75TwinCam Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 (edited) So, here it is. It took some digging to find the photo album with pics of the car when it first hit the roads in the summer of 1976. The car was imported through Sevens and Elans, and built by Jeff B. in Loveland, Colorado. The car was supposed to be polished aluminium with black glass-fibre wings and nose, but the chassis was damaged in shipping. I believe that it was dropped as the crate was unloaded from the ship in Houston. As I understand the story, the chassis was also stolen and recovered whilst in transit. The shipping company paid for a replacement chassis which was traded to Jeff for the build. Consequently, the car was painted Corvette Yellow after the minor damage was repaired. This is chassis #CS3.3622.TCL2, frame # AM 75 23. There have been no major modifications made to the car in almost 35 years of driving. This is car discussed in the serial number thread -- http://www.usa7s.org/vb/showthread.php?t=3934 Some pics, past and present: Fresh Seven Brand new and Buttoned up Poised for the Road Future Chief Mechanic, barely 6 years old (that's me!) Wanting to drive already! Same kid in the cockpit, 33 years later . . . With bsimon, scannon, slomove and Bill's Super Stalker (photo credit 7veloce) more pics here -- http://www.usa7s.org/vb/showthread.php?t=3214&page=7 Twin Cam Big Valve Dellorto trumpets Still Life with Trunion My favorite place to be! Peace y'all, and thanks for letting me share! Edited July 15, 2009 by 75TwinCam
Kitcat Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 A blast from the past:)! What a great history/story! Your pedal box is even smaller than mine, I will quit complaining. Time for a tire upgrade? Also, one of the biggest improvements that I made was replacing the engine mounts, which were shot and allowed the engine to move around with various strange results. Might be worth an inspection. The Twin Cam engine makes it even more special. Mike
75TwinCam Posted July 15, 2009 Author Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks, y'all! @kitcat--it's had engine mounts replaced as regular maintenance, as well as a-arm bushings on the rear annually, this spring, I rebuilt the front suspension with new bushes on the lower a-arm and sway-bar, new tie rod ends. The dampers and springs were replaced a few years back, and it's due for a new set of tyres before long. 13's are hard to come by these days, I think it's gonna be a set of Sumitomo shoes, as we can get 4 for the price of one Toyo or Khumo . . . There's also a list of things that the car/drivers would like to have. Not cooked feet and a comfier bum up there at the top of the list. I'm looking at insulating the drivers foot-box and trying to find a set of seats that are affordable! I've been looking at Cobra's for something adjustable, or even having a new, better bolstered set of classic seats made. We've also been discussing replacing the flared wings with cycles, but due to the upright being old (and a slightly different dimension), that project is at the end of the list. We'd like to put some stone guards on the rear wings and get a Soft-Bits half top. I'm thinking of making my own guards out of a heavy guage poly material coated with Rhino Liner. Learning what I have in the last couple of days about the early production numbers, I'm suddenly hesitant to make many radical changes to the car. It seems that this is about as close as it can be to being a Lotus TC Super Seven without actually having a Lotus builders plate. Cheers!
catracer Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 Derek, obvious, but just a suggestion...I would not do a thing that can't be "undone". Save any original parts. Best Chip
11Budlite Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 What a cool car/history! You better hang onto that ride! Derek, obvious, but just a suggestion...I would not do a thing that can't be "undone". Save any original parts. I agree with Chip. I have a '64 MGB that I purchased from the original owner 17 years ago, and the only changes I've made are bolt-on stuff that can go back to original when I want to.
sparecr Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks, y'all! Learning what I have in the last couple of days about the early production numbers, I'm suddenly hesitant to make many radical changes to the car. It seems that this is about as close as it can be to being a Lotus TC Super Seven without actually having a Lotus builders plate. Cheers! Yep that is what I keep saying. Paid the same money as would have a for a real Lotus also. You feel free to do all the mods you want, I am trying to bring mine back closer to orginal not that it is to far off now. To each his own.
Taber10 Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 Derek, Thanks for the pictures! I first sat in a Caterham in '78 and your driver footbox looks justr like what it felt like with my size twelve boots on! Anyway, I would also vote for the Softbitsforsevens half top. I got mine just before Log 29 and really enjoy it. Doesn't affect the "originality" but really improves the comfort. Even though I have the "zip out" rear window, that option isn't as breezy as with the half top.
KiwiBirkin Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Lovely car and great history too. The only thing I would do to that car is some stone chip guards in mirror finish stainless steel, the rest i would leave as its a classic and full of history.
rjontzen Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 awesome....and to have the history and the TC as well is really cool! mines a s4 that i built originally in 71 so i can understand having such a sweet car and the memories that go with it......very very nice.....good color too!
SevenAmerica Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 Nice car... if I ever get 'round to putting Caterhams on SimpleSevens, that'll be in the first batch :-) Did I already ask this question: is there a sensible cut-off date or model or spec change to the early Caterham Sevens? Other than going from the last of the SIVs back to S3, what was the first fundamental change that Caterham made to the Seven?
sparecr Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 I usally think of the introduction of the long-cockpit in 1982 as the first real tampering of Champan's design.
Kitcat Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 (edited) I thot that Caterham almost immediately added some structural components to beef up the chassis (that had been previously sacrificed on the "adding lightness" alter by Lotus?). Urban myth, my creeping senility??? At this point, apparently not a single component on a new Caterham is a carry-over from the last Lotus 7. Again, could just be my rapidly failng memory in action. Mike Edited July 22, 2009 by Kitcat
bsimon Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 The Britax trailer house tail lights (introduced on the S3 Lotus Seven SS Twin Cam) and the Triumph front uprights are still used. There may be other bits as well.
75TwinCam Posted August 2, 2009 Author Posted August 2, 2009 Finally posed the Seven in the yard for a pic after installing wing protectors. Fabricated at home from 22 guage galvanized steel and Duplicolor spray on Bed Liner.
75TwinCam Posted March 26, 2010 Author Posted March 26, 2010 Had a go at uploading to the YouTube last night. A short shot from experimenting with mounting a camera to record some onboard vid. Got a decent shot of a half-shabby launch--didn't let the car catch up to the engine in first, so it's not the quickest ever. Captured the intake sound of the Dell'orto carbies pretty good though! (I have previewed this post several times, and can't for the life of me figure out why it's putting the video in twice. I've tried pasting the url directly into the message field, and using the "insert link" button, and gotten the same result with both. Maybe someone can help me here?)[/url]
southwind25 Posted March 26, 2010 Posted March 26, 2010 How very cool is this!!.. Thank you so much for posting such a wonderful history. Love the pics of " the kid" before and now!
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