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ok lads n lasses never knock your "old school" dad it aint a permanent fix he says but after explaining its leaking from the seam not a hole he replies "have you got a bar of soap not tht new hand wash but a proper bar of soap ? " well yes I said "go out rub it hard all along the seam, it aint permanent but it will stop the leak, then go get something to patch over it, rub lightly to key it and apply" so with a bar of soap in hand, I humour him and lo and behold it works !!!!! so now I'm off to see what I can get on a sunday to patch over. So dad cant remember what he had for tea last night but old school get you home fix from "back in the day, when money was tight" right off the top of his head, wish I had called him yesterday now. And folks that is why you have to take care of your dad

Well a lovely sunny day but a new living room unit arriving am grrrr swmbo is still away but awaiting arrival of said furniture and all ready to oversee installation via Skype Haha what she can't see are the messages about a wee blast if all is done in time So unit arrives gets installed and all is good now a quick phone call and I'm off..... mmmmm car needs filling up must have used more than I thought earlier in the week, still it's only petrol the fuel for fun so filled up and blasted the 30 or so miles to Forres met Oli and his mate with a bike and off we go over dava to grantown then over the brig o broon to Tomintoul and the lecht for coffee here we found quite a steady flow of petrol coming from the tank seam..... so that's where all the patrols going ! So rather than waste it dripping the only other possible solution is (thinking hard) burn it off with some spirited driving so a quick con flab of how far I can go a route change and we have a great blast around the hills and home So around 150 miles of fun and im sat here thinking somethings missing my wscccalender is behind that unit not any more it ain't So tomorrow see if I can patch repair seal the tank... oh the joys

Just to throw an idea in (flame-proof or not !!) - I also didn't want the expense or tbh the "odd" look of a tall MSA type roll bar on what would always be a road car (to me anyway - and I'm not especially tall and my seats aren't on runners so even with a standard roll bar the top of my head doesn't protrude) - but then I'm an engineer at heart and the chocolate teapot standard roll bar is really stretching the word "roll bar" if you look at the single bolt at either end that holds it to the chassis and the leverage that would be applied in the event of a roll over So I got some thick wall steel tubing (to roll bar standard but not as thick as the main tube) and some proper mounting brackets from OMP and had a good welder friend weld them on for me. Add in some rose joints and drilled bottom mounting holes and job done - fully braced standard height roll bar that will hopefully provide a little more structural integrity than the bog standard one. By the way, when you look at the bottom mounting points on the rear chassis for the roll bar struts (any roll bar) then quite honestly (imho), you could make the roll bar out of reinforced titanium - the chassis mounting brackets are going to sheer off long before any bar is going to crumble ..........

I'm booked Tom..

Great blat about today and fantastic weather,just got back from pub,perfect day

At the risk of getting flamed, the standard roll over bars aren't worth the metal they're made of. I wouldnt drive a seven with one, even as a road cruiser. Just makes me shudder to think of what could happen should the worst happen and you end up the wrong way up. MSA bar all the way.

Try half doors too and a good waterproof bikers suit This is the proper westie experience, no fancy creature comforts of an elise No westie can compare to a proper prod car even an elise so go full adrenalin and smell the weather around you !

I'd go for the MSA bar over the standard bar on safety grounds alone. as you've already identified, you head would be at risk otherwise. I've replaced my aeroscreen with a windshield but haven't yet found the need to consider a hood/half-hood. I also detest getting wet, which harks from my biking days, so carry a WSCC umbrella just in case.

That's the option I use and it works well. I'd recommend you do the same.

You can screw a go pro bracket to the rivnut that westfield install into the windscreen frame

Great drive out today thanks Pete for leading the group I saw parts of Essex I didn't know before. Dean sorry I missed you on the way back glad you had a refil.

I guess I'm a little biased because (and no guessing from the tone of my post) I felt I was a kid who might have benefited from streaming a little more than being in the general mix. HOWEVER... And I have just realised this so there might be some eating of words here... Genetically I'm good with technology. And if I were sectioned off to a 'posh geeks school' I would almost definitely be a silicon valley Internet Dweeb guy right now with zero social skills and no friends (but probably be a zillionaire having been in at the start of the tech boom). However going to a mixed comprehensive and getting beaten up a lot and then learning how not to get beaten up did teach me some valuable people skills. So even though my genetic leaning meant I still ended up in a tech industry I do have a slight ability to stand out because I like people and seem to be able to get on with them (and all of you can shut right the hell up right now ) So I guess I have sort of done OK in my own way. And there is no way I would have gotten these life skills from a selective school... Crap... I've just pulled my own theory down...

If contemplating competition there really is only one option... MSA bar and half hood! A few mods as above link will improve waterproofness.

I only have a 1/2 hood for the reason that you've identified - FW with an RAC/MSA roll bar - I've toured Europe/Ireland/Isle of Man (plus biblical rain on the way home from Stoneleigh the last couple of years) and the 1/2 hood and side screens provides reasonable protection from the worst of the weather. I have a St Claire cover, that covers the cockpit/rear of the car, for when parking up.

I've no experience of using a half hood myself but there's some good discussion on this recent thread http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic/121232-half-hoods-discussion-was-in-smeg-and-pandas-scotish-tour/

Hi Ben to answer your questions 1. yes 2. it's pretty perament yes, to swap from one to the other would involve a lot of dissasembly and removal of other parts to change them. probably at least half a days work to change. 3. If you're planning to do some sprints or hillclimbs anytime soon then yes, I would go straight for the MSA bar. The full hood is quite an expensive option so I'd save the money if you don't plan to be using it much in the long term.

Sounds like a job for Fibre Fix super tape... available via Amazon

NOW SOLD I am looking to sell my Westfield SEIW 2.0 litre Zetec (black top) with Jenvey Throttle body upgrade, Yellow body with black wings. I am not sure how much it is worth so would greatly appreciate some help in arriving at a sensible value. Wide track wishbones 15” 205/50/15 T1R tyres with spare (spare and bracket not fitted) RAC roll bar Jenvey Trottle Body with Omex ECU Front and rear anti roll bars Sport turbo seats Four point harness Heater - my wife insisted and it has proved very valuable. V8 Bonnet Half hood and side screens - Full roof also available (still in box) Registered June 2013 Only 1200 miles MOT until June 2017 Aluminium panels, brake pipes, fuel line and wiring loom fitted by Westfield prior to collection of kit. All parts brand new when supplied by Westfield in kit form. Full factory check over and set up before IVA test.

My old prelit always leaked out the fuel sender in the side of the tank. In those days, you used a mini van tank and sender. I changed numerous senders , even though they were very rare to get hold off. So, I decided to fit a vdo sender in the top of the tank and cut the sender out the side plate it was bolted on and silver braze the holes. It then needed a hole saw cut in the top of the tank to fit the new one. So, the plan was to do it over the winter mods. I actually drained the tank and left it in the back garden for a month to allow the fumes to evaporate. I washed it afterwards to make sure it was fume free and then hole sawed the top out and drilled the mounting self tappers for the new gauge. What a revelation of after many years, not having the whiff of petrol in the garage and seeping into the house.

That's what I'd always been told too, which is why I stopped having vehicle fire extinguishers years ago. The trouble is, I now know of so many first hand accounts of fellow kit owners that have had to use regular hand helds, (not those tiny things in the fancy metallic bottles) to put either their own or passing motorists fires out that it's changed my view somewhat. (The last one was only a week or two ago, as well, so this is opportune timing).

At work, the advice we are given for dealing with a car fire is 'get out, walk away, call professional help', but I'd feel awful if I had to watch my westy burn without being able to try 'something' at least.

I might have some brackets that need repair you can have for free if you want them...

I have an Omex 500 for sale with a loom although it may need to be modified for the duratec.

I think we can officially claim a wet event on this one! Good fun actually, made Mira quite technical even for those with less power.

My older brother passed his 11+ and went to a Grammar School - I failed mine and went to a (good) Secondary Modern school. Both of us have grown up fairly equally in terms of ambition and intellect (I think) though I have a slightly better mechanical hands approach to things (a lot of that down to the school I went to as well as my fathers engineering background). I also had friends at my school that went on to universities and the last time I saw them, most were struggling to maintain their "aspirational" jobs (and for a few, their marriages as well, though I suspect that applies to all regardless of your schooling !!). My son went to a local secondary school and enjoyed his time there before leaving with some good GCSE's and getting his first job working for Jedi (racing cars). He has the same approach as me in terms of practicality and problem solving (cars, caravans, lorries etc). I have no objections or anti feeling about Grammar schools, what I do object to is the "social engineering" that was started by Blair back in 1998 - as mentioned, one size does not fit all, and trying to obtain some form of "socialist utopia" by standardising the level of education and achievement to almost the lowest denominator (and remember the "no-one is allowed to lose philosophy" ..... my !!). It is hardly surprising we have just about the least qualified young people in the whole world and for many, they are trapped exactly where Blair wanted them to be trapped (and I suspect Corbynista's want the same as well). In my opinion, what we need to change is the expectation from just about every youngster that after school they will go on to university as a "right". It should be that when you get to 16 you should be looking to what you'd like to do for a career - at least for the next 10 years of your life - not which university you can get into so you can have as much fun as you can get away with (after doing your "gap year" trip around the world of course ). Bring back career advisers, bring back apprenticeships in ALL industries (especially manufacturing rather than "media studies") and let's get this younger generation thinking for themselves for a change - state, grammar or private. As for all those luvvies who are whinging ....... // rant mode off <as well> //

I'm booked

The problem with this is that those who hanker after it have a rosy view of them. My preference is to have streaming in the same school otherwise we will end up with the Grammar schools hoovering up the best kids and the best teachers forcing the less able at 11 to have a worse education. The biggest single issue in schools today is the lack of meaningful options for teacher to deal with those who don't want to be taught. In France you are not allowed to leave school until you can do everything to an acceptable level and teachers do appear to have more control so there is no advantage to be disruptive, you will be there much longer if you don't pass.. I failed the 11 plus and was deemed so thick I couldn't go to the comprehensive so it was Northcliff secondary modern for me, but we had great teachers who instilled the fear of god in all the "bad" kids so classes worked. I ended up with O levels and went on to do Okay in motor engineering. My daughter is also dyslexic and even though we wanted her to go to private schooling, she and the school convinced us that there was no need, she got a fist full of GCSE and A levels follwed by a degree in Biomedical science , and went on to study Medicine and is now starting her third year as a Dr working to become and anesthetic consultant. If the school has a good head, good staff and good rules even the most difficult kids can exceed many of their parents aspirations for them. Her school was first class engaged with parents and pupils. We do need to accept that manual work is not a dirty word. I was asked to do a presentation at a local school about the opportunities in the motor trade. I was introduced to the class that I was going to speak about being a mechanic. I corrected the lady and then went on about all the varied things electrical, mechanical body repairs sales development racing etc. At the end she summed up with these words, there class if you don't do well enough to go to uni then there is always something else!! I waited till the kids had gone before I tore her a strip off. Her view was clearly if you don't go to uni you have failed and that is one that has driven kids to do meaningless degrees with no use in gaining employment to end up with mountains of debt. This policy is all about pandering to what they see as core voters, thats all.