build diary

April 1, 2005:
I've decided to shorten the Seven's wheelbase for better agility.
entry 830

April 13, 2005:
After Rick woke me up, I managed to get the car going a bit quicker.
I like this shot. Turn 4.
entry 831

April 14, 2005:
Back from a very long road trip.
It's been a while since the car was on the track so hopefully this will all make sense. The tow out went well although it's hard to call northern Nevada terribly exciting. Things did get more exciting once we hit California, as we first got caught in a fairly major snowstorm and then had to drive through a downpour of biblical proportions to get to our hotel. I had the seats of the car wrapped in plastic to keep them dry but I could imagine all sorts of wet-butt fun the next day.

Luckily, the next day was dry. The seats had survived pretty well so the car wasn't as uncomfortable as I'd feared. The problem was that the car gave a single cough and then refused to start. This did not fill me with happy thoughts as I struggled to find the problem in front of various people who had read about the Seven or were attracted to this weird Lotus thing. The car didn't seem to have any spark. I pulled and cleaned the plugs over and over because they were getting fouled but couldn't coax more than a little stumble out of it. While I was out on the track with a student, Janel managed to find a set of used plugs from a Spec Miata racer. It's handy bringing a tall blonde along to the racetrack, people are nice to them! She's also quite happy hanging around in the sunshine in the pits. Am I lucky or what? The plugs went in, the car fired up immediately and my outlook on life became much brighter. The race tires were on the car and Janel and I headed out.

The car felt terrible. The track was still a bit cold but the tires felt as if I was driving on ice. There was almost no traction. Finally, on my second or third lap I had a major brake lock-up coming in to turn 10 and slid off the track on to the wet grass. It turns out I had the brake bias far too forward after changing the master cylinders. There was no harm done to the car, only to my confidence and ego. We headed back to the pits where I pulled the old race tires off and put the Azenis street tires back on. I also cranked in more rear bias.The race tires I was using were a set of BFG R1s that were at least 8 years old and I swore to never use them again.

Back out again on street rubber, the car was much happier. It was a little squirrely in the corners but there was grip available. I came in and talked to Rick Weldon about this. Rick is an ex-pro racer who's a good friend of mine. He's the one who taught me how to drive on the track although I would still call myself a work in progress. Anyhow, he suggested that the tires might not be quite up to full operating temperature and this is fairly normal behaviour. Since I'd always wanted to let him drive the car, we went out together. Rick proceeded to make it quite obvious that I wasn't driving anywhere near the limits of the car. I'd forgotten just how hard a car could be pushed on the track. On turn 5b, an off-camber sweeper that's reasonably quick, the tail stepped out on Rick and he just rode it out. He found out that the car was quite forgiving in this manner and then proceeded to drive sideways for the rest of our session. It was very entertaining.

Back in from that ride, I went out on my own and pushed harder. The edgy feeling went away when the tires heated up but I still wasn't fast. My driving basically fell apart and I was fairly tentative. It took a few more sessions before I came up to speed but by the end of the day I was doing pretty well. Not setting any lap records and probably slower than I've been in a Miata on the same track, but I'd made friends with the car again. I had some fun chasing down an M3 and an M Roadster and playing with the tail on the turn at the end of the back straight.

The car was flawless for the rest of the day although the exhaust was very loud. I'd blown a baffle out when the car backfired while trying to start it. The brake bias was dialed in perfectly by the time Rick drove the car although he felt the pedal was too hard. Imagine if he'd tried it earlier! The car still needs some sorting, as it oversteers at the limit and photographs show an incredible amount of body roll that's putting the wheels into positive camber. Stiffer springs are definitely in the cards. The higher speeds at Thunderhill really highlighted the lack of aerodynamics on the car as well so a lower windscreen or a wind deflector might prove worthwhile. I also want some new race tires and more power. It might turn out to be an expensive trip! The starting problem was probably a wet component that dried out, but by that point the plugs were fouled. The driver's side mirror decided it wanted freedom so it escaped on the track - I'd repaired it at one point but it was likely weakened when Rick adjusted it. He donated a set of used Spa formula car mirrors which should actually be a nice upgrade to the car.

Overall I was left a little dissatisfied. I wasn't terribly fast and while the Seven does make up for a lot, it wasn't up to the pace of well-driven Miatas on good rubber. I want the car to be all-conquering! Obviously some work on the driver is still needed but the car isn't fast like our race car is fast. I want something otherwordly.

The rest of the week was pure tourism. I did meet up with Ben Rillie who's interested in building a Seven of his own, and he showed us around Pixar where he works. Fair trade! We also visited Ted Saton who is a serial car builder, the sort that likes building the cars more than driving them. He had in his garage an oversized Seven powered by a supercharged small block Chevy. Yikes.
entry 832

Trying to get the car started at Thunderhill.
Rick Weldon tries to figure out what might be wrong while I pull the plugs again and again. Thanks to Mike Wong for the photo.
entry 833
With a running car (finally!
), I head out for my first session with my girlfriend Janel riding along. She was saying something along the lines of "Don't scare me". So I drove off the end of turn 10.
entry 834
Heading out again with tires that work.
Note the appropriate number.
entry 835
The Miata beside the Seven is a monster with about 350 hp at the rear wheels and a driver who can make full use of it.
entry 836
Out on the track.
The on-track photos were taken by gotbluemilk.com and you can see them all on their website.
entry 837
Rick Weldon shows me that the car can go much faster.
Look at the body roll, though - the inside rear is almost off the ground. This is turn 3 at Thunderhill for those who know it.
entry 838
Body roll? Nah.
Turn 3 again.
entry 839
Yuk, bugs.
I had to clean the windshield several times over the course of the day.
entry 840
The driver's side mirror snapped off.
It was last seen on the outside of turn 9.
entry 841
On the trip home, I had an extra passenger.
That's a Buick 215. No, it's not for the Seven. It's to make the trailer go faster.
entry 842
To get to Salt Lake City, you have to drive through the salt lake.
This is a little hallucenogenic if you've just finished the haul across Nevada.
entry 843

April 17, 2005:
I've been doing a lot of thinking about future upgrades to the Seven.
It needs some work to fulfill its potential. The first step will be to fix the exhaust (whoops), but what's after that? I'm going to add some roll stiffness to the suspension through a combination of stiffer springs and a front sway bar. The actual sizes are still very much a mystery of course. I'm thinking 30-50% more spring rate would be a good start although it will be a shame to lose that supple ride. A bit too supple, though - I'm bottoming out the rear suspension on hard cornering. I'm pretty much going to have to just make a semi-educated guess on this one. Time for a little more research.

Another thought is to replace the Miata gauges with some new ones. The Miata speedometer isn't working due to the broken cable. The oil pressure and tachometer needles get blown around by the wind as the glass isn't completely sealed against the dash. Then again, it wouldn't be that hard to seal things up and I just might be able to put a 1999+ Miata speedometer in the gauge cluster. It's electrically driven. Hmm, that might be a possibility. Regardless, my LED strip tach is going to be added. New harnesses are coming so they can be adjusted once the seats are in - this isn't a problem for me, but currently my passengers are having to deal with ill-fitting belts and that's not safe.

Right now, I'm simply in the planning stages. I'm back in California (the Los Angeles area this time) to work on Miata things and spending all my spare time trying to wrap up the Seven book. Lots of time to think - this can be dangerous.
entry 844

April 23, 2005:
No work done on the car, I've been in California!
Well, almost no work. I've ordered some new harnesses with pull-down lap belts. This will make it easier for my passengers to be properly strapped in. I should have done this earlier.

A Locost builder who lives in the same town as CMC has reported that the building is up for rent. It sounds as if the company may finally be giving up. There has been a long stretch with little or no communication with customers. This could be why.
entry 845

April 27, 2005:
The book is done!
Or at least, it's moved on to the editors at Motorbooks. I am filled with much relief. So now I can get back to working on the car instead of writing about it. The first job? Replace the muffler with a new one that's coming in from Thermal R&D. This one is a nice stainless piece although I declined the polishing. No point as I'll just hit it with some black paint anyhow. Hopefully the sound will still be reasonable. I guess I'll find out...
entry 846

Coming soon to a bookstore near you!
entry 847

May 7, 2005:
I've been enjoying myself doing things that aren't the Seven.
My 323 GTX is up and running now and I'm spending more time biking. But does this mean the Seven is being ignored? Nope. It's hopefully going to a big Miata meet in Moab next weekend so I had a few things to fix.

First up was the muffler. I cut out the old one and welded in a nice new one from Thermal. It's looking good and as soon as it stops raining I'll fire up the car and see how it sounds. I also replaced the rear view mirrors with some that are designed for formula cars, a gift from my friend Rick Weldon. Finally, a broken front fender stay was welded up. I didn't know about this one until I got to the shop. I think I'll probably redo the fender stays because they never hold the fenders straight anyhow and keep shifting around.

It's easy to see how people become serial car builders. I'm starting to realise that some time in the future I'm going to make some rather significant changes to the car. Part of this is fix various little things that could be done better such as the fender stays and cooling, partly to address more significant things such as handling and the rear diff mounting. I'm not going to start over! The car is also developing a patina at a remarkable rate, with damage to the rear fender shields, various paint chips, dirt stuck between the tubes and the panels and bugs embedded in the windshield. I'll have to work to get it nice and clean again.
entry 848

Time for a new muffler.
entry 849
Whoops, a broken fender stay.
Is this from being pushed around to make it sit correctly over the wheel, vibration from the long tow or something else? Hard to say.
entry 850
A new rear view mirror.
entry 851
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