notakit

I love that philosophy Mondo! I remember a scene from the old movie Gumball Rally where a guy with an Italian accent rips the rear view mirror from the windshield, tosses it over his shoulder and calmly says "whats behind me doesn't matter". If thats where you're getting it from we're both officially old! In all seriousness, I don't have any plans to put a rollbar in the car but I can always bolt one in latter.

No, why would I want to roll my Lotus?

My album has a few more picts showing the battery and fuel tank mounts. I'm still researching front steering geometry so no progress yet towards the front of the car.

I've decided to build my 7 with its steering rack behind the front axle for three reasons; 1. because it cleans up the look of the car by eliminating rubber boots sticking out of the body and the tie-rods up front 2. it shifts that weight to behind the front contact patch 3. it shaves a little more weight off the car because said rack and its housing must be shortened at least 10". (This is the same way early 7's were built.) I picked up a Morris 1000 steering rack yesterday which is a mirror image to the late year MG Midgets, identical in length and travel. The only difference is the pinion is located below the rack when the rack is behind the axle i.e. Morris and the pinion is located above the rack when the rack is in front of the axle like Midgets. Disassembling the steering rack shows the shortening process won't be too difficult. These racks have a threaded hole at each end where the tie-rod attaches. Simply cut, thread and machine the keyway slots for the original lock-ring on the non-drive side. I'm unsure if the housing is a press fit or threaded into the cast ends. Either way it shouldn't be too hard to disassemble it. The next challenge will be designing the steering assembly NOT to have any bumpsteer. I'll work that out tomorrow. I added a few more picts on my album pertaining to this steering rack.

Nope. No cars here Mr. Landlord. wink wink

I'd like to thank everyone who has complimented my 7 project, especially Martin Keller (MHKflyer52) for Oregon's registration advise! He probably save me 24 hours of headache! As soon as I shovel the snow from my driveway I'll role the operating table out and take a few more progress photos. Its a good thing these are such tiny cars because I'm building this in a tiny, condo sized garage! Technically I'm not allowed to "work" on any car according to my rental agreement. My translation its not technically a car until its been officially registered as a car, right?

Let me try it this way;

Hey! I must have figured out how to include my album's link in my signature!

Mike M, I can only imagine how much fun it would have been to drive a NEW Bugeye off the lot! A used one is fun enough! I believe your Bugeye used the same rear end as the early Lotus 7's. While researching my car I read that the 7 used a rear end from the Nash Metropolitan (I never knew Metro's were built in England!) which is the same spec as the disc wheel'd Sprites and Midgets. Sprites and Midgets that came with wire wheels had a 1" shorter rear axle housing to retain the same track as the disc wheel's models. Splined hubs for wire wheels require a longer hubs that would place the wheel 1/2" further from the car. When I started entering all these dimensions into my CAD drawing I learned there was no way I could build my Lotus with the Sprite rear end because I would have only 1/4" per side between the tire and body. This lead me to believe the original '57 Lotus 7's 15" wheels must have had zero or a negative offset. Sprite/MG wheels typically have 20mm of positive offset so what I've done to keep my 7 close to spec as reasonable is install the Sprite's wider disc wheel housing with the wider wire wheel hubs. This required making a pair of rear axles 1/2" longer. If I use 155 tires I'll have about 7/8" per side between the tire and body and even more room if I use 145 tires. Worse case scenario I will have a little tire rub but again, thats with no tire slip, one shock completely compressed while the other completely extended. Not bloody likely with such a light car, proper springs and 145 tires. -Mike

Martin, thanks for sharing your photos! It is so inspiring to see step-by-step progress and completion when one is building a seven! I have a slightly different approach to the upper arm/kingpin design that uses an adjustable rod end bearing directly onto the upper kingpin. I'll share photos a soon as I'm done welding the arm. -Mike P.S. Sorry everyone about posting my photos in the wrong spot. I'm new to the forum and haven't taken the time to figure things out yet. -Mike

I know the wire wheels are a bit heavy, thats the look I'm going for. I road raced a Ducati 916 back in the 90's and now I enjoy riding vintage Vespa scooters. I have just as much fun riding a scooter at 100% and I'm not as far into the "death zone" as I would be riding my old 916 at 100%. My Lotus project is along the same philosophy, bigger is not better. We all know how much fun a 1700lb Bugeye Sprite is to drive although its not the fastest nor the greatest handling car out there. Essentially I'm putting that same Bugeye drive train into a 900lb car. It is what it is; its an 54 year old sports car. -Mike

Thanks again for the invite to USA7s Derek! Martin, I wish you were still in Oregon! It would be fun to compare notes AND roads on the weekends! I'd like to hear how your kingpin adaptation went. I've got my designed but if there's a better idea out there, I'm not too proud to copy it! Feel free to call me any time if you're available. Also, where in Southern California are you living? I grew up there myself "canyon racing" a number of motorcycles before finally "legitimately racing" at Willow Springs. The only things I miss about So. Cal is that track, the San Gabriel Mountains and most of all, In n Out Burger! One of my first planned drives in the Lotus will be connecting all the twisty roads in Oregon to Redding California; the Northern-most In n Out! -Mike (541) 419-8022

Ok, I put up a bunch of progress photos on my album "one year gestation period"