J1000 Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Hello all, I'm a new member here looking to get information about a 7 replica project that I recently bought. I have very little information about it or the previous owner. My uncle bought it almost 10 years ago from the original builder but never did anything with it and he doesn't really remember anything about it. It's been sitting in a chicken barn ever since. I am a big time car enthusiast with a history of lots of cars but this will be my first 7. I have always been drawn to these cars since I was a kid so I am looking forward to getting this thing going! Normally I drive Miatas or Land Cruisers of various flavors. My goals for this thread are to ask the collective knowledge of this community if they know if my car is a proper kit or if it's all home-made. That will help me with my next steps. Does anyone recognize this kit or even this specific car? What I know: -Partially complete with rear axle and engine/trans installed -Fiat twin-cam 4-cylinder engine of unknown capacity -Unknown trans -Original builder used '80s Fiat 124 Spyder cars as donors -Missing one front upper control arm -Missing prop shaft -Missing nose cone -Original builder was disabled and was going to build the car with hand controls -Includes a box of Megasquirt ECU and fuel injection parts Included with the car are loads of boxes of parts from small Fiat Spyder things like tail lights and gauges to a whole other set of springs, front brake and knuckle parts, a pedal box, etc. My current plan is to finish the front suspension enough to mount wheels and tires and then take it home to my garage to finish out. Big thing is getting or making another front upper control arm and what type of ball joints are they? Thanks in advance for any information you can give me about my new project! I am really excited to work on this thing over the winter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastg Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 J1000, you sure have a project. Looks kinda complete, your typical Locost. You should probably join the Locost list at http://locostusa.com/ Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11Budlite Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 8 hours ago, J1000 said: Hello all, I'm a new member here looking to get information about a 7 replica project that I recently bought. I have very little information about it or the previous owner. My uncle bought it almost 10 years ago from the original builder but never did anything with it and he doesn't really remember anything about it. It's been sitting in a chicken barn ever since. - Looks like a fun project! I am a big time car enthusiast with a history of lots of cars but this will be my first 7. I have always been drawn to these cars since I was a kid so I am looking forward to getting this thing going! Normally I drive Miatas or Land Cruisers of various flavors. My goals for this thread are to ask the collective knowledge of this community if they know if my car is a proper kit or if it's all home-made. That will help me with my next steps. Does anyone recognize this kit or even this specific car? - It looks like a home made Locost to me but I can't be sure. Included with the car are loads of boxes of parts from small Fiat Spyder things like tail lights and gauges to a whole other set of springs, front brake and knuckle parts, a pedal box, etc. My current plan is to finish the front suspension enough to mount wheels and tires and then take it home to my garage to finish out. Big thing is getting or making another front upper control arm and what type of ball joints are they? - The Fiat 124 uses a 3-bolt ball joint so hopefully that's what they're from and you have the matching spindles, etc that you can utilize. The control arms look fabricated and should be relatively easy to duplicate. I agree with Graham about joining the locostusa forum. Lot's of knowledgeable people there with many different builds. Someone might actually recognize your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 I expect it is probably a kit from the UK. Maybe a Robin Hood or Tiger? Those look like standard fiat 124 70's ball joints. The bushings may be nylon versions of triumph spitfire bushes. I recognize there are many members of both forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamScotticus Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Get everything clean, bagged, tagged, and cataloged. or catalogued. Keeping your project clean, uncluttered and organized will go a long way towards progress. Or selling it off to the next guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1000 Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share Posted October 5, 2022 (edited) Thanks guys. I did join the locostusa forum but my post is still waiting for admin approval and it doesn't look like many people have even logged into hat forum recently so I decided to try here. Thanks MV8 for that info! Edited October 5, 2022 by J1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wemtd Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Several new posts this week… I expect the admin will approve your message soon. - PM me if he doesn’t respond to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Since there is a copy of "the Book" it is a build it from the ground up project. Since it isn't a Lotus or Caterham you can build it into anything you desire guilt free. Welcome to the rabbit hole. Enjoy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Some originals Sevens were fiat twin cam powered: https://www.classicandsportscar.com/features/your-classic-lotus-seven-fiat-twin-cam 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackMcCornack Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 On 10/5/2022 at 8:10 AM, J1000 said: Thanks guys. I did join the locostusa forum but my post is still waiting for admin approval and it doesn't look like many people have even logged into hat forum recently so I decided to try here. I'm one of the Junior Mods on locostusa, and looking at your post here, I think the problem may be that locostusa.com's web site is a fair bit older, and less sophisticated, than usa7s.net. When I looked at image info here for a typical photo submission of yours (I used the pic with the two mag wheels) I found... 4,032px × 2,268px (scaled to 1,000px × 563px) ...where on locostusa it's just 4,032px × 2,268px, so your photos take up a little more than sixteen times the screen area on that site than they do here. It's a pretty old site, a couple decades, and that, plus locostusa not having a $20/yr membership fee, means it's not as technically sophisticated as USA7s, so much like Locost builders, LocostUSA users have to do a lot of the work themselves; in this case, shrinking their images down to a viewable size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1000 Posted October 22, 2022 Author Share Posted October 22, 2022 (edited) Thanks @MV8 for your help. I think I'm just going to keep my build to myself. Edited October 22, 2022 by J1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Understood. Looks like a fun project. Looks like you had no issue posting your pics here. I think Jack's post was about locostusa and not a build log here. To keep things simple/compatible, I use a dedicated digital camera (old Canon SD1300) for taking pics and ms office 2010 (with an older OS) for a good editor. Everything else is too proprietary imho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1000 Posted October 23, 2022 Author Share Posted October 23, 2022 Its not all rainbows and sunshine here either. Unless it's normal for members like @IamScotticusto send new members like me PMs stating I should just scrap my car and buy one on Bring a Trailer. No I don't think I'm welcome here, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 1 hour ago, J1000 said: Unless it's normal for members like @IamScotticusto send new members like me PMs stating I should just scrap my car and buy one on Bring a Trailer. No I don't think I'm welcome here, either. No, it's not normal. Without getting into the actual content, it's difficult to say what was intended. The Internet makes it all too easy for people to read something differently than the writer planned. Hopefully that's the case here, and you two can work it out in PM. Personally, I've been looking forward to how this thread progresses. Buying an assembled car on Bring a Trailer is certainly easier, but where's the challenge in that? -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamScotticus Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 (edited) I thought I made it clear I supported his effort. I was only suggesting he put his money into a complete project instead. I will try to fix it. @J1000 This forum is for all Seven regardless of make or state. My opinion was meant to be a suggestion that getting into a more complete 7 is a better start that starting from what is there. You may not get a lot of help from me on it, but there are plenty of guys with the skill sets to help you aling the way. Please dont let me be the sole representative here. Like I said, I do wish you well with your project. I sincerely hope it gets going and doesn't languish on for years luke so many do. Thats all I meant. Edited October 23, 2022 by IamScotticus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1000 Posted October 23, 2022 Author Share Posted October 23, 2022 Maybe instead of a complete 7 I could just buy a T50. Yeah it's so easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panamericano Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 I could hook you up with Gordon. Anyway, having a RHD Peugeot engined car, I am happy to see another that is outside the norm. If it's largely 124 based, I should think the hard parts will be available and cheap. Go, man, go! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedwagon Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 J1000 stay on the usa7s !! and show your rebuild here. I personally have not met a more knowledgeable and helpful group. the politeness is to die for. But there are times when the best of us say the wrong thing with out thinking. I too am somewhat of an outsider-- BUT I think that I can speak for the majority-- Welcome to usa7s and please stay, we will enjoy your build and all of us will learn something from it. john 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1Steve Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 JJ1000, First off Welcome. As a 7 owner for 20 years, and one who’s been a member on this forum for many years. The most enjoyable topic for me is new or rebuilds. So plot your course and share with us, feel free to ask for advice. Enjoy your build Sir.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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