Went To View An S7 Today. I Have A Few Questions

[Guest A.B]

Hey guys I'm new to the forum. I bided on an s7 on eBay and won although it was under the reserve price the seller offered it to me.

 

The car has no mot and isn't in the greatest shape but has all the right components for a great car.

 

The fuel pump wasn't getting fuel to the engine although I could hear it making a noise so I bypassed this by fuelling the carbs and it started up ok all be it for about a min. No smoke or such. Obviously I couldn't drive the car which is a massive factor.

 

Looking around the car I got an odd feeling. I liked it, I wanted it but I have my concerns so I've take. The night to think about it.

 

I was a bit concerned the fly wheel was completely exposed... Surely that's not common practice!!?? I know it's very low but surely the normal cover wouldn't add too much for clearance purposes?

 

Anything specific I should be looking for?

 

Any help would be great as I'd love to pick the car up tomorrow

[Guest arf!!]

probs just the *crap* plate missing, not a problem back I the day we just tossed them away and never had any problems.

Edited May 23, 2014 by arf!!

[Guest A.B]

Nothing had been cut away. There were still the two bolt holes either side to fasten the plate by but seeing it just added another aspect to me not being able to drive it to check linkages and such!

 

It's got a modified c20xe engine so it would be a great car once going but the initial outlay worries me! It's basically taking a running jump and hoping there's a soft landing as I've never owned a kit car... Never touched carbs! So I'm a little worried!

[Guest A.B]

Rough price of a pair of bucket seats that fit? As the ones in the car aren't great

[Guest arf!!]

just google ford type 9 bell housing plate, its just a thin bit of tin to keep any crap out

Edited May 23, 2014 by arf!!

[Bob Tucker]

Ive got a c20xe in a 2B.....the bellhousing to fit a type 9 to that engine does have an open bottom.

I tried fixing the Ford crap plate but it doesnt fit.

You can leave it open or make upa a plate to fit...ive never bothered.

The XE engine is a great one. A standard engine with twin 45s & a decent manifold will put out 170-175 bhp.

Make sure the V5 shows Robin Hood S7 & not Sierra.

[Longboarder]

Your first check is 'Properly registered?' The Log book/V5C must say robinhood, not cortina/sierra/dutton/triumph. If it doesn't say robinhood then walk away!

Next a kit car is not like a tintop. It's unlikely to have any service history or garage bills or ever been near a garage except for MOT. (A very few owners will get a garage to do occasional jobs for them but that's unusual.) Most owners DIY the lot. Now and again an owner falls out of love with the car, neglects it, stops driving it and eventually sells it.

It can look a bit tatty at that stage. It's up to you to check it over. An S7 with a running XE in it, properly registered has had some love in the past and should be worth working on to get it up to a condition you will be proud of. If sound but tatty it's got to be worth 2.5 grand, even without an MOT, IMO. Not many things are expensive to fix as there are no labour charges and the bits are mostly old school simple mechanics.

 

Nigel

Edited May 23, 2014 by Longboarder

[Guest A.B]

It's £3700 without an mot but the kit it's got is fantastic... It just needs a decent service, tune, new seats and a cone respray!

 

Component list;

 

C20Xe with fast road cams and gas flowed head arp bottom bolt up rated cups and lifters all sbd

 

4-2-1 manifold and exhaust

 

Twin weber carbeurettors

 

toyo R888 road legal track tyres all round on Minilite wheels

 

vapor digital dash

 

polybushed all round

 

Mocal oil cooler

 

electric fans

Disc brakes all round with green stuff pads

Brake bias built in so you can adjust brake balancing front to rear

Comes with hood

Alfano lap timer which picks up timing strips on track.

Low profile sump and oil returns (needs new gasket)

Bilstein shocks all round

New clutch fitted 2009. Only done 10k miles since. Had new uprated clutch arm fitted at the time

 

It was rolled at 207bhp before the cooler and a few other things.

 

All that I can see for an mot would be a set of front mount bushes... And still they might be alright.

 

There might have been too little fuel in the car the fuel pump to function properly

 

[Guest A.B]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181405984723

[brumster]

Looks an obvious track toy to me - basic interior, lap timer, tyre choice, stickers, exhaust wrap. So I would check the things that would get a hammering (that you can) - brakes, gearbox, clutch, and the engine of course (compression test?). Looks tidy enough though and sounds like it's got the right bits on it!

[biksz]

That's better condition than mine was when I got mine I swapped for a 1000cc suzuki gsxr k3 which stood me at 4 so Imo worth it as long as log book states robin hood s7

[kevin the chicken]

My series 7 XE has no plate over the flywheel either and I've never worried about it. Mine was in tatty condition when I bought it not having run for several years and needed a lot of time to get it running properly but I had that it was the money that was in short supply! I had budgeted for either a replacement engine or box but needed neither but did get Dan E to rewire it as the loom was a mess. I paid 2300 for mine but it is fairly basic compared to the one you are looking at but I am very very pleased with it now as it is a good setup with a torquey engine. It sounds like yours has been done properly so you just have to check the logbook and then you can join the series 7 XE club! There are several people with these setups in the club so any questions you have will easily be answered. I am going to run mine this summer and then get the tie bar conversion done on the front suspension and possibly some engine upgrades as at the moment mine was rolling roaded at 153bhp which is plenty but you can never have too much!

[Guest A.B]

Are the front mount bushes easy enough? It just looks like a bolt either end but how would I go about compressing the springs within the car setup as I gather that's needed?

[Guest Ian & Carole]

Like Nigel says I would like to see the V5c before parting with any readies, Just had a look on the DVLA web site and it isn't showing up as existing which is a bit worrying.

 

Not correctly registered then walk away, it is a buyers market.

[steve in stockport]

it's showing up on an RAC vehicle check as Robin Hood 57, so pretty much correctly registered other than some muppet at the DVLA mistaking and S for a 5.

Also showing as a 1600 so the engine change hasn't been updated with DVLA, but that's nothing that some photos, a letter and a couple of recent receipts from microsoft office can't fix.