slomove

What bothers me about most of these gadgets is the relatively big and clunky housing. Right now I am working on a little project to make a programmable 25-LED bargraph tach about the size of a thick pencil, i.e. 8" long and 1/2" diameter. I will try out if it works better as a linearly increasing bargraph or growing from both ends to the center. It will be installed flush on top of the dash. Since the LEDs are extremely bright and adapt to environmental light I want them to reflect as HUD in the windscreen. Obviously that would not work with an aeroscreen..... Still need to do some work on the embedded firmware but once I get it going I will post some pics.

Well, maybe I am spouting BS here but my feeling is the DeDion principle is a bit over-rated. I mean it was never very successful in production cars and died out in the 80s (although I read a version of the new Smart car has it, as well as the 4WD Dodge Caravan). After all isn't it a glorified life axle? Same mechanical constraints with a few pounds less of unsprung differential mass and a whole bunch of added complexity and total weight. I don't know....I have driven both DeDion and life axle Sevens and did not feel a discernible difference. But maybe that is just my lack of driver's "butt feel" sensitivity. From my perspective a good choice of springs/shocks makes much more of a a difference. Gert

Wait.....you are not planning another car mod!

Chad, sorry to see you abandon this beauty....and make sure to sell it to the West Coast! I hope it was not the company of our merry band of Seveners on the last NorCal trip or the long arm of the CHP that deterred you ;-) Gert

O.K., here is a minor change for the 13th of July: Based on Al Navarro's suggestion I will skip the return to Cody from the Beartooth Loop and instead drive Beartooth down and then up again and continue to Chico Hot Springs north of Yellowstone. The tour table is now as follows: http://www.usa7s.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=180&stc=1&d=1240000784

Don't know anything of the Crossflow special needs.... but on my Zetec I am not using any exhaust gasket at all, only a thin film of the red Permatex stuff. When I had the car worked on by MSI several years ago they ground the header flange to an even plane and said no gasket needed. Well, no problems so far...When I have to re-install the headers nowadays I just brush/scrape off the old silicone, apply a new silicone film and bolt down the exhaust.

Hello Chaz, thanks for the great tips (anonymous or not...) While I can research a new route to pretty good detail nowadays on the web, such details about places to go are very valuable. 3 or 4 miles on washboard dirt roads, no problem. We have done worse before ;-) Cheers, Gert

I don't but for road driving it is not really necessary. Any passenger of normal size is wedged in so tightly they sure can't move. As for the psychological handle I think passengers just grab the "door" cutout or scuttle but honestly I never paid attention and I have not heard complaints. Only that driving instructor who braced himself against the big red battery cutoff dash button on the track was really annoying. Gert Edit...just remembered that you have an SV. Well that may leave a little more wiggle room for the passenger.

While I don't cherish the Los Angeles Freeway traffic in the Seven and prefer driving on highways with light traffic and nice weather, I must say it is not *that* bad. You do have to compensate for other driver's lack of attention. Otherwise I must say the Seven is the best and most fun touring car I've had. You just need to pack lightly. Gert

The Escalade was admittedly a bit on the large side but this GM/Segway hybrid kind of over-compensates. Gert

I am not familiar with that EZ-Pass technology but I suppose it is some RFID system and furthermore assuming that you may have a heated windshield the embedded wires can interfere. But that is just a possibility. For the microwave reception of the speed radar detector the heated windshield of my car was not a problem.

I took it out when I had the pinhole leak and inspected from the outside. Did not find anything and put it back in. Yes it is a pain in the @rse. Especially if you cross-thread the bolts in the soft die-cast alloy of the bulkhead frames. Anyway I still have the pinhole leak and it still bothers me but I am not going to invest $1200+ right now. Gert

I got my Seven registered in 2003 as a '69 "Birkin Lotus Replica" based on previous California and Florida titles (I had copies). However, for whatever reasons the old title that was 5 years old did not show in their system (maybe because the VIN contained "B1RK1N" instead of "BIRKIN"). Anyway, it still went through, only the electronic gages in the dash raised some eyebrows for a '69 model year at inspection.

There is usually a main fuse somewhere (or a fusible link). Not sure about Caterham, though.... Does the power at least get to the fuse box? Turned on the big red T shaped battery switch ;-) Gert

That "car" is really cool. Very tempting and the way to go in the long run. It is anyway amazing what is going on at a small scale with electric vehicles. Much more dynamics than with the big companies. I started my bicycle project just for fun (and because I get restless when I don't have at least one project going) But it turned out to be surprisingly useful. Gets me to work about as fast as in the car (given the typical LA traffic and surface streets) and the weather is not such a big issue here. The $500 that I invested in the conversion kit was not much in the first place and should even amortize within a few months with the "alternate transportation" subsidy of my employer and the gas/car wear savings. Just need to watch out for other folks who don't expect a cruising bicycle approach at 25 mph... Gert

I can believe that. Was looking around for Lithium cells for my electric bicycle that I started to use for my 14-mile round trip commute. But even for that wimpy 1.3 hp motor it would cost me some 700+ bucks (directly from China). I can only imagine what that may be for a reasonable car with a decent operating distance. I guess for now I will keep the 30 pounds of lead-acid cells... Gert

And with a dinosaur in the background.....

Good start! Some few 30 years ago when I was in college I thought I should try my craftsmanship in building a banjo using the beech plywood of some surplus school benches. It came out pretty good and I still have it today. When it was finished I bought a bunch of banjo books (yes, including Pete Seeger's) and took a few private lessons. I got to play some popular tunes reasonably well but at some time I just recognized I am not a musician. So I am down to plucking the banjo a few minutes every other year, just to see it still makes a sound..... Gert

That was on the Streets of Willow for the Alfa Club Driving School (http://www.arosc.org). Have been there a few times with AROSC and Shelby Club before and once on the Big Track with NASA. The Streets is a fun track if a bit short and as I found it is now somewhat bumpy in spite of repairs. Actually, the Buttonwillow Track has become more popular with local Se7eners in the last years. Gert P.S.: if you want to hitch a ride with a Seven, be at the Angeles Crest exit of the 210 in La Canada tomorrow (3/15) at 8am. There will be 3 or 4 Se7ens for a 200 mile drive out to the mountains (breakfast in Acton). More Info

I hear you.... that made me add the Mad Max armor.

That would be kind of cool. But the variety of switch and instrument connectors don't really lend themselves to mounting on a PCB. With short pigtails I think it can be done but the layout work would be tricky and the manufacturing not cheap (given the size). Future modifications would be another problem. But I think it is not really necessary. With a little attention it can be made pretty clean and maintenance friendly. This may preclude using the stock wiring loom, though...... The wiring as shown below was made using a Painless harness with mods.

Interesting....confirms my suspicion. Maybe I should take them off, too.

Well, don't know, they are black and barely visible anyway.... The many louvers in the bonnet are probably stock nowadays with Birkins. Originally the car did not have that many but after I lost the bonnet on the freeway I got this one as replacement.

I have had such mud flaps for a few years now and I have split feelings about it. I believe they may reduce the debris thrown directly onto the rear wings. However, I suspect they do 2 other things...... Although these thick rubber flaps (cut-down truck flaps) are pretty stiff and practically touching the ground they lift just enough while driving to still throw rocks onto the wing protectors, maybe even bouncing off the ground. At least my originally polished stainless wing protectors are pretty much sandblasted after a few years. Once a while I can see small rocks flying from the *front* edge of the wings and yes they do hit the windscreen and cause pits. I am not sure if these are just released from the tire while going around under the wing or if the mud flaps even contribute to this effect. In any case, I end up with a pretty good rock collection after a blat (or a nice rubber collection after a track day) even with the mud flaps. Gert P.S.: I am not exactly sure where I took this pic. But it appears (and funny enough) that John Ch.'s red Westfield is right behind my car.

That is probably a good number for many tire types but I did have a problem with my old Bridgestone S03 that 18 psi was insufficient to hold the beads on the rim when driving hard. I lost several times pressure on the track before I understood what was happening. At 21 psi it was O.K. On the other hand, my AVON ACB10 are happy with 16 psi. Suppose that means 17mm? At 17 degrees the rake would be quite impressive ;-) Gert