as well. Chassis number SB1351 equipped with a pair of dual Weber 40DCOEs on the original Cosworth manifold and head (pre-Xflow). The block is the original 3-main bearing 109E (1340cc). The car also has lots of patina.

I can't tell you where the original S2 parking brake lever came from. But I can tell you that it was horizontally mounted up under the scuttle (cowl in the US) on the passenger side. So it was/is a little bit awkward to operate, especially if there is a passenger seated in the car at the time!

There are basically two generations of Esprits, at least visually speaking: The early cars, 1977 - 1987, were styled by Giorgetto Giugiarro. These are often differentiated from the later cars, 1988 and newer, which had their styling freshened by Peter Stevens. The early cars are often referred to as G-cars.

Concur about the early cars. I really like the red G-car Esprit in the 2nd row in picture #2........:drool:

This guy is welcome to cast at our house any time!

This just reminded me of some pictures that I took at LOG 27. The red car is the demonstrator that Rocky Mountain brought to the event with my friend Kurt behind the wheel. The green Seven behind it is the former Peter Egan car. And the guy in the safari hat with the camera looking over the car is Peter Egan. This is pretty much the exact moment that he realized it was his former car. I know this as I was talking with him at the time: Along with Bob Dance all of the aforementioned autographers are in this picture: Not exactly sure who this Seven belongs to???

They come up on ebay from time to time. Especially ebayUK. Reproductions are available. You might check out this one from Guy Smith Motorsport. Regards, Ron

Great post. Thanks ever so much. I live and work in aerospace here in San Diego. Lindbergh's flight and the "Spirit" are both very important pieces of aviation history, especially here in San Diego, where the NYP (New York Paris) plane was built by Ryan and where LIndbergh's flight to Paris actually began. We are fortunate to have an exact replica of the "Spirit" that hangs in the terminal here at the airport, Lindbergh Field. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Spirit_of_St._Louis_at_San_Diego_Airport_DSCN0022.JPG/800px-Spirit_of_St._Louis_at_San_Diego_Airport_DSCN0022.JPG I travel through the airport frequently and always stop to admire the plane and consider how significant the achievements of these early aviators were to pioneering the aviation advances necessary so that we may take the miracle of manned flight for granted today. Thanks again for posting.

And this is probably Len's most famous effort. Raced only a single time in '65 by Jimmy Clark:

Concur. Here's a few just in case everyone isn't familiar with his work: Sad to hear.

Yes, that front fender is correct. This pic was taken just after a standing start, so it is not deflected by aero forces:

I haven't seen the referenced issue of HS&EC, but I have no doubt that the car shown in the magazine is a fine example. In the realm of high quality / nicest restoration, I would nominate this one formerly owned by F1 driver Piers Courage: Side note: The s/n of the Courage car is 2 units before my '62. Mine isn't nearly as nice. But it is steeped in patina. :rofl:

Didn't notice it until I saw it on the news down here in the San Diego area.

Do you mean the Trail-Breaker? http://astraone.com/wp-content/uploads/rokon-trail-breaker-rokon-trailbreaker-motorcycle-83298.jpg We had one in Michingan when I was a kid. The wheels each held about 4 gallons of gas in addition to the gas tank. The engine was a West Bend, similar to the ones used on go karts. It wasn't fast, but it would go pretty much anywhere. The design was patented by a fellow named Charles Fehn of San Bernardino, California back in the early '60s. It had a trick clutch assembly for the front wheel drive that allowed differential speed for the wheels. I.e. the front wheel could go faster than the rear when turning, but the rear could not go faster than the front. They went bay a variety of different names like Trail-Breaker, Mototractor, All Terrain Tractor, Tote Goat and Ranger. Ours was built in California. My dad like to take it into the back country on fishing trips.

My '62 Lotus Seven weighs 1160Lbs with driver and a full tank of fuel.

I recommend that you check out Bouquet Canyon Road. It's close to you and also a pretty rewarding drive with very little traffic during the day. It heads south off of Lake Elizabeth Road traversing the south side of Bouquet Resevoir and ends up down in Santa Clarita / Newhall. Here's a picture from this past Tuesday:

Hi Donnie; I recommend that you make contact directly with John Watson at the Lotus Seven Registry (URL already provided in an earlier post). He has copies of the original Lotus build records. He can tell you what your car came with as long as you can authenticate that it is indeed SB1211. To do this you will need to provide John with both the s/n (i.e. SB1211) and the chassis number. The chassis number can be found in one of two locations: On the chassis tube that mounts the brake and clutch master cylinders / pedal assembly or on the chassis cross tube under the front of the bottom seat cushion. Mine is found under the left hand (passenger) seat cushion. If your car came with a 105E the original engine it would have been equipped with dual side draught 1-1/4" SU carburettors and looked something like this (but in much better condition): The book that is, in my opinion, the best information and reference source for your car, besides the factory manual, is, Lotus Seven: Preparation, Restoration and Maintenance, by Tony Weale. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71Q5YwoWKDL._SL500_SY300_.jpg It is out of print, but used copies show up on ebay from time to time and are generally available from Amazon. While it can be a bit expensive to purchase, it is very comprehensive.