Ken Sailor

I've never read or heard anywhere that the VIN number was stamped on the frame of any of the Lotus or Caterham 7's, although anything's possible. The impression I have from what I've read - and photos I've seen of the Lotus factory - is that the frames Arch produced for Lotus were piled up, helter - skelter, all over the place. Some were even stored in a pile outdoors. I would think that Lotus would have taken them off the pile at random. I guess that what I'm trying to say is that there would't be any corralation between frame numbers and VIN numbers so that IF the VIN number was stamped on the frame it would have been done by Lotus when they partially assembled the chassis portion of the kit car. It just doesn't seem very likely to me. Ken Sailor

I have a RHD 1979 Caterham and I believe it's Arch Motor's FRAME number and those for the Lotus Series 2 and 3 all all in the same place, i.e. on the cross member at the top/front of the drivers side footwell near where all the pedal pivot points are. On my car this is a piece of angle iron. The FRAME number is stamped on it. Mine reads 'AM......" By CHASSIS number I assume you mean the VIN number which, on the early cars is normally stamped on a black faced plate riveted somewher near the heater (it's in slightly different places on different 7's I've seen) Ken Sailor

Jimchap: I used a US product called Thermo Tec to insulate the foot wells of my Seven. They sell one that's adhesive backed. I used it on the engine side of the foot wells. There are probably similar products available in the UK from places like Demon Tweeks. There's been some posts on heat shields/barriers so a search on BlatChat should pull up some alternative products and sources. Ken Sailor

Is everything on the ignition circuit working (electric fuel pump, etc.)? I had a similar problem recently when my ignition switch went wonky and worked sometimes and sometimes not. Ken Sailor

This might work here Ken Sailor

I've streightened them with a flat head screwdriver and a lot of fiddling but if I'd known about this gadget I would have bought it! Ken Sailor

If you want to know how to bake a cake, ask a baker. If you want to know how to store tires, ask a tire maker here Ken Sailor

1979 X-Flow. Rear exhaust. Standard windscreen. Always drive without soft top or Tonneau cover. Never smell exhaust. Ken Sailor

There's some info here There was a California S4 owner who was also putting together a parts list. He posted on BlatChat not that long ago. Worth a search. Ken Sailor

Scalper, there's a bunch of photos of clutch release bearings here that will give you an idea of what it is. Additional suggestion as to what you can do while the engine is out of the car - there are a number of posts about applying heat shielding to the engine side of the foot wells and inside the gearbox tunnel. The foot well of the Seven can get pretty hot and uncomfortable in hot weather! Ken Sailor

Peter C: The radiator paint I mentioned was in response to Ferrino's problem of painting a radiator that had flaking paint and his concern about clogging up the spaces between the fins. The radiator paint here that I used was thinner than regular paint and was heat resistant. Don't know anything about heat transfer. Ken Sailor

I repainted mine with a radiator paint I got from Eastwood here in the US. Same kind of company as Frost so they probably have it also. Not 'gloppy' at all dispite my liberal spray technique too. Ken Sailor

A member of the Golden Gate Lotus Club reskinned his Series 2 and posted info on how he did it, what type of alum. and rivets he used here. Ken Sailor

I found an article by Frank Michaux in the July 1997 issue of Low Flying that had, what seems to me, a good solution to getting air into the footwell. He took, from a Mark three Escort's dashboard, the far right and far left fresh air intakes with their plastic pipes and put one into each footwell. Drivers side was installed in a cutout he made behind the pedals with the vent angled downwards. The vent was held in place with silicone sealant. He claimed he had no water leakage. Any reason why this shouldn't work? Could be sealed with duct tape for the winter. Ken Sailor

I took a look at Weale's book also. The two axles look similar with some differences between the diff. casings that are hard to discribe. However, the diagrams in the book show a square plate at the outer ends of the axle for the Ford type. This is the plate that the brake assembly is attached to. The diagram for the Ital axle shows round plate at the axle ends. Ken Sailor