andrew7

Turned the car around to make it easier loading on the trailer, pulled the lever to engage the electric reverse to back into the driveway, first time worked and second time just made noise. I thought the chain jumped. I pulled the motor off to find the all 12 teeth on an Aluminum hub were broke off. I was packing so I figured I'd fix it after I got back from the rally. My dad started playing with it ended up fileing the hub to a hex and the spline to a smaller mating hex with a castle nut as the intermediate pc. I put it back together and it works.:hurray: The internal gears are aluminum and showing wear so I think a winter project will be in order, probably will try a starter motor. I started thinking what if it was an English reverse box, I don't think BROWN ships that fast. At least this system is still drivable if reverse goes away. While planning route found out SR 441/71 from Knoxville to Sevierville is Chapman Hwy.

Hi Al, everything looks great. My head would have been spinning getting everything organized.:crazy: I have 1 stupid question to ask, I'm planning my routing down to the Dragon and started to think, Is there local road maps in the event planner? I was getting ready to print maps out from http://www.tailofthedragon.com/maps.html but wasn't sure if its one of those little overlooked things. see you in a few days:)

Mazda, I know you and a couple of others who are more than qualified to drive but I'm only giving chauffeured rides. Last week dad dropped several shifts and I thought pieces were laying in the road. One down side to a BEC are the delicate trannies, that and the cockpit only fits a 5'7" person with a 30" inseam. The seat is not adjustable although the passenger can be 7' tall, he'll fit. I'm not sure how many other BECs will be there, do we get our own little section like here. I know those V8 guys will be yelling across the parking lot taunting us all weekend.:boxing: Take a look at the 10 day for Knoxville, Thursday and Friday could be damp, they got Carlilse right. Did you get your top built or will you be wearing blue poly? :lol: see ya'll in a week.

I seen the Hartly at Carlisle its beautiful but I agree with Birkin42 on this one. One thing to consider, what happens when it needs rebuilt or is this a one time use engine? I guess I'm frugal, the R1 was 180 hp for $1800 maybe when it wears out I'll upgrade. Hey Jeff, how much hp can our motors make before jumping up to a turbo? 220 hp with cams and headwork, I was curious.

The only reason I pick on you Mazda is your car is the only one capable of sticking with me long enough to read my license plate. That's O.K. I'll pull over and have a snack and wait for you.:lol:

Ya, I'd blame it on the tires too. How are going to kill the dragon If you can barely keep it on a straight road? I don't have that problem, I shift out of 1st around 70, when the engine is near 14,000 rpm:eek:. Are you turning that thing into a DRAG car? I know, you need to put some 20's on it. 20 inches wide I mean.:jester: After you get some Mickys on it come see me.:boxing: I'm just yankin you chain Mazda, I'm glad to hear you got your baby together. :thumbs: I'll go back to the BEC section now.:seeya:

No, she doesn't own a computer yet, but I think she is getting one. I'll give her the address so she knows about it. Thanks.

My aunt has always owned a Corvette from the late 50's to her current 2005 C5. When she got her limited edition '78 she stuffed me and my sister in the passenger seat and took off down a country road for a thrill ride, needless to say it was scary. Today was her 67 birthday and I got her an 8x10 of the only picture of her first Corvette. I also took her for a ride in the seven for the first time. I've been holding off because I wanted every thing dialed in. Being a car gal she loved the sound of the engine and said so before we got a block away. I turned on to a highway on-ramp then pulled off and stopped to let a car have some space. I took off and ran it up near 14 clicked second and let off the gas before I merged onto traffic, then cruised along at 55. I almost hit 80 before the end of merge ramp. She kept saying, "I love it" over and over and how she loves the wind in your hair feeling. I got off the highway to hit Ridge road. Its just like it sounds, a Pa. hill top road that's very Dragon-like. There are many 15-25 mph curves and all were taken between 40-45mph. After the first couple bends she said she was concerned, then I got concerned when she started grabbing my soft half doors and bending them in. . She's normally very talkative but was very quiet on that road. Stopped at a light and a kid pulls out his camera phone to snap a picture. I ran through a plaza and everybody looked at the car, my aunt loved the attention. She felt the ride was very comfortable and thought it would ride rough like her old Corvettes. I guess the airshocks and 4" seat cushions help. My aunt loved the car and the thrill ride down a country road like the one she gave me almost 30 years ago.

The pics loaded up, had to add a reply then edit it.:crazy: I went to my first car cruise today with the 7. I parked next to a Superperformance Cobra, the car was cool. It was at a senior care home parking lot and all the nurses would bring all the residents out to see the cars, they really enjoyed looking at all the cars. I talk with a guy who buys cars for people and travels all over the USA. He never seen a 7 before. I told him the Lotus/Caterham story, he was very impressed. The bike engine freaked alot of people out, they couldn't believe it. The little kids 5-10 loved the car too, it was just their size. Why do they call it a car cruise if your parked all day? Maybe its me but you have an expensive/rare car only taken out on nice days, then when the sunny and blue skies come you go to a parking lot to sit and look at your car. I did that all winter in the garage. I want to drive on those days. The trunk is small but the extra 4"-6" space provides a place for stuff that isn't in the passenger compartment, I highly recommend it. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/131199541_7trunk 001.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1741494396_7trunk 003.jpg</p><p> </p><p> http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1464049280_7trunk 007.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/197009527_7trunk 010.jpg

I made a trunk today. Dad and I brainstormed a while and decided to make it in 5 pieces. Mr. Chapman would have been proud. We used just enough panels to keep it light. The gas tank and seat bulkhead were used as part of trunk lining. The cover is aluminum and lockable. The pics are not uploading, I'll try later. The top panel and left side panel. The bottom panel and sides. Filled up? 2 folding chairs with umbrellas, 2 half doors with 2 windows, 2 windbreakers, extra hat and glasses, air compressor, fix-a-flat, 12v defroster, soft cooler. I can fit in more:d The top is currently on the car, it will go in there.

Russ, did you see the picture of the hood above? Its too pretty to go under the shears. Plus it makes the car look more vintage and hides the F1 engine inside. I understand what your saying but any movement will bring temps down. Even a 20mph steady drive will keep the temps down. What I found out when the fan is on, the air is coming out the sides and not through the radiator. I need better shrouding between the fan and rad.

yes Russ, I do. I left about a 2" space above the rad for cooler air to get to the air filter otherwise the engine would be only sucking hot radiator air. The bike originally came with 2 small fans behind the rad on each side. They were bad and expensive to replace so I went with one larger fan but because the bike's radiator is curved I place it in front. I think I can get it closer and rivit some rubber flaps around to force the air through. I'll make that change soon, maybe the next couple of days. I just know in traffic I have to keep a eye on it.

I went for a ride yesterday, 145 miles of mostly 2 lane roads. The car is the best yet, between getting the air pressure set for the tires and shocks plus increased caster and top cover. It made for a very comfortable drive. Dad noticed my rpms and speed are the same. 3000rpm is 30mph and 7000rpm is 70mph, guess what, the tach tops out at 15000rpm. The engine was running 165-185 degrees with the air temps in the high 80s. At a stoplight it will climb 20 degrees in 30 sec, even with "WaterWetr" and an aluminum rad. I ran into traffic near the end because of school which was running stop'n go to 5 mph, from there the temps shot up. The hood helped and the cockpit was getting smothering hot from the side vents rolling the heat up and in on us. I finally pulled off in the shade, shut the engine down for 15 sec with the fan running then started it up for 10 sec to circulate cooler fluid into the engine. During the first time the gage hit 245 and the light came on then dropped below 230. I went back out on the road and played run and coast with the car. Once it cleared to 20-30mph the temps went back to 200 degrees. I need to get more airflow over the radiator with another fan or better duct work. The trouble with the rad is its curved. Bottom line is you can feel the heat coming out the top of the hood, so it worked.

My latches when I first put them on were rivited to high, making them too loose. I compensated by putting a slight bend in the latching bar to tighten them up. Today I bent them straight like I bought them and that gave me the extra clearance. See Mazda you always have to plan a head.. Many guys latches are spring adjustable also. My main concern on tomorrows ride is negative pressure by the windshield will not allow hot air to escape. I'm not sure.

My engine temps climb in stop in go traffic, even with the side louvers. This weekends showcars on parade had me concerned about N.C. in july sitting in a slow moving line at the ralley.(heaven forbid but it could happen) I wanted to get the hood punched but their expensive and for the cost I can buy the tool with dies. So I decided to try a different approach, raise the rear of the hood. I took aluminum flat stock on three standoffs bolted to the lip with a slight bend to match the hood contour. It doesn't ruin the body lines and when the fan kicked on, hot air was blowing out. I'm taking a long ride tomorrow to test it out. The pics are not great. I think it looks better in person from any angle but you get the idea. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1574976886_7pics 014.jpg http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/584513707_7pics 015.jpg

Mine too. Its 69" wide but the opening is 61.5" wide some 7s might fit. I just thought the pic was funny. Maybe Dodge and Caterham will work in a package deal, if you buy a CSR get a support vehicle for half off.

I think I found my next vehicle. Mileage is 26-30mpg. 10 passenger and standing height inside. Hey Al, hold off on that trailer purchase till you check it out. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1458638343_7van.jpg Every seven owner is going to want one.:jester: (Its a Sprinter van from a Car and Driver roadtest.)

Na, the tubes are to small. Your going to have to use Hydrogen, while your at it put it in the tires too. Just don't do any burnouts.:jester: :jester: Its turning out real nice Bruce, hope to see it at the dragon.

I did an 85 mile ride today after changing alignment again and the ride was good. Saturday, I was at Carlisle and looking at a record setting Busa-Rush right hand driver, its caster was measured in inches. It looked like 30 degrees and the other cars there had steeper angles as well. I was thinking with the light weight of being a BEC, about 250 lbs per wheel maybe the caster should be higher. I made it 8 degrees. I had a measurement discrepency, the ball joint mounts measured 4 degrees but checking the rim they were 1 degree. The reason is during my build I used a drill press instead of a mill and the mounts were not all identical. So I have 1 degree camber now. I then lessen the toe and its now 1/16 total in. The car drives dead straight at 65 and handles the curves by thought, its getting closer to perfection.

No problem Al. When I got there I asked doug if other seven club guys stopped in and he had not seen you yet. We probably were bumping into each other and didn't know it. Next time, let's wear 7 t-shirts or something. I was surprised to see only 5 seven cars total. I lost track of all the Cobras I seen. I think I missed the Renault but I did get to see a turboed-SBC Ultima Can-Am, it was beautiful. The tires on this car were WIDE, think F1 width, maybe 18". The Saint's Volvo on display reminded me of the Aston Martin DB5 from James Bond. Speaking of Volvo, I might start checking them out for my next vehicle. The Volvo club had some nice rides out there. The supercharged TVR's were real nice, one black TVR was owned by a couple 10 miles from me. Even the micro-cars were there, the BMW 600 3 wheeler(the Urkel mobile). Al, did you park your TT up in the field with the rest of the Audi contingent? You would have had a great view. See everybody in 47 days.:hurray:

Marco.................................................................................Polo :bigears: Marco..................................................................................Polo :bigears: Was anybody on Channel 7 ? We were 15 minutes late, we spent an hour walking a circle around the whole place and nobody heard of Westfield vendors. Our second trip around I stumbled onto them. I got to talk to Doug from Westfield, tall English chap, who I believe will represent Westfield in the southeast. I have to say that I am very impressed with their car, clean, neat and tidy. I seen alot of hacked up cars today and Westfield was NOT one of them. I also seen the Busa-DaxRush, nice car. It held the 0-60 record at one time of 3.14 sec. While there measuring the width, I got to meet Jon Winterhalter who built a BMW powered Locost featured in Car and Driver. His current project is a Locost Atom. I went back to Westfield and found out I missed Al and the gang. Talked with a guy who wanted to build a Locost and showed him my build pics. I really liked this show because it wasn't just JAP cars. It was every type of import you could think of. Mazda did you see the Vovette? A stock looking volvo station wagon with a corvette engine, I did not see what it did on the dyno. No pictures, just some video. After 6+ hours driving 400 miles and walking around there for 6 hours, I'm tired. Later.

No, I was going with simple first. 4 identical trailing arms with poly bushings. I will take 2 and weld in heim joints this winter. I knew the bolts and bushing would have slop in them and that would cause some floating around with the rearend. I started thinking about accelerating and how the front lifts so I was checking that. I measured toe and it was changing from "cruise to takeoff". I know this may sound stupid, but the car is driving great, it handles very well and the tires aren't shredding off. Should I really be concerned with a perfect alignment? If I was racing and going for every last hundredth of a second I can understand. I was thinking how much better could it get and would it matter. I will slowly improve it but I'm more concerned with driving it. I'm sure you guys are shaking your heads and can't believe a leaf spring and air shocks could work for a 7 front suspension but it does.

Ya know Dave, ignorance IS bliss. I got the front tires spun balenced and its a lot better, the car feels great. You got me checking with string, levels, gages and nothings right. The rearend is twisted and shifted. My toe-in changes to toe-out on acceleration I dropped some air out of my front air shocks and my alignment changed. I just wanted to soften the ride. I might just make sure there is air in the tires and drive it, be stupid about it the whole thing and not care.:crazy: I took an hour long ride today and finally got the speedo to match the gps. The wind was blowing hard today, a truck threw up several chunks of rubber, about the size of you fist and almost broke the windshield. The ride was still a blast, I am still amazed at the handling of these little cars. :hurray:

Hi Otto, I love those Furies. Did you get it from Galek? I wondered if they used AS1 safety glass in there full windshields, that's a sticky point in Pa. I never heard of "Trickshifter" and I'm happy with my simple mechanicals but maybe others would be interested. Please throw up a pic would love to see it.

My car situation is a little different, its a family heirloom. I wanted a pure sports car, it had to be unique, a convertible, and I wanted to build it. I never heard of a 7 before 2 years ago. I've never sat in or driven any seven but mine and only seen 2 in person. My dad was retired and I'm on sabbatical so it was the perfect time. I seen "Uncle Ron's" book and we started building in a one car garage and 7 months later it was finished, well mostly. The car is great but those 7+ months of memories building are priceless. Every nut and bolt, every welded bracket, all the arguments from a left brainer and a right brainer and every compromise we made is in the car. All the laughs we had during the build, I can't tell you how great we felt lighting up the R1 for the first time. If someone wanted to trade a loaded CSR or any exotic for mine I wouldn't do it. If I had to put it in order, The house, the wife's wedding dress and diamond go first, then the car, then the kids. Its right up there with pictures and home movies. I want to encourage all fathers to build a project with your kids, no matter how old they are. Dad proudly tells everybody "take 150' of tubing and (4) 4x8 sheets of aluminum, weld and rivet them together and this is what you get." He wants to build his now but wants a hard top maybe a series 4? This hobby is to much fun.