First Cruise - Super 7

[aeronca65t]

Yesterday was my older daughter's 40th birthday (we had a huge party at a local winery).
Anyway, based on her age, I decided to take the S7 out for a 40 mile cruise today.

Actually this is the 3rd cruise in my Ford Sierra-based Robin Hood S7 (ie-Lotus 7 clone). But it's the first time I've brought along a video camera.

Great fun but exhausting from the wind blasting you! The windscreen is pointless and you may as well be sitting on a 2' X 8" plank in terms of side protection. I think it would be easier to drive the racing Spridget on the street.

But again, great fun!
Not a car for an introvert (no problem for me, of course :friendly_wink: )

I had a Ferrari and a very nice dark blue ALFA Spider wave at me.
Amazingly, I even had a Harley wave at me (are they even allowed to wave at other vehicles.....I thought it was against the "Harley Code".
Also, several hands holding cell-phone cameras emerged from cars next to me while standing at a traffic light.
And little kids waved and pointed.

Oil pressure gauge is dead (but pressure is good.....I have an aux. gauge attached to the block). Turn signals are finally working. I still need to do some work on the front fender braces. And, in the long run, I want to redesign/replace the dashboard with something that's aluminum.

Here's a 3 minute vid I took near the lake our Summer house is on (in northwest NJ).

 

[drooartz]

Thanks for sharing the drive, Nial. So is the 7 living up to what you hoped it would be?

 

[HealeyRick]

Freaked me out there a bit. Forgot it was RHD and thought your daughter was with you in the passenger's seat. When she panned over to the "driver's side" ... no you! Wow, lots of wind noise there. Maybe this could cut it down:

Looks like a fun ride. Acceleration must be great.

 

[aeronca65t]

Thanks for sharing the drive, Nial. So is the 7 living up to what you hoped it would be?

I'm getting the hang of shifting with my left hand (which is decent practice for the rhd racing A-35 I'm building).

The Ford T-9 5-speed trans has a dreadful shifter.....especially after driving Spridgets with the delightful ribcase 4-speed. Ratios are very wide too. Fortunately the Pinto 2.0 engine is torquey, has about 110 horsepower and weighs less than 1500 lbs so the clunky gearbox isn't a real problem.
I've driven cars with this trans before and haven't been impressed.....it sort of surprises me to think that people would pull a ribcase out of a Spridget and put one of these T-9s in.
I ditched the radio yesterday (pointless unless the car is parked) and I'm pretty sure I'm going to replace the electric temp gauge with a mechanical one.
I intend to drop the seats a bit (so I don't have to look straight at the upper windshield frame). And I plan of moving the gas pedal a little so my Size 12s won't hit it and the brakes at the same time. :friendly_wink:
So it'll be an ongoing project that I will keep drivable.
Everything in the car blows around. I was wearing a hoodie and the hood and drawstrings kept flailing an whipping me. Also the end of the seat belt kept slapping me. Just details that I'll have to work out.
Otherwise the cars neat. It has a limited slip diff and put down two nice black marks when a Honda SUV tried to drag race me

The paint is pretty tired and I couldn't bring it back with any of the usual methods, so I plan to have it painted later in the year.

Rick: The wind noise is like driving a motorcycle without a helmet. Loud. That "hat" is probably the only thing that would stay on....you'd lose a baseball cap in about 30 seconds.

 

[HealeyRick]

Rick: The wind noise is like driving a motorcycle without a helmet. Loud. That "hat" is probably the only thing that would stay on....you'd lose a baseball cap in about 30 seconds.

I suppose you could always go with the traditional leather flying helmet and goggles, but you'd have to be a lot more of an extrovert than me to carry off that look.

 

[drooartz]

it sort of surprises me to think that people would pull a ribcase out of a Spridget and put one of these T-9s in.

Rick: The wind noise is like driving a motorcycle without a helmet. Loud. That "hat" is probably the only thing that would stay on....you'd lose a baseball cap in about 30 seconds.

That overdrive 5th is an attractive option, even if the shift quality is worse. Penny will get a Datsun 5-speed (dogleg) for just that reason. Always a compromise...

Do you have the sidecurtain/doors for the 7? Would they help at all with the wind noise and buffeting?

After watching your video I spent an hour on YouTube watching other Seven videos. Really looks like a lot of fun.

 

[aeronca65t]

The Datsun box is much better. And because it normally mates to a small engine, the ratios are better too.

 

[drooartz]

I do hope the Datsun box will work out well. Out here in the wide west and overdrive is pretty much a necessity, can't avoid all of the longer transit sections.

Keep the updates coming, I'm living the Seven experience vicariously through you. :grin:

 

[BillD]

I suppose you could always go with the traditional leather flying helmet and goggles, but you'd have to be a lot more of an extrovert than me to carry off that look.

Love your car. I had the same problem with my SS100 replica and being "hair impaired", some sort of head covering was essential. The only hat that would stay on was a "Russian" fur hat with ear flaps and a chin strap. Those flat "news boy" caps seem to come close to working but even knit hats would fly off. I mounted some Brooklands racing screens and the problem went away when the main windshield was folded down. I had expected a cool, period look but with much less actual wind screening. It is now a pleasure to motor at speed and even baseball caps are now viable head gear.

 

[HealeyRick]

Love your car. I had the same problem with my SS100 replica and being "hair impaired", some sort of head covering was essential. The only hat that would stay on was a "Russian" fur hat with ear flaps and a chin strap.

You'll need to be a bit further north to pass unnoticed wearing that, hoser: