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TEL's TALE's 064/16 Snetterton 21st and 22nd May 2016 ( B19 event) For me this round trip of 400 miles is worth it as Snetterton is a great track with 2laps and some very tricky and technical corners. Particularly novel for me was the use of my newly purchased Motorhome which would provide fantastic accommodation over the weekend event. I did not find the fact that my total vehicle length was about 13m a problem but my god it does use some fuel and recorded about 24mpg!!! Having said that it would easily travel at the legal limit and was a comfortable drive along the A1, A14 and A11 to the circuit. When we arrived in the paddock my new aquistion had detailed inspection by Jane Loudon, Julie Hodder and Sandra Bunn who all gave it the thumbs up and asked why I didn't do it earlier. There was a decent attendance by the Speed Series guys and gal including a few single seaters and about 1800hrs I walked the track with Steve Everall, Dave Cleaver and Mark Anson. Snetterton is a quick track and wide but even though we discussed apexes and the correct lines most of us would find it difficult to adopt them as the track seems to have a poor grip level so late apexing is nigh on impossible and a visit onto the green stuff is waiting if you get too brave. It was good to see Dave Cleaver and my brother Steve out for the first time this season after engine rebuilds. Dave's Honda is now stroked and bored and pushing out some serious bhp and torque. I do know the figures but I would have to kill you if I told you. I think it was also Simon Broadbridge's first outing this season so he was keen to get stuck in. Saturday P1 as expected saw quite a bit of slipping and sliding as the lack of grip was the talk of the paddock and posted times were quite a bit off the targets. Dave Cleaver was having a few problems with the engine (I think it was the traction control settings ) which he sorted by switching traction off. I dont think it can have been that bad as he was the quickest Westfield. Steve Everall found it strange using a 5 speed syncro box and the new, less sticky, Avon ZZS tyres. In the single seaters, I think Pete Goulding in his FF Ecoboost had all four wheels off whilst Matt Hillam was straight on the pace. It was Mark Anson's first visit to Snetterton and he was taking it easy and nearly got lost twice. P2 saw very little improvement in track grip and maybe some of that was due to Dave Cleaver trying to beat me by dropping oil around the circuit from his oil filter housing. At the end of T1 we managed to fabricate a clever blanking plate from alloy sheet and some quick setting sealant did the trick and stopped the oil leak. Mark Anson came back to the paddock complaining about a big vibration at the back of the car. We got it up in the air and got the engine going and spinning the wheels but could only see a slightly imbalanced left rear wheel and a tight halfshaft. As nothing was loose and all bolts ok it was safe for him to go out again but it did seem strange that we could not find anything major on his OMS 2000M. Nick Algar (not in speed series) had a blown supercharger so set off to the midlands on a five hour round trip to get a replacement only to find that there was too much damage and itcould not just be bolted on and required further work. T1 was before lunch and Mark had a good run but all was not well. Just before the finish his Kwazaki engine let go and punched a big hole through the block and nearly set fire to the car and Mark who was still sat in it! It was a frustrating end to his weekend, which is not what you want having driven 270 miles to get to the event from Blackpool Both Pete Gouding and I offered him a double drive on Sunday, for which he thanked us but he was more concerned about concentrating on getting his own car sorted. We were all finally getting our heads around the track now and times started to tumble.I think Steve Carpenter had a moment as he did not record a time as he tried to stay ahead of Roz Kennett who was double driving. They were also camping in a tent on site as the cost and lack of nearby B&B meant they had no option. In the end Roz said she quite liked it, apart from the noisy bikers who were camping and they may also camp at the Blyton weekend. John Loudon was the first to set a new (class E) record. T2 Dave Cleaver (class F) and I (class G) both set new class records on this run so we banked good points and were ready for the final runs. Derek Hodder and Gary Bunn were having the usual ding dong and its never over until the last run. T3 It was now obvious that to get good times you had to be very brave and trust the car when you threw it into Hamiltons, a tight lefthander at the end of a short straight with not a lot of run off on the exit. The left hander called Palmer's was also technically difficult and getting to the apex or on the inside rumble strip took some doing at high speed. There were a few examples of late braking that did not pay off as people overshot corners or locked up the wheels. In the end John Loudon improved on his record time and quickest Westfield was Dave Cleaver on 90.29secs closely followed by Gary Bunn with 90.53secs and Del on 91.05secs. In the single seater Pete Goulding went well but Matt Hillam in the SBD Dallara was very quick with 83.15secs. Just after we finished the rain started !!! Phew. During the day it was good to see a few spectators from the Westfield club supporting us and they included Denis and Andy Silman of Siltech racing who produce some very nice wishbones etc for Westfields. Sunday Paul Beesley joined us in his class F busa to get a piece of the action. The weather forcast was a bit unpredictable but in the end we had a dry and quite warm day. The warm day brought a few more spectators including our old mate Martyn Van Zeller who now lives fairly close having emigrated from god's own county. P1 Despite the overnight rain the track was dry but still people complained about a lack of grip so it wasn't just my driving style that was causing me to oversteer. Gary and Del immediately suffered from a lack of power which Del quickly diagnosed as a faulty TPS. Off with the old and on with the new and they were back in business in no time at all. Dave Cleaver set off like a bat out of hell to show his intentions again. P2 Nothing much to report here except for Paul Beesley starting to chip away at his times. T1 The big issue to report here is that Gary Bunn produced a blinding run of 89.21 secs (new class H record) which he would not better and nobody else could get near it. As the trcak now got a bit warmer it was clear that there would be some good times and records would be beaten again if we were brave enough and had a heavy enough right foot whilst ignoring the brake pedal and any survival instincts. T2/T3 In T2 Dave Cleaver showed us how not to do it as he ran out of tarmac pushing too hard at Hamiltons bend. Dave Cleaver's, John Loudon's and my last runs were quickest and beat the class records/target times again. Steve Everall, Steve Carpenter, Roz Kennett and Simon Broadbridge all improved on Saturday's times and Paul Beesley saved his best run until last. In summary it was a great weekend for most of us and excellently run by Borough 19 MC. Steve's time would indicate that the ZZS tyres are about 3% slower that ZZR and the car suspension may need changing to allow for the different grip level.pOn my way home my driving skills were put to the test as a pheasant tried to commit suicide by walking out in front of my new motorhome.....there is no way I would allow that to happen as my pristine coachwork would be smashed to bits ….so a reactionary swerve at 60mph on the A1 saw me miss the stupid bird JUST!. Steve was behind and culd not believe I managed to miss it and said if it had been a cat it would have lost one of its nine lives. Terry Everall Class G competitor

https://youtu.be/sISqAoUlReQ

First up - I'm not dead just missing in action, so yay ! It's a tentative maybe, the car gremlins have been unfortunate these last couple of months, but there may be light at the end of the tunnel this week (I hope). Fingers, toes etc.. all crossed.

The problem with this election, similar to the Scottish referendum, is that unlike a general election, you can almost say what you want without being held accountable to the consequences. My personal view is that if we vote to leave the initial implication will be negative for the UK and the EU but over a 10 year time period the UK would do better. The whole EU experiment is in long term economic decline and will survive only for as long as Germany is happy to continue to bail it out. I actually think that the vote will be much closer than the politicians originally expected. There are other countries looking at the result closely. If we vote out there will be a domino effect with atleast 5 other countries probably also wanting out. I think it is interesting that Boris has said that he is not anti EU but the current terms and it's structure are not right. My expectation is that as it gets nearer to voting the leave tactics will be more to say that a vote for them is vote for a proper renegotiation. And of course if we do vote to leave, the countries that remain will want to do everything they can to keep us in or it spells start of the end for the EU.

I'm interested if the forecast is dry

without saying which way I'll vote, the one thing I wish they would do is give their supporting rational behind their views. i can'f except the "this will happen" or "that will happen" with the "because" that should follow. Trying to think of a Westi analogy it's like saying "Westfields that don't have the suspensions set up professionally will crash" rather than "Westfields that don't have the suspensions set up professionally will potentially crash because unless you know exactly what you are doing and have the necessary equipment getting the geometry correct will be almost impossible. If some elements are not correct or not compatible with each other there is a good chance that your car may become unstable and if pushed ......" We are not children who need to be told what to do, we are adults who need to know why.

YDG Tour of Wales 2016

Each year Steve Livesey (Lancashire Area AO) organises a WSCC stand at the Myerscough Country Fair on 12th June. He has a few spare tickets available for attendance. I believe he has negotiated good placement for the WSCC display this year and the club will be giving a parade lap and demonstration! It's a good fun family event with lots happening, so not just for us petrolheads. He has asked that if any Manchester Area Members (or anyone for that matter) would like to join in, to get in touch with him as soon as possible.

Hi guys, arranging the following run for SKCC - all westies welcome. Run for Saturday 28th May. Dukes pass, Lochearnhead, Killin, Pitlochry, Loch Tummel/Queens View, Bruar Falls, Pitlochry, Aberfeldy, Comrie Moor, Doune, Kippen, Crow Road. Would suggest the usual meeting points of the BP petrol station off Baljaffrey Road, Bearsden at 08.15am and the car park in Aberfoyle at 9am and Kilmahog around 9.45am ish. Anything from 2 cars upwards makes it a goer. Bob

My take... Control of borders is a two way street. If we raise the drawbridge, it is possible the continental European nations could start to insist on visa's for both work and play. That puts costs up for those who sell human expertise or want to holiday in Europe. Free from EU legislation. Again a two way street. Whilst we are in we have the veto, in theory. If we exit, we lose the ability to affect EU law. What happens if they slap a tax on banks trading when done with the UK? It could be as simple as a fee when sending money abroad, to multi-million euro/pound share or takeover deals. If we're out, we can't veto the imposition of that sort of thing. I'd love to hear the City view on this. Trade deals. We buy far more from the EU than we sell. Take German cars and white goods as an example. And French cars for that matter. And French electricity. Or Italian cars. Or Spanish holidays. Or holidays in general. I would hope that many European countries would be keen to keep selling to us which should put us in a position to negotiate good trade deals, and quickly. And all that ignores the world economy. Many of the things we rely on are traded in dollars. Oil springs to mind. Most of our telly comes from Hollywood. Plenty of our cars are made by Ford or GM. Our steel isn't imported from the EU but from China, along with LOTS and LOTS of our every day items. Our PC's, phones, TV's, DVD players are mostly made in China/Korea. Microsoft, Apple and Google (Android) are not European. To my mind the EU is arguably based on geographical convenience rather than any coherent trade policy. Is it a risk getting out? Dunno. It was just as big a risk getting in and it seems that having sampled the goods, we're wondering of we made a good choice. At least this time it'll be US who decide, rather than those with a vested interest. I think the most important thing is this; whether we vote in or out we should accept it and move on with conviction and purpose.

You'll be feeling every stone chipping on the road with 17" rims, 15" with 50 aspect tyres is a well proven road wheel set up and 13" with 60 aspect for the track. My guess is the 17" wheels make it for a choppy ride. Also if you have very old yellow Spax shocks, they will make things even worse. Most members rate Procomp, Blink, Northampton MS and the new kid on the block, Adam of CleaR for their Geo set ups and advise is free.

One thing that is worth mentioning and im sure would vastly improve how it drives is to ditch those 17' wheels! They have no place on a westy imo, take advice from some of the suspension setup companies mentioned but i would guess 15's would be much more suitable.

Didn't realise there are two posts running on this :-). If weather is OK Liz and I will be there. Regards R & L

I have a pair of vacuum fixed hooks that stick to the cockpit sides to get the same effect as the Smeg - saves my poor old back from having to faff about underneath the car.

This just about shows how I've done it... side cords can go right across Westie to meet other side or looped around protruding seat rear bolts.

I agree - my GSXR bike mirrors allow me to see a car's whole frontal area when behind unless they are right up my chuff.

Guys, Scottish Westy is planning the route for this (thanks Graeme)- looks like being a good one. Bob

Great to meet you all at the weekend

Here you go http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEBER-40-DCOE-151-PAIR-CARBS-CARBURETTORS-LOTUS-TWINCAM-FORD-X-FLOW-KITCARS-/201226353389?hash=item2eda067aed:g:TB0AAOSwAYtWGhyT

...and some new spectators too. Good to catch up with some old(?) mates!!!

Your starter for ten: http://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-fitment-type/parts-by-engine-ford/ford-cross-flow-kent.html?p=1&product_area=593 http://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-fitment-type/parts-by-engine-ford/ford-cross-flow-kent.html?product_area=593&product_group=149 http://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-brand/brands-j-to-l/k-n/kn-carburettor-bolt-on-air-filters.html

All ok for me, the boss is away The kids can get a bus back from orchestra It's half term, they have another holiday . so 'Mr Freeman' will be joining us

Does it ever get that warm for you See you at the weekend.. has the sun been ordered?

Thanks Jeff and John. Another fantastic weekend. Rain. What rain? Tiffany and I had a great time.

I'll have to go as usual then.

Going to booked tomorrow.