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Last edited by Paul Wilkinson; 03-22-2016 at 02:03 AM.
Hi there Paul, yes this is definitely the right place to post your request. I'm sure someone on here will be able to help. Good luck with your search.
does Bob sell these 25 bhp stickers ? like to see a pic of this car
Hi Paul,
I also have a wide body S4, the ex- Murray Bryden car that ran in the Australian Sports Car Championships (when it was for Production Sports Cars) in 1980 - 81. A mate has just finished a wide body conversion on a Norwich S4 and there is also the ex- Dick Smith S4 still running around out of Canberra.
My car ran 1840cc TC, injected and 5 speed Hollinger though laterly it ran with a Pinto 2 Litre and 4 speed. I will be putting it back to TC as time and funds allow.
Do you know if Steele Bros actually produced a wide body version or did Charlie produce a one-off?
I would be interesting to compare notes. I will scan some photo's.
CCR
Hi sounds like the rex nalder car he lives in tauranga ,,spent $$$ to make it fly;; jaimie worked on it in rotorua i have vidio competing against paton ,early 80s rex sold me his E type roadster in 81 for $20,000 then missed the fun and bought this strange 7 he raced at wigram83?? it blew up if i remember would rev to9000??
prety shure rex got it of steel bros, but looking back whaat seemed ages wasent that long maybe he only had it a yr.???
PAul
The Black car was built as you have it at Steels. IF I can figure out how I'll post a picture of it at the factory then later.
Steels built 3 wide body cars with lotus twin cams, 1 red, 1 white and the black car. They also built a number of 907 powered cars that had wide bodies as well. The most well know is the Red car that appears in a number of Lotus 7 book. This car is now with a new owner who is to rebuild it in the US. There are a couple in Australia and the remains of 1 here. There is also at least 1 Escape with the second romored to be some where in the Wellington area
S4 - to post a pic scroll down to the Go Advanced tab then click on the manage attachments
I'll look the pictures out in the morning and post them. They arn't the best but maybe of some interest. I still have my first Seven which I've had since '77 and the remain of an others that we are in the process of rebuilding. All the sevens from Steels had L block motors, so I would think that it was swapped outat some stage at a rebuild? but apparently the black car had some head work done by PDL, before leaving the factory.
THe last time I saw your car the body was looking a bit tired and that was before Charlie put it away. It's been a long while since it was last running, possablily at the meeting at whenuapi
at one stage rex had the carbs on the exhaust side if my memory is workingan old trick
Attention S4seven,
Having owned an S4 Lotus Seven and after modifying it, I have always wondered how Chapman let the thing live with its frankly ridiculous rear suspension. First thing I modified for good reason. On top of that the steering rack mount was stupid having no lateral stiffness, and the pedal arrangement!
After attending to numerous cracks in the frame I became very apprehensive as to how well the thing would hold together and for this reason it was the only car I have owned which had me scared stiff when at its maximum straight line speed. However once I had it somewhat sorted, it was from a strictly tactile point of view, very enjoyable to drive. I went for it because I could not get a decent straight arm driving position in any other clubman type car. Even then, drastic mods were called for within the driving space.
Your comments would be appreciated.
Cheers, Trevor.
Hi
I would be best to replace the missing cross member as the whole front tends to flex. These were usually removed to allow easy access to the the sump to check bearing. The sump can't be removed with this cross member in place. To have the carbs on the same side as the exhaust a pre cross flow engine (1500cc) would have had to be fitted. I can't ever remember seeing that done.
I seem to remember grant spraque pre 65 anglia trying it to get back to the front were he used to be before the mustang.no i think the carbs went down on an angle Bob will know
Actually thinking about it the old speedboats Carl Augusten in the 50s tried it ..he was a clever man ,in later life his passion was propellers{speedboats}he lived over Howick way on a steep street down a long drive ,on one visit he was quite shaken he had a kids trolly with a brigs and stratton mtr. bolted on the back to this he would try out these props {dozens of them in the shed} time himself down his drive.this day he got up early tried it down the street only to go through a hedge near the bottom of the hill he was in his 80s!!!
Hi
When we raced them we made a few changes to stiffen things up a bit. We had a brace across the front to support the tops of the towers. the rear end was the one point that gave the most problems. the chassis when loader had a habit of breaking at the base of the roll bar mounting tube or where the top arm bolted to the very rear of the chassis where bolted to the body. The other problem was the big rubber bush the located the lower arm to the diff. We replaced these and made the rear end more placed and didn't move around as much, the bushes had so much movement in them it was almost impossable to control the rear end. If a bar is placed in the bottom of the boot and linked the body and the chassis, with the 2 top suspension arms together alot of the rear flex is also removed. All this flex contributed to the axle trmping that was common.
Hi Trevor
What is the Chassis number of your 7. I have a list of most of the cars
The photos are fine, here is the other one. Just copy and post the IMG code.
Originally Posted by Paul Wilkinson
But how did the crazy absolutely roll resistant rear suspension get past Chapman. Two Watts links at the end of a solid axle, means in order to roll, the chassis must bend. This is kindergarten stuff. Was it intended that the purchaser should be resigned to putting right such stupidity? LOL
The only way that the rear could roll was for the chassis to flex, or for the suspension points to yield. I scrapped the forward facing arms and fitted new trailing links, together with a Panhard rod. This with other corrections, turned it into a motor car. Just what was Chapman thinking about?
I do not think I have the chassis number recorded anywhere, but will be pleased to check for you. Last seen in was down in the Waikato somewhere.
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