Proof of Cruise in newly rebuilt WCM S2K Ultralite

[Bruce K]

Here it is, all newly rebuilt: My "World Class Motorsports S2K Ultralite" Super Seven (the name weighs more than the car) at the 8/17/2013 Woodward Cruise. Got the car onto Autoeurope's alignment rack with 4 days to spare. We'd replaced all the heims and links, added braces and more, so the car was WAY out of adjustment. Took Autoeurope a full day to dial it in. Goes like stink now. I was whomping cars with monster motors all day. Stuff the front man's mike up the ass end of a hornet's nest, and you've got the sound of that 9000 rpm Honda motor and Dynatech exhaust. What a trip! I arrived early on Saturday with my Backdraft Cobra, but with 90 degree weather and inchworm traffic, my Roush V8 developed a fever. So, I left for an hour and switched cars. Glad I did. Rest of the day, the needle on that S2K never touched 200 degrees. Plus - too many times -I beat it like a borrowed burro, and it still gave 20 mpg! Pound for pound, it's got more rubber on the road than most anything else, and it knows how to use it. If you dumped a quart of popcorn in the parking lot, you could autocross every kernel. A Lotus buddy described it as a "Caterham on steroids", and i think he nailed it. Better brakes and turn-in, more acceleration than anything except the r500/600. Still think my Backdraft is sexier, but man, people mobbed that little car. It looks like fun on four wheels, and it is.

 

During this build, we also installed PIAA 550 headlights, lexan windscreens, a 4.111 LSD, full stainless braided fuel lines and aluminum fittings, nifty blue G-Force 5-ways, a new shifter and Mugen knob. We also rebuilt the fuel cell, added the new diff brace, repainted the hood and fenders, and raised the seats 2.5". Other than that, nothing much!

 

I wish I had WCM business cards on Saturday. I would not be recovering from strained tongue today. Everybody wanted information. The only time I got stopped, it was a bike cop wanting to know where he could buy one. Look at those pix - Bentleys, Ferraris, every species of Shelby, T-Birds, musclecar Chevelles, Corvettes galore, even Model A's and T's. An incredible celebration of everything automotive. A fantastic day, made better by my water bottle full of Traverse City Reisling (shhhh!)

 

Can't wait till next year!

[Mondo]

Nice. I gotta do that heim joint swap..

[xcarguy]

My "World Class Motorsports S2K Ultralite" Super Seven (the name weighs more than the car) . . . Goes like stink . . . whomping cars with monster motors . . . Stuff the front man's mike up the ass end of a hornet's nest, and you've got the sound of that 9000 rpm Honda motor and Dynatech exhaust . . . my Roush V8 developed a fever. . . I beat it like a borrowed burro . . . If you dumped a quart of popcorn in the parking lot, you could autocross every kernel . . . "Caterham on steroids" . . . I wish I had WCM business cards on Saturday. I would not be recovering from strained tongue . . . The only time I got stopped, it was a bike cop wanting to know where he could buy one . . . A fantastic day, made better by my water bottle full of Traverse City Reisling (shhhh!)/quote]

 

 

Great write up!!! :lurk::cheers::hurray:

[rss]

bruce,

sounds like an awesome day. your car looks great!

[Bruce K]

thanks for the compliments, guy. i attached some additional pix of the wcm s2k, plus some with the backdraft in the background. on the woodward cruise, people are now making up to a 2 week vacation out of the event. vendors along woodward tell me that visitors from other countries are shipping their cars here, doing some touring, and then making the cruise their wrap-up. the event peaks on the technical cruise "day", but is very strong for the entire week prior, and visible for the week preceding that. big dropoff after the cruise, though - everybody's had enough and headed home.

 

recommended for anyone who loves cars and people.

[jimrankin]

Gotta love these cars and yours looks great along with going like stink! I keep mentioning to Loren to do some business cards but I guess he is too busy with other projects to get more into the S2K's. Can't go for a ride, a "cars and caffeine" gathering or a track day without spending half the time answering questions.

Bring that thing out to Northern California and visit three of the most fun tracks anywhere, all within a few hours drive from SF. Four if you add Button Willow in Bakersfield, only a few more hours away.

Going to do the heim joint replacement this winter without fail, getting a bit looser/noisier every event.

[Bruce K]

thanks, jim. did i mention that i live in michigan? merely 3000 miles to get to your tracks! on the heims, be prepared to replace the links if corrosion has set in. i provided a link on the heim thread for a racing supply company that sold me every link on the car for about $200, and delivered in 2 days. the heim source provided by roman (a great guy named gary) is all you need for those parts. order f1 (tight) or f2 (porridge just right) fit for the heims.

 

on heim noise, be aware it never ends. these are essentially race cars for the road, so you always hear mechanical noises of every kinds - engine, trans, suspension, tires, brakes. i wear foam earplugs when i drive open sporters (cuts down on wind noise, too). the ear plugs reduce the noise intensity to a pleasantly informative level. i refer to it as my car talking to me. i prefer those sounds to radio or cd when driving a sporter.

 

i have put together a manual of all the info i have collected during the rebuild of the car, including some great alignment specs, instrux on brace repair/construction, wheel sources and more. closer to fall, i will offer it to anyone interested (complimentary basis, of course). hopefully, it will save time and provide some good tips.

[jimrankin]

I have a set of noise attenuators I use when street driving for dual purpose. One, they cut down the wind noise and a bit of car noise and two, most important, the top band keeps my hat on my bald head at speed! ;-)

Your right, I'd rather not be disturbed by an audio track from any device because I prefer listening to the car singing to me.

Will look forward to you information being published. I have a whole string of mods I've documented but being an old "analogue" type of guy my computer skills for posting up to a file sharing site are about nil. I live close to RNR (a digital age type of guy) from this site so one day will have him come frustrate himself by trying to teach me how to do some rudimentary task.

I saw that you were in Michigan. RNR just did a 2K trip, time to best him with a 3K!!! LOL.

[Bruce K]

i am accumulating the manual in Word. maybe i could send it to you, and you could add your info. maybe other owners might want to do the same, and especially loren. when everybody is done, i can finish it with final edit, table of contents, fancy cover, etc. could be useful. let me know your thoughts. if positive, send me your email. thanks!

[rnr]

It would be a good idea to have a single doc. Maybe make a wiki - either host it on the WCM site or I could host it on my server. In the meantime I've been documenting my stuff (diff brace, fuel cell, brake bias, etc...) on my blog: http://www.rahulnair.net/blog/tag/setting-up-a-seven/

[Bruce K]

i agree: one compendium of wcm s2k knowledge. i will grab the rahulnair text off the blog. jim, if you can send your text in word or other compatible format, i will get it into the manual and organize all (my email is bruceakopitz@gmail.com). when that's done, i'll create a new thread on the forum and get more owners involved. rahulnair, a future wiki posting could be really cool, but don't you have to prove your citations? i don't have a bibliography except for "loren said" or "roman said". in any case, we would still need printable versions of the manual, so you can walk it over to the car, get it greasy, write bolt lengths in the margins and so on, but a wiki page would have the advantage of promoting the car and (perhaps) persuading loren to build more of them.

[RGTorque]

i think you guys are giving my info way to much credit... no need to cite me LOL.

[rnr]

rahulnair, a future wiki posting could be really cool, but don't you have to prove your citations? i don't have a bibliography except for "loren said" or "roman said". in any case, we would still need printable versions of the manual, so you can walk it over to the car, get it greasy, write bolt lengths in the margins and so on, but a wiki page would have the advantage of promoting the car and (perhaps) persuading loren to build more of them.[/b]

 

Wikipedia requires citations for authenticity but we dont have to have them. We'd only have to worry about authenticity if we have issues with vandalism etc. We could also uses links back to the original source (Romans thread, my blog, etc...) if available.

 

You can always print the wiki pages and/or see them on a phone/tablet.