slomove

Something about the timing..... I had to pick Summer for PNW2007 (first plan was July and that was moved later to end of August) because many people originally interested (including myself) could not go in September. October becomes anyway too late in northern areas. A certain disadvantage of Summer is just the high season. It is more difficult to find places that will accommodate a large group and few hotels are willing to give group discounts because they will sell their rooms anyway and a group reservation carries some risk for them (i.e. the whole group may cancel). But I think it can be done, even for 30 or 40 people. Theoretically there should be more traffic in Summer but that is probably limited to weekends/holidays/major attractions. On our tour we had minimal or no traffic everywhere except the last day (Sunday before Labor Day on roads leading to Clear Lake). Gert P.S.: Cody, WY might make for a great central location....right in the middle of Yellowstone, Beartooth Pass, Bighorn Mtns....everything close-by

Rare? Well, kind of but there are dozens in the bay area. I am in SoCal, so little help but there will be volunteers close-by, no doubt about it. Maybe you go to Thunderhill or Buttonwillow NASA racetrack events in October and get a ride there. Gert

Ah, now we are getting somewhere I missed this thread so far. Well, the South Dakota idea just came because it is so smack (almost) in the middle and because it promised to be more interesting than e.g. Kansas. But I like especially Wyoming, also Colorado or Montana as well. Something like Minnesota would be more of a problem for most of the West Coast folks at about 2000 miles one way. But then, from e.g. Roanoake to Casper is also 1800 miles. I just can not see somebody tow 3600 or 4000 miles for a few days meet. For myself I could imagine towing somewhere 3 or max. 4 days in 400 mile per day increments while enjoying the scenery and attractions, pootle around in the Seven at the meeting target place for 4 or 5 days and tow back in the same fashion on a different route. That makes it obviously another 2-week trip but that is O.K. with me. If that would become just a mad dash of a towing marathon :ack: I would probably rather decline. Gert

I am not aware of anybody who put a Duratec into a live axle Birkin (the new IRS Birkins seem to have that option). But, since it fits a narrow-bodied Caterham I suppose it is possible with a bit of cutting and welding. Come on, somebody has to do it first..... Gert

-- Me: shifting down in third at some 60mph, passing the black car, creating a substantial racket. -- flashing police lights lights go off and a quick siren wail -- I think "oh no, here goes my insurance rate" (mind, I am still within my 18 months grace period for an earlier ticket in California...) -- I pull over and the black SUV produces a mid-aged police officer. -- Officer: "Can I see your drivers license?.................Is there any particular reason to exceed the speed limit?" -- Me: "Well, not really, I think that was pretty foolish." -- Officer: "I can appreciate that you have a nice car. But we can not tolerate such behavior here. We have bikers, and local traffic (???) so we must keep the roads safe" -- Me: "I understand" -- Officer: repeats about same phrases..... -- Me: expects the police guy to pull out his booklet and write me up -- Officer: "Tell the other guys in your group (who zoomed by during this chat) that we can not tolerate that" -- Me: "Sure, will do. Thanks for the heads up!"................Driving off thinking this is my Lucky Day Believe it or not, I did drive a bit slower after that. At least for a while. Gert

This one. The bullet cam is from RF-Concepts in the UK and already some 3 or 4 years old, connected to a Sony Camcorder. Start-stop and turning can be controlled from the cockpit. But I need to improve it. High engine revs make the camera servo sometimes twitch and ruin the video. Gert

Before I dive into making a nice DVD from all the tour video which will surely take me forever (at least until Christmas) I did a quick assembly of some of the nicer clips without titles, music, explanations or transitions. If you don't mind a 96 MByte download you can find it here. Gert P.S.: for some reason I had to remove most scenes that involved higher revs. There is still alternator noise interference with my camera servo

Good point But that was my fault.....passing a camouflaged police car that is already driving 10 mph over the limit....I still need to develop that sixth sense to smell the danger. Gert

Yes, that happenend.... In general, however I must say many other drivers were very cooperative and pulled over at the next suitable opportunity (I would say more that you would find typically in SoCal). Also in a few cases uncooperative drivers pulled over after the first car passed to let the rest of the nutters go by without further intimidation I will collect some of the feedback made so far and add some of my own experience as a starting document. A couple of things I know already: - A 1-week tour (plus 2 weekends) will find much broader attendance than a 2-week tour. This may however be tricky to do as "East meets West" - after almost 2 weeks a certain scenery-numbness sets in. In the beginning it is like "wow, what a beautiful view" and "OMG, that road rocks". to the end that rather becomes "oh well, just another postcard picture" - a central location with 1 or 2-day tours in different directions is much easier to manage. In that case the support truck does not even need to chase the group but can drive out on demand. - it would be helpful for the organizer to ask for non-refundable deposits as soon as the route is fixed. That will separate the serious interests early and make it much easier to organize. Having 80% of the participant list sitting on the fence for months makes it impossible to plan support costs and hotels. Gert

Yes, quite amazing....5-8 cars, about 3500 miles and no serious mechanical problem. Can we do that again, please? Something like that? http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/563409890_EastMeetsWest2009.jpg

Big "Thank You" to all tourers for driving with us....and not even bitching about the bumpy roads that I picked Special thanks to: Stan Sadorf for committing to the tour even with his Se7en disabled and providing additional support Ed Hudson for coming all the way from the East Coast to attend our little blat John Haskey for prolific photo updates on the USA7s list and proving that a Crossflow is still a valid option (leaving Tom Duratec in the dust) Louise and Tom for showing Tom Jones the proper pace Tom Jones for always detailed descriptions of interesting passing maneuvers and showing Louise and Tom the proper pace Sindy and Dion for driving in rotten weather without protection and without complaint John Christensen for ensuring that the gas tank is always full Des and Pete for great company and joining us as USA2005 alumni Bill Gemini for charming female obstacles out of the photo shoot Very special thanks to Mike Johnson for hanging in with our ragtag group and bringing our car and trailer back to Vacaville in one piece. See you all for the next tour!! Rosie and Gert

Yes, he is.

No, Magnus' car is still in pieces. But we have John Christensen and Tom Jones with Duratecs. gert

Including today's drive up to whistler we got about 1600 miles from Vacaville, which is about half of the trip. **knock on wood** why should the engines not be reliable when they last for a few 100k miles in a normal car. We have Crossflow, my Zetec ZX1, one ZX2, 2 Duratecs, a VX and a Miata engine on tour. Several of them are somewhat tuned but AFAIK no pure race engines with crazy compression or boost. Obviously there are a few things that may fall off from a Seven like alternator brackets and similar customized pieces. But so far nothing serious, only that exhaust to be welded, a luggage bracket (also welded), a side mirror, the broken wheel and 2 new tires due to suspension misalignment. Gert

Already a few days ago now.....but better to take a note to myself not passing sinister but otherwise inconspicuous looking black Suburbans in the State of Washington. They may have a habit of suddenly displaying an array of blue and red flashing lights and producing a live officer to inquire about convincing reasons to exceed the speed limit. Oh well, I got off with a verbal warning (to be forwarded to my group comrades). That means I begin to like Washington State police and consider moving there. The rest of the tour somehow missed me getting away and looked for me at the local courthouse, ready to post bail. You see, that what are friends for... Gert

Small correction....Yes I got the stuff from Woody but no, I did not distribute this yet because people have little luggage space. It is on the support truck and I will distribute the goodies as we part ways. Gert

Not Ed's shot but I took a similar one: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/166190779_SlomoveRainier.jpg Today was exhaust day: Ed's broken exhaust mounting bolt (hose clamp fix) and Louise and Tom's exhaust broken straight through at the collector (no picture but that will need welding). http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1980913503_EdExhaust.jpg

You bet!!! Here is another one of this day: Drive out on Windy Ridge to Mt. St. Helens: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1571096452_MtStHelens1.jpg

I am also getting some very nice video but that has to wait until I get home and can download to my home PC. Then another 2 or 3 months of editing and I suppose by Christmas I will have it ready for showtime Gert

Well, pretty miserable weather indeed....and what really sucked was the trip had a lot of beautiful roads just that you could not see further than a few 100 feet and drive somewhat carefully (obviously I always drive carefully). But we were at least lucky with the weather at Crater Lake. Here my shot: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1981734852_Crater3Sevens.jpg Gert P.S.: So far no major car problems (as long as Ed Hudson gets his spare wheel on time). Tom Jones' throttle sticking open was a relatively easy fix.

Well, at least we tried and spent a better part of a Sunday to exorcise the Gremlin in Stan's engine without success. Here a pic of my car loaded up and ready to leave: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/460742063_ReadyToGo.jpg Two more pics of our BBQ place at the airport museum: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/230844949_Se7ensAirMuseum1.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/367204231_Se7ensAirMuseum2.jpg

Our tour is going to start this weekend! Yes!!!! If you want to follow what we are up to, you can use these Google routes (don't forget the satellite/hybrid view...): Saturday 8/18 Sunday 8/19 Monday 8/20 Wednesday 8/22 Thursday 8/23 Friday 8/24 Saturday 8/25 Sunday 8/26 Tuesday 8/28 [url=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=351+S+Forks+Ave.,+forks,+wa&daddr=Hoh+Valley+Rd%2FUpper+Hoh+Rd+%4047.859780,+-123.934210+to:Viewpoint+Ln+%4047.479760,+-123.895370+to:701+E.+Heron+St.,+aberdeen,+wa&mrcr=2&mra=pe&sll=47.515346,-123.96698&sspn=1.250289,2.5323

Very nice Another ZX1 engine :hurray: ....did not know RMSC ever used them. What cams and compression are you running to get 205 hp? Gert But wait....just compared with my engine...valve cover markings are different. Oh, well.

But it is a good question.....did anybody have a failure with the stock oil gears? Or just another automotive legend to fill some after-market seller's pockets? I searched the Blatchat forum but they mentioned only one instance of Zetec oil pump breakup, after 60 miles running and no mention of high revs. Also, is that rumored failure something with Zetec ZX3 only (who cares ) or would it affect all models? Gert

yes, me too....Saturday morning and we did not see another car for 15 miles... It was not really a blat, rather a leisurely cruise. More video here (18MByte!) Gert