Having started in 7 ownership at the mere age of 25 with a 1600 x;/flow i soon got the upgrade bug and over the next 15 years built increasingly more powerful Vauxhall engined 7's culminating in my very successful hillclimb car which still holds class record after 10 years.
However one fateful day Doug Newman asked me to drive one of his customers Hayabusa engined cars at the club sprint at Curburough, and i was sold on the idea of Bike power for a Caterham, even getting my best mate Griff to buy one so i could work out the best spec for the car, that i would eventually build , and he could pay for it

Fast forward 10 years and having dabbled in single seaters and a Lotus Elise ,the chance came to buy one of the original Blackbird motorsport cars.

That was 4 years ago , in the meantime a quick 3 month strip and rebuild turned into a major bare chassis rebuild that is just coming to fruition, which has culminated in completely rebuilding the car with new wiring , painting, plumbing and engine.

Basic spec
2003 Blackbird spec chassis painted in Bright Orange
1585cc mistral performance busa approx 200 @ wheels
Nitron dampers
MB mag wheels
Full SLR cage
Tillets

The next few months will finally see the car mapped and IVA tested so i can finally use it on the road

If i can work out how to post pics i can add a few

Dave

Nice sounding car!

To add piccys, you have to upload them to the web somewhere (any of the free piccy services - but not Dropbox) and then use the image URL with the 'camera' button above the message editing area. Just make sure you are using the actual image URL, not the page holding the image - which you can check in your browser by right clicking the image and select 'view image'. If you don't see 'view image' you are looking ta the image and the URL should be correct!

7-DNA
Hi DaveK
Love to see some piccies when you get a chance. I've had my Xflow 5 years and love the idea when the time comes to jump to a BEC Caterham.....don't suppose your in London/Surrey area ?

Sounds fantastic Dave, not envious at all!

My first 7 was one of Doug Newman's original Blackbirds....and it was bright orange (well Lambo Orange anyway)!

I px'd it for an R300 when the gearbox when kerplunk about 3 years ago and miss it so much. It was much more nimble than my current 7 and the noise!

Goog luck with completing the car, I ai to be back in a BEC within the next few years!

Chris

Having met Mr K on several occassions, I cant believe such a handsome & talented driver is 40 years old ....... or was that your son I met at doune being followed around by some old codger...... ;)

Hi Dave

JB7 (Jonathan Rarity)

Hi Massive, I converted my pre-lit westy from X-flow to Blackbird back in 2001. I learnt the hard way all the ins and outs of the blackbird but there's loads more information and knowledge available these days.

My little car is now 27 years old and still going strong. The first BB engine did over 60,000 miles in it's life before the gearbox let go. I'm nowhere near london but if you need any help just shout. There some pics of the conversion on my web site www.jrarity.com

jb7

Finally got the busa mapped properly

End result was 203 @ the wheel peaking at 8300 , but it then holds that all the way to 10k , before dropping off. torque was 130lbft.

We could mess with the exhaust to try and get it to hold the power higher up but will try as is to start with

Dave, did you or have you ever worked for DT in Wrexham, if so we have spoke many times in the paddocks of hillclimbs over the years..?

You may know me better with this pic.



Car was broken for spares about 10 years ago, glad in a way as it would have been hard watching someone else drive it, still I gave DT some good business in those years and I had huge fun as well along the way..