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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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PostPosted: April 5, 2020, 11:16 am 
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Joined: June 5, 2016, 7:03 am
Posts: 235
Location: ontario
Hi, It has been a while since I have dropped pics from my garage and all has been very slow.
I have built and scrapped a lot of parts , particularly in the area of roof and doors. To recap, this is my second build. The first one was a conventional seven. This one is mostly unconventional. A 6 cyl 1965 Corvair engine set like a Porsche, in the back. A hard roof and doors with windows. I started by building a balsa wood/fiberglass solid roof which went alright but I found that access to the inside of the car even for a guy like me (5'8" x 170 lbs) was problematic . This was a major blow and I realized that most coupé sevens or sevens with hard top all present significant design challenges. I scrapped and burned the roof and doors and went back to the drawing board. My new approach reflected in the photos below consisted in building half a hard top out of sheet steel, close enough to compound curves so that when body finished the structure will be attractive. The other half of the roof is going to be made of a hard wearing cloth material called Top Gun, by Dupont. To receive this material I have build several arches using stainless where wear will occur. The canvass will be kept in place with twist on studs which are not difficult to set up. The door that you see on the photo is the core only. It already has a locking mechanism. The windows are made of 1/4" plexi and fit to the door separately when needed. Altogether I believe that this vehicle not being a daily driver will be driven 95% of the time without the soft roof on . Access will only be painful if the soft roof is on. While driving all roof and window components will always be with the car ready to be used.

Here it is. This Summer I will start body finishing when I can work outside. The soft roof will be made next Winter with the help of my wife who has a solid sawing machine and experience in sail making.

I will be glad to field questions if you have any.


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PostPosted: April 11, 2020, 2:09 am 
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Joined: April 26, 2008, 6:06 pm
Posts: 3268
Location: Under the weather. (Seattle)
Wow, that's quite an ambitious project. I'll definitely be interested to see how it all ends up coming together to see what ideas I can steal. :cheers:

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"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie


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PostPosted: April 11, 2020, 11:31 am 
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Joined: June 5, 2016, 7:03 am
Posts: 235
Location: ontario
Driven5 wrote:
Wow, that's quite an ambitious project. I'll definitely be interested to see how it all ends up coming together to see what ideas I can steal. :cheers:

Thanks justin for the feedback,
Having been through a conventional build before this one I would suggest that some of my experimentation with steel could potentially be useful in a regular seven. For instance the choice of a steel windshield frame opens possibilities to create surfaces more adequate to set twist on studs,if anyone is interested in building a soft roof ....etc :cheers:


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