raceral

I am using 205/50/16's all around and I find the ride is good, not to stiff. Al

Yep, even I still got my old JVC Quad 4 system I bought in 1975, along with a Sony dual cassette deck, JVC fan cooled 8-Track, Sansui strobe turntable, Teac headphones etc, even got all the original literature and brochures. Been thinking recently of taking it out of storage and installing it in the garage. Nice conversational pieces as well as great sound. Al

Anything the other half can do to keep you motivated is a good thing. Here is what my wife gave me Christmas 2008 to keep my build enthusiasm going. Al

I must make a confession here, I think I might like the fall blats almost a little better than the summer blats.:blush: Early today we were at 2 degrees cel, but sunny in the early morning for a change instead of the usual winter rain that has descended on us a week back. I got out with the car for a short period before the rain clouds came back. With a toque on my head and a wool sweater and wind-breaker and gloves and the heat turned on full blast I was more comfortable roaring along the highway at 60 mph than I ever was in the summer with just a T shirt, ball cap and ear plugs. In the summer the wind buffeting is a big issue, in the fall bundled up it isn't even a concern, very nice drive today and I hope for maybe a few more clear days before my insurance runs out in November. Al

Thanks for all the wonderful comments, much appreciated. Al

Thanks Martin, glad you like it. I am more than pleased to share if people find it interesting or can use it. The vents throw out a lot of heat, especially if the passenger vent is closed and not being used and on high speed. The heater is by Heatercraft or Moab, they are pricey from Heatercraft at around $240, but Summit sells the same one for around $135.00, which is where I got mine. It is a 3 speed unit rated at 28,000btu and 260cfm. I have added a picture. What I did was used the two main manufacturers outlets from the heater for the dash vents, I then drilled two secondary holes for some pvc plumbing fittings, one for the floor and one fitting for the defrosters, which are also just plumbing fittings as well. I enclosed the heater in a home made box and as it is under the hood then ran a fresh air duct from the box back into the the cabin using some aluminum dryer tubing. That way the fresh air needed does not come from my engine compartment. I just have a valve to shut the water flow off if not needed. Another benefit is that if the radiator got hot I can turn the heater on high and have a little auxiliary cooling if needed, so far though this has not been required as the car runs a steady 180 all the time, but is there as a small backup if necessary. I found some photos, maybe they can show the basic idea, if not I can see if can find some others. Al

I don't get it???? Well actually I do, but always wanted to say that, didn't see that one coming.:rofl: Al

Thanks Martin, the Black thing on the end of the dash is an adjustable vent. I can blow hot air through it for my face or hands on cool days. There is a matching one on the drivers side as well. I purchased the fenders through Jack at Kinetic, but they were on the narrow side so I cut and widened them by about 4 inches at the front tapering down to an 1/8 inch at the backs. I also under coated the underneath with Rhino lining as well to protect against rocks of the road. Croc, I must admit I had almost as much fun searching out parts as building the car. I don't recall how I stumbled onto the fellow in Greece, but I was searching for a way to hide the Ford Logo on the wheel spinners, nothing seemed to be the right diameter, then I found this fellow that said he did custom sizes. I sent off the size and he sent me a set back, very reasonable around 20 dollars or so. Thanks again everyone for the kind words, any questions don't hesitate to ask. Al

Thanks for the compliments, I forgot to maybe add a photo of the engine as well, might be of interest to some. Al

I did a search and it doesn't look like I posted my completed car. These are basically the specs as well as a material list. It was fun doing the project and like every one else's cars garners a lot of attention where ever I go. Al Dimensions Wheel base is 93 inches Front track width is 58 inches Rear track width is 56 inches Weight is 1648 pounds with a half a tank of gas and rear tire carrier installed. Frame Modified Haynes, the basic frame has the dimensions of the Haynes with a 2 inch wider than book and 1 inch taller than book. The back is standard book portion behind the seats sized to match the Haynes frame in order to use a live axle. I also used several gussets as well as 1.00 dom round tubing for bracing and supports. The front lower part that supports the engine is double 1x1 16ga welded parallel together. The floor and pedal box area as well as the scuttle front panel is 16 ga steel. The tubes that meet the tunnel behind the seats are also tied together with a 16 ga steel panel. This extra support was in case I wanted to do a V8 engine swap in the future. Of course this adds weight, as my use is for the street it was not a concern. The roll bar is .120x1.5 inch tubing, the down tubes go all the way to the floor to provide some protection for the fuel tank Front Suspension The front suspension comprises of Mustang II spindles, Gaz shocks and 350 pound springs, moog ball joints, home made upper control arms using swedged tubes and heim joints. The lower A arm is also home made with moog ball joints, and Triumph Spitfire rubber bushings and 1.00 DOM tubing. Steering rack is a Mustang II unit cut down 3 inches. Granada 11 inch rotors with GM calipers 2007 16x7 Mustang V6 aluminium wheels and three point spinners, Ebay, the Lotus inserts came from Ebay Greece. Tires are Tire Rack General Ultra High Performance summers 205x50x16, speed rated for 168 mph :rofl: , yah right Rear Suspension The rear suspension uses Gaz shocks and 200 pound springs, home made five link set up using heims and Spitfire rubber bushings as well as a 8.8 rear 31 spline axle out of a Ford Explorer. Ratio is 3.73 with limited slip. 10x 2.5inch drums with Speedway proportioning valve Emergency brake is Honda, pick a part Wilwood floor pedal assembly Body The body and interior is 16 ga aluminium panels as is the hood. Fibreglass front clamshells, hood scoop and rear fenders. Clamshells have been cut and widened to cover the wheels and the nose cone has been also modified slightly for height. Paint was done in a home made booth in my home garage by myself. 2003 Mustang yellow, with a 2005 Chevy black, all done in a single stage paint. Outside mirrors are Austin Healy reproductions. Hood hinges are TR2 Engine The engine is a 3.4 GM Crate motor Approximately 200 horse power and 210 pounds of torque, give or take a smudge. 9 to 1 compression Lift .427 intake and .454 exhaust Duration 204* intake and 216* exhaust Lobe center line 107* Holley 390 cfm carb with 62 jets and 7.5 power valve Edlebrock intake with a cut down top hat Aluminum under drive pulleys Proform modified HEI distributor Speedway hot rod chrome one wire alternator Comp roller lifters Fiero aluminium valve covers Accel wiring harness Home made headers using .083 by 1.5 inch tubing, 2 inch side pipes with 1962 Chevy truck round tube Quiet Flow mufflers. Transmission 1993 Sonoma WC 1353- 232, pick a part 2400 rpm at 60 miles an hour in fifth Home made remote shifter Interior Kirkey bomber seats Head rests are out of an Infinity, pick a part Drivers seat is adjustable, passenger side is fixed Steering wheel is wood and from Argentina, ebay Gauges are Autometer Platinum series off Ebay Indicator lights are billet from local supplier. Headlights are Speedway stainless buckets. Chrome park and turn fender indicators are from Ebay UK Rear lights are Britax from "Jack" Switch gear is from Ebay, UK Vinyl covering is the same material used in a new Mercedes interior. Pedals are Wilwood as are m/c, ebay Main Power disconnect with key from ebay UK Moab 28,000 3 speed heater with defrosters and dash vents MG wiper system with modified aluminum wiper arms Fuel Tank is a 15 gallon RCI Pump is an Edelbrock 6.5 psi Quiet Flo, free flow rate 120gpm, off Ebay Speedway cartridge fuel filters Fuel line is 3/8ths wire wrap brake line continuous I guess that is about it, cost worked out to $9800 US or Canadian with the fluctuating dollar. Everything used was new, except for the rear axle, trans , head rests and emergency handle which were Pick A Part. Most of my stuff was obtained from Ebay or other discount places. So basically I am into the car for around 10 grand, which I think is a pretty good bargain, not counting my labour, being retired my labour is worth nothing if you compare it to the alternative of sitting around drinking a beer or two and staring up to the clouds all day. Inspection I sent all my documentation off to the motor vehicle department in the form of a presentation, headings and sub headings, with photos. I went to a government vehicle weigh scale that was free, the fellow at the scale was a sports car fan and gave me an official form with my weights to send with my documentation. My VIN number was sent to the inspection station where I had stipulated, approximately an hours drive. Not trusting my work I towed the car there using a Landscape trailer The inspection went through without a hitch. On the way home I pulled the trailer into an insurance lot,the agent came out and, checked the VIN number and gave me my insurance, registration and plates. And that was it. Photos Car at the local car show, I am the burned out looking bearded guy. Al

The chute looks real, and if he is running one then he is running over 150 mph in the quarter, most likely in the 9's, maybe even real high 8's. Scary car Al

Great job, I guess I now have another winter project to add to my list. You have may already mentioned this, but how is the buffeting? Al

Sorry to see you selling your car, but I guess time moves on for all of us. Enjoyed your build, good luck going forward. Al

I got my seats from Speedway, they are Kirkey bomber style seats. I have found them to be quite comfortable as well as supportive. Speedway only carries certain sizes, but other sizes are available. Al

Shop quotes can vary quite a bit depending on how much prep work is required as well as how fine a finish you want after. In my case I painted mine myself in a throw away home made plastic booth and it cost me about $250 all told for a single stage paint and materials. Hit a few shops for some estimates, they are simple to paint because of their small size. Al

Dean, the blue hoses are from Summit Racing, they had a blow out of them for some reason and were liquidating the blues off for $7.50, so I grabbed a few sets. I orginally had the blue heater hoses as well but swapped them out so I could install a screw on fitting to bleed the air out of the system. The steering column is from Speedway, once again it was a sale item at the time. The column clamps are home made out of hinged 3/8 steel plate I have a 2 postion adjustment built in so I can raise or lower the wheel a little bit. The rotary switches I got from England, Vehicle Wiring Products or Holden. The toggles are from Victora British in Kansas as well as my wiper setup and mirrors. The engine mounts are stock S10 truck mounts attached to home made brackets welded to the frame. The outside frame rails in the engine compartment I ran double 1x1 tubing just in case a little extra twisting strength was needed at the base of the mount. Al

Thank you all for the very postive comments. I have got about three years into building the car, I had a few spots where I was off of it for a couple months at a stretch. I also am really looking forward to getting the engine broke in and hearing how it sounds and runs at higher rpms. Plus getting it licensed as well of course. Al

Thanks Mike, I have a number of pictures on the attached link below, but here are a few more one of the interior and one of the engine. They are a bit blurry as I think my camera is slowly going on the blink.

I just thought I would add my car to the member ride thread. It is a scratch built copy of a 7, more or less. I used the Haynes frame as a basis for my build, but went with a solid rear axle as there was not much chance of finding a Merkur in my part of the woods. The engine is a 3.4 chevy 60 degree V6 crate motor with a 1993 WC T5 out of a Sonoma. The rear end is a Ford Explorer unit. Front suspension is home made using Mustang II spindles. The wheels are 2007 Mustang 16x7. I am using Gaz shocks and springs. The exhaust and headers are all homemade as is the roll bar and most everything else. Anyway I have attached a link to my signature that shows photos of the construction from the start to the almost finished end, I hope to have it on the road soon and at this point am pretty well ready to apply for my VIN. Al

I should quickly clarify that I didn't build the Daytona coupe, it is a friends build where I took pictures of his progress after he asked if I wanted to post them on my Webshots site. I might add he did a great job, the rest of the stuff on there such as the garden shed, the AMX, the copy of the 7 build are mine. Al

Thanks guys for the welcome, I look forward to reading everyones posts as well contributing some of my own. Al

I thought I would introduce myself, my name is Al, I am in my '60's and I have been building a copy of a Super 7 the last few years. I dont recall anymore what prompted me to start this build, I suspect it was the article I read in Car and Driver, so then I bought Champions book as well as the Haynes book Chris wrote, the rest is history. Anyway I started by building the Haynes roadster frame and when I couldn't find the donor car easily I just went out on my own and started building what was easily obtainable for me. I started by modifying the frame for a live axle, in fact a Ford Explorer 8.8. The car is using a 3.4 chevy crate motor, something my brother talked me into, I suspect it was to get rid of the one he had sittiing at his dealership, well the dealership where he works. It also has '93 Sonoma WC 5 speed transmission, Mustang II spindles and rack. The car is not finished yet but I am getting closer to the end part of the project. I am retired and surprisingly I never seem to have enough time to get it done as fast as I would like, a complaint of retired people in general, maybe we nap a lot and dont realize it. Either way I am having fun and look forward to contributing the forum. Clicking on the link below should link with build photos. Al