I am in the proccess of restoring a Lotus 7.

I am an engineer for East Anglia Motorsports and Willes Machine Products which are both owned by John Willes who obtained the car from a well-to-do Head Surgeon(Mark) here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Back in the 80's this Mark fellow went to England when the Pound was at a record low to the U.S. Dollar. He bought up all the "classic" cars he could find: Bentley's, several Rolls-Royces, Jaguars, and a couple Lotus'. He has sold, or donated, most all these cars now. He knew John Willes as an enthusiast and knew that East Anglia Motorsports could restore the car to road-worthyness as we build, maintain, and prep cars for the race track. He "gave" us the Lotus so we could get it back on its feet again and so now I have it in house and have begun stripping it down.

The car I'm working with is a bit of a mystery to me. Everything "looks" original except for a couple electrical modifications. The motor is a Ford 116E 6050 AB. The Weber carburetor is on the same side as the exhaust. My big problem is that I can't find any ID tag on the car. It was driveable in 1983 and was titled as a 1967 Lotus with a SD11967 VIN number. So, I believe its a Series Two "Super Seven" but I don't know enough about these cars to be sure and the VIN number doesn't correspond to any of the SB#'s of the time. (I've attached some digital photos of the car)

My plans are to strip it down to the chassis and make the necessary fixes. What I need is to find some schematics/ pictures/ layouts/ parts lists/ etc. so I can put it all back together as close to original as possible. I don't know if it would be possible for me to borrow your book (or any detailed information you might have on this car) so that I can decide if its worth paying the extra price to get a copy for myself.

It took me a while to clean off all the old layers of paint and primer on a chassis tag I found next to the master cylinders that I never would have believed had a number on it. But, low and behold, a number appeared: B1275. Now I need to determine what is original and what is "modified". The bonnet was an easily identified "mod" as a previous owner placed a "piano" hinge down the center so they could access half the engine bay without taking the whole thing off. Unfortunately, at speed I believe the bonnet flexed or flapped about in the wind because they had to rivet a plate all the way down the center rendering the hinge useless. There is a micro-switch attached to the brake master cylinder that activates the brake light. The cooling fan motor, which you noted, was connected to a sensor taped just inside the radiator inlet so that at a given temp the fan would run. I am planning on restoring the car to an "original" state. However I understand that these cars came with a lot of original "modifications". Such as motor sizes, cam sizes, multiple carburators, roll hoops, etc.. The only things that I'm thinking about changing (besides the "mods" the previous owner attempted) is to add a roll hoop and a seat belt. You mentioned the front suspension as being questionable (I've attached some new photos). I would not be suprised if the car was ever "raced" at one time, as you suggest, because there seems to be access panels applied with sheet metal screws to the drive shaft tunnel for easy access to the transmission and rear end. Right now, I'm stripping it down to the chassis. The facia panel is not "correct" for the car and the wiring has me a bit concerned. I don't know if it would be best to rip it all out with disregard or if I should note and renote where each wire leads before disconnecting.

Ford Engine: 116E-6050-AB. Ford Intake Manifold: 116E-94259 (The last digit is questionable) Weber Carb: 28/36RCO23 ? 41072 (The letter might be an "A" or a "B") Frame #: ??? (Can't find any signs of any numbers but I'm still looking...)

I believe the the front "clip" of this chassis is from another car. The chassis #B1275 is located just aft of the welded tubing.

All the parts that have come off the car are being cleaned and repaired to save as much of the original car as possible. I am now trying to find a supplier for motor/transmission parts so they can be rebuilt.

I had the unexpected (and very exciting) opportunity of racing against three Caterhams on the first weekend of November at the Virginia International Raceway. The Caterhams were from GT-Classics group in Virginia. I was driving a Spec Racer Ford (an SCCA class) which, for us fast guys, have an almost identical lap time to the Caterham. They were quicker in some parts and we (the SRF's) were quicker in others which made for a lot of passing, repassing, passing again, late breaking, wheel to wheel excitement. So when I got back and saw my lump of rust I redoubled my efforts to bring this car back to life!

12/9/02

Well the chassis has been stripped and bead blasted. One photo shows a close-up of the Lotus ID number - B1275 [Frame Mfr. number - not Lotus]. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate any FRAME number. After sand blasting I did find a number on one of the front engine supports - C228. I don't know what that refers to.

The front of the car has definitely had a new front "clip" put on it. The points of connection where all the brazing clumps are located show that the tubes have internal sleeves. This makes me feel a little better about the integrity of the repair (however ugly). Because this car will see limited usage I'm going to leave most of the previous repairs alone. Three of the major pieces need to be completely removed and new bars put in to make the chassis structurally sound. The two vertical "secondary radiator" bars have been removed.

Most all the suspension pieces have been sand blasted and are ready for powder coating. I have talked with the folks at Dave Bean Engineering and they are sending me information on motor and transmission parts.

1/24/03

I'm trying to refurbish everything on the car "as-is". That means disassembling everything, cleaning, inspecting, and reassembling. I'd like to keep the car as original as possible.

My last project was the front brake calipers. The pistons were so frozen that they would not budge even after applying 100psi to the caliper! I ended up getting "creative". First I disassembled the caliper into two halves so I could see the face of the pistons. Then I clamped two vise grips to the edge of the piston. With a two foot long pair of pliers I was able to twist the vise grips/piston and work it out of the caliper. Phewww, Each one was a wrestle. Other than needing a new set of pistons and bushings the calipers are in good shape.

The carburetor has been completely stripped and reassembled. Unfortunately I won't know if it's right until the project is near complete and I can try to run the motor. By that time I think there will be quite a lot of "ifs"; but I can hardly wait.

It's too cold to do any painting outside so I'm waiting for the temperatures to start warming up. It's 6 degrees F. here in North Carolina with snow! That's pretty rare for us...

I'm breaking into the tranny today.