escondidoron

For the hydraulics I'd recommend JAE. Located in Goleta, California, just north of Santa Barbara. They typically ship the same day if they have the parts in stock. (805) 967-5767. Speak with Jay or Jeff. Very reasonably priced. Both the clutch and brake master cylinders p/n is Girling 64067651 (for single circuit brakes) Early Series IV cars were fitted with integral resevoir master cylinders. At some time later they were fitted with a shared remote resevoir, mounted to the top of the bulkhead with flexible hoses to the cylinders. Both the brake and clutch cylinders were prone to leakage from their rear ends when worn. While rebuild kits are available it is generally a better practice to replace them as their is usually some internal corrosion or pitting which can't be easily eliminated. In some export markets (like the USA) a dual circuit master cylinder was fitted. The dual circuit cylinder was common with the Lotus Elan. Sorry, but I don't have the p/n for this unit. It was mounted on an adapter bracket and had a connecting linkage that allows it to clear the diagonal brace in the engine bay. Jeff or Jay will probably be able to help you out in either case. For the sway bar I'd contact Redline Components in the U.K. they're the "oficial" Lotus Seven parts source. They're also generally pretty reasonably priced. Try dropping them an email. They usually respond in a day or so. While you're into the front end take car to inspect and rebuild or replace the trunions. They must be kept lubricated. It's a bad day if they fail at speed. The recommended lubricant is SAE 90 Wt oil. Not grease. Be sure to take care that whatever lubricant you use is compatible with the brass from which the trunions are made. It's also a good idea to replace the Metalastic bushings in both the front and rear suspension if there is any question about their condition. All of them. JAE was able to provide the trunions (common to most Lotus up through S3 Esprits until '85) and all of the Metalastic bushings from stock for my S2. I'd replace the upper ball joints as well. For the throttle cable try a local motorcycle shop. Any good motorcycle repair facility (likely not a dealership) should be able to make up a custom cable to your exact length and end fitting style. If not, Redline Components is also a good source for this as well.

Seems like it would be much cheaper to lower the road…..And install warning signs further up the road. If the warning lights only go off for a tall vehicle, why not just install a stop light?

Yes, and I made some notes so that I would be able to remember for confirmation of the layout in my own car. The gauges on this car are, in order left to right, ammeter, speedo, oil pressure, tachometer and coolant temperature. No fuel gauge on the early cars. The small 2" dia gauges are AC Delco and the larger 3-1/4" gauges (speedo and tach) are Smiths. Based on this configuration the car has some optional equipment. Obviously, due to the "custom built", or should I say, customer built, nature of the cars, there are likely some cars out there that were built in-period in different configurations. So a regular production gauge layout does not really exist. However Series 1 & 2 cars were equipped with only a single 3-1/4" gauge in the standard kit equipment lists, this being the buyers choice of either a speedo or tachometer. The three smaller gauges were all "standard". If a second 3-1/4" gauge was ordered it was fitted to the instrument panel in front of the passenger. Fuel gauges didn't join the regular production equipment lists on Lotus Sevens until the Series 3 cars, starting in '68, at which time there was a significant re-design of the gauge layout with speedo and tach both placed in front of the driver. Also, on Series 3 cars, the oil pressure and coolant temperature gauge were combined into a single housing with two dials, one on top and one below. So they still had two large dials and three smaller ones, albeit with more information displayed.

+1 to that. I was fortunate to be able to inspect it up close and personal at the FoS this past summer: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8024/7547738212_4f323ca6f9_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/7547736616_de66911987_b.jpg Can't say for sure. But I did get to see it in action: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7128/7548355358_040b2a3d43_b.jpg I also got to meet Neil Wakeling, the owner. He was very friendly and provided a healthy bit of background on the restoration. I found this very enlightening since the chassis number of my Seven is SB1351, only four units hence from this car.

That's a big +1.

:iagree: Very cool. It looks like a motorcycle jack. Is that what it is? I'll bet it's ideal for getting under the nose of a Seven and easily picking up the front chassis cross members. I always have to roll my car up on a 2x4 to get the car high enough to get my old cast iron Heine Werner floor jack under the chassis. And it looks to be made from aluminum so it's fairly lightweight too. Very nice.

Even in it's late World Championship form, as driven by Rindt, with wings & things and in it's Gold Leaf livery, it's still beautiful: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1012/4724276488_d0d4af2c84_b.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8429/7548356960_4d06ab4805_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7270/7548410518_ba6851a92b_b.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8152/7548440630_89726e8fb3_b.jpg

Well, maybe not for driver safety, but the cars, drivers and racing action were all awesome. When I dream about F1 cars the Type 49 is what comes to mind. http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1161/4723313551_735fc6b5fe_b.jpg http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1404/4723284919_1f9a186bf5_b.jpg http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1431/4723412023_d37c323da3_b.jpg

:iagree: Heartless bastard. I like that. Locally we've been cheering the capture of these individuals. Especially since the Ford GT was stolen only about 2 miles from our home!

I've had the opportunity to see a W125 in action the last couple of times I've been to Goodwood. Here are a couple of pics of the car the Mercedes Museum brought out for a drive up the hill from this year's FoS: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8428/7547750748_ac7fb25465_b.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8002/7547751594_91aae33543_b.jpg Then a few days later I had the opportunity to visit the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart and got another chance to see the W125 Rekordwagen: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7137/7535832906_78128ec528_b.jpg Very impressive machines indeed!

Here's a pic of it that I took as it started up the hill on Friday: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7485837708_b2b69f07c2_b.jpg The car is a very nicely restored BMC A-Series powered 1961 example of an S2 Seven.

No. It's an Eaton.

I can assure you that an A-series 1275 / Datsun 5-speed combination can deliver adequate power for a Seven if tuned properly: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4054/4207506042_2467a2b616_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6698312017_53b86110d3_b.jpg

Definitely stay the course with the Webers. I have a '62 Lotus with the original Cosworth 109e (1340 cc). It's got the dual Webers. And it runs great.

First things first. The original post says the temp gauge is reading hot. It doesn't say that coolant is boiling over or that there is loss of coolant. Also, 2 blocks distance is not sufficient time to overheat if the water is circulating unless the car has sat at idle for quite a few minutes time prior to driving. So…. A) Determine if the sytem is overheating or is the gauge faulty. 1) Is there any loss of coolant when the temp is high? Are either or both of the radiator hoses hot when the temp gauge says high temp? If the hoses are not hot there is likely no coolant flow. 2) Check for coolant flow by removing the thermostat, and running the engine with the radiator cap removed. If there is flow the pump is likely good. 3) With the radiator cap removed examine the coolant. Are there bubbles in the coolant. If so it would indicate that there is a blown head gasket. 4) Remove the temp sender and place it in boiling (or as close to boiling as possible) water while powered up and connected to the car. Does the gauge read correctly? If you have already done these basic checks then disregard.

What a coincidence to see this thread. I visited Redline Components today. One of the questions I asked Mick was, what are the most unusual places that you have shipped parts for Sevens to. Trinidad was 2nd place he mentioned, right after Moscow!

I'd recommend a couple of places to start (I mean besides here): 1) Randy Chase down at The Adrenaline Gallery in San Diego is the official California dealer for Caterham. 2) Besides this site you might also want to check in with the California Caterham Club forum. It's a pretty active little group with participation in both NorCal and SoCal.

Good eye. Yeah it's a Mallock.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6114/6339134728_8837d32bb2_b.jpg

Glad you like the pics. I took all of these shots. The Rotus Seven was not designed around a Wankel engine. It was designed around a 4-cyl Toyota. The Rotus name was coined, I believe, by the financier of the project, Chris Custer. Custer owned a Toyota dealership in Maryland. The name originated from the perceived Japanese inability to pronounce the letter "L", instead pronouncing it as an "R". Hence a Lotus Seven clone powered by a Toyota engine became a Rotus. BTW, the Wankel (rotary) engine did not originate in Japan. It was originally designed by a German named Felix Wankel. Wankel reveived his 1st patent on the concept in the late '20s. The first running prototype didn't get going until the late '50s. The first viable rotary powered car was the NSU RO 80 from 1967: http://www.cartype.com/pics/7000/small/nsu_ro80_3_67.jpg

Thanks. Here's a few more shots of your favorite: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1029/4723223397_1a063cda49_b.jpg http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1436/4723180337_aa0e313853_b.jpg The gentleman in the gray tweed sport coat discussing camera operations and standing behind the right rear tire is Lotus designer Martin Waide. The gentleman in the brown jacket talking with him is Rotus designer Lee Kaiser: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1074/4724277932_6f4566d2af_b.jpg

Front to rear: 1) The 1st Type 49 (Winner at Zaandvoort under Clark - the first time out with the Cosworth DFV V8 in '67 2) 2.5L Type 32B '65 Tasman Championship winner under Clark 3) 1.5L Type 25 World Championship winner in '63 for Clark 4) 1.1L (only 100bHp!) Lotus 23 driven by Clark in '62 to lead the 1st lap at the 'Ring by 30 seconds in it's innaugural outing only to fall out with a cracked exhaust header: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1351/4723964906_e681b49992_b.jpg Clark's '65 Indy 500 winning Type 38: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4103/5173624872_0445758413_b.jpg

I am an engineer.

What do engineers use for birth control? Personality.

I don't know about the height of the feet, but it seems that there is at least a bit more structure out front on the present crop of F1 cars than there was a few years back: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1001/4723359499_2b96d2f8d8_b.jpg I always thought that the livery shown here was pretty appropriate for the car, even if it was the name of a brewery.