slomove

Thanks!! The polishing is not too bad if kept up, maybe 3 times a year. But I must admit lately I slacked off and it is not that shiny anymore. I think before I go on the Pacific Northwest Tour I will brush it up a bit. Just for bragging purposes Gert

Oh dear, talk about drought: only 4" of rain in Los Angeles....since last June. Compared to 15-30 inches normally which is not that much anyway. Makes for good blatting, though Gert

Anybody has a use for that? Building a Locost? The Spax are stock issue Birkin shocks and have some 10k miles on them but don't leak and worked fine until I replaced them with ProTech ones. They have adjustable damping (one knob) and adjustable platforms. Obviously, they could use a wire brush and new paint. The rear springs are 150 pound/inch. Please le me know by Private Message if somebody is interested. I was thinking of $50 plus shipping. Gert

Congratulations! I still remember my first drive..... Anyway, the "oil out of carbs" syndrome is usually related to a combination of: - crankcase vent hooked up to the intake filter box - possible overfilling the sump - driving at high revs A cure may be just: - venting the crankcase into a catch can (or blanking off the crankcase PCV valve hole an vent out of the cam cover) - reduce oil level if too high - drive at legal speed on the freeway Gert

Al, the "billet aluminum piece" is a Laminova oil/coolant heat exchanger. But this just replaces a straight piece of aluminum tubing that used to be there. I know not all Birkins use the Raceline rail but I am not sure if they are using the stock thermostat setup. Gert

The Raceline water rail is quite common with Zetec Se7en owners in the UK and also many here in the US. Obviously it is a neat way of routing the coolant line to the front of the engine but after all, it is just a glorified tube. I have it in my car and AFAIK the only difference to a stock Zetec coolant system is the position of the thermostat (up front closer to the radiator). To allow the thermostat to operate smoothly that far away it is required to drill 2 or 3 small bypass holes (1/8" ) into the the thermostat flange to allow for minimal circulation all the time (or the sensing element will never see the hot coolant). I had that when I got my car and the temperature fluctuated wildly between 70C and 120C. Otherwise I just run any off-the-shelf coolant with rock solid temperature. Thermostat is 195 F, radiator cap is 16 psi, ECU controlled fan is 90 degrees C on and 85 degrees C off. Gert http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/226932208_WaterRail.JPG

Painless Performance harnesses have been used by several Seven owners with good success. Not exactly cheap but top quality PEX insulated color coded and numbered wires with individual function printed on each wire. The harness does not require prep/bundling but is bundled starting from the fusebox "as you go". Some pictures from my install here. I used the microfuse remote 14-circuit harness. Total installation was maybe 2 weekends and some evenings. Schematic and wiring table here. Gert

Hi Jeff, looks like you met Maury. Very nice guy, I bought his car early 2003. I know he did some autocross with it but in 5 years of ownership he put only 600 miles on the clock. Not a dent and not a speck of dust or oil anywhere. I don't know how he did that. I came back from last weekend only and the engine compartment and the cockpit are dirty all over again, rock chips in the nosecone gel coat and one more crater in the windshield. But then, Maury had the Seven and his Porsche parked in his sparkling clean garage on 4 small towels. So I bought a pretty much new car Gert

Mazda, I don't know......might disturb the classic lines of a Seven. On the other hand, other people have used a cow-catcher before: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1982094609_Cowcatcher.jpg

Well, I did about 500 miles total both days with only 20 miles major highway. But what a beautiful trip! In spite of the holiday weekend no traffic whatsoever. Yes, it was a little warm in the lower areas: we stayed over in Delano and it was 102 degrees there in the afternoon. A shower can be a life saver after such a trip Here some more pictures (actually in the mountains it was nice, maybe 75 to 80 degrees): Yes, I got the cows, too. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/2015359336_IMG_3438.jpg And the lake. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/2130743269_IMG_3443.jpg This is Montain Road 50, driving out of the Kern River Canyon: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/299642411_IMG_3446.jpg Here 3 pictures from the fabulous Cerro Noroestre Rd, 35 miles undulating road, no other car and no police http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/353996905_IMG_3450.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/2051855076_IMG_3451.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1893897568_IMG_3452.jpg Same road on Google Earth: http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1998255006_CerroNoroestreGE.jpg

Does not look right....If anything the alternator voltage should be a tad higher than the battery when running (over 1500 rpm) and anyway 13.5-14.5 volts (no significant load). A lose stud does not sound promising, too Do you have an alternator light and does it go out when running? The whole thing depends on the style of alternator, i.e. 1-wire (rare), 3-wire or 4-wire. but in any case the voltage is low. If you run out of ideas you may want to take it to an alternator shop for a check-up. Gert

I agree, usually newer=better. Some improvements that have been made over the years are: - much (much!) cleaner wiring - easier access to fuse box - better seats (well, somewhat better) - Outlaw calipers - stronger upright ball joints - easier removal of gearbox - better boot liner fit - what Dave mentioned: footwell and tunnel Not sure how much of that was implemented before 2002 Gert

Not too surprising when you interfere with the ecu ignition control. The positive side of the coil is always on 12V and the "negative" side is switched by the ECU. Be careful, a wrong short can destroy the ECU. Or do you have a dizzy?

I don't think so.....I won't be at the Dragon, unfortunately. And I am rather the unorganized type of guy. Nobody would want me to be a secretary of anything. I'd lose the member list in no time. Gert

Yes, dry weather would be a good idea. Obviously you can drive an open car in the rain with proper bike clothing and a lot will go over your head anyway. But it is not exactly my idea of fun for 1000 miles. Or at least it should be warm rain. A soft top will help a lot. After all, while the direct drive is surely more memorable and fun, I think the dolly is not a bad idea, either. If the steering wheel can not be locked, just tie it with a rope. Helps also with a better centered direction. Cruising revs depend on the diff and wheels. With a 4.11 diff and 15" wheels I have about 3500 rpm at 70 in 5th. Honestly I never worried about a sweet cruising spot. I do worry about radar traps. Gert

Come on Randy! Don't listen to these rational guys who believe they learned their lessons. Give in to the dark side and get your engine upgrade :blueangel: It is like preaching abstinence to a 16-year old :crazy: Gert P.S.: Obviously they guys are right.....:cry:

Kind of because I happen to have a battery disconnect solenoid (instead of the "red bone switch" ) that also functions as the main ignition switch. But even before I installed that I never disconnected the battery and had no problems. That obviously depends on the wiring of the individual car. If your car has something that keeps ticking with ignition off that will surely drain the battery after a while and it is not surprising that connecting a fresh one makes a difference. If your starter should be older, you should consider your friendly neigborhood rebuild shop. Can be cheaper than a new gear reduction starter and you know it will fit. Gert

Hmm, I have no doubt that the PC925 has a little more cranking power than the PC680 model. But there are people starting V8 engines with the smaller batteries. If cranking is weak with the PC680 you may want to make sure that the battery is really responsible. Internally corroded or fatigued battery cables or cable terminals, too thin wires, tired solenoid contacts, bad ground return, internal wear and tear in the starter motor (or all of the above) are known to cause cranking weakness or failure, especially when hot. Most of these problems are not visually apparent and can slowly get worse over time. Gert

I just purchased a proportional controller for electric trailer brakes in anticipation of buying a new trailer. Unfortunately that fell through and now I want to sell this device. It is a state-of-the-art Valley "Odyssey" model with accelerometers, no mounting calibration required. I got this for $85, still in original box and would be willing to sell it for the same price. Typical Internet price is normally $109.. Anybody interested? Please send Private Message! Gert

For option C I think even a 7' wide enclosed trailer may be tight. After all, you got to strap the car down and get in and out. You would need to be a weasel to do that when 6' wide. BTW, Ihave a Valley Odyssey proportional brake controller coming in that I ordered for $85 in anticipation of buying a used trailer with brakes. That fell through and I may not get another one anytime soon. If somebody needs one I would part with the controller for what I bought it (new out of the box). The usual Internet price seems to be around $109. Anybody interested? Gert

Thanks guys, makes a lot of sense once I begin thinking about it I am sure when I disassembled the head there was no sealant which is not surprising because the company who assembled my engine (out of business for a while) was known for bad workmanship. They also mixed up the cam bearing caps although it did not seem to have done any damage so far. But (once again trying to think logically) the front set of bearing caps must leak (or weep) whithout sealant....doh. I suppose then it was not the oil seal rings after all but since I ordered a new set I will install that one anyway. Off to the garage! Gert

Hmmm, maybe I don't understand the issue. At least here in California the registration and insurance are just a small slivers of paper. I just fold it to credit card size and shove it behind the drivers license in my wallet. Why should that be in the car when I am not in the car? Gert

Thanks.....sealant? Where should I use sealant? I can not remember I used sealant when I reassembled the camshafts. Actually another thing I found is that I should plug all open threaded holes from the removed belt cover bolts. Does not look like they are leaking but I will do that also. Gert

I have had some oil weeping for the last 2 years after using the car on track (a few spoonful trickling down the front of the engine for every track session) and I believe it started after I upgraded the cams. There is no oil spill when road driving. This engine is a Contour based Zetec ZX1 with Raceline cam shafts. It was enough to be annoying but so far not enough to make me do something about it. Today I bit the bullet, took the belt and pulleys off and it actually confirmed the oil is coming from the intake cam shaft oil seal (see the oil droplet on the milled flange below the shaft). http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1969174425_CamDrooling.jpg Question to the folks who know the Zetec: Is it likely that the seal is just damaged? I re-used the old cam shaft seals when upgrading the cams. Or is the seal just not seated properly? It looks like the seal is pushed in further on the top. Since I have it now apart and need to do the cam adjustment anyway I guess I will replace the seals. Anything I should look out for so that this does not happen again? Thanks, Gert

Oops, that was supposed to go into the tech section....Mazda, can you move this, please?