build diary

July 29, 2004:
The car looks fantastic!
Of course the first thing I did when I got home was put some of the panels on. Bill Cardell showed up at my garage door to help out and to hang out. We had fun taking my project and making it look like a real car. It's a difficult colour to photograph indoors but I've found that to be true of all Lotus colours - they need the sunlight to really light up. Kind of ironic when you consider the weather in the UK.

I've been concerned with rock "stars" in the fenders. Suggestions have ranged from closed-cell foam to bonded aluminum to "don't worry, the CMC fenders are nice and thick". I'm not 100% sure what my final answer will be - the latter is my favourite because it's cheap and I can bolt everything together right now, but I'd hate to damage that paint.
entry 520

The header in place along with the side body panel.
entry 521
The dash with one mirror and the gauges.
The speedometer is missing the needle, yes.
entry 522
The front body panels in place.
The wheel is not bolted on so it's sitting a little crooked.
entry 523
You can almost hear the "vroooom vroooom squeeeeeee!" noises I'm making.
entry 524
Wow.
It almost looks finished.
entry 525
One happy camper.
entry 526

July 30, 2004:
It's shaping up to be a hugely entertaining weekend.
Last night was spent making a template for the hood - or the bonnet if you prefer. If you call this part a bonnet then the car won't have what you consider a hood. But I'm getting off track here. Four large pieces of poster board and some careful cutting, then I made a visit to the local fabrication shop and picked up a piece of 0.050" aluminum (aluminium?) along with four latches. I'll bend that up carefully and gingerly this weekend and then the body will be complete! This will also shut Eric up as he seems particularly obsessed with the hood.

I've decided to use brush-on truck bedliner to protect the inside of the fenders (wings for those who are still following the alternate translation). It'll give me full coverage and should be easy to put on. It's cheap too.
entry 527

The template for the hood.
I'm not convinced the colour scheme is worth keeping!
entry 528
Hood latches.
entry 529

July 31, 2004:
As suggested by Lester Seal, I've added a search page to the site.
It's nothing special but it was a fun little toy to put together. Now you can search the diary entries and the photo captions. I'll probably find it helpful as well!

The fenders were given a couple of coats of bedliner last night. It came out well. The fumes from that stuff are pretty intense - I would recommend doing the work outside as I did! Some "clear bra" (aka helicopter tape) was added to the front of the rear fenders for some extra stone protection and the aluminum guards were also installed. All the fenders are on the car now along with the tail and reverse lights. The fender welting looks quite good and gives a very professional finish to the car - a tip from Steve at CMC. The exhaust has been given a shot of high-temp paint and it will be installed shortly. Then it's the hood. I think I made a mistake there - I bought 0.050" aluminum which is equivalent to the 18ga that Ron Champion suggests in his book. It's about 50% thicker than it really needs to be which means it's heavier and harder to work. At least the weight is at the front of the car where it needs to be, I suppose. I may make another hood in the future.

An interesting thing. I was looking at photos of someone else's Locost build. He's making a replica of a classic Lotus Seven. I'd forgotten just how different they were with the narrow track. Mine truly is a more modern car. I've found a couple of interesting Caterham build diaries.This one has a lot of detail shots that would have helped me solve a few puzzles. I don't know why I didn't think to look for more of these before!
entry 530

The hood template in place on the car.
entry 531
The stone guards for the rear fenders are installed.
These were given a "satin finish" with a Scotchbrite pad. It's easier to maintain than a full polish.
entry 532
Truck bedliner as a fender liner.
entry 533
Fitting the fender welting to the fender curve.
entry 534
The fender welting is made a bit long on purpose.
To finish the ends, snip it and fold it over. Since it will never be seen again I didn't worry too much about my stitching!
entry 535
The only way to get the welting to follow the edge of the fender in this area - there's nothing to hold it against the fender - was to rivet it on.
The fender is a nice curve, the metal arch isnt!
entry 536
The welting in place along with a reverse light.
entry 537
The header pipes get a coat of high-temperature paint.
entry 538

August 1, 2004:
Test drive!
This one was a little more extended than the last one nearly a month ago. The car has all the bodywork installed except for the hood, a full exhaust system and hopefully a fairly functional electrical system. This will be a little jumbled so bear with me.

The exhaust is loud but sounds great. There's no tinniness or rasp at all, just pure sports car sound. Is it too loud? Well, earplugs would be required for long distance travel. But this isn't a long distance kind of car. I think it's fine - it's certainly quieter than any Harley. The suspension is surprisingly soft - the car will roll around a bit if you "slalom" down the street. Not such a bad thing as suspensions are meant to move. I did hit the rear stops at one point when I hit a bump mid-corner so the rear might want a little raising and stiffening. No problem, that's what it's all adjustable. The worst news is that the transmission has no synchro on second gear. I had noticed the crunching on the first test drive but had figured it was the clutch. I only briefly managed to get out of second gear on that first drive, remember. After hitting third and fourth, there's nothing wrong with them. There's also no drag when you're at a stop. That's a bit of a bummer. We have a stack of transmissions at the Flyin' Miata shop but I'm not sure I want to disassemble the car again. I could probably change the transmission in a couple of hours - maybe I'll do that after it's road legal. I'm used to double-clutching my Land Rover so dealing with a lack of synchros isn't too bad for me.

Electrically speaking the car was a bit rough. The engine runs nicely and is strong. The idle's a bit high but that's just tuning. The tachometer and oil pressure gauge don't work but I have an idea about what's wrong there. A bad crimp stopped the Seven on the side of the road until I found it. The alternator wasn't charging so I had a closer look. It appears to be one from a different Miata and does not have an internal regulator. Strange because it has the V-belt pulley that was only used on the 1.6 cars. I swapped in a spare alternator and it works now. That's weird. I also found I need some lights to show that the turn indicators are on. They're not self-cancelling. Maybe I just need to train the driver. Overall, it was a very successful drive.

Stu pointed out that VW Beetles use fender welting. You can pick up extruded rubber welting at JC Whitney for a very low price. I had expected to find this sort of thing locally but ended up getting some sewn up at an upholstery shop. If I'd known about the Beetle I would have stopped by the local aircooled VW shop! And now, the hood. I've cut out the shape, now I just have to bend it. I'm nervous about this as I don't really get a second change and a poor fit will not look good. Wish me luck!
entry 539

The exhaust finally installed.
The oxygen sensor is removeable - I'll simply use it for tuning purposes.
entry 540
It's out! Some photos in the sun.
entry 541
I've never felt this to be the most flattering angle of a Seven.
entry 542
Looks like someone needs to polish those side panels.
entry 543
For two cars that share so many parts, they don't look much alike!
entry 544
The Seven is bigger than a real Lotus but it's still fairly skeletal.
entry 545
After the test drive.
Hopefully it's just a loose hose clamp.
entry 546
Air tools make it much easier to cut the hood.
entry 547
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