The Goat's Birkin Under Construction

[thegoat]

Thanks everyone. Plates arrived last night. Put them on during lunch today. Didn't notice the reflection when I snapped the shot, but I think you can still see the plate.

[MHKflyer52]

That is a good one "LIGHTW8" with all the carbon fiber what is the weight of your 7.

[thegoat]

It has never seen the scales.

[thegoat]

Car finally got weighed (and corner balanced) today. It has a rear diffuser on it as well, so I added a little weight. Came in at 1260 lbs with 31 lbs of fuel. WHAT? I was looking for under 1400 lbs - this is outstanding.

[MightyMike]

Danny,

 

Been driving your Birkin much?

 

Mike

[thegoat]

Nope, haven't driven it since the fall. There is too much snow here (five feet of base on the front lawn) - but the car is back in CO right now. I had Tom change my ecu from the Haltech system to the Typhoon and handle a few other items. I am waiting for a carbon boot cover to come in and then I will likely go pick up and bring it back.

 

I think I brought it out from CO last year in mid-April and it started snowing about 30 mins after I got it here and in the garage.

[MightyMike]

Let me know when you're out this way. Hopefully I'll have my Birkin back on the road by then. Moving to Denver at the end of the month, so I should be able to reconnect with many of my Lotus brethern living up north.

 

I finally pulled my Elise out of the garage after many months in storage. I'm thinking hard about driving it to work tomorrow.

[DeanG]

MightyMike;

 

You will find a big and enthusiastic Lotus and Se7en crowd (well relatively big) in the Denver area. Check out the local club.

[thegoat]

Let me know when you're out this way. Hopefully I'll have my Birkin back on the road by then. Moving to Denver at the end of the month, so I should be able to reconnect with many of my Lotus brethern living up north.

 

I finally pulled my Elise out of the garage after many months in storage. I'm thinking hard about driving it to work tomorrow.

 

Absolutely. I never got a chance to show the car to Skip either when I brought it out from CO because of weather issues. This time, I will be sure to swing down that way.

[xcarguy]

Danny,

 

Just curious why you changed from the Haltech system to the Typhoon? I'm currently building a Birkin with the Haltech.

 

Shane

[thegoat]

I live up at Lake Tahoe (6400 ft) and everywhere I go, there is significant altitude change (1k+ ft). The Haltech system would not handle this. By the time I got fed up with adjusting the fuel trim while on the fly, I learned that the system would take a barometric sensor. I had already added a vacuum system to help with the manifold pressure reading with little success.

 

I also could never get the car to cold start correctly, even after messing with the various inputs affecting this.

 

This made for a uncomfortably usable car. Tom, the Birkin dealer in CO, has replaced my Haltech with a Typhoon system. I should be picking up the car later this week - but he reports that the car runs perfectly at various altitudes and cold starts on the first turn.

 

The Haltech system is more advanced. I think I was one of the earlier cars using that system. I was promised a working tune from Dick when I ordered that part up - I did not receive it. The car spent a full day being tuned so that it would run. While it ran fine at the altitude it was tuned for, it ran rich or lean when the altitude changed as little as 500 feet.

 

It didn't work for me, but I have a unique situation. The Typhoon system is also close to a thousand dollars cheaper.

[scannon]

Danny,

 

Are you going to make it to the Sevens Gathering on Saturday?

[thegoat]

That's the plan. The only thing that would destroy my plans would be snow on Friday in the mountains. The forecast looks good at this point.

[thegoat]

After probably more than a few years not visiting the site, I chatted with active members down at Thunderhill a month ago and thought I should visit again. It has been a while and the car has changed, so I thought I should resurrect my own thread from the dead by updating the build page with more recent photos of the car. Caged, additional carbon, supercharger, etc.

 

[MightyMike]

Danny - your Birkin is looking sweet!

[thegoat]

It looks like I'm going to be selling my Birkin. I have to take some photos, pay my membership fee and post an official ad. I'm not looking to make money here; just looking to move the car. I need the garage space....

 

Essentially, I'm going to be ok with any reasonable offer on the car. It isn't a flawless example - it has been driven.

[thegoat]

Pictures from the other day. There are a few blemishes that I believe are captured in these photos (scratch to metal on the engine cover, scratch on carbon cockpit cover, scratch/dent on lower edge near driver, normal track patina). This is not a show car.

 

I have no idea how to rotate the pictures.

[thegoat]

Had my younger brother in town the other day, who has never driven the seven (typically winter when he is around it), so we did a canyon carving session up Mt. Rose Highway and swapped cars at the halfway point. The seven doesn't get driven as much now that the GT3 has taken over track duty. I was considering selling it; I don't know that I can. The car is so much fun to rip around in.

 

The car is all detailed now too, which makes it more fun to drive. Don't know why, but a clean car makes a huge difference for me.

 

Took a few photos at the beginning of the session. Favorite is the rear view shot.

[sevenup]

Years ago, I ran an early Haltech F1 on an mgb with a 3.1L 60* V6.....on hot summer days I would have to stop every 100 miles or so and plug my laptop into the module to reprogram the bars....heat sinc was a big problem on that early system for sure