Spitfire based 7 Rep

[Stevemcmaster]

Hi All,

Interested if anyone has ever seen / knows of a Lotus 7 replica based on a Spitfire platform.

Reason for asking is that I have just taken on a project to restore one and have never heard of a similar car before.

The chassis has had all of the body mounts taken off and a frame to hold the aluminium body work welded on top. Still has the original 1300 Spit engine and running gear.

Will post some pics if anyone is interested.

Cheers
Steve

[Auntieroll]

Locust?

[Rich7se]

As a former owner of a Spit and a present owner of a Westy, yes please post some pics.

I hope the old Triumph rear susp has been updated.......

Rich

[spitfire4v8]

Auntieroll said:

Locust?

yes you could have a triumph based locust seven rep.

[Stevemcmaster]

Thanks for the replies - at work at the mo but will post some (not very attractive!!!) pics this evening
The build was started in circa 1980 (from a 71 Mk4 1300 Spit).

The previous owner thought the big end bearings needed doing so he laid it up and never went back to it, so we (my father in law and I) are re-commissioning it at the moment. We have had it started (once we replaced the points etc - they were way out which we think may have been the miss-diagnosed big end problem) and its is running just fine. Rear brakes have been done, fixed the brake and clutch fluid leaks from the masters, re-commissioned the pedals as they had seized. Next up is radiator flush, oil change, front brakes and off for an MOT!! Should be done by August (hope to get it down to the Soft Tops Breakfast club at Goodwood).

Re the rear suspension - unfortunately not - it still have the original MK4 rear end. Better than the MK1 - 3 as far as my research has told me - any more views on this?

Tatta again
Steve

[antnicuk]

i bet you have got through some serious amounts of WD40, keep up the good work

[Arthur Jackson]

I'd be interested in seeing some pictures, I always liked the Locust.

[Rich7se]

Stevemcmaster said:

Re the rear suspension - unfortunately not - it still have the original MK4 rear end. Better than the MK1 - 3 as far as my research has told me - any more views on this?

Tatta again
Steve

Yes you are correct the Mk4 had the swingspring, which far from ideal, is a huge improvement over the fixed spring, mods are available however. A breif overview can be seen here, the last haft dozen posts from the bottom

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... or Supercharger?

If you need more info, contact me.

Rich

Edited by Rich7se on Tuesday 16th June 18:51

[tribbles]

I had a JC Locust for a few years; sold it a couple of years back.

Mine was built (not by me) a bit oddly (instead of Spitfire engine and Ford rear axle [like many have], it had a Ford engine and Spitfire rear end - dodgy), and I spent 3 years (with a mate of mine) stripping it down and rebuilding it (with Ford rear axle; kept Ford engine though).

http://locust.tribbeck.com/ is the site I've still got for it.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen it for a while; would be nice to know how it's still doing.

[Stevemcmaster]

Rich,

Thanks for the tips there - we will get it on the road and, possibly get a couple of sprints lined up and see how we get on.

Fancy a replacement lump if we start taking it seriously, poss a Zetec. Need to get some nicer wheels sorted out - I think a set of minilights are the way forward.

Meanwhile, back on planet earth, sorry - no pics tonight cause I cant find them!!

Will take some at the weekend and post them up.

Thanks again all.

Steve

[suthol]

We had one here in Oz in the late 70's - early 80's called a Canstell Clubman, f'glass body sitting on a Herald chassis.

[singlecoil]

The big, enormous even, difference between a Spitfire and a Seven is that in the Spitfire the engine fits between the front wheels, and the chassis provides for this, and in the Seven the engine sits behind the front wheels, allowing chassis members to cross between the suspension mounting points.

[Stevemcmaster]

Right - Here we go after much fa**ying around!!!!

Some pics of the "beast" before we picked it up and started work on it.

This weekend saw the rad being sorted and trying to figure out how I can be made to fit in it. Pedals are too close (I am only 5 10), so gawd knows how previous bloke fitted - perhaps thats why he never drove it. I think we will be replacing the squishy backed bench type seat with a Tillett type super thin / light weight job, not for the light weight, but just to move the seat far enough back - the W type tillet looks the kind, and I have a buck that we can make one out of from my old 100cc Kart racing seat.

ANyway - enough jabbering - here are the pics.

http://gallery.me.com/steve_mcmaster#100076

Ta
Steve

[Comadis]

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&i...

not the best example, but spitfire based.

Edited by Comadis on Wednesday 24th June 11:28