chrenan

I had no idea the 951 was so popular, go figure, in Porsche circles its the red headed step child, just like anything without a 911 badge on the back. Thanks again for the leads everyone, I did some reading on the Birkin, not sure why I didn't consider it before, seems like a really nice option as well.

Couldn't agree more! Funny the seven and the 951 attract the same crowd. It is actually left hand drive steering, apparently most Porsches sold in Japan are left hand drive. Go figure. It is definitely a Japanese market car, not a Euro one moved there, as it has the Japanese only catalytic convertor temperature warning light on the dash, along with a sensor plugged into the cat. I read about your seven story on another thread here. I remember thinking, wow, that is dedication! Sometimes I can barely drag myself to the garage at the end of my lawn to work on something, never mind getting on a plane!

This is perfect, thanks guys, the info is really coming out, I wouldn't have got the leads figured out by myself, I'm much more handy with a wrench than a keyboard. I guess "sorting out" money is something I should plan for as well, for a complete used car or even for a kit build. I've always had a project car on the go, typically a Porsche, so I certainly understand lighting some cash on fire and throwing it out the window to make a car reliable. However, with Porsches particularly, it is an easy task, the factory manuals are comprehensive, the parts diagrams to help with ordering are Germanically detailed. I'm slightly nervous stepping into very low production (or home built) vehicles that take parts from a variety of sources, how on earth do you guys keep everything straight in terms of where to source parts?

Nice to know, the 951 is such a great car, I absolutely love mine, I just put it to bed for the winter season. Thanks for all the tips so far, much appreciated. I never thought of the skill level of the person building, that's a very good point if I go the used route. Choices, choices.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! Learned something already, http://www.7cars.ca/ is located in Red Deer, an hour and a half south of me, go figure, I had no idea.

Hi Folks, I've been coming to USA7S on and off as a guest for a few years now. I finally took the leap, sold one of my project cars and freed up a spot in my garage. I intend to eventually fill that spot with a seven. I'm mechanically inclined, have rebuilt engines in the past myself, done all manner of fuel, electrical brake and suspension work, mostly on 80s Porsches and VWs. About the only thing I've never attempted is a transmission rebuild, something about all those cogs having to line up makes me nervous. I've read all the books I could find, Build Your Own Sports Car: On a Budget, How to Build a Cheap Sports Car, The Kit Car Manual: The complete guide to choosing, buying and building British and American Kit Cars. A complete build from scratch is beyond my abilities, and I think it is too much for me to take on frankly. So I've narrowed down my thinking to either building from a kit, or buying a used seven. Which leads me to some questions: I'd really love to build a Caterham, but are the cars available in kit form in Canada? A Flyin Miata Westfield build would also be very interesting, can anyone speak to the experience of building a kit Westfield vs Caterham? Used Caterhams are pretty thin on the ground in Canada (or maybe its my poor search abilities). Has anyone here imported a Japanese one? I currently own a 944 Turbo which I imorted from Japan, the car was in great shape cosmetically but required quite a few (OK, a lot) maintenance items to be addressed before I was comfortable with it mechanically. I could take the same approach with a seven from Japan, bring in a 15+ year old car and bring it up to snuff. I'm just not sure this is what I want to do (again), there would be something nice about building a seven myself, touching every piece, knowing everything on it is new (or at least rebuilt). Has any brought a car in from Japan and refreshed it here? Thanks everyone, any thought are appreciated. Chrenan