build diary

August 1, 2005:
A reinforcement for the front of the car.
This should stiffen things up well. I believe this brace is required for Australian builds.
entry 923
The differential mount all finished and ready for paint.
entry 924
The front swaybar was shortened slightly to put the end link in a better place.
entry 925
My original thought for a front swaybar mount was a simple piece of 1/4" steel.
I decided to fabricate something smarter instead. It's significantly lighter.
entry 926
The sway bar end link for the front.
It's as far back on the control arm as possible in order to fit the stock sway bar.
entry 927

August 2, 2005:
I didn't get a lot done last night, but I did install the swaybars.
They both look as if they'll work well. There's not much clearance between the front bar and the spring - but there's enough. It'll also clear better at the regular ride height instead of full droop. I'm on track for the autocross this weekend although there's still a lot of reassembly to do first. Hopefully I'll be driving the car later this week. It'll be nice to get back behind the wheel.
entry 928

The front bar installed.
In case the number of black pipes in the photo is confusing, it's the one just under the upper control arm. I've tried to photograph the rear bar but it likes to hide behind other parts of the suspension.
entry 929

August 3, 2005:
Big news today - the Mini is registered!
As for the other Little British Car, it got a bit of work too. The emergency brake handle is installed in the new transmission tunnel and has been moved forward a bit to allow for better adjustment of the cable. The driveshaft is back in place and the radiator is mounted. I have to buy a couple of bolts and then I'll be able to install the differential. It's close to being roadworthy again, thank goodness. I'm hoping to have the differential in tonight.
entry 930

A peek at the rear sway bar.
This is taken from underneath the car facing up - I was lying on my back. The bar is mounted to a piece of 1" square tube that is welded to the angled plates at the rear.
entry 931
The handbrake lever in place.
Some spacers were put in place at the back to give it the correct angle leaning towards the driver.
entry 932

August 4, 2005:
Finally some decent work on the Seven.
I'm in assembly mode now. It's actually very pleasant - I'm just bolting parts in to place one after the other and making good progress. I think this is how it was supposed to work right from the start! The differential is in and very solidly mounted. The Revlight tachometer is wired up but it will not be installed in the dash until I know it works properly. The suspension is buttoned up with the exception of the sway bar end links. Those will be adjusted for no preload once the car is on the wheels. The rear bulkhead panel is 75% installed but I'll need a second set of hands to finish installing the eyebolts for the harnesses.

Speaking of harnesses, my new ones arrived yesterday. These are Willans pull-downs instead of the pull-ups I had before. The advantage is that I'll be able to adjust them more easily for other people! I'm sure my passengers will appreciate this. They're also in black for those who had easily-offended sensibilities and didn't like my old red ones. Unfortunately the sub belts missed the truck but they're coming soon.
entry 933

A peek at how the differential is mounted at the sides.
I'm not convinced the U-shaped brace is really required with everything else going on, but it won't hurt. It's there to give the long bolt better location.
entry 934
Pieces start to go back together.
The rear bulkhead panel is back on and I'm installing the eyebolts for the new harnesses.
entry 935
Bad picture, good harnesses.
Some Willans pull-downs to replace my old (and expired) Willans pull-ups. These will be adjustable once installed into the car, unlike the previous ones. The sub belt isn't in the picture.
entry 936

August 5, 2005:
You can tell there's an event coming up.
I'm spending a lot of time on the Seven again!

I didn't do a whole lot last night. The sway bar bushings were replaced with some polyurethane ones that I found at FM. The rear bulkhead panel was finished. A couple of leaking gas line connections were fixed. And for the first time in months, I fired her up! She started very happily as if I'd never been gone. With just a bit of work left, I'll have it on the road tomorrow. That's the plan anyhow. Then I'll see how well the sways work out. I've decided to take both the Mini and the Seven to the autocross - this could be some interesting inter-garage rivalry. Janel has volunteered to drive the Mini out for me. Seems she likes it better than the Seven - or perhaps it's just less intimidating.
entry 937

August 6, 2005:
It's back on the road!
Whew. Warning, stream of consciousness coming...Everything bolted up together relatively easily. The Revlight tach is taped to the side of the scuttle where I can sort of see it and determine if it works, but it's not really in my line of sight. There's a ticking coming from the rear (sounds like an axle flange hitting a ziptie) that I haven't found yet - but I can drive the car again. It's refreshing to be back behind the wheel. The sways have certainly tightened things up and the car moves around less on the suspension. It's impossible to say what the handling balance is like at the limit on public roads, that will have to wait until tomorrow - and even then, power oversteer tends to overshadow any other kind on the autocross course. That exhaust is definitely loud. I think I'm going to have to change it out again. I am getting tired of cutting and welding those pipes...
entry 938

August 8, 2005:
A successful day at the autocross course.
When you bring a Seven to a race like this, classes don't matter. You're gunning for the fastest time of the day. Unfortunately, others think the same way. I knew I'd have some good competition from my coworker Jeremy in his turbocharged Miata. He's a good driver in a quick car. What I hadn't counted on was a Fiat X1/9 with a 13B rotary engine stuffed inside. To make matters worse, he was running on 10" wide slicks and had been driving this monster for 20 years. I also had the Mini with me - you can read about it on its own page. The course designers told me they had taken my driving into account as I have a tendency to think outside the box a little and not just drive from cone to cone. The exits from a few corners were modified to keep me from tracking out too far - spoilsports.

My first run was a bit ugly. As usual, I was driving too fast in the slow parts and too slow in the fast parts. The course had a fairly high speed section but a couple of really tricky and tight corners. On these, I was having all sorts of understeer as I just pushed the front tires too hard. This could have been due to the new handling balance with the sway bars although I'm pretty sure it was just the driver. On a couple of the tightest, I tried pulling the handbrake. That rotated me very nicely and the crowd really liked it. I came into the pits knowing I could go faster. Jeremy was a bit quicker - and the Fiat beat me by 3 seconds. Ouch. Still, the car was running flatter so the sways were working.

For the next run, I softened the front shocks up a notch and told myself to slow down. I continued with the handbrake turns. While the understeer went away, I straightened out on of my slides too fast and hit a huge cone. Nuts. Still, with the penalty I was still faster than Jeremy and two seconds faster than my first run. A video is available. The Fiat knocked another second off his time. It was obvious that he had huge amounts of traction in the corners.

The third run had the crowd pretty excited. The announcer was talking up the rivalry between the three fast cars. Rolling up to the start line, I was debating whether I should continue with my handbrake turns on the entry into the slalom, or if I should take that corner quite slow and see if I could get around on mechanical grip. That's what the Fiat was doing and it was very quick. I decided to go for it. The run started off well. For the first time, I actually used full throttle through the fast turns at the beginning. The Seven tried to walk around at the back a bit and I was getting concerned about the speed in tight quarters, but I stuck with it. Everything was going well until I got to the interesting turn - and the car just whipped around. I came out faster, tidier and on a better line than ever before. At the end of a short slalom was another, tighter turn and a quick tap to toss the car sideways worked perfectly. The ability to see what the front tires were doing helped a lot - I actually walked the front wheel around the base of cone on that one 150 degree corner. On the second lap, it was the same story. I came back into the pits and discovered I'd managed to get 0.2 seconds ahead of the cursed Fiat. I knew that run was close to the fastest I could run the car. The only disappointment was that the video camera had decided not to record the run.

It was a long wait until the Fiat rolled up to the line again. When he did come out, you could see that he was working a bit harder. The car was moving around more. Unfortunately, he didn't make any mistakes and managed to shave 0.5 seconds off his time, putting him almost exactly 0.3 seconds ahead of me. While it hurt not to win, there's no shame in losing to such a good car and driver by such a close margin. We'll meet again in a few months and we're both looking forward to it. Hmm, there are some race tires in the shop...

At the end of the day, there was a draw for a free helmet for everyone who stuck around. My name was pulled, but unfortunately, I was at the other end of the parking lot talking to the Fiat driver and didn't hear it. The helmet went to someone else. Janel was disappointed, she knew that would have been her helmet. Oh well, maybe next time. Janel did get to drive the Seven home from the track as I nursed the Mini back with no brakes.

Overall the Seven did extremely well, competing with a slick-tired monster on a set of 195-60-14 street tires. The car corners much flatter and can be tossed around naturally with the sways and I'm very happy with how it feels. My Revlight was working - I can see it in the video - but I never looked at it. I'll have to try it out a bit more. I also need to do something about the fender stays up front. The fenders are constantly cock-eyed. It looks bad and it's only a matter of time before one escapes.
entry 939

August 9, 2005:
Autocrosses bring out a big variety of cars.
The Midget was just there for fun, but the Fiat was serious. Rotary power and fat slicks. The Seven couldn't quite keep up.
entry 940
This corner caught a lot of people out as it was relatively slow and at the end of a fast section.
The difference in lean is dramatic.
entry 941
Another shot showing the flatter suspension.
And the problematic front fender stays.
entry 942
On my fastest run, I finally screwed up the courage to take this section flat out.
The back of the car was loose as the tires fought for traction, but it was significantly faster through here.
entry 943
The corner that made all the difference.
Instead of sliding around this corner as I did in the Mini, I relied on grip the last time around and cut it tight. It helped a lot. The open front wheels made it easy to aim, unlike a more enclosed car.
entry 944
New video from the autocross! See it here.
entry 945
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