build diary
<< | show individual entries | >>August 2, 2004:
And that's the end of the major work.
The hood is done and the car looks complete. The 0.050" aluminum was a good choice because, while it's a bit difficult to bend by hand, it doesn't kink and it holds a shape well. I was concerned at first that I would never get it to bend but some extra persuasion helped. This means I laid the hood on the grass and got my whole body into the act! It's not quite a perfect fit but it can be made so. Much to my amusement, I found a photo of a Series 2 Lotus 7 in one of my books that shows a hood latch very similar to the ones I've used and with absolutely atrocious hood fitment. So mine isn't so bad then...
More driving yesterday, of course. It's amazing how much the front wheels jitter around when you're driving. The cycle fenders make this very apparent. The car feels quite lusty and makes a great noise as you tear around. The driving position is great, almost as if the car was built for me. Unlike a real Lotus there is lots of room in the footwell for my feet. The brakes are very firm and might need to be changed. I'll have to try to lock the wheels next time although I should bed the pads first. You're quite conscious of sitting near the rear axle but the car feels good - very trustworthy. Of course I haven't pushed it very hard yet. I'll save that for later when I'm more than a block from my house!
So what's next? Well, I have a couple of electrical bugs to chase down such as the tachometer and oil pressure gauge. The transmission may get changed or I might just practice my double-clutching for a while. The headlights will probably move up a little to give the car more of a "face" and also to stop the front fenders from hitting them at moderate lock. But first, the car needs to be registered. Not a whole lot will be done in the next couple of weeks though. I'm off to Denver for a couple of days, some friends are coming to visit and the FM Open House is coming up soon. My goal of having the Seven on the track at the Open House will be realised!
entry 548
Step 1 of making the hood - the aluminum is set on the car and taped down.
Note the tape to protect the paint!
entry 549
Step 2 of making the hood - one side is bent to shape (hard work!) and taped.
entry 550
Step 3 of making the hood - the edges are bent under and trimmed to fit.
entry 551
Step 4 of making the hood - the hood is taped into place before the latches are attached.
entry 552
The finished hood!
entry 553
One of the hood latches in place.
entry 554
Some modifications required to fit the hood were a reshaped throttle wheel (ie, I put it on the ground and whacked it with a hammer) and a repositioned throttle cable bracket.
You can also see the foam strips I've put down to protect the paint and help the hood sit nicely.
entry 555
The hood doesn't fit perfectly at the front but it's better than some of the original Lotus versions!
entry 556
The slip joints in the exhaust are leaking a little - not a surprise.
entry 557
Outside and complete!
The headlights sit much lower on a "Locost" than they do on a proper Caterham. This makes a larger difference than you might expect.
entry 558
The front control arms sit nice and level.
entry 559
Artsy shot!
entry 560
The compleat Seven.
entry 561
Ready to go for a ride!
entry 562
Currently this is the only badging on the car.
There's not even a "Mazda" on the gauges!
entry 563
August 5, 2004:
The Seven is now a commuter vehicle.
Well, not exactly. But I did drive it to work! Much excitement. And naturally, it's raining lightly for the first time in weeks. That didn't stop me from having an absolute blast coming in to work though. The car does seem to get a little attention in a pickup truck town for some reason. I'm too busy paying attention to my driving but passengers report a fairly strong "whiplash effect". There's a coolant leak in the radiator at one of my new fittings but I'm very happy with the way the car behaves. Last night I installed a knock sensor and the passenger's seat so the car is essentially complete. From this point, it's debugging.
entry 564
At work on a gloomy day.
With two seats!
entry 565
August 6, 2004:
I have guests visiting for the next few days so there won't be any real work done on the Seven.
However, said guests also have a video camera! We shot a little footage yesterday evening. The car is not subtle when running at full throttle so we called it an evening when some neighbours started to object. Fair enough. Once Trevor (owner of the camera) gets home he'll send me a copy of the footage so that I can put it up on the site. My computer doesn't have the right connections to grab the footage here, sorry.
Yesterday was a most entertaining day. I took the car around to show to all the various folks who helped me with the build - the paint shop, the fabrication shop that supplied me with the materials for the hood, the muffler shop that helped me so much with the header. Everyone seems quite impressed. I became more and more comfortable with the car as the day went on. The combination of high compression, light vehicle weight and a very light flywheel does make the car difficult to drive smoothly at very light throttle positions. Some of this can be overcome with better tuning but I suspect it will never be completely eradicated. I probably should wait until I have the car idling at under 1500 rpm before making any final judgements though. The suspension is nicely compliant and the car rides much better than most people would expect. For those in the Miata world, it's better than most of the track-oriented suspensions out there! I am extremely happy about the steering as well. The Mountney wheel feels great (thanks, Eric) and the weighting is light. The Miata steering ratio probably has much to do with my comfort level with the car and there is lots of information coming through the wheel. There's no slop at all and the car seems to turn in almost as soon as I think about it. The view over the hood is quite entertaining as well.
Now that the car has run perhaps 15 miles on the road I'll pop it back up on the stands and check all the bolts. I'm particularly interested in the bolts holding the front of the diff in place!
entry 566
August 9, 2004:
In a brief moment of spare time over the weekend, I put the car up on jackstands so that I can check it over carefully.
Another small leak in one of the radiator fittings had me pull the radiator out so it could be fixed properly. That should be done this week sometime once I get caught up with everything else that's going on. I really should change the transmission as well. Maybe later this week - I'm trying to convince myself it will be a fairly quick job. It should be, but until I've done it I'm a little concerned. That lack of synchro really slows down shifts into 2nd. It also gives me the ability to make truly embarassing noises with the transmission.
Most common question shouted from other cars when the Seven is on the road: "Did you make that yourself?". Second most common: "How fast does it go?". Somehow, top speed never entered my mind. Maybe I'll just answer "200 mph". Guys in pickup trucks don't quite understand the whole nimble concept.
entry 567
August 11, 2004:
I've decided to change the transmission to another one we have at the shop.
This one has 140,000 miles instead of 50,000 - but it's known to work so in it goes! That will probably take place this weekend. The radiator will be fully welded tomorrow night so the car will be driveable again soon. The track day at the Open House is looming...
entry 568