So, tell us a little about yourselves

[stevet]

I always do two thing with new passengers; show them how to open the

belts (most have never used race belts), and tell them to put their

hand on the bashboard if they are uncomfortable with my driving. Only

one has bottled it so far. Must not be driving quick enough!

 

[mr2dux]

Wow!  What is the probability of that??!!  Chet, where are you in the US?

MB

[locostv8]

 

 

 

I guess now that I've posted a bit I should probably introduce myself.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm Jim Hankins and live in the huge metropolus of Glen Lyn, VA.  We

have 2 convenience stores and somewhere around 20 buisnesses, one of

which is me and  I've retired.  In a former life I did Computer

consulting primaraly in Manufacturing and Military Logistics.  Retired

I now spend most of my time in school, I bought and live in the town

school.  I could probably host a meet but with only 6 acres around the

house would probably have to limit to not much nore than 150.  I do

have some acerage behind me,  180, but an ORV would probably be more

comfortable there.  I tell people that I retired to build Hot Rods.  My

feeling about HP is that too much is nearly enough.

 

 

 

 

 

I started going to the races when I was 12 (early 60s) with Jim Chaffee

who was the west coast SCCA tech director and his wife was the club

secty.  He raced a Devin/AH/Chevy special named the Pink Elephant, it

was the car that Pat Boon wrecked in the movie State Fair.  At that

time most sports racers were homebuilt.  Some of my DDs have been BMW

Isetta, Bugeye, EMPI Sportster, D Gass 55 Chev, Split window Stingray,

Alfa Gulietta Veloche (really messed with) that I was stopped once for

noisy carbs, 66 Charger done at Ak Millers with twins and propane

(drove this durring the first gas chrisis), Mid engined Corsa, 93 Cobra

which I can't get to 60 in my driveway, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

I am in the process of building 2 LC7s.  Put-Put is basically a rebody

of a 78 V8 Mustang 2.  Shagnasty is 392(roller 351) drysumped and EFI,

T5, IFS (MN12), IRS (2000 Cobra R/MN12), 03 Cobra brakes including

Hydroboost and ABS, 17x9s front with 255 40 17 and 17x10.5 rear with

315 35 17, target weight between 1400 to 1600lb, target HP above 500

(this one should top or at least get near 60 in the driveway).

 

 

 

http://wrangler.rutgers.edu/gallery/d/12136-4/overland1.jpg" height="480" width="640

 

DD

 

 

 

http://wrangler.rutgers.edu/gallery/d/12125-2/DSC02230.jpg" height="480" width="640

 

Retired DD

 

 

 

http://wrangler.rutgers.edu/gallery/d/33676-2/Re-exposure+of+DSC00025.JPG" height="480" width="640

 

Jeep/Crawler/Truck Thingy

 

 

 

Album >http://wrangler.rutgers.edu/gallery/v/7slotgrille/hssss/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

locostv82006-08-25 17:43:44

[xflow7]

I'm a Mechanical Engineer by background (although I'm playing an EE on the TV show known as Work right now.) http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/wink5.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">

 

I was 13 or so when I first became aware of Sevens.  Car and Driver had a feature on kit cars with a Caterham SuperSprint along with an AC Mk IV (V?) a Beck 550 Spyder and I think something else.  The Caterham was my instant fave.  The fact that it was so cool-looking, so quick, so blessedly simple and the cheapest of the lot to boot was too much for me.  I was in love.

 

Anytime any magazine had an article about a Caterham I'd read it almost daily for a month.  At some point in college or shortly thereafter I was home visiting the folks and caught the briefest glimpse of a Caterham or Lotus 7 zipping away from a traffic light.  My first spotted!

 

Right after college and starting work I got in touch with the then-distributor down in Georgia (can't remember the name now) and got them to send me all the information they could.  I was going to have one, dammit!  Of course I couldn't afford it at the time.  I asked a couple of banks about financing one.  You can guess the responses.

 

So I waited 5 or 6 more years and in the meantime moved to Canada for a couple of years for work.  I was single, no kids, getting a 5% premium for international assignment and benefitting from a friendly exchange rate and a generous tax adjustment from my employer.  Though not a goal at the beginning, towards the end of my 2 years there in 2001 I realized I had put away enough cash to buy a Caterham (a cheap one at least).

 

I got my first ride (and soiled trousers) when I flew to Nebraska to look at one (funny the things you'll do for these cars), nearly bought a SuperSprint Classic that Dave LeBrun had built, though he sold it before I made a decision, and finally made arrangements to buy a Live Axle kit from Autocourse and a 1700 XFlow from Marcovicci-Wenz Engineering.

 

Kit was delivered October 22, which was both my mother and g/f at the time's birthday.  G/f was understanding about having her b-day dinner a day early so I could focus on figuring out how to transport the boxes through my apartment complex when they arrived the next day among a bunch of cars on a full-size transporter.  (Her remark upon seeing the kit partially unpacked in my garage was "You paid money for this?!"  Didn't disclose how much http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">)

 

I built the car over the winter and had my dream car at age 27, 14 years after the beginning of the affair.

 

I haven't racked up the miles that some have, but my 7200 miles or so have brought me all kinds of fun and excitement (some not requested; read deer).

 

OT a little, I'm really looking forward to the prospect of a bona fide Sevens club in the US.  I have a good friend who's also a car guy and has been with me to the USGP gathering a couple of times and he's said on several occasions how impressed he was by the camaraderie and inclusiveness among the Seven owners there when compared with other owners groups he's come across in the past.

 

Sorry that went so long!  I can also be a loquacious SOB sometimes!

 

Dave

 

[slngsht]

xflow... Your story motivated me to repeat how I came to own my Rotus (I'm sure I have posted this somewhere before). Back in '89 I was a junior at University of Maryland. At the time I had started working on the FSAE program, and like all other car nuts here, I loved the idea of the simplest, lightest possible car on the road.

 

 

 

At the time, I saw a kit car article on Rotus. It turns out the company was 30 minutes from where I lived, so I gave them a call and went up to Hagerstown, MD to take a look.

 

 

 

I sat in the car, touched the ground, and knew that I was in love.

 

 

 

After I graduated, JUST LIKE YOU, I tried to finance one, and got the same answer.

 

 

 

Years went by, got married, had 2 kids, etc... Never really gave the Rotus much thought. But magically, through all the moves, kept the brochures.

 

 

 

At some point, I ran across Joe Worsleys (Old Yellow forum member) Yahoo! user group for Rotus and signed up.

 

 

 

For a couple of years, I never posted, but kept receiving occasional messages. Finally, one day I saw a message from Tim Custer - I recognized the last name (Chris Custer was the founder of Rotus).

 

 

 

I found out that Chris Custer had passed away in 2002, and Tim was about to have an estate auction. I looked up his number in the white pages, and gave him a ring, inquiring about any cars that might still be there.

 

 

 

Amazingly enough, the same car that I sat in back in the late 80's was tucked away in the garage. A short visit later, I paid cash and got her towed away. That was last year.

 

 

 

It's been a great purchase for me.

[xflow7]

Wow.  That's a cool story, especially how you ended up buying the very car that first attracted you.  I love stories like that.

 

So, another FSAE grad here, huh.  I was Cornell '95 and '96.  Can't believe the hours I put in then while managing a full class-load.  Embarassingly, I now live in Ann Arbor, but haven't been over to visit the competition since I've lived here.  That's on the agenda for next year.

 

Dave

 

 

[slngsht]

I only made it through the suspension design. After that, moved on over the the Natual Gas Vehicle Competition as my primary senior design project, and volunteered on the FSAE. We built a liquid natural gas powered truck... small block, single turbo, 12.5:1 compression. She put out 420 ft.lbs at 2200 RPM... Never could get enough fuel to it to find out how much power.

 

 

 

My favorite memory from FSAE is when we completely assembled the car on the bench in the lab, then realized we couldn't get it through the lab door http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/lol.gif Alot of long nights working on those project.

 

 

[slngsht]

TTT

 

 

 

We've had 13 new members in the last week. Time for a bump on this topic http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/bigear.gif

[KENLUDE97]

Cool stories here.

 

 

 

Hello my name is Ken Moyer I'm a 27 year old car nut. I live breath cars and anything related to them.    I enjoy watching racing in just about any form from NASCAR(wile napping) to F1. Saturday mornings/afternoons are "powerblock" time and I watch "car TV." I'm freshly married (2+ years) to a VERY understanding wife.

 

 

 

I'm a Mechanical Designer during the day, and as my wife calls it "He draws metal things" I use 3D software Pro-engineer, and have been for 5 years. In between working on our house I send as much time in my garage tweaking on my 1997 Honda Prelude. I've had this car for 6 years and I love it for what it is, but it is too slow and too heavy and drives the incorrect wheels, to drive any faster. I'm currently the Regional SCCA Solo chairman, and I have lots of fun with this organization.

 

 

 

I have been interested in cars for as long as I can remember, and I owe it to a friend for pushing me over the edge into fully "Car Crazy".   We worked on his Mitsubishi Eclipse Turbo, all the time, often until very late class night in college. After he got frustrated with the unreliability of the Mitsu, he wanted a reliable project so, we brain stormed and came up with the idea of a Honda swap. We landed on 1996 (ek) Civic hatchback, and swapped in a JDM H22a motor. That took a few months to complete, and again took many late nights. Ended up to be a pretty fast little car and was reliable for him. Project accomplished.

 

 

 

I have followed the "Kimini" build for around 3 years now, and always amazed me, the work and theory of light and simple. Until recent I have not thought that I could afford to build a car, until the C&D article about Locosts. Well I'm hooked and I hope to complete the chassis and suspension this winter.

 

 

 

   After completed I hope to autocross the car and attend a few track days at Watkins Glen.

 

 

 

Ken

[Dave W]

My name is Dave Whitt, I'm married with a 13 yr old daugther that is already talking about driving the car to school. I saw my first Seven in college in the early 70's. It was a RHD and very loud. At the time I was into British sport cars, having an MGB, but spent most of my time and money road racing motorcycles up to about the mid-80's. That was when my new wife decided I needed a safer hobby. So we made a deal and I built a mid-engine Kelmark. Now I'm in the process of building a Locost. I'm using a Toyota GTS as a donor and it's about 95% completed. I just finished painting it, and I'm working on finishing up the wiring before final assembly. Since I'm a Quality Engineer for an auto parts supplier, I'm on the road a lot putting out fires. So the build has taken four years. But a lot of the extra time is of my own making because I always have to put my own twist on the design and build. I have actually made hundreds of design changes and improvements, plus I'm making as many of the components that are reasonable to hand fabricate and are cost effective. I should see how well they all work, just about the time we have a foot of snow in Michigan.                      Dave W    http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/wink5.gif

[slngsht]

KENLUDE97, something is wrong with your Avatar. I've watched it for an hour, and the car hasn't hit a cone yet. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrinjester.gif

[KENLUDE97]

HAHA. It drives like me!

 

 

 

 

 

Ok so maybe not. I swear that i have had this happen to me though (see below)

 

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/CONE-WALK.gif

[slngsht]

HAHA. It drives like me!

 

 

 

 

 

Ok so maybe not. I swear that i have had this happen to me though (see below)

 

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/CONE-WALK.gif

 

 

 

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/rofl.gif I'll use that as a future Avatar

[solder_guy]

BTW: What does FSAE stand for??

 

 

 

Rob Mitchell

 

 

[slngsht]

FSAE = Formula SAE

 

SAE = Society of Automotive Engineers

 

 

 

SAE sets many of the automotive industry standards.

 

FSAE is a competition open to learning institutions. Students design and build a formula car from ground up, and enter it into a competition.

[KENLUDE97]

HAHA. It drives like me!

 

 

 

 

 

Ok so maybe not. I swear that i have had this happen to me though (see below)

 

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/KENLUDE97/CONE-WALK.gif

 

 

 

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/rofl.gif I'll use that as a future Avatar

 

 

 

Yea i love that little avatar http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/coolgleamA.gif

[Al N.]

Some new members have joined, so I thought I'd post to invite them to introduce themselves/their cars...

 

 

 

 

[Bonjo2]

I'm new.. I started build of my cmc just prior to 9-11. Since then it's been as close as a couple days to finish. With work (military + finishing masters degree) and my subaru wrx requiring all sorts of attention (blown turbo, then tranny, then front dif etc..) it's been on the back burner. I sold my rx7 drivetrain and purchased an 06 Yamaha R-1 motor. Now I have a solid plan to finish in Spring once it warms up... WY is windy and COLD.

 

 

 

I first caught the seven bug when I was 10 and my old man dragged me to just about every race at Limerock (IMSA) and Watkins Glen. I first saw a polished 7 at a limerock vintage weekend and fell in love. I've since drove a couple and couldn't fit the Birkin or Caterham $, so did the CMC. I got re-motivated with the home built seven article in a major car rag, esp Chris's BEC. I autocrossed for about 6 years in a neon, a subaru and ran about 10 rallycross, a couple autocross schools, and 1 track day. I hope to have a street legal car I can drive to events and have a ball with.

 

 

 

All I need are a prop adapter, drive shaft, and some time with a MIG. I plan on shortening the passenger compartment by 3-4" and dumping the Caterham low back seat in favor of a home-made onepiece seat/tunnel cover like the Ariel Atom. I'm shooting for 1000lbs less driver and about 150Bph, and plan on using the bikes gauges and controls.

 

 

 

This board is just what I need.>http://home.bresnan.net/~bonjo2/Bonjo2%20Locost/Locost%20Lexan.JPGBonjo22006-10-27 22:05:27

[slngsht]

Welcome aboard. Probably the only good thing about a cold long winter is that you know you won't be able to drive the car, so you can work on it. Around here, it could be 30 degrees one day, and 60 the next, so you always have that nagging feeling that if you take too much apart, you might miss a precious driving day.

 

 

 

Good luck, and keep the pics coming as you make progress.

[scannon]

Hi, my name is Skip. I am an addict. I don't remember the first time I saw a Seven, it was a long time ago. I do remember that the first one I tried on for size didn't fit, I couldn't get my right foot (11 1/2 EEE) past the brake pedal to the throttle and I wrote of the Seven as something I would never be able to own.

 

 

 

Then along came this drug (Caterham) dealer, name of Ben, of Rocky Mountain Sport Cars in Denver. I first met him at the annual British Car Conclave where he had a display of several Caterhams. I took home some brochures but the timing was just not right.

 

 

 

My second encounter with Ben was in August of 2005 at a Miata club track day at the Woody Creek track in Aspen, Colorado. He showed up with an SV and gave me my first taste of that drug called Se7en. First a ride as a passenger, then he let me drive. INSTANT addiction! After a session in the SV, my much modified Miata felt like a '59 Buick with bad shocks. In fact, with Ben as a passenger in the Miata, I then had my worst off track agricultural experience ever (other than hitting the outhouse, but that is another story).

 

 

 

Although I wasn't really in a position to buy a Se7en at that time, I thought I would have a look on line and see what used ones were going for. I found a dealer in Cottonwood, AZ with a new '04 SV, assembled but without a motor or transmission. It said call for special pricing. I called, we talked, the price was too good to pass up so a quick second mortgage on the house and I was off to Arizona to pick up my car. Does this sound like an addiction to you?

 

 

 

I was well on the way to getting it up and running with a turbo'd Miata engine and transmission when health problems put me in the hospital last summer. Before I recovered from that, my house, on the market for 7 months finally sold so I had to find a new place, make the move and all that involves. The upside of that is I now have a 1,500 sq ft shop as well as a two car attached garage. The downside is that my health is still a problem and I am on long term disability, on oxygen 24/7.

 

 

 

However, I still have the SV although I haven't worked on it since early July. I am now getting settled in the new home and getting the new shop organized and will start working on the SV in November and have it on the road by spring. I have signed up for the 07/07/07 event at the TOD.

 

 

 

Pictures of the car are here:

 

 

 

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2175152

 

 

 

Documentation of the engine installation progress are here:

 

 

 

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/636168/10

 

 

 

Skip