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I had many internal debates about engines and was set on a Zetec or Duratec originally, but somehow the purist in me sided with a well built crossflow or pre-crossflow. How I convinced myself to build a high strung antique engine over something modern and reliable, I'll never know . Anyway, with the parts collection I've aquired so far, it should make for an exciting little engine. I've spoken with Jay Ivey already and will likely go with one of his heads. Thanks for the suggestion though. Dave

Stephen, The kit was built by Arch in the UK about a year ago, to my friend Tony Ingram's specs. The chassis geometry and suspension are LHD Lotus 7 S2/S3 or early Caterham S3, with many extra tubes for stiffness, built in harness mounts, provision for a modern Caterham rack and pinnion, front mounted radiator, and a handful of other tricks. The body work pieces are Caterham, as well. I'm happy to have it, because it fills my need for an extremely basic yet somewhat modern Seven, with the benefits of using predominantly new Caterham parts. A friend who helped me pick the kit up, called it an "Ingram Seven." Dave

Thanks for the compliments. I'm pretty excited to finish the build now. The haziest section is actually the hood, but that's mostly a function of how the car is viewed and/or the last time a section was polished. The hood and left side were polished first, so they are oxidized more than the back and right side. There are several coats of wax over the polished surface to slow oxidation, but it will slowly lose its shine. There are many little imperfections, but overall, I'm really content with it and can always buff it with a little Mother's and wax to clean, now that the hard work is done. So...here's my polishing process...i.e., the hard work: First, I read about every article I could find on polishing aluminum and converged on a process that's a hybrid of several methods, after trying many approaches. To smooth the surface, I wet sanded with 1500 grit against the grain of the aluminum until only cross-grain scratches were visible. Following the 1500 grit, the car was wet sanded with 2000 grit, with the grain, until the 1500 grit marks were all but gone. I lightly sanded a few small sections of the car with heavier grit to remove deeper scratches, before moving to the fine grit papers. All sanding was performed with a soft foam block. After sanding, I hand polished (fearful of the power buffer) using Mother's polish, in areas of about a 1 square foot at a time. I tried many different cloths and converged on generic auto parts store microfiber, after talking with a Mother's sales rep at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Cotton of any form left far too many scratches and swirl marks. After polishing several square feet to a bright shine using a somewhat random polishing method, I went back over the area with Mother’s, with the grain of the aluminum, using very light pressure. This last step masked the random swirl marks with small linear scratches that blend with the grain of the aluminum. After polishing a section, the area was coated lightly with paste wax, also applied with microfiber. Needless to say, it took a long time. The engine I am starting to build is a 1700cc crossflow, with forged pistons and rods, an A6 cam, and an SCCA crank. Once the bottom end is together, I’ll start saving for a head. I’ll add more pictures are the project progresses. Thanks again for your compliments on the polishing, Dave

After months of work, I can now start assembly... http://picasaweb.google.com/dvanlue/SuperSeven?feat=directlink -Dave

Wow, Ron. That's awesome. I'm glad to see it back on the road. -Dave

This engine has sold

It's still available. It's not a direct replacement for a ZX2, but it's similar. At a minimum, brackets for mounting the alternator and other ancillaries are different. Some of the differences are noted on Raceline's website. Thanks for your interest, Dave

There is no ECU with the package; only what is pictured. Thanks for the apexspeed suggestion, btw. I will be posting it on the California Caterham Club site and a few Ford Focus sites as well. Thanks, Dave

Bruce is correct. The exhaust manifold that comes with the engine is the stock Focus part, as is the intake. Ford Racing sells these engines primarily for NASA's Spec Focus race series, to be used in conjunction with a spec head and cam. They are also used in a Midgets Race class. -Dave

$1300 OBO This new crate engine (Ford Racing part #M-6007-ZX3) was purchased from Gary Yeomans Ford in FL and shipped to my place it Pasadena, CA. The engine has not be used and is currently bagged up and setting on a partial pallet at a friends race shop in Monrovia, CA. I have all the Ford paperwork which shipped with the engine and a bill of sale from Yeomans Ford. The list price is $2595. Yeomans was selling the engines at a significantly reduced price because they had several in stock (...why I purchased from this dealer and not locally in CA). http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=4989 http://www.fordracingparts.com/wheretobuy/wdpersonalization.asp?id=797 I purchased this engine for my Lotus 7 S2 replica project and had planned to use Raceline's Zetec-R Fcomponents to fit the motor to my chassis. Recently, I changed directions with the project and will be building a X-Flow. I'd prefer to sell the engine locally (or within a few 100 miles) to simplify shipping. Please contact me if you're interested, Thanks, Dave

Hi, This is great forum you have here. My name is Dave and I'm a mechanical engineer living in Pasadena, CA. I've been researching and considering the purchase of a Seven for many years, but had not found the right car until a few months ago. A friend of mine recently comissioned Arch Manufacturing in the UK build two new Seven kits (chassis, body work, suspension, etc) to 1965 S2 specifications, with assorted Caterham and other upgrades/improvements. For the past few months I've been sanding and polishing the body, planning out the project, and aquiring additional parts. I hope to have it on the road late this year. The car will predominantly look like a Lotus 7 S2, but will be powered by a 2.0L Zetec with carbs. Anyway, I expect this site will be a great resource to me, as this project progresses. How do I become a paying member? I searched around the site and didn't see a link....it's not beyond me to miss the obvious some times, however . Dave