So, tell us a little about yourselves

[rrdusek]

i'm cheap and can't afford those exotic racing shoes, so i go down to the local sporting good store and buy hightop wrestling shoes. work perfect!

[Alex-Ks1]

One other solution , remove the brake peddle all together, its a race car. and while your at it, remove the mirrors, you dont need to see whos behind you 

 

[theDreamer]

Turns out I’m a long time lurker. I was sure I’d joined a decade or two ago.Yet, whenever I try to log in whichever password I use is not found. Soda heck witit! I signed up.

I grew up in a motor-vated family. Father started in the garage trade when he was 12. Became a licensed automotive/motorcycle mechanic and then in the early 30’s became a licensed automotive electrician. He switched gears again and became a machinist before the war. Then in the late fifties he used his love and knowledge of electronics and geology to become a sort of crystallographer. He worked for a company that made crystals for frequency control.

By the time I came along he was into car racing and restoring old cars. He’d raced motorcycles, power boats, followed the air races and unlimited boats. He’d built his own airplane and all his HAM radio gear. I grew up in this mix of mechanical, engineering, designing, fabricating world were anything was possible. My brothers first built go-karts and then hot rods. Then they bought and modified sports cars and muscle cars.

I was first drawn to big horse power. My first car was a 1969 Chevelle SS 427, 425 h.p. M22 four speed with a 12 bolt posi. After a few years and several more cars the costs and corners found me owning a 1974 Europa twin cam. I was hooked! I was a Lotus Owners Club member for about ten years. I fell in lust with the Lotus 7 during those early years of racing at the Glen and Mosport. I wanted one so bad I could taste it. I began a letter campaign with Dave Kaplan which led to a pilgrimage to DSK Cars in Marblehead Mass. The exchange rate in the mid-seventies was near par and I was having trouble dealing with the factory. However, we never quite got things to work out.

Then the wife and I had two daughters in less than two years and there went the sporty cars.

By the 90’s I had gone through my early racing, karts, cars, motorcycles both on and off road. I was ready to try to get a Lotus/Caterham seven again. This time with the help of a racing friend’s father who was the mechanic for a performance shop called Pickering Prestige. They would help people jump through the hoops to get the kits into Canada. Then offer help to the new owners including assembly. I was ready to buy an original 1968 seven series 2 ½. Yes, that’s the way it was described. I was to go see the car and drive it on a Monday afternoon. BUT… the Saturday before that I drove a newly built Caterham 1700 Super Sprint followed by a nearly new HPC. Oh, how the Caterhams had improved. The test drive in the little Lotus was ok but, I’d tasted forbidden fruit and wanted it. I kick myself for not get that little seven ($12,000 at that time) but hind sight and all.

Six months later that 1700 came up for sale. I was ready to put out $30,000 for it. I was emailing the owner my details to conclude the deal when my wife said I’d better hold off a week. Sure enough, a week later she was out of work. She didn’t get another full time job for over six months and by then my Caterham money was gone.

I did get back into racing. I started working with the Bridgestone School and racing in their home grown F2000 series. After five years it was time to move on. I’ve bought a couple of street/sport motorcycles and even got the wife into riding. We really enjoyed going south each fall for a week in the Tenn., NC, GA mountains. Was there the same time LOG invaded the south.

That CSR that came up on Bring a Trailer got my juices flowing again. SWMBO is not happy. However, after 49 years she knows me and my dreams. She may not be able to get in and out of one but by dang if I get to buy one I’ll find a way for me to!

the Dreamer

Living life on the edge. Less crowded, better view.

[Croc]

6 minutes ago, theDreamer said:

 

The test drive in the little Lotus was ok but, I’d tasted forbidden fruit and wanted it.

 

 

And thats how it goes.  Follow the dream - life is too short for just driving a Hyundai.

 

Welcome to USA7s!

 

For the record I think a Se7en is much better idea than the kitchen renovation we both know SWMBO wants.  

[slowdude]

On 5/3/2023 at 6:17 PM, rrdusek said:

i'm cheap and can't afford those exotic racing shoes, so i go down to the local sporting good store and buy hightop wrestling shoes. work perfect!

Piloti and other race shops sometimes have smoking deals on wierd color / design shoes they're looking to clear out. I picked up a pair of black hi top pilot's for $49 from piloti.

[Davesax36]

I'm a band director building a locost with a K24, S2000 transmission, and Miata LSD. I bought a frame with a ford 8.8 rear end that was originally built for an R1 engine so there's lots to move around. 

[fastg]

Dave, I have a Locost with a K24/Miata trans, RX7 solid rear axle. The K24 is a great motor, but it's a very tall. If you have a book size car you will have to modify something to get it to fit, a 442 would be easier. 

 

Graham 

[44 AND COUNTING]

Older (74 going on 18) guy here, who never gave up his passion for special automobiles. As my screen name indicates, I've owned 44 cars since a somewhat late start in the USA at age 19. It was a good start, though--my first car was a 1955 Chevrolet Nomad station wagon that, though rusted and rough, still ran strong and did double duty as a street and drag strip car, running in G/S and turning in some respectable times in 1968 at Union Grove, WI. I was born and lived in Chicago at the time.

 

I left Chicago with my second bride in '79 and moved to Beverly Hills having already owned 5 Nomads of nicer and nicer quality--last one was a show winner in Coral and Grey  with all the tasteful factory options. I had been fortunate to design and license a Top Ten toy (younger members may remember "Wrist Racers"?), which sold jillions of $$ worldwide and brought me an early windfall before my 30th birthday. Prior to that I had designed and produced two kit cars--both VW Beetle-based--the VW miniWOODIE and the VW miniMARK I. I learned that the fastest way to lose money was to invent a kit car, no matter how unique it was. My kit car business folded after 3 1/2 tough and exhausting years. I still own the prototype car, which resides in storage in a small city in Brazil, but that's a long story for another day!

 

Of course, once I moved to So Cal, I indulged my car passion with a series of new and classic oddballs ands exotics over the next few decades. My first real purchase was my then-new 1980 SAAB Turbo 3-door in Carmine Red with those madcap Formula Hammurabi mag wheels. A lovely car that I somehow got talked into trading in for one of Iacocca's first '82 LeBaron convertibles--handbuilt, pricey for what it was, but ,again, UNIQUE. Kept it for two years and traded it for another SAAB Turbo 3-door after almost getting killed as the under-tired Chrysler aquaplaned on the Long Beach freeway into oncoming traffic. This Turbo was sold on and I bought a '90 SPG, and then a '99 convertible.

 

The fourth Turbo-- a GM convertible just didn't have the SAAB DNA. Sold it and bought a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Lovely car that I kept for five years, upgrading it back to as-new condition. It was followed by a pair of Citroen SMs--both reliable fast, and safe. Then a bargain-priced Maserati Quattroporte III that was reliable, comfortable, and a great daily driver until gas prices made its 7MPG an untenable situation.

 

I'm leaving out my careers as a precision prototype fabricator (Product and Industrial Design, 30 years) which led into a career building manufacturers' prototype and dream cars (11 years), which led to establishing the 3D workshop part of, and teaching full-time in a  university-level automotive design program (11 1/2 years).

 

I'm also  leaving out lots of vehicles here, as I want to get to my more recent years, my relocation to Modena, Italy, and the 4 cars I currently own. My wife and I decided to "retire" to Portugal, but a luxury vacation that we won to Northern Italy, and a one-day side trip to Modena, caused us to reprogram out dreams to that area, and after perusing  nearly 800 properties online and visiting 7 of them in person the week before the pandemic struck the area in January '20, we purchased a loft conversion near downtown Modena and closed on it in October of 2020. We packed up our two houses (combined into one), my workshop, and two of our three cars--my Jaguar S-Type R, Maserati Quattroporte V--and my classic '95 Ducati 900SS, and headed across the Atlantic to Modena--a ghost town mid-pandemic!

 

We've been here for over 2 1/2 years. Biggest challenge was legalising the two cars that we brought over. The Maserati took nearly exactly 2 years, wading through pounds of bureaucratic paperwork and shelling out €5.500,00 in fees and road taxes. The Jaguar is caught up in red tape currently, and the Ducati is 12 months into a 5-month process, too.

 

So, we decided to purchase a nice and economical Jaguar X-Type (never a favourite, though the styling has always appealed to me!) in BRG with only 44K miles and a 1.5 litre V6 and 5 speed. GREAT car, as it turns out, and my wife has adopted it with good enthusiasm.

 

Then, last February, I was skimming through the EU's busiest car sale site (where I scored the X-type) and came across a factory-built '88 Westfield with only 29K miles in the clock. It was clean. The price was a bit steep for a Westfield, but it was complete, largely unmolested, and presented well. It was located a couple of hundred KMs north, near the Swiss border, and the owner was at his winter home on the island of Mauritius, but was glad to answer questions and meet me to view the car when he returned to Italy in early May.

 

Curiosity satisfied, I drove up to meet him with bank draft in hand, and a good test drive and inspection satisfied me that it was a solid purchase. It was complete with side curtains, tonneau, boot cover, and top--still in its sealed plastic bag. It had been through three owners. The first was the UK owner who it had been built for (hence the RHD, which I enjoy very much!), then a German owner, who had had the seats redone in a poorly-matching Naugahyde, then the fellow whom I bought it from. We combined the legalities of title transfer and insurance with a nice three-day vacation on the local lake, and I drove it back to Modena on secondary roads and the M1 without incident. We arrived on May 12, and after a couple of days of walkarounds, health checks, closer inspections, and list making, peppered with thrilling drives around the country 2-lanes around Modena, decided it was to be Keeper #44, and began to order parts in order to turn it into "my' version of what I bought.

 

First change was a set of Minilite wheels to replace the "oh so '80s" replica cast wire wheels. These began to brighten things up a bit. I purchased a leather/vinyl recoloring kit from the same US suppliers from whom I got my Rolls-Royce leather reconditioning supplies nearly 30 years ago! The seats are now a lovely light chamois color, and I'm working on  recoloring the top, side curtains, and other vinyl parts to match. The results are quite satisfying, and from experience, I know the product lasts.

 

My "retirement" career is building high-end electric and acoustic guitars (www.studio-california.com), so I have a rather comprehensive woodworking workshop. I put this to good use by building a highly-finished wooden instrument panel out of exotic Padauk. All gauge and switch locations were kept stock. I had the steering column reworked to make the steering wheel removable for ease of entry and exit, as I'm at the dimensional limit for this narrow-bodied Westfield--200#, 38 inch waist, and 6'0" tall. It's snug.

 

I installed four-point harnesses and a fire extinguisher. Then I got to work on the engine. It's a Kent 1600 with dual 40DCOEs, a carb that I have some experience with. A compression check showed a mildly-warped head and inconsistent readings, so I purchased a FF-prepared head (ported, polished, 3-angle valve job and new valves shimmed to the correct height) from the States and gasket set, and had it shipped over. Fitting it was an afternoon's work. The engine runs very strong now with a healthier exhaust note. I'm dealing in the Webers and doing the UNISYN thing this coming week.

 

In 'tribute" to earlier Se7ens, I have removed the ugly (to me, anyway) front turn signals attached to the nose cone and filled the holes, painting the area to match. The turn signals are now early chromed "bullet style", mounted to the tops of the clamshell front fenders.

 

Another "tribute" to the earliest, aluminium-bodied Se7ens, was to remove the bonnet and nose cone (noice touch, those Dzus fasteners), and one which may cause some dismay among the "keep it factory" contingent: I removed both parts, sanded, filled, primed, filled, sanded again to baby-smooth, and ran the parts over to the Maranello vinyl-wrap guy who does the show Ferraris, Lamborghini, Maseratis, and other local high-dollar exotics, and had him wrap the hood and nose cone in polished aluminium vinyl. The transformation took the car from "hmm--unusual" to "neck-snapping--WTH??"

 

The final change will be to get rid of those awful kit car/trailer taillights and replace them with glass vintage Lucas types: one pair of red and one of amber, after the rear fenders have been suitably modified.

 

The last engine mod for now is a 123 distributor so I can keep track of timing and advance curve IRT. Haven't installed it yet, but I'll report back.

 

The first photo is as purchased, but with the formerly dirty tan steering wheel already dyed black. Second is with the seats recolored, first step. Third is padauk dash, fourth removable wheel. Fifth is drive-by with vinyl wrap. Last is redone nose cone, deep red on bottom and aluminium wrap top half. Note pop rivets for looks only. Yellow nose band,  it's a Lotus, sort of...

 

 

[panamericano]

Sounds like the life of Riley in Italia.  Nice work on the Seven.  I'm so jealous of your roads.  I have been in that area and it is great.

Cheers!

[Christopher smith]

Great story! Us old guys have to stick together with crazy cars and stories. I love your current area. Mine is way too long, starting with my brother's MGTC and then his 300SL.

[theDreamer]

Hi Paul, we share so many common interests. I’m a big Rickenbacker fan and guitars in general. I used to play finger style and own three Andrew White custom builds and a Duane Noble built harp guitar. Also love Italy. The wife and I spent 10 days touring Tuscany as well as Bologna and Modena as guests of Ducati. Speaking of which, I still have one motorcycle left. A 1998 900 SS Final Edition we bought new as a 25^th wedding present to ourselves. I know a little bit of what you’re going though as the wife sold her Ducati Indiana to the then CEO of Ducati. He had a devil of a time to get the bike back into Italy. I love what you’ve done with your Westfield too. Hoping to hear more about you and your seven’s adventures in Italy.

[Snowflake]

Good morning folks......Have been a lurker on this site for some time.This spring I finally "did it" and fulfilled a life long dream of Caterham ownership. While I may be a Newbie to Cats,I am hardly new to Lotus. I bought my first Lotus,a Series 3 Elan  in 1967.  In addition to my 89 X-flow Caterham I currently own a 1964 Elan (#254). The Elan is feeling rejected for the time being. New experiences all the time with my new car. I've burnt my leg on the exhaust shield and been hit in the forehead with a stone. In a very short time I have had to repair an inoperative fuel gauge and replace a clutch cable. Ain't it great? Am having an absolute blast and am looking forward to using the forum and the experience of the members.

[panamericano]

Welcome to a good group.  Nice to have the exhaust initiation behind you.  You only do it once.

[Vovchandr]

3 hours ago, Snowflake said:

Good morning folks......Have been a lurker on this site for some time.This spring I finally "did it" and fulfilled a life long dream of Caterham ownership. While I may be a Newbie to Cats,I am hardly new to Lotus. I bought my first Lotus,a Series 3 Elan  in 1967.  In addition to my 89 X-flow Caterham I currently own a 1964 Elan (#254). The Elan is feeling rejected for the time being. New experiences all the time with my new car. I've burnt my leg on the exhaust shield and been hit in the forehead with a stone. In a very short time I have had to repair an inoperative fuel gauge and replace a clutch cable. Ain't it great? Am having an absolute blast and am looking forward to using the forum and the experience of the members.

 

Welcome. What's your cat and what side of the country are you on? 

[JohnCh]

1 hour ago, Vovchandr said:

Welcome. What's your cat and what side of the country are you on?

 

Ahem...

 

 

 

Welcome @Snowflake !

[Vovchandr]

15 minutes ago, JohnCh said:

 

Ahem...

 

 

 

Welcome @Snowflake !

 

On mobile you have to click the profile to get that info

 

And we all know an extra click on the Internet is an impossible task to fathom 

[44 AND COUNTING]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:26 PM, slowdude said:

Piloti and other race shops sometimes have smoking deals on wierd color / design shoes they're looking to clear out. I picked up a pair of black hi top pilot's for $49 from piloti.

Ahem...Chinese. I got three pairs of "good for driving" driving shoes for US$27.00 a pair. Tan suede, maroon suede, deep blue shiny leather. Decent construction, feel and fit like slippers. The tan ones have become my daily knockabout pair, and they've lasted really well. Are they Pilotis? Of course not. But they are great value for money.

 

Amazon. I dislike Bezos intensely, but here in Italy running a small biz, I could not exist without Amazon, which has next day delivery on most stuff from a huge warehouse a dozen miles from my house.

[44 AND COUNTING]

On 8/13/2023 at 4:41 PM, theDreamer said:

Hi Paul, we share so many common interests. I’m a big Rickenbacker fan and guitars in general. I used to play finger style and own three Andrew White custom builds and a Duane Noble built harp guitar. Also love Italy. The wife and I spent 10 days touring Tuscany as well as Bologna and Modena as guests of Ducati. Speaking of which, I still have one motorcycle left. A 1998 900 SS Final Edition we bought new as a 25^th wedding present to ourselves. I know a little bit of what you’re going though as the wife sold her Ducati Indiana to the then CEO of Ducati. He had a devil of a time to get the bike back into Italy. I love what you’ve done with your Westfield too. Hoping to hear more about you and your seven’s adventures in Italy.

 

My '95 900SS Lightweight is still tied up in legalisation. Claudio Lusuardi's English and my own Italian are at rudimentary levels, but I'll be visiting his shop in a week or two for a motivation discussion. My bike has unfortunately been fitted by a previous owner with Staintune exhaust cans. Lusuardi has a friend with a dead stock SS, and will be exchanging parts for me for the Collaudo (inspection). There's some other stuff, too. The frame was replaced under warranty many years back due to headstock cracking. I've already done the chain and rear sprocket and will have to create art for the KM speedo. Bar end mirrors (which I dislike) will be replaced; rear turn signals also. We'll see what else has to be done. Poor baby looks defanged and pathetic on the floor of his shop covered in dust and inattention...

 

[Snowflake]

Snow flake info. Part 2.     My Caterham is an 89,deDion,Super Sprint.Polished Aluminum and red glass. I am located in north central Maryland.

[LoTusH]

It’s great to find a site that doesn’t care, whether you have an official Lotus/Caterham or another 7 type car. 
 

I bought my first Seven back in 1989. A prelitigation Westfield. I had it resprayed red. This is my Dad and I back then. This was his first drive of it. He wasn’t much of a car guy. 

I ended up going to school with a certain Nick Smart and got into the Ariel company. 

The company I work for sent me to the US about 18 years ago and started my fight with the MN DMV/department of safety, to get an Atom approved for the road. Finding some loopholes in the MN statute, and a 3+ year fight, I finally had a road legal Atom (I think still the only one). 
 

I’m now in my 50s and decided I wanted something a little less raw. So I started a search for a Caterham. 

 

My family still lives in the UK, so thinking about the 25 year classics exception, I searched and found this little beauty. Unfortunately I missed a K series car and discounted any Q reg cars (wanting to make the import as question less as possible - I think MN DMV have my name on their ‘naughty’ list) so settled on this Xflow 1600. 
 

Sevens and Classic did some head work for me and then… Covid happened. So the car sat in my uncles garage for a year. 
 

With some of the restrictions lifted, the car was taken to the port and RoRoed to the US.

 

I used a broker to get it through customs and they arranged a shipper to my front door.

 

This left me with an overstocked garage…

 

 

so my tool room looked like this!

 

One car sale down and I managed to get everything in, but found I had two cars for the same thing.

 

 

 

So I mentioned to a friend I was thinking of selling the Atom during lunch at work. The next day his friend was over and it was gone(!)

 

So now I just have the Caterham.

 

I have a bunch of the usual issues to sort. It was spewing gas after its RoRo trip, which I’ve managed to tame, but it still overheats after 20 miles in the heat. 
 

So this winter, I’m going to wrap the exhaust header, move to a closed system, new radiator and fan and also block up the gaps around the radiator and the nose cone. I have a few other cars that need work too, so progress will depend on priority!

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by JohnCh
Fixed sideways images