Alaskossie

I nearly lost my Seven off a trailer while tied down with one ratchet strap front, and one rear, to the chassis tow points. Going over bumps, the chassis springs apparently jounced and rebounded, causing the front strap to unhook itself, and leaving the car to roll backwards, half-off and half-on the trailer. Luckily, a motorist in the adjoining lane warned me that something was wrong, before the worst happened. That was a close one! Alaskossie

dannylt, what transmission did you use to harness that 308 hp and 225 lb.ft of torque from the 2445cc Duratec? I take it that you are not using that engine now?? --if that's correct, why not? Alaskossie

If I'm not mistaken, in addition to the main fuel tank, the JPE had two small tanks, one on either side of the prop shaft, and mounted forward of the driveshafts and deDion tube, in the small triangular spaces just aft of the passenger compartment. I assume that the separate fuel pump drew fuel from these tanks and ran it into the regular system. i have never seen this system in the flesh, but a French owner of a yellow JPE had nice photos of a detailed model of his JPE on a website (no longer active), and the rear frame and twin saddle tanks were shown in some detail. Alaskossie

johnnyseven, you have a PM. Alaskossie

On my S3 build, my chief wrench Nathan Down (ex-CC engineer) made a panel of aluminum, mounted the ECU and MFU and speedo translator on it, and mounted it on a piano hinge to the underside of the passenger footwell. it is secured by two slot-head bolts at the forward edge. It is protected, out of the way, and yet easily accessible. IMHO, this is the way CC should do it from the factory. Alaskossie

S1mon, I assume you are talking about mud flaps on the front cycle wings (and not on the rear wings)? In my long-running build (not on the road yet), my man Nathan has just installed front flaps made from rally-car (neoprene?) mud flap material(obtained from a USA rally supplier). A very neat installation. Send me a PM if you want photos. The only caution I have heard is that if the flap on the exhaust side is too long, wind pressure may hold it against the hot primary and cause a nasty-smelling smoulder. Alaskossie

I obtained a custom Radtec extreme radiator for my 2.3 Duratec S3. I had Radtec swap the positions of the inlet and outlet pipes, so that the hoses would not have to do a "lane change" in front of the engine. Keith at Radtec was a pleasure to work with, long-distance. But I wish I had known to ask for the Club 10% discount..... Alaskossie

Neil, Now that you've asked... It is 0 degrees F. outside right now,and I am just finishing with the construction of a 3500 square foot garage with radiant heating in the floors.... see the thread at: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41882&highlight=alaskan But my Seven would not wait, and is being built in a garage down in Colorado where it's a bit warmer. Hope to have an article for Low Flying about driving the Seven from Colorado to Alaska next summer... however, I should not count my chickens before they hatch..... Alaskossie

I bought the earlier-style airbox for my 2.3 Duratec, and with the extra height of the 2.3 engine, there was some definite interference between the bonnet and the topside Dzus fastener on the airbox. It took a bit of fiddling and a piece of carbon fiber to cut that fastener off and replace with two fasteners to the side and one at the bottom. (I didn't come up with the solution; Nathan Down, formerly of CC and who some of you may know, is helping me finish my car). The standard Pipercross "dome" air filter is a press-fit into the old-style c/f airbox. I am sure that some amount of intake surface area of the filter is lost by being flush up against the airbox. So we tossed the dome filter, and put four individual Pipercross foam intake "socks" on the four trumpets. (I launched an earlier thread on BC on this question of airbox interference with the standard Pipercross air filter, but got no responses). Alaskossie

They are from Oxted, and apparently available now in either leather, or faux leather. Alaskossie

tbird, Glad to help! On both of your stated criteria, the panoramic "MirrorsforSevens" fills the bill -- clip on and off on the windscreen frame, and an ultra-wide view behind. Alaskossie

Take a look at a panoramic mirror made especially for the Seven: http://www.mirrorsforsevens.com/index.htm Alaskossie

Do you folks with the R500s have the vented nose cone that direct all air going through the rad out through the nose duct, rather than purging the engine bay and moving some air through the bay? I assume you do. I heard that this problem of excessive, stagnant engine bay heat was identified as a problem with the CSR, which of course has the same vented nose. I guess it's a trade-off -- nose-cone anti-lift vs. engine bay heat. Alaskossie

I mounted both a Mocal brick-shaped rectanghular header tank, and an identical connected overflow "burp" tank, on my scuttle in front of the heater. I fashioned some right-angle brackets and 45-degree support brackets out of aluminium angle, had them welded to hold their angles, and mounted all to the scuttle with nut-serts and hex-headed button bolts. I have a photo of the general layout, and could sketch how I mounted the tanks on the brackets. I have not been successful in posting photos to BlatChat, so could you send me you e-mail by pm? Unfortunately I'm flying from Anchorage, Alaska tonight for Christmas holidays in Boston on the East Coast, so I may not be able to respond until I return on Dec. 30, but I'd love to share my "home-made" solution (which does look rather smart, IMHO). Alaskossie

The 15-inch CC anthracite 10-spoke wheels are 6.5-inch rim width, except that on the CSR, the rear rim width is 9 inches. I have taken the plunge, and have put the 9-inch rear CSR rims and the 255/40 Avon rear tyres on my Series 3 (now in final build stage). There appears to be enough clearance for the rear suspension bits; we'll see. Alaskossie

I have had my c/f front and rear wings professionally clear-coated with clear lacquer, and they take on a glossy 3-dimensional look that is really nice. However, my dash is also c/f and of course was not clear-coated by CC before the gauges and switches were installed. It would be a real pain to remove all the dash hardware to clear-coat, at this stage. Is there a protective wax or polish that can be applied, that will not leave a white residue in all the c/f pores, etc.? Alaskossie

On my 2007 S3 (Arch chassis), I made a mount on the side of the heater housing, and fastened the washer bottle bracket to it. I was tight for space on the scuttle in any event, since I have an ali header tank and an ali overflow "burp" tank for the radiator also mounted on the scuttle, in front of the heater housing. (Of course, if you don't have a heater, then just disregard all of the foregoing.....) Alaskossie

Pendennis, Thanks for the photo. How often does the mechanical rabbit with the drum have to come around to charge up that 300 hp "Duracell"? :<)) The 2.3 Duratec block is a bit taller, of course. With the stock cam cover, the oil filler cap fouls the bonnet on my car. The Raceline cam cover will not work, as my Cosworth Duratec has the coil-on-plug arrangement. Reverie have made me a carbon fiber cam cover for the coil-on-plug setup, and in addition it eliminates the oil filler (don't need it, as I have dry sump). Alaskossie

Pendennis, yes, some of the cast-in lugs and ribs on the head had to be ground flat (above the exhaust primaries) to get the Raceline water rail to fit up against the head. Also, the mounting plates for the exhaust primaries (also from Raceline) had to be trimmed to fit with the water rail. Due to the lack of clearance between the bonnet on the S3 chassis and the taller 2.3 Duratec engine, the fellow who is handling the major part of my build now (Nathan Down, formerly of CC) had to eliminate the Raceline swirl pot/thermostat housing, and fabricate a shorter one that has no thermostat provision, and no removable cap. Alaskossie

On my nearly-complete S3 build (Cosworth Duratec 2.3 dry-sump), I have installed the Raceline water rail. It requires a bit of grinding-off of unused casting lugs on the exhaust side of the head so that the water rail fits tightly (something that Raceline did not mention). Since my head has the coil-on-plug design, the legs at the rear of the Raceline casting that are normally used to support the ignition coil, were use to mount my fuel regulator. I had Radtec make up a high-capacity radiator with the inlet and outlet hose positions swapped side-to-side, to avoid having to cross the top and bottom rad hoses from side to side to reach the radiator from the engine -- a neater solution. Alaskossie

Why don't you try a panoramic mirror from mirrorsforsevens? See:http://www.mirrorsforsevens.com/index.htm They are built especially for Sevens by a Seven owner,and work a treat. No ex-Fiesta hand-me-down parts here.... Alaskossie

Another solution, used by bsimon in USA, is to machine a small ball-bearing guide pulley that mounts in the throttle-cable hole in the pedal box. Of course, access to a machine shop and a handiness with tools helps considerably. Alaskossie

--"As for the removal of the filler ‘flapper’, again do-able, but I am perhaps edging towards the safety conscious and may thank my luck stars one unfortunate day that I left the flapper in place ( an upside down moment, yikes)."--- RD, I doubt that the internal flapper-thingie will prevent much flammable stuff from running out in case of an upset. I understood that the annoying flap was installed primarily to prevent the use of improper filler nozzles, or to prevent siphoning of petrol out of the tank, or for some reason other than upset-proofing the tank. Alaskossie

Fellows, be truthful now -- How many UK Seveners remove all of the silly SVA-compliant add-ons as soon as their cars have passed the SVA inspection? And how many UK Seveners try earnestly to keep the SVA bits and bobs in place, and replace them when they inevitably fall off? Alaskossie

I am fitting the CSR 15x9" rear wheels and tyres on my 2007 S3 with deDion and Watts link (my car is in the final throes of "build stage"). The clearance with all the suspension bits and the body seems to be close, but adequate. Just in case, I have 5mm spacers by Eibach that I can add, without having to replace the standard wheel studs with longer ones. Preliminary sizing up indicates that these wheels will also fit within the CC carbon-fibre rear wings..... Alaskossie