Super Seven (wip)

[mikevillena]

Hey gang,

I've always admired the brilliant engineer in Colin Chapman and I've had this itch to build a super seven since I saw R&T's Peter Egan embarrass GT-1 Corvettes and Camaros during a Mid-West Council race (He won overall, by the way :D ). So I decided to scratch! (build) :D

It's looking pretty rough at the moment, but I'll soon progress to something more recognizable. Either that or build a "lakester" instead! A nice flathead maybe?

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/mikevillena/Lotus%20Super%20Seven/LotusSeven002.jpg
:D

PS. I know it's still early days and I already have a bunch of crossbraces. After I finish the hood er...bonnet :D and have it tacked in place, I'll keep removing tubing until it all falls apart. Then I'll put one tube back in :D :D

[mikevillena]

Heh, I know it's time to go to bed whenever I start doing this...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/mikevillena/Lotus%20Super%20Seven/LotusSeven005.jpg
HONDA POWER!!!!!! Goodnight all....

[Legend_Car]

that engine looks sweet

[^j!nx^]

oh man cant wait to see this one!

BTW: what do you do for a living that lets you have this much time? Incase I missed it in another thread :)

[MaxxThrasher]

LOL Mike, ya sure can't do that without a sense of humor. Especially when you spend that much time on something and drop it and it breaks to pieces. Laughing sure beats the alternative. :p

[Piggy89373]

LMAO....too funny!!! And that engine is huge! :eek: Well detailed too.

[AirBoston]

If I'm to drive that thing, make sure it's RHD! Also I prefer BRG with Lotus yellow nose and full fenders... non of those motorcycle fenders used on the replicas.

[mikevillena]

Hey gang,

Thanks for the compliments!!! :) The engine is actually what's left of my Tamiya 1/12th scale Honda F-1 kit that I built about twenty years ago. Sadly, I don't have the rest of the car anymore and I don't remember what happened to it (mental block?). Airboss - RHD eh? BRG with Lotus Yellow nose....hmmm. I was thinking polished alloy bodywork with carbon fiber fenders....maybe not as I still have to learn how to paint CF. I did make the rollbar tall enough to clear your BIG HEAD! lol just kidding, bro! :D
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/mikevillena/Lotus%20Super%20Seven/LotusSeven007.jpg
A little more recognizable. This is actually a dimmunitive car, sort of a motorized skateboard! I just tacked on the rollbar hoop and I'll be trimming it down. I also fitted a "medium" nosebox on the M02 chassis to bring it close to the 88 inch wheelbase on the real Lotus Seven.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/mikevillena/Lotus%20Super%20Seven/LotusSeven008.jpg
Okay, back to the work bench. Later gang! :D

Peace
P.B.

[mikevillena]

By the by, since I'm working on a proper Brit sportscar, I thought I'd do a quick refresher on real workshop pratices when working on British sportscars. Naturally, I pilfered this from one such site....

10 Best Tools of All Time
Forget the Snap-On Tools truck; its never been there when you need it. Besides there are only 10 things in this world you need to fix any car, any place, any time.

1. Duct Tape - Not just a tool, a veritable Swiss Army knife in stickum and plastic. Its safety wire, body material, radiator hose, upholstery, insulation, tow rope, and more in an easy to carry package. Sure, there's prejudice surrounding duct tape in concours competitions, but in the real world, everything from LeMans winning Porches to Atlas rockets use it by the yard. the only thing that can get you out of more scrapes is a quarter and a phone booth.

2. Vice Grips - Equally adept as a wrench, hammer, pliers, baling wire twister, breaker-off of frozen bolts and wiggle-it-til-it falls-off tool. the heavy artillery of your tool box, vice grips are the only tool designed expressly to fix things screwed up beyond repair.

3. Spray Lubricants - A considerably cheaper alternative to new doors, alternator, and other squeaky items. Slicker than pig phlegm, repeated soakings will allow the main hull bolts of the Andrea Doria to be removed by hand. Strangely enough, an integral part of these sprays is the infamous little red tube that flies out of the nozzle if you look at it cross eyed (one of the 10 worst tools of all time).

4. Margarine Tubs with Clear Lids - If you spend all you time under the hood looking for A frendle pin that caromed off the petal valve when you knocked both off the air cleaner, it's because you eat butter. Real mechanics consume pounds of tasteless vegetable oil replicas just so they can use the empty tubs for parts containers afterward. (some of course chuck the butter-colored goo altogether or use it to repack wheel bearings.) Unlike air cleaners and radiator lips, margarine tubs aren't connected by a time/space wormhole to the Parallel Universe of Lost Frendle Pins.

5. Big Rock at the Side of the Road - Block up a tire. Smack corroded battery terminals. Pound out a dent. Bop noisy know-it-all types on the noodle. Scientists have yet to develop a hammer that packs the raw banging power of granite or limestone. This is the only tool with which a "made in India" emblem is not synonymous with the user's maiming.

6. Plastic Zip Ties - After 20 years of lashing down stray hose and wiring with old bread ties, some genius brought a slightly slicked up version to the auto parts market. Fifteen zip ties can transform a hulking mass of amateur quality wiring from a working model of the Brazilian Rain Forest into something remotely resembling a wiring harness. Of course it works both ways. When buying a used car, subtract $100 for each zip tie under the hood.

7. Ridiculously Large Standard Screwdriver - Let's admit it. There's nothing better for prying, chiseling, lifting, breaking, splitting or mutilating than a huge flat bladed screwdriver particularly when weilded with gusto and a big hammer. This is also the tool of choice for all filters so insanely located that they can only be removed by driving a stage in one side and out the other. If you break the screwdriver --and you will just like Dad and you shop teacher said--who cares if it has a lifetime guarantee.

8. Bailing Wire - Commonly known as MG muffler brackets, bailing wire holds anything that's too hot for tape or ties. Like duct tape, it's not recommended for concours contenders since it works so well you'll never need to replace it with the right thing again. Bailing wire is a sentimental favorite in some circles, particularly with the MG, Triumph, and flathead Ford set.

9. Bonking Stick - This monstrous tuning fork with devilish pointy ends is technically known as a tie-rod-separator, but how often do you separate tie-rod ends? Once every decade if you're lucky. Other than medieval combat, its real use is the all purpose application of undue force, not unlike that of the huge flat-bladed screwdriver. Nature doesn't know the bent metal panel or frozen exhaust pipe that can stand up to a good bonking stick. (Can also be use to separate Tie-rod ends in a pinch, of course, but does a lousy job of it).

10. A Quarter and a Phone Booth - See tip #1 above

If anyone ever comes across the famous "Lucas internal memo" (the one dealing with "smoke"), please feel free to post it here! Okay, I think I'll have a brew-up; not a formal one mind you, as it's too late in the evening. Cheers!!! P.B.

PS. Since I copied this verbatim (sort of), I'm not responsible for the typos..."Porches"???? sorry Airboss :p Ah, yes....I can hear it now....."on pole is the GT-1 PORCHE with it's controvesial, but FIA approved swing set and potted flowers. Second on the grid is....." lol :D

[microrcdude]

Oh man im a super seven freak! a few people race some here, im sure i can scrounge up some pics for the old mike.

And mike, why do you always read my mind and do cars that ive been wanting to do for years? i hate you lol

[mikevillena]

MICRO!!!!!!! So, did the drifters let you out to play???? :p What do you think? Maybe a nice Morgan 4 with the "sliding pillar" front suspension from a pan car? Or maybe a Formula Ford? :D

[microrcdude]

I still hate you. Formula ford........dang thats like one of the best open wheel classes ever. You should do a formula Vee. Anyway, those drifters dont really notice im there, so its easy to sneak outside, hehe

[mikevillena]

Lol.....I knew you were a sports car fan at heart!!! Drifitng is cool but those guys don't know that Tazio Nuvolari perfected "drifting" over 70 years ago with Alfa's and the notorious monster of an Auto-Union Gp car. I think he even drove the Alfa Bi-Motore (twin engined Gp). Gulp! On very skinny tires.......

[Silent Scope]

Looks really sick... I love thoes cars BTW

[^j!nx^]

Lol.....I knew you were a sports car fan at heart!!! Drifitng is cool but those guys don't know that Tazio Nuvolari perfected "drifting" over 70 years ago with Alfa's and the notorious monster of an Auto-Union Gp car. I think he even drove the Alfa Bi-Motore (twin engined Gp). Gulp! On very skinny tires.......

Some of us drifter know a little more about automotive history then you think :cool: :D

[cuchytil]

Where's that car going to be driven? I want to come watch!

[mikevillena]

Some masterful bit of automotive writing by (Sir) Peter Egan (my hero) of Road and Track to be enjoyed with your warm beer.......


Automotive: The Right Tool for the Job
Peter Egan of Road & Track These hilarious automotive tool definitions have been floating around on the Internet for some time now with no credit to the author. Sensitive to such things because people have plagiarized and out-and-out stolen stuff that I've written, I decided to track down the author. Much to my surprise and pleasure, it was none other than Peter Egan, one of my all-time favorite automotive writers. This piece originally appeared in Road & Track, April 1996 in Peter's column, Side Glances. The original column has a half-page introduction and some additional definitions, so I recommend you try to obtain that issue of R&T. It was also reprinted in the book, Side Glances, Vol. 2, 1992-1997 by Peter Egan, published by Brooklands Books Ltd., a wonderfuil collection of 66 or Peter's columns.
Hammer: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive car parts not far from the object we are trying to hit.

Mechanic's Knife: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on boxes containing convertible tops or tonneau covers.

Electric Hand Drill: Normally used for spinning steel Pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age, but it also works great for drilling rollbar mounting holes in the floor of a sports car just above the brake line that goes to the rear axle.

Hacksaw: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

Vise-Grips: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

Oxyacetelene Torch: Used almost entirely for lighting those stale garage cigarettes you keep hidden in the back of the Whitworth socket drawer (What wife would think to look in there?) because you can never remember to buy lighter fluid for the Zippo lighter you got from the PX at Fort Campbell

Zippo Lighter: See oxyacetelene torch.

Whitworth Sockets: Once used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for hiding six-month old Salems from the sort of person who would throw them away for no good reason.

Drill Press: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against the Rolling Stones poster over the bench grinder.

Wire Wheel: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar callouses in about the time it takes you to say, "Django Reinhardt".

Hydraulic Floor Jack: Used for lowering a Mustang to the ground after you have installed a set of Ford Motorsports lowered road springs, trappng the jack handle firmly under the front air dam.

Eight-Foot Long Douglas Fir 2X4: Used for levering a car upward off a hydraulic jack.

Tweezers: A tool for removing wood splinters.

Phone: Tool for calling your neighbor Chris to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack.

Snap-On Gasket Scraper: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-doo off your boot.

E-Z Out Bolt and Stud Extractor: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit.

Timing Light: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating grease buildup on crankshaft pulleys.

Two-Ton Hydraulic Engine Hoist: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of ground straps and hydraulic clutch lines you may have forgotten to disconnect.

Craftsman 1/2 x 16-inch Screwdriver: A large motor mount prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end without the handle.

Battery Electrolyte Tester: A handy tool for transferring sulfuric acid from car battery to the inside of your toolbox after determining that your battery is dead as a doornail, just as you thought.

Aviation Metal Snips: See Hacksaw.

Trouble Light: The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin", which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.

Phillips Screwdriver: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off Phillips screw heads.

Air Compressor: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty suspension bolts last tightened 40 years ago by someone in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and rounds them off.

Grease Gun: A messy tool for checking to see if your zerk fittings are still plugged with rust.

All hail the Prince of Darkness.......Lucas
P.B.

[microrcdude]

Yeah, im not really your average drifter, lol. I used to "drift" like 6 years ago, but it wasnt really intentional. I would put tamiya slicks with hard foam inserts on my RS4, and practice racing with the crappy tires. Made it easier for me to adapt to new surfaces.

And i must say, im a HUGE gripper before im a drifter.

And i know TONS about racing, its pretty much all i know (other than how to drive through drive-thrus and what to order for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, haha)

My favorite types of racing:
-Formula Vee
-Spec miata (2005 pro miata race of portland, dominated by our team)
-TRANS AM!!!!!!!!!!(Who doesnt)
-Any vintage cars (I know Rolla Vollstedt, actually his sons crew chief, and i got to work on his indy cars a while back, absolutly amaizing)

[mikevillena]

Hey gang,

Silent Scope - Thanks dude. I love them too. :D
J!nx - sorry, I wasn't trying to dis- the drifters. I should have known better as the bunch over at RCD are damned passionate about sports and racing cars! :D BTW....when are you going to publish a calendar? I'm going to keep buggin ' you until you do. Your photography is top notch as a lot of the folks here would agree with me. :D

chuchytil - I might being it to the next Tamiya TCS Race at Trackside (next Feb?). As it is, there isn't a track nearby :(

Micro - Drifting is way cool. It's a very difficult discipline either full size or in 1/10th scale and mastery will always command respect from me. In truth, I love all kinds of cars and all of the different disciplines from off road Baja racing, Rock Crawling, Drag Racing, American Muscle, Imports, Vintage, Bonneville Flats, Low Riders, rusty beaters to Le Mans Prototypes (whew) :D . I think it's way cool. The only reason that I don't have a monster truck (r/c) is because I can't afford anything at the moment. I'd love to do a really trick Bronco bodyshell or a Baja Bug but I don't have a chassis for it :( .

Anyway, I've tackled the challenge of replicating the Seven's hood. I've already figured out how to do the louvers and I'll be fiberglassing the fenders and cowl.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/mikevillena/Lotus%20Super%20Seven/LotusSeven009.jpg

Getting there, don't you think. Later gang!

P.B. :D

[Legend_Car]

shes looking like a car. looks good mike

[mikevillena]

Thanks, Legend. Either that or an exact replica of a full size Lotus Kit car that's been sitting unfinished in someone's garage for the last ten years :D . I'll have to cover it with some 1/10th scale tarp! LOL...

[More Juice]

looking very good!

[cnroman]

That looks sweet.

[mikevillena]

Thanks, guys! :)

[AirBoston]

RHD, BRG, and real fenders
http://www.mrmodels.co.nz/nov-2002-images/Tamiya/Vehicles/1-24th_1-25th_scales/24046_Tamiya_Lotus_Super_7_Series_II.jpg
inside shot
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.heritageclassics.com/lotus/65super7/L.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.heritageclassics.com/lotus/65super7/Page.html&h=600&w=800&sz=26&tbnid=QguYq5SjkskJ:&tbnh=106&tbnw=142&hl=en&start=6&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsuper%2B7%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr %3D


Nice one!
http://britishtoolbox.com/eas/images/cars/Bill'sCaterham2.jpg

[mikevillena]

Thanks for the great reference photos, AirBoss! Got em downloaded and printed. Do you have the 1/24th scale Tamiya kit?

I made some progress on the nose of the car. I tried a different and new technique for replicating compound curves. It's still somewhat rough and needs further re-shaping and putty but I feel pretty satisfied with my solution to the challenge.....
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/mikevillena/Lotus%20Super%20Seven/LotusSeven010.jpg
I wish I had some detailed scale drawings with dimensions to work from, but all of my Googling has turned up empty. I've been eyeballing things thus far and I see that I'm a little bit off on the lower portion of the nose. Oh well, nothing that a little more putty can't fix. Back to the workbench!

[mikevillena]

More corrections and modifications. I decided to go with a removable hood to show some engine details although the M02 chassis doesn't give me much room.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/mikevillena/Lotus%20Super%20Seven/LotusSeven011.jpg
Peace
P.B.

I managed to dig up some unused Tamiya chrome wheels and 60D tires! :D

[Legend_Car]

lookin good i think you could say that putty is your buddy :D

[mikevillena]

YUP! One of these days, I'll actually scratchbuild something out of 100% plastic and no spot putty! Kind of like good quality hot dogs....all meat and no fillers! lol