soareyes Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 (edited) Edit - car is sold as of 4-18-2010 For various reasons, it's time to sell my Birkin: http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd136/soareyes/DSCN4477.jpg http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd136/soareyes/DSCN4467.jpg Many more pictures can be seen here: http://web.me.com/soareyes/Stans_Mini_E/Birkin_for_Sale.html It was built for the original owner by Woody of MSI Motorsports, the first US Birkin importer, in 2004. I bought it in 2005 with less than 2000 miles. It currently has 17,100 miles on the odometer. Best of all, for potential California buyers, the car has the desirable SB100 sticker so no smog checks ever. It is titled and registered as a 1964 Lotus S3. I'm located in southern California. The engine is a fuel injected Zetec ZX3 controlled by a Pectel T2 ecu. Mild performance mods include a Fidanza light flywheel and a larger than stock FocusSport throttle body. The car was dyno tuned last year and shows 133 horsepower and 146 lbft of torque at the wheels, add about 15% to get crank equivalents. Some of the things I've done since I bought the car: Installed a set of Woody's driveshaft safety hoops. Installed a set of Woody's heim-joint rear control arms which made a huge improvement in ride quality. Installed Woody's sump guard. Added a Birkin removable steering wheel. Installed a modified Ultrashield spec-Miata driver's seat which is much more comfortable than the stock Birkin seat. The original seat is included and can be re-installed. Lowered the driver's side floor about 2 1/2 inches so you actually look through the center of the windshield now instead of the top, which greatly increases visibility while reducing wind buffeting. Installed a Gustafson planetary gear starter motor. The standard Birkin starter tends to be weak when warm after driving awhile. The Gustafson starter works every time. Installed a pair of Caterham removable half doors. I also have the original full weather gear (doors and top) which I have never used. Purchased Dick Brink's "Birkini" top which is great in the summer to keep the sun off your head and it really cuts down on wind buffeting. Installed a set of billet rearview mirrors which look much better than the stock stuff. Installed a pair of small LED front turn signal indicators which again looks much better than the stock Birkin units. Installed a twin-tone air horn which can actually be heard, unlike what came on the car. Installed a pair of Hella European H4 headlight bulbs, makes a huge difference at night compared to the stock sealed beams. Added a VDO voltmeter to the instrument panel that exactly matches the rest of the gauges which are also from VDO. Added a nice custom wood shift knob from Gert's Garage™ which looks much nicer than the stock metal knob which got too hot to touch in the summer. Made a LED third brake light (from Gert's Garage™ plans) and added an electronic module which flashes the lights 3x when you first apply the brakes, then goes to full on. Purchased a set of grippy Toyo T1R's, 195/50/15 front and 215/45/15 rear to replace the hard-as-rock Firestones that came with the car. Plenty of tread left. Recently I replace the front windshield with new glass as the old was getting pitted from road debris. Added a side extension to the rear-exit tailpipe which greatly reduces the amount of exhaust into the cockpit. Other things included with the car: A spare Pectel T2 ECU I purchased on ebay just in case. A Dell laptop loaded with the necessary Pectel software to program the ECU, if needed. Connector cord to link the laptop to the ECU. Brand new, never driven, set of 4 Toyo RA1 performance tires mounted and balanced on brand new Kosei light weight wheels. I meant to use these as a track set of wheels but haven't done a track day since buying them. Several notebooks worth of Birkin information collected over the years, mainly from the yahoo Birkin Owners web site. As mentioned above, a full set of all-weather gear and full doors that have never been used. Five-point Simpson race harness that can be installed for track days if desired. The original three-point retract seatbelt is currently installed. This car is in perfect mechanical condition. I used the car mostly on blats, but I have done approximately 10 track days over the years, usually with NASA. The rear fenders show the typical paint-pits from stuff kicked up by the tires. The right front cycle wing has some cracks in the gelcoat from a bump into a tire wall at Fontana Speedway, but the fiberglass itself wasn't damaged. I do have a spare pair of unpainted front cycle wings that are included. On a cold morning it may take a couple tries to get the engine to fire but once going it warms up fine, and it starts easily at normal temperatures. If you are located in S. Calif. and you offer Magnus some beer and diapers he would probably fine tune the cold start software. There is probably more I've forgotten but send me a pm or email directly if there are questions (s o a r e y e s (at) a o l . c o m) Oh yea, price is $22,500 obo. The original owner paid about $35,000 new (I have all the original receipts) and I paid $28,000 five years ago, plus everything I've added. Stan Edited April 18, 2010 by soareyes spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boss351 Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 That looks like a great car and has plenty of nice goodies to go with it! Tempting.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 Forgot to add that it has a Quaife lsd and a semi-close ratio gearbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Stan, hate to hear you will be se7en-less, and at that price, I'm sure it will happen soon. Still hope to see you at Monterey in August! -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Hio Soareyes great looking car and nice mod list. As you may know I have a Birkin too would you by any chance be willing to share the Birkin info you have collected with me if its in electronic form as I only have limited info on my Birkin and im allways keen to add more info about my type of car. If so any chance of sending me a PM and I will give you my email address. Also where did you get the wing mirros from and ceter mirror ??. Cheers Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Stan, beautiful car. I'm sure it'll sell quick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 Stephen, almost all of what I have is from the Yahoo BirkinOwners list which still has all the posts back to its inception online. I just printed information that I felt might be useful to me as time went on. Thanks to Bernie Long for starting the group as it was very helpful to someone like me who didn't have much mechanical experience to begin with. With that information, along with our great group of Sevens owners here in S. California, I was able to solve any problem that came up with my car. And thanks Mazda and John, I hope I don't come to regret this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 Sorry Stephen, I forgot to answer your question about the mirrors. The two side mirrors are motorcycle mirrors from a company called Kuryakyn, and the center mirror is from a hot rod shop, but I can't remember the name. If I come across it, I'll post the link. The Yahoo BirkinOwners groups site is here: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/birkinowners/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 Several people asked if the taller roll bar seen in the extra pics is included, and yes it is. I just forgot to add it to my original post. It is a couple inches higher than my helmet which is required for some track days, and it provides a mounting point for the shoulder harness. I don't use it for street driving because the 'Birkini' top won't fit over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11Budlite Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Stan - Sorry to see you put it up for sale, but someone's going to get themself a beautiful car and a good deal. Lots of nice options, spares, etc. Good luck with the sale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Stan- Sell yours and buy Martin's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 I've seen Martin's in person and it is very nice! I have a lot of respect for guys who build their own Sevens from the ground up. It is something I would love to do some day if I ever have the time (not to mention skill). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Stan, Thanks for the nice words about my 7. Your 7 should sell very quickly for what your asking for it as it has all the correct stuff that most folks are looking for in a 7 and especially a road legal California car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Damn nice car..... where were these prices when i was buying mine?... and all i have is a xflow!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 Car is sold as of today and will be residing with its new owner in the San Francisco bay area. Thanks to everyone who had an interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 have a good stiff drink to get over the empty spot congrats to the new owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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