build diary

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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June 7, 2004:
It's been a busy weekend.
I spent the majority of it working on wiring - again. I'm cleaning up the mess that was behind the firewall, finalising the wire lengths and doing some more testing. Much to my chagrin, two brand new Hella relays were dead on delivery. That didn't impress me - but I did manage to get all the lights in the front half of the car working again, the starter spins and as soon as I have a chip for my ECU I'll try firing that up. Progress is being made fairly rapidly and I pretty much have to lock myself out of the garage otherwise I'd never sleep. I'm starting to fit body panels around the transmission and I'll be installing all the switches soon. If only I had my main transmission cover, that is. I'll give the original one another try and see if I can get that to fit- at least until CMC replaces it.

Almost all the votes for colour have been for the orange. My first mockup showed too much saturation for the orange - comparison with magazine photos show that. So I've toned it down in another mockup and, thanks to a suggestion by Jamie Ruderman, changed the front fenders to black. It looks good. The latest issue of EVO actually shows a Caterham demonstrator with black cycle fenders on the front. Some more photos: All orange with black fenders and orange fenders vs black fenders.
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Because I'm not using the stock Miata computer, I don't need the stock air flow meter.
One of my old Miata intakes ("cone on a stick") makes the intake plumbing simple.
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Yet more wiring! Things are coming together and cleaning up nicely.
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The key to getting everything working is to label all the wires.
Saves a lot of detective work if you work a few hours at a time and forget what the green wire with the red stripe was for or if the turn indications are a switched power or switched ground.
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The ignition toggle, starter button and (blue) alternator light are in place on the transmission tunnel.
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Fitting the first of the internal body panels.
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Another colour mockup, based on Jamie Ruderman's suggestion.
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June 8, 2004:
The fuel system is buttoned up and ready to be tested.
That could be messy. Hopefully not! I also brought my driveshaft in to a local shop to get it shortened and was told that it was impossible to do after an estimate of $200-$250. Well, that's not what I wanted to hear! I know it's possible because it's been done.

Packages have been arrving from all over. A new set of gauge faces, a copy of "Lotus Seven and the Independents" as well as a kit car assembly CD from YourKitCar.com. I'll let everyone know how useful/interesting the latter two are once I've had the chance to properly peruse them but the book is very interesting to flip through. CMC gets a good mention. The radiator should be here today. Ooooo, this is exciting. I'm actually getting close to the point where a test drive would be possible. A very noisy, unmuffled test drive. Just like the first time I took Basil out. Hopefully with a functioning clutch and brakes this time.
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June 9, 2004:
My new gauge faces are in place.
They're from Viper S. Custom. Up close, the printing is not as sharp as some of the other gauge faces on the market but the combination of the cost, the availability and the different designs makes this irrelevant. Once installed, they look great. They even came with new bulbs for white nighttime lighting. I only ordered a partial set because, well, I'm only using a few of the gauges!

Back to driveshafts. I can either send the shaft off to CMC's shop to have it shortened for $100 plus shipping. Or I can have a full custom shaft made locally for $260. I'm leaning towards the latter, as it'll come with new u-joints, leave me with a good 1.8 driveshaft that I can sell and I'll be able to go visit the shop if there's a problem. Besides, this thing will be spinning at 7000 rpm right beside my hip. Is that really where I want to save $100 or less?
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My new gauges.
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The gauges in place.
The driving environment is starting to take shape now.
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There's no way this panel is going in to place as is.
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A tip I picked up from my friend Steve.
You can run the fuel injection wiring underneath the intake manifold for a super-clean look.
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June 10, 2004:
The radiator arrived and I've done some test fitting.
It's a BIG radiator and only barely fits inside the nosecone! Beautifully made and light to boot. There should be no cooling problems with this thing. Now, it's my understanding that this is the big radiator that is sold by CMC although I didn't get it through them. If it is the same one, it's not used with the Miata frame. The lower outlet interferes badly with the front suspension mounting points. This will be fixed by moving the outlet to a different place - not cheap, given that the radiator is epoxied together at the bottom. It would have been cheaper to get a custom radiator made by this point. I also had to modify the radiator mounting bracket fairly heavily, to the point where I think I'll just cut it off and start over. My frame was supposed to be prepared for the big radiator but it obviously wasn't. The verdict? I should have bought the rad from CMC - assuming it's different - or just gone with the smaller, cheaper economy rad that they've used in all the other "Miata" builds. Still, I do live in the desert so cooling is important. The modified radiator will be ready by the middle of next week.
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Hmm, do you think the radiator box was big enough?
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The radiator mounted on the car.
It had to be leaned back to clear the nose cone. It's mounted backwards here for testing.
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The lower outlet pipe wants to be in the same place as the suspension pickup - the radiator is backwards in this photo.
After careful consideration, I've decided it's easier to move the outlet.
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By comparison, here is the economy radiator used by CMC.
This photo was taken by Heikki Rinta-Koski at the Walter Mitty event, one of CMC's quick builds.
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That mouth is full of radiator!
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The remains of my radiator bracket.
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While we're looking at Heikki's photos, here's a peek inside the CMC shop.
That Eleven body is gorgeous! It's now listed on the CMC site for $2000.
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