in the interest of genuine Lotus Sevens and their owners
– cars & owners – ancillary – period galleries – for sale –
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After 30 years of autocross (mostly with Super Sevens) and 10 years of vintage racing, I decided it is about time to stop racing, and so rather than let the cars sit, I am offering them for sale. FOR SALE
1963 Lotus Super Seven vintage race car Frame # 1633 This is a fresh rebuild on a car well documented on the Simple Sevens website: Bob Graham's Seven I bought the car after it had been raced in 2008. A previous owner grenaded the engine, and lost interest in the project. In retrospect, that was probably a good thing, because the car was poorly prepared for racing, with flattened brake lines, undersized bolts (5/16” bolts in 3/8” holes), and loose transmission mounts & rear axle assembly. The car had to be a beast to drive. The engine died before he had a chance to put in to a wall.
Anyway, I bought the chassis sans engine. After a thorough inspection, I determined the best course of action was to start over. The chassis was a mess. The aluminum had been taken off and reattached several times over the years and had numerous holes and crude patches everywhere. The old rotted aluminum was removed and the frame stripped, inspected, repaired (properly) and repainted. The frame was in very good condition and absolutely straight, but it was covered with oil, dirt, and a sloppy paint job. I replaced the roll bar. I am 6’ 1” tall with size 13 feet and my head was well over the old roll bar. The new roll bar helps stiffen the chassis dramatically by triangulating the frame from the rear up to the firewall. Historically, when this car was raced in the 60’s, it was painted a solid yellow, but I just couldn’t bring myself to paint that nice shiny aluminum. So now it is a bare alloy body with freshly painted yellow fiberglass.
Since the car needed a “new” engine, I had George Bauchman build up a fresh 1500 cc precrossflow engine. This is totally fresh build on a previously unmolested Cortina engine. The block fitted with steel main bearing caps and line bored. Tappets were upgraded to the larger later (711M) style. The head has been bench flowed. It is making over 135 hp (with a very flat power curve from 5900 to 7500 rpm) on the dyno. It has a dry sump oil system (fully aeroquipped), with a new Titan oil pump, twin Weber 40 DCOE carbs, competition rods (Cunningham) & pistons. It has a Quartermaster lightweight steel flywheel with a Tilton single plate clutch. The transmission is a Ford semi-close ratio all sychromesh 4 speed.
The rear axle required a lot of work. Originally it had been fitted with a Spitfire differential and was using the small diameter TR10 axle shafts. These are too weak for racing. I replaced them with a Quaife LSD, mounted in a TR7 carrier. I then had a set of custom steel alloy axles made. . A new lower A frame to locate the rear axle was also installed. The car as raced in 2008, had a small aluminum fuel tank. I do not know how it ever passed tech inspection. It had no bladder or foam. I installed a new 8 gallon ATL cell. I installed the larger cell, because I like to run enduroes, and this gives enough capacity to run over 1 hour without refueling. As of this date (July 1, 2010), the car has not yet been raced. It had some testing miles on it, and it drives beautifully. The transmission shifts well and is quiet. With the straight pipe exhaust, it is LOUD. For testing purposes, I made up a muffler to replace the open exhaust. At least it’s quiet enough to not annoy the neighbors as much. I do plan to race the car, starting this summer, or until if/when it is sold. I had previously raced a similar Seven over 9 years in vintage events with good success. That car was sold to Bob Colaizzi who has been going even faster. This car is better. This is an exceptional opportunity to buy a very well prepared vintage racer with a well documented racing history back to the 60’s. This car has the benefit of 9 years development of my previous Seven vintage racer. The car currently has a VDCA logbook.
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– cars & owners – ancillary – period galleries – for sale –