slomove

Not sure what to think about this, especially the assessor story. There may be more about it than the news clip mentions. As for the mentally (maybe mildly) challenged woman, even the NRA is calling for limited access of mentally ill to weapons. But how do you implement that without setting some kind of criteria and well if you live with a mentally ill person you probably have to give up your guns. For that matter, would you confiscate the guns of the mother of the maniac from Newtown, CT (before it happened)? I am not sure if anybody even knew her son was as disturbed.

Yes, my tank was punctured when I had the other accident in back in 2003. I removed the spare tire altogether after that. This was the original tube layout. What really bothered me when looking at it, is that the rear bracing tubes of the roll bar don't have any support. If they are ever asked to do what they should, they would just push they entire rear end down, and the roll bar would fold back. I don't like that idea. Yes I do. Actually I fabricated my own superslim brake light back in 2003 and published the recipe on the Birkinowners Yahoo forum. But nowadays you can buy quite decent ones and no need to build it anymore. I also have a fuel cell for an added measure of safety. In 2003 it was the classic LA freeway rear-ender. I was standing still in traffic and the girl behind me was chatting with the passenger. Hit me with maybe 8mph or less and crushed the entire rear end: tubing, sheet metal, fenders, boot liner, tank punctured and dislodged. The center brake light was not there but would not have helped because I did not have the foot on the brake. Last year it was a botched group passing maneuver with another Seven behind me. I had to abort passing because of oncoming traffic, but the car that was being passed also braked (probably well meaning). I ended up braking hard and the other Seven ran into the rear end. The impact was fortunately cushioned by a luggage carrier rack and a duffel bag of clothes. It ended up with minor damage (even the iPad in the duffel survived functioning if somewhat bent) but could just as well have me kicked off the road at maybe 50 mph. Well, they don't do that when they are new. The old ones I had were open and I guess my habit of occasional dirt road driving helped wearing them out. I now got the ones with Kevlar/Teflon liner from QA1 and will install them with grease-filled rubber sealing shells.

As some here may know I had my second rear-ender accident last year. Mostly minor sheet metal damage but since I have to repair this anyway it got me thinking about a bit more substantial cage around the tank. The car as it comes has only a 3/4" mild steel tube hoop on top, one on the bottom and 2 vertical tubes where the roll bar is attached. I believe that is kind of standard for Sevens but it leaves the tank pretty much hanging free out in the open and does not really support the roll bar in any way. So I got my welder out and with a few feet of alloy tubing and a bit of flat steel I reinforced the frame around the tank quite a bit, trying to triangulate the tubes (where possible) so that they are not experiencing bending load if that should ever happen again. Yes, it added a few pounds of steel but I can live with that. Next I got to put some new skin back on. I understand this will still not survive an impact of 20+ mph but hey, better than before. Since everything is nicely open right now I also replaced all the ball joints for the suspension radius arms and panhard rod. Was kind of time to do so, as some of the rod ends had 20/1000" play already. I hope that will fix some of the clunking noise, too.

I think we should all move to Arizona or Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. See, all these quite nice places and they just don't do that Daylight Savings time crap (except the Navajo lands in AZ under federal dictatorship). I guess they all have enough sun that they don't need it. But, it is not Obama's fault after all. This outrageous law was signed by another liberal commie president, Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966.

I Germany they call it "Structural Unemployment". That is, the economy is doing great, most people make good money, there is reasonable growth, but there is just not enough work for everybody because of automation and job export. It has not been so bad here because the US allow for some more spread of income and there are still lower-income jobs that are feasible (maybe not fabulous for the job owner, though). Very tough to deal with that.

Fun thread. This forum is sometimes so docile. Since *** left people are just talking about cars :sadangel: Anyway, I think I am neither an F-loop nor a B-thumper but i do live in California. To make it worse I come from socialist Europe :willy_nilly: I am just seeing the (I believe undisputable) trend that most gains of income over the last 2 or 3 decades ended up in the pockets of the rich. Middle and lower incomes saw a stagnation or decline of inflation corrected income and personal wealth. I do not believe this as a healthy trend. It surely has many reasons among them the move of higher paying jobs to other countries and, well, if the top dog eats more of the bone there is less left for the rest of the pack. Example, if the deadbeat CEO of a company with 50,000 employees gets a 50 million golden parachute, everybody else get stiffed with a $1000 setback. Or maybe the shareholders (that might be your pension fund) gets stiffed. While I despise the folks on a voluntary welfare career and would kick them out in a second, I understand some just don't get a job anymore (too old, too sick). But in terms of the country's financial shortfall this is comparably just peanuts and complaining about welfare recipients means actively disregarding the bigger issues (spending for SS, Medicare, and Military). If they don't fix that and probably have everybody cough up some more money we will keep going with this mess forever.

O.K., will do. Barring major problems, the itinerary is pretty much set since I made all hotel reservations. Hey Stewart, would be nice to meet some of you guys there. I see the problem with the weekdays but given the tour schedule I don't really have a choice.

I don't know. Most of that looks like out of a Popular Mechanics magazine "car of the future" article from 1955 with bubble canopy and all. Well, maybe the tail fins are a little shorter. So for that matter I feel I have a newer car in comparison :hurray:

If I had the choice at the same time and same money I might take the IRS car but would not wait or pay more. I have a live axle Birkin and done several multi-1000 mile trips without any discomfort. Actually I can drive a full day in the Seven with less back pain than in my Honda Accord and mostly my wife comes along for the ride without comfort complaints. You may have to upgrade the seats anyway to make it fit your anatomy. Birkin is not known for good seats. I have not driven the IRS Birkin but tried a few times a DeDion Caterham. Did not notice much difference but maybe I am just a numbbutt. For track use it is supposedly even less of a difference. On todays' Internet forums I guess everything can be contentious but we are usually mild mannered here and I am sure other folks have different opinion and experience.

Here is the plan:

Skip, that is a minimal risk. But have you seen the Brits drive? Terry, how many signed up so far? I have made all reservations for the whole trip incl. tow rig storage in Boise, ID. We are going to join the group at the museum. Are there any Sevens owners on our commute route from Boise to Canada who might tag along for a while? That would be Boise, Salmon, Kalispell, Glacier NP, Pincher Creek and Vancouver, Monroe, Wenatchi, Lewiston, Boise.

Let us know if you really come out to LA. There are surely enough "Must Drive" roads here in SoCal to keep you busy for a few days. One word of warning though...if you plan to use the southern route across the desert it will likely be ample hot, even early June. Driving a full day at 100-110 degrees in an open car with some additional engine heating is surely doable (assuming some shade roof) and we did one such drive last summer. But it is not what I would call a fun blat. I would look for the most northern and higher altitude route possible.

If you don't know exactly what you want/need (or believe to need) I suggest buy first a used one (no matter which brand). - you get immediate satisfaction - much lower cash investment in the beginning. The value drop from new after first registration can be very high but long term the value is pretty stable and may even go up, depending on the market. - you may like the car as-is and keep it - you learn valuable lessons about Sevens ownership and technical stuff that can help you build a better car - you get a much better feel for what you need before you commit to much more money on a new one - if you want to upgrade via new car (with or without building yourself), you have already a good downpayment - if you find after short time that a Seven is not your thing (I have seen this often) there is nothing lost.

Wouldn'd that ruin the delicate aerodynamics of a Seven :rofl: I must admit such a strap on a Seven would look odd, maybe 2 or 3 decades off the era of usefulness. Other than Morgan and similar British oddities I don't think people did that in the 50s anymore. But on the other hand, a few years back it might have saved me some trouble. Losing the bonnet was not so bad. It looked quite O.K. on the pavement until 2 trucks ran over it.

That is quite normal. My car does that once a while especially when the belt is not tensioned properly. I guess when the car is cranked, the battery is discharged a bit and for the first few seconds the alternator has to deliver more current at low rpm trying to recharge it, thus needing a lot more torque than in steady state operation. Well, at least this is my theory. I find it also more likely to squeal when the headlights are running when starting the car. Not recommended anyway but I sometimes forget. I suspect when you loosen it that much the belt is just slipping without squeal.

It looks like a ZX1 Zetec (used in Ford Contour until March 1998). Nice solid engine and nothing really bad about it, I have one myself in the car. But it is getting harder to find spare parts from the usual sources (e.g. no crankshaft bearing bolts to find anywhere in the world). I bought a complete junkyard engine and disassembled it for my own spare reserve. The car has the fuse box on top of the passenger foot well, that means it should be newer than about 2001 and has a cleaner wiring than older cars.

When I was in PA last fall I saw more the SUV type of buggy (with LED markers nonetheless).

I believe the writers of the constitution forgot an amendment that the right of the people to own and drive a sports car however odd shall not be infringed. Well, that would probably have been a sports buggy.

Interesting stuff. Looks like somebody crushed and rolled aluminum foil into small balls. Maybe I should hire a kindergarten class to make a few gallons of that I am wondering, if that crumpled structure will release all the fuel when drained or keep some captured.

Well, I guess we are going :cheers: PTO approved and entry fee paid :seeya:

Except for the double hoop roll bar they look similar to the HKT7 from Germany. So I am not really sure.

Care to translate?

So....there is a 90% chance you have at least a Birkin on that trip. Well, and of course me and my wife. :seeya: I submitted my 3-week PTO request and, since I was a good boy last year I think there is a reasonable chance it will be approved. If that happens, I will tow to Boise ID and do a round trip with the Seven from there up to Calgary (Idaho back country and Glacier NP, not such a bad area), the GBB (only to Vancouver) and then back via Cascades/Wenatchee to Boise. Now, boss, don't screw it up. :driving: Reminds me that I still need to repair the crash damage from the last tour.

I have had a FuelSafe cell (The MSI Birkin Special version) in my car since 2005. No real complaints, no foam disintegration, only a small pinhole weep when really full to the brim from the beginning. Now I have to take the rear end apart for some repairs and I am on the fence if I should replace the fuel cell guts. Supposedly they are only good for about 5 years, at least for purposes of racing which I don't do. On the one hand side I am hesitant to shell out $1000+ or whatever the cost is nowadays to replace something that does not make any trouble. On the other hand I am doing a bit of long distance touring and don't want to get stranded in the middle of nowhere with a leaking cell or foam clogging the fuel pump. I know there is no clear yes or no decision but any opinion? Thanks, GB

Why not at 13:13 ? And do I have more time here with PST? Will the end be broadcast live from other areas of the world?