slomove

Yes, doing quite well, as far as one can do well without a Seven Might indeed be that the new owner just replaced the head and kept going. And maybe the oil pump if that was the reason for cam shaft seizing. And maybe the crank and main bearings if that also seized up. Or just replaced the whole motor. Oh well, good to hear that somebody still remembers me...

Hi guys (and gals, if any...) This is Slomove (a.k.a. Gert Burkhardt) and I did not post here for at least 7 years. Greetings to all who still remember me from the USA2005, PNW, Black Hills and GBB tours. I sold my Birkin in 2017 to a guy in El Segundo, CA and all I know what happened after is that he ruined the almost new SVT motor after 2 weeks with seized cams, maybe by over-revving. Broke my heart because I loved the car but hey, sold is sold. Since I stumbled across the USA7s again, I was wondering if anybody has heard or seen what happened to that Birkin. It was 1998 S3, orange yellow with aluminum boot lid, gull wing doors, roll top and custom headlights. Cheers, Gert

But it is unlikely it will roll over on a hard surface. The wind buffeting should be minimal as well...

Fake News! That is a totally discredited source. According to my alternate facts, California has the best drivers ever (maybe except some not named minorities from far away countries...)! Period. :jester:

Yes, L.A. traffic is kind of interesting: But then, this is only a few miles away:

Well people surely know and for best information you want to go to the Birkinowners Yahoo group. I don't have my Birkin anymore but over the years I experimented a bit with the alignment. Being a Live axle that was for the front wheels only. For radials I started with whatever was recommended for S3 type Caterhams and ended up (IIRC) with modest 0.5-0.8 deg camber and 1 degree toe-in. For the bias ply ACB10 and some slicks that I used for a while that was zero camber and I forgot what the toe was.

Regarding daily distances, I have somewhat split feelings about the longer stretches. If it is just about the scenery and the road, 300 miles or more is fine (assuming one has comfy seats, no pouring rain and below 95 degrees). But on the other hand, we often regretted later having zoomed through an area without getting out once to look at some attractions, hike a bit etc. Obviously it also depends on the preference of a potential passenger. In any case I found the whole tour usually more fun when it was made interesting enough for the spouses to join, which in turn may limit the daily mileage but possibly allow for a longer duration. Another good reason for the base camp approach, since it gives more flexibility. An important factor was the choice of hotels. There is much more opportunity to get together, chat and have a beer in the old fashioned motels with cars in front of the room than in one of the big box hotels. Safer for the cars, cheaper, and more convenient to take valuable stuff out of the car overnight. Given the mentioned difficulties of cat herding and coming to an agreement, for the last few trips at some point I just decided the time and route, picked the hotels (in case of the Black Hills tour with Randall's great help) made reservations and posted the trip early enough (3-4 months lead time) that others still could make plans and get rooms. That worked pretty well. The likelihood of getting good group rates is anyway small in Summer and it is a lot of work to organize.

Hello John, sounds like a good plan (or start of a plan...). Unfortunately I can not attend since I do not have a Seven anymore. Having organized several tours I can confirm the difficulty getting a number of people together for more than a week like what I preferred to do. Another experience is that tour "commitments" are often only fuzzy intentions that can change anytime. However, what worked well was a combination, i.e. to do a 2 week trip with the hardcore group and have other people with less time join for part of the trip. For the 2011 Black Hills trip we did a generous 2-week round trip from Jackson/WY to Custer/ND and Badlands NP. We stayed in Custer for a week exploring the beautiful roads of the Black Hills and returned a different route to Jackson. A number of people joined just for this week and others did part or all of the tour. Real nice group we had there from 4 to 9 Sevens. This is anyway a manageable number, since larger groups tend to break apart. If you do this tour, make sure to post the pics! GB

I think I can wear the snowflake as a badge of honor :flag: I am in good company. After all, Jesus was a snowflake (if I remember the bible correctly).

4500 pounds....what??? :jester:

Agree with the previous posts but keep in mind this is for newer Birkins (maybe after 2003?). Older Birkins had the front brace under the gearbox welded in place and there was no way to drop the engine with gearbox. It had to go out separately on top which is actually not too bad with a little wiggle if all the peripherals are taken off. As for the gearbox oil spill....jack up the rear of the car as far as possible, pull the propshaft and plug the hole with the rubber boot of a walking cane. No spill when removing the gearbox! This recommendation came from Woody Harris @ MSI. Alternatively you can suck out the gear oil with a MightyVac if you have a bung in the front top plate. If you don't, having the gearbox out is the time to install one...so much easier to check oil levels and refill or change oil with that. I welded a simple 5/8" UNF nut (or was it 1/2"?) to the front left corner of the stamped cover plate (after drilling an access hole) and used a regular short bolt as plug.

Short opinion from the previous owner...yes the brakes need some foot pressure and to lock them up takes quite a bit of pressure. I had dabbled with the thought of installing a smaller master cylinder when I had the car new but I got used to it and don't think they are glazed because they were like that for a long time. My previous brake pads were EBC Green Stuff and they needed even more foot pressure. The ones that are on there right now are Hawk HP Plus pads which are a little more aggressive (and make a lot of dust). So other than the mentioned smaller cylinder I can only recommend a few gym visits. IMO a power brake is kind of anathema for a Seven...

Ha! Don't really know and in no hurry. But first things first...I am going to retire end of November and have a long list of projects (not car related). Also the lease for my daily driver will be up next year October and maybe I will get something else with open air access then. But I must admit the engine transplant 2 years ago taught me that I don't enjoy crawling under and around the Seven that much anymore. So the next "sports" car will be a little more mainstream and it is O.K. if the power-to-weight ratio is more modest.

Hey Steve, good to hear from you! I do remember your visit and the test drive. Stan sold your car (no idea to whom) and bought another one with a bigger engine. Sold that one as well. I will probably buy another sports car but not as radical as a Seven. And, probably not as maintenance hungry as an old Lotus.... GB

Car and trailer are sold. The buyer is a quiet member of this forum and local to El Segundo, CA