build diary

May 29, 2004:
Engine swap time!
Yup, significant things are happening. The engine destined for the Seven was in my Miata street car. Note the past tense - it took me 70 minutes to pull it out this morning. Hey, I literally wrote the book on this one! Actually, if you've seen my book, you'll see this very same engine going in to my Miata. A couple of hours of hunting down parts that had been scavenged from my "new" engine for the Miata and it's ready to go back in. Once I find the clutch alignment tool, anyhow. We've got a new tech at the shop and he's not sure where to put things back yet.

Last night I also reinstalled the fuel cell and bled the brake system. I've got a nice firm pedal now. Things are starting to get exciting!
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Engines everywhere! The "donor" Miata (in better shape than most) gives up the powerplant for the Seven.
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Now that's an engine that is worthy of a Seven.
11:1 compression, ported head, cams, all forged and balanced internals...and it's pretty.
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My trick dual plate Kevlar clutch.
Super light with a smoooooth engagement.
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May 30, 2004:
The Miata is now up and running with the "new" (original) engine in it.
So I'm ready to have some fun with the one for the Seven. It does have some bad valve stem seals so I'll fix that quickly. I'll probably install the engine in the Seven first simply because there's so much room available to work on it.
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June 1, 2004:
A bit more puttering around with brake lines and a long-overdue garage cleaning and the frame is ready for the engine!
I also redrilled the rear for the rear body panel and it looks good. The front fender supports were installed and it quickly became obvious that you can't bleed the brakes with them in place. Given the expected use of this car, that's not going to work. I can modify them easily enough to make this possible.
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June 2, 2004:
Much excitement!
The engine is in! Brian, the new tech at Flyin' Miata, came around to my place after work and we dropped the engine in place. It went in fairly easily but was a tighter fit than I'd expected. Once the front pulley slipped in behind the top of the frame it all went easily. Brian's done a fair bit of fabricating and the motor mounts gave him a bit of a laugh - they're hugely overbuilt. Beats the alternative...

So there we were, standing in the garage. We had a car up on sawhorses and an engine hoist. Time to put the car on the ground! We bolted on some wheels, tossed the seats in and carefully lowered the car to the ground. I got all excited when the front touched down and the suspension compressed - it's like the car came alive! The suspension was set at the lowest point because it made it easier for me to play with it, and this put the car pretty much right into the dirt. We measured about 1.75" between the oil pan and the garage floor. Hmm, maybe I should raise this up a little. Playing with the steering revealed that one of the joints in the column was slipping a little but that was fixed with a bit of welding. The car looks even smaller on the ground. After a bit of fooling around, we lifted it back into the air to make it easier to work on.
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The braking system is all done.
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The rear body panel is fitted into place and shaped to fit the round upper bar.
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Brian came around to help me fit the engine.
Here he's putting the engine and transmission together.
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The engine going in! Brian didn't do ALL the work, but it certainly would have been more difficult without him! This job would also have been simpler if we'd been able to come in straight from the front.
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It's a giant bug!
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Because we had the hoist, we put the car on the ground.
Wouldn't you?
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Yup, I'm happy.
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The beastie on the ground.
It looks a lot smaller down there!
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A weird view of the car.
You can really see how far back the engine sits.
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June 3, 2004:
Last night was mostly puttering.
I now have a functioning clutch hydraulic system and the shifter is in place. I reinforced the headlight brackets a little bit. Then I went and read the latest EVO magazine - full of 7 Caterhams and an Exige - and I'm starting to wonder about my colour choice. I was going to use Nissan Daytona Blue, but Lotus Chrome Orange is just so obnoxious! Hmm.
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Lotus "Chrome Orange".
Hmm. Might make a good colour for the Seven.
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The shifter is in!
Okay, that was a good 5 minutes of work. The shifter is in remarkable shape for a car that's been sitting outside for 5 years.
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There's a fair bit of vibration in the light brackets.
A spot weld at the edge of the square tubing would have helped, so I put in a couple of rivets instead.
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June 4, 2004:
I ordered my radiator yesterday.
It should be here early next week. Do I need it right away? Well, no. But this will allow me to finish the nose of the car. I've also been cleaning up wiring and getting closer on that front. I'm tempted to leave the head on the engine just long enough to let me start the thing up - that would be a major milestone, wouldn't it?

I've been getting a lot of mail about the car sitting on the ground - it looks like a car now! - and on the colour question. Most votes are going for the orange, so I've put a couple of mockups in the build photos to get a better idea of how it might look. The orange is usually matched with black wheels etc but in my case it will be matched with shiny aluminum. I'm still not sure. Everyone's got an opinion - let me know in the guestbook or by email!
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A mockup of what the car might look like in Chrome Orange.
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A mockup of what the car might look like in Daytona Blue.
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