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Yesterday evening tother half gets stranded at work with a flat battery, recovery guys rolls up after nearly 3 hours wait and simply jumps starts it, missus drives home, tries to start it after returning home and it's dead again (and reading 12.3v). Iit's a bl**dy good job it wasn't the alternator else she'd have been stranded half way along the M42.......... So back home, with her in a rather emotional state the discussion starts as to how we're going to fix this and get her to work for her two rather important meetings early the next morning (this morning). It eventually boils down to having to buy a battery and fit it ourselves, as nowhere that fits batteries is open early enough. Now something odd happens, she's determined to change the battery herself, she asks me to give her full instructions and the tools. I did this and I made sure to put the fear of god in her with respect to what could happen if she gets it wrong. This morning we got up early, went out and got a new battery from Bromsgrove Motor Factors at 8am. I refused to leave her on her own to change the battery because I was worried she might drop the wrench and short out the battery to the chassis (there's not a lot of room in a Ford KA). She only went and did it, exactly to my instructions and without any fuss at all!!! I don't think she'll be building any Westfields any time soon, but I'm really proud of her for getting her hands dirty and proving to herself that she can actually do these things! These days I think most blokes would baulk at the very thought of doing what she did this morning!

Imagine that, a woman's tiny brain being able to grasp how to change a battery. When mine learnt to drive, first thing she asked was how to change a wheel herself, she wasn't planning on waiting 3 hours for the RAC when she can change it and be back on the road in 15 minutes.

Seems she is more qualified than you James

My first sprint event with the electric Westfield was at Croft. This is quite a long circuit so I wondered if one charge could last for a whole days sprinting? I also wondered what sort of reception the car would receive from the authorities. The MSA Blue Book has nothing to say about electric cars. In the end the scrutineers were diligent and helpful if a little bemused but they gave it the OK. On the way to the circuit for first practise all cars line up for the noise test. When it came to my turn, the tester looked around the car and asked “where’s the exhaust”. Other marshals, standing nearby, helpfully explained that the car was actually a converted hair dryer and didn’t need an exhaust. He wrote down 0dB. The electrical power systems performed faultlessly and the battery lasted all day. The handling on the other hand was a real handful. The car’s weight, including me, was 975Kgs (885+90). On the track it bounced and wallowed around the circuit. The under slung batteries gave it a ride height of 50mm so it hit the ground several times. Obviously the springs were too soft and with no anti roll bar the car leaned like a ship. After returning home I consulted Westfield and they advised that the very similarly weighted iRacer used 600 lb springs on the rear and 500 lb on the front! I duly fitted the recommended springs and set off for the MIRA sprint. MIRA was wet! My first lap was a disaster. A combination of rain on both sides of the windscreen and a motor cut out meant that I missed a red flag and had to report to the headmaster for a lesson in humility. Subsequent laps were better. The new springs transformed the handling and my times were comparable with the other Westys, mainly due to the extra traction afforded by the car’s weight in the wet. Mine was the only Westfield not aquaplaning – result. The windscreen was worse than useless so before the next event I resolved to remove it along with all the interior trim and fitted a new GRP seat and a 12V lithium battery. This saved a total of 35Kg. Car now weighed “only” 850Kg! After a summer holiday I returned to MIRA with a lighter and more aerodynamic car. Again it was a wet start but the track dried in the afternoon. After P1, I started to adjust the damper settings and tyre pressures, seeking advice from fellow WSCC competitors. Everyone was very helpful. In the end my best time was 59.16 seconds with a top speed of 101 mph (according to my GPS logger anyway) – the slowest Westfield in the dry - but not too bad. After a good run at Curborough I called it a day for this year. Only four events but all fun and I learned a great deal about the car and myself. I need more track time and the car is basically way too heavy for competitive sprinting. It’s clear I’ll need to reduce the number of batteries in the car by 50%. This should save about 200Kgs but it’s a big technical challenge to reconfigure the battery to get the same power from half the cells - but that’s another story.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/418522114964170/?fref=ts This is not a club as such, or an attempt to replace any club especially this one. It is a kit car event, year planner for all those interested in kit cars and live in Scotland and want to find out what events are planned by various organisations with the intention to either support or participate in those events. Each even will be preceded by a posting on the Facebook page. There may be several events to choose from on some weekends. You may have to join other clubs to participate. I did this last year for my own use so it is no extra effort to expand it for others. Organisations included so far are: * Westfield Car Club (WSCC) both Scottish and UK * Monklands Sporting Car Club (MSCC) - Forrestburn * East Ayrshire Car Club (EACC) - Kames * Other MSA regulated clubs in Scotland with Sprints or Hill Climbs * Knockhill open track nights - selective * Track Scotland * Linlithgow Classics The year planner can be downloaded from: http://www.alastair-reynolds.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/SKCE/index.htm Please copy and paste the link above not variants of it as they may be an outdated copy.

To try and balance it a bit, I can only add my own recent experience and in particular the effort of Dan in parts. I needed a handbrake cable - hardy a high ticket item - yet he went to the stores, took a pic on his phone and emailed it to me so I was sure it was the right fitment. It was then sent off and arrived promptly. I have also had a few questions about other parts - and they did ring me back as requested even though we were talking small inexpensive bits. This was fairly recently and really can't complain at all - definitely gets a thumbs up from me.

Not found them to be sloppy or much noisier in the dry, but they do whoosh when you accelerate or brake in the wet though. Sipes are opening up in these circumstances and doing a good job at dispersing the water and preventing aquaplaning. Have you also noticed how much less spray winter tyres make behind the car?

My missus wouldnt dream of changing a flat tyre Nor would she dream of waiting for the rac She would ignore the noise and drive home on the rim and then tell me that the car smells funny

Post it now Rab - I need something to look forward to! Matt

I can just see the Howe family, all in their matching Microflex suits, on the roller coasters in the pouring rain.

We willing breaking up for Christmas on Friday 19th December and will be back on Monday 5th January. Our 15% Parts discount will be running until the end of Friday. Merry Christmas Westfield Parts Department.

"mine" (woman that is) is a qualified chainsaw operator, HGV driver, tree climber, one day event rider, marathon runner and former national level ladies football player. She's like a lumpy bloke - and i love her

Sounds like a wind-up to me.

Great news, Bob! I'm planning on a Feb meeting to discuss our 2015 calendar. I'll be posting details of the meet in the new year ;-)

If this is a genuine problem then I for one think it is fair that we can understand as a community some facts and make our own conclusions, and any issues pertinent to those who are building at the minute would be keenly observed ? Anyone else ? Bob

I was indeed poking fun at the irony of the statement :-)