miatacarpc

So, a quick update. Spoke to Nicholas again, and he is quite adamant that the title cannot be changed. At this point, I will be speaking to his supervisor, Debbie, next week, to try and get some resolution. This is has been a stupidly over-complicated headache. The statute that RX7locost pointed me to seems pretty clear and worded to address exactly this kind of issue, so why are they making this difficult?

Ironically enough, in my case, IL seems very much to care what WA state did. To the extent where they refused to make any changes to the title, because they had to respect that WA put on there. Crazy

RX7locost, thanks for the info. That was exactly the reference I needed. I will talk to Nicholas about the quoted section, particularly the last sentence, which is the one I couldn't find by myself: Nicholas was pretty adamant that it couldn't be changed, so I guess he was wrong. Now I get to go tell him that, and plead my case. I'll include a printed, highlighted copy of that statute with my application. Many thanks again, Fingers Crossed. I'll report back with findings. And on a general note, whilst I appreciate the input from others on the forum, I echo RX7locost's comments that registration processes in one state have absolutely no relevance to the process in other states. That's why I specified IL in the OP. Having been through two of these, I can tell you that WA state is different from IL in many of the rules - that's why I'm in this mess. With state sovereignty guaranteed by the constitution, they can make up whatever rules they want in many cases (speed limits, road signs, "turn on red" rules, etc.), which leads to situations like this, where the rules are in conflict.

Unfortunately, in IL, all kit car titles have to be mailed in to the Sec. of State's office for processing - AFAIK, that's one guy, and he tells me it can't be done. The title info (make, model, etc.) has to stay the same.

So, here's a conundrum for you. I originally built this kit in Washington State, and titled it there, which was great and painless. BUT, due to their titling rules, it was titled as a "2011, Make: KITV, Model: Lotus 7 replica, Body Style: Convertible" (it gets titled as the year in which it was built). Now, I come to transfer the title, and find out that Illinois has to carry over all the info from the WA title, so it would be titled as a 2011 in Illinois, rather than the 1957 it would have been if I had titled it in Illinois originally under their rules. My problem is emissions. It, ah, won't pass emissions without heavy modifications (if at all), and I don't want to have to do that. Unfortunately, since it's titled as a 2011, it will get flagged for emissions testing. The "Illinois Air Team" website indicates Custom Vehicles get a pass (http://www.epa.state.il.us/air/vim/faq/exempt.html), but noone at the emissions office even knows about that, and insist that because it's titled as a 2011 it has to pass emissions anyway. Anyone have any ideas? Already spoke to Nicholas at the IL Sec. Of State office, and he doesn't think there's anything that can be done on his end, but I'm hoping there's some wisdom in these here pages. UPDATE: Sorry - just realized I posted this in the events forums - is there a better location, and if so, how do I move it?

In the city, near west side.

Guess I owe a shot of the car, since everyone else has:

Check out: http://www.supercarsaturdays.com/ Lots of american muscle, but some other interesting cars the one time I've been (which was right after 4th of July, so attendance was "much higher" than usual). Next event is Sept 7th in Bolingbrook.

Moved back to Chicago in March, and haven't had much opportunity to take the seven out this year. Took the car to one of the supercar saturdays events, possibly going again in September if I can. Any other seven drivers/owners in Chicago? Might be fun to get a contingent at one of the events.

Consider fitting a quick-release steering wheel, and take it with you when you leave the car somewhere for a length of time. I take mine off and stick it behind the seat when I go in to the store, where it's all but invisible unless you know it's there; good enough to deter the opportunistic thief. Bit hard to steal a car when you can't steer it

UPDATE: Tomorrows gathering at Redmond Town Center is cancelled because of a 30% chance of rain. Some cars have never seen a puddle so they cancel at the chance of rain. (http://www.exoticsatredmondtowncenter.com/, https://www.facebook.com/pages/ExoticsRTC/201202160220) are having a "British Car Day" this Saturday, June 16th in Redmond Town Center. Assuming the crappy Seattle weather breaks for warm sunshine as currently predicted. This is followed by a beer festival at nearby Marymoor park (http://www.washingtonbeer.com/wa-brewers-fest/). Could be a fun day, so hopefully see a few folks there. I'll be bringing my Westfield.

I don't have a 2001 wiring diagram handy, but a couple of things come to mind when I'm looking at this post. Firstly, did you check your timing with a timing light? You say it's "timed correctly" but not sure what you mean by that in terms of verification. Also, I believe you have coil-on-plug ignition with the 2001, right? Did you check the map to make sure it's not trying to run the old wasted-spark configuration? The 2.7 basically means a totally new map, and you should verify that your dwell curves/injector response values etc. are all correct as well - these meant something totally different, or didn't even exist, in the 2.6. It's possible that the map they had for the 600's also had wasted spark ignition etc. enabled, and they just messed it up when they installed it and/or thinks it's running the coil packs instead of COP. Is your tach signal showing the correct values on the dash? One sign I had with my '95-powered Westie when I moved to the Hydra was that the tach showed 2x RPM, as a result of the move from coil-triggered tach to ECU-triggered tach in '95, and the fact that Hydra 2.7 *always* uses ECU-triggered tach. It sould be an indicator of whether the ECU is even trying to fire 1&2.

I have to agree on the spirit of the post. There's a weekly car show (when it's not raining) here called Exotics@RTC. There are tons of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Lotus Evora/Elise etc. They are beautiful to look at, and sound fantastic, but they are just lacking something. The guys who show up in their open-top or bare-bones classics always seem to be having the best time.

Budlite looks to have a completely different setup on that caliper. The bracket is on the opposite side of the hub, the calipers are much narrower and in general, I don't think it's the same configuration as yours. And that "spacer plate" looks like it's in your picture anyway (under the caliper bracket mounting nut).

Figured I'd post my Westie build log here. Been done over 6 months, but haven't posted this before now for whatever reason. The car is just fantastic to drive, and one friend who's driven it remarked at how civilized it was in general driving... until you put your foot in it anyway. Haven't had it on the dyno this year, since making a few mods over the winter, but I'm expecting to see ~175 at the wheels, maybe more. Anyway: http://brg7build.wordpress.com