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build diary July 4, 2004: It moves! First, the radiator had to be modifed to take a fan and to be fit to the frame. The end caps were a challenge to weld but Brian managed to get everything together. The water pump inlet was also rewelded in a new configuration. Then it was back to my garage where the radiator was installed, the reinforcing plate was installed under the nose and the car was prepared for an intial drive. We lowered the Seven to the ground and weighed it. Much to my excitement, it came in at well under 1200 lbs. My estimate for a complete wet weight is around 1200 exactly. Not bad at all - I was anticipating 1400. The car also has a slight rear weight bias. I did a little happy dance. Next came a rough alignment. Lacking any other numbers, I decided to use my typical Miata numbers only with less caster. The front came into line easily enough but the rear gave us some trouble. Due to the geometry of the rear, the upper arms are basically not adjustable at all. The lower ones are awkward to reach. We decided to leave the right rear wheel with 0 camber just so we could drive the car. The original control arm from the left side can be flipped upside down and used on the right - tellingly, the holes in the bracket are further inboard than the replacement one that was shipped to me. There's our camber. With the wheels all bolted on, it was time to fire everything up. The ignition relay crapped out almost immediately and the battery was not equal to the task. So we threw an extra battery from the Land Rover in and hooked up some jumper cables. The charge light never went out so something's not right there. But it was driveable. I had no oxygen sensor, no exhaust system and the timing wasn't set. The engine was not happy and had a hard time even idling. Some educated guessing on fuel setup helped, but it's still not quite right. It's obvious that one of my radiator modifications isn't quite sealing as well. The fan didn't want to start up properly either. All par for the course for a first drive really. What was it like to drive? The steering is nicely weighted and much lighter than I expected. The brakes take a good firm push. And the one time I managed to clear the engine and make a part-throttle run into second, I felt as if I'd hit light speed. This little beastie is going to be very, VERY fast. I felt comfortable with the controls (what ones there where) immediately. entry 404 of 1439 |