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Well on the way now

I think, like many hobbies and activities, you get out what you want or put in. If you're interested in meeting lots of people and joining in runs then you need to actively seek that kind of thing out. Can't see why you dont run out with the guy at the end of the street? As for membership fees. If you can't justify £27 you've got the wrong hobby or the club scene simply isn't for you. FWIW my £27 gets me a good discount on my insurance (Westfield and otherwise) which as said above is almost offsets the £27: no brainer. I personally get lots of ideas, solutions and advice for issues with my car from the forum which, whilst being hard to quantify in hard cash terms is enough for me to want to continue my membership. The magazine I can take or leave. I've been on a few runs with my local group, my AO does a sterling job and keeps banging away especially over the colder months. I feel quite guilty that I dont put more in. I'm not particularly a "people" person and much much prefer a solo run out but having said that over the last couple of years I've been meeting up with @CosKev and had some great runs chats and laughs. I fully understand that we're all different so if membership isn't for you then the choice is obvious. £27 buys me a few beers and a decent curry. Once you've bought a couple of Chris Rea CDs what else is there to spend money on in Teeside?

Some great feedback for which many thanks. I can only echo what folks are saying; for and against. Events We have a shows and events coordinator role on the committee plus AOs and we have said countless times in the mag, on-line and at the AGM that members should come and use this facility for their own agendas (events, shows, etc.), some already do, more should - there is a not insignificant investment in show kit available for all to use, it will be shipped to you and return expenses covered. We have Blyton (about as North as we get), Stoneleigh and Silverstone as national events. Talk to your AO, get some numbers and talk to us and we will do whatever we can to make your event happen. Local Area As for getting about locally, that really is in the realm of those local to you and your nearest AO to, well, organise. Discounts On insurance, track days, professional services... The not so good side.. Folk are generally very busy, goes for all us. We can't all be in the same place at the same nor do we have the ability or wherewithal to go everywhere and do everything. Apathy happens, saw it in spades during my time as AO. Bottom line This Club is good value for money and whilst I'm around, we (the committee) supported by the AOs will ensure it remains that way. We will listen to what you want and if it sits within the art of the possible, we will help you achieve it; example, the 21st Celebrations this year at Shelsley. Very happy to discuss more and my expectation is that this thread promotes further thought and engagement and we get more activity on the books across the country in 2018 and beyond.

I'll be at Stoneleigh, you're more than welcome to look at mine.

March 16th, 2018 Spend: £997.40 I picked up my engine from Jody (JA Kit and Customs) today! Complete checked over, and with most parts replaced she almost looks like she just rolled off the factory floor. March 17th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 With the Beast from the East making a return the conditions outside and in the garage are awful. But I'm determined to not let it spoil my rekindling with the Westfield! Ensured the gearbox input shaft and spigot bearing were not interfering and then put the gearbox back into the car with the help of my son. March 18th, 2018 Spend: £28.80 Putting an engine back can take 5 minutes, or 5 hours. I ended up somewhere in the middle when after yet another minute change in position the engine finally mated with the gearbox and bellhousing. March 24th, 2018 Spend: £32.59 Miserable weather outside so had to do all the work inside the garage. Not ideal. Connected everything up and then discovered that I should have bolted the PCV breather pipe that goes just above the bellhousing from one side of the engine to the other should have been one of the 1st things to go back, not the last. Oh well, I'm not taking it apart again, so managed to lock it in place as well as I could. Another thing I now discovered is that my water temp gauge sensor wire seems a bit short. Weird as nothing changed in the location, so I need to fix that as it looks a bit strained at the moment. Could not start the engine due to the weather, but forecast is really good for tomorrow March 25th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Up early (not helped by the bl**** clocks going forward and a AUS F1 race early in the morning) and got the car out of the garage. Fluids checked and topped up, plugs removed and hit the starter button so it would start to build up oil pressure. With the gauge now part of my system the needle rose nicely and after doing this a couple of times decided to fit new plugs and go for it! Asked Mrs Q to film the start, but to my surprise nothing happened. The engine would just turn over and over and over, but not fire into life. b*****ks. Mrs Q asked if the battery was charged, and like last year I'd fallen into the trap of trying to start the engine with a low battery. Doh! Half an hour on the charger and then... Had to change the accelerator cable tension slightly to set the RPM to a steady 1000RPM, and still have to adjust the clutch cable. March 30th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 With the threat of p*** poor weather, I sneaked out early and rolled the car out of the garage. Adjusted the clutch cable so it now seems to work ok for 1st, 2nd and reverse. Can't test it any further as I'm still on SORN. Put the nose cone and air filter back on and replaced the batteries in the security gate opener. Am leaving the bonnet off for now, until I've triple checked everything. Also taxed the car online starting from the 1st of April... no joke! Last month: £ 6379.80 This month: £ 1058.79 ----------+ Total: £ 7438.59

I suppose you get out of the club what you put in, but I'm fortunate to have quite a lot of local members although we do seem to have a core. We were only talking last night at the meeting about getting more members to attend, but if people don't want to come how can you make them? There are owners who live close to me who I have never met or even seen their cars around. I've tried creating an email list, but found I was not getting answers from the majority, some people just don't want to be involved with the club for whatever reason, although Terry obviously does. Middlesbrough to Leeds is quite a way to come for a run, but you're more than welcome to join us any time. I went to my first meeting before I bought my car and felt like the new kid at school, but I knew I was going to get involved with the club, just didn't think I'd get this involved, still not quite sure how I became an AO but there you go.

Really like that. Done a great job and it looks tasteful too.

Will be late arriving as Oscar has rugby training @ 6:30 till 7:30ish Andy

I too have not received any confirmation either, but it does say my card purchase has been completed in PayPal.

As the Ex AO of the Bristol and Bath group I echo the comments from others where you go to a lot of trouble and then are let down. No one has taken over since I had to let go due to various reasons and there are loads of cars around the area. It is never ideal for everyone and for those in far flung corners, Cornwall and Scotland they do have less opportunities to participate than others do. I joined in 2001 and the same arguments over the speed series was going then, but these guy's do put in a lot which has raised the club profile immensely. Is it value for money? Well to my mind yes and not just for the car stuff. I am no computer wiz so when stuck there is help there from members who may have benefitted from my mechanical skill and advice as an example. To me the access to the forum is worth the fee alone. Other value added things are discounts, the magazine, again limited by input from members to be honest and access to the factory sometimes at a level individuals might not have. Finally forums are different to Facebook groups and some like the later. With forums you need rules and the committee has to set and enforce what has been agreed by members. Many ex members did not like having controls in place so when the likes of Facebook came along it suited them better. Above all remember this is a hobby, you cannot measure everything in monetary terms (my wife can apparently) and in the scheme of owning a Westfield as part of a hobby the fee is a very small part overall.

Probably fell down the back of his sofa looking for his build thread

Have a look at Lesley Storr website,she make stuff similar to softbits, I got my boot cover there and she also does half doors as well as other stuff. Made my cover from a paper pattern which she sent in the post.

If you ever need body work just go to Westfield the prices are not that bad. I have been told the SE is the same as the imperial Caterham but the only thing I have from a Caterham on my other car are the seats and they fit well.

Andy I got my Narrow in June last year and yes really hard to find parts, my seats where from Ebay, they are ok but not as nice as Westfields seats but again narrows had flat small seats. My car was very basic looking but with the help of this community I'm getting to where I wanted it to be. Good luck it's great fun If I can help with anything let me know

Soft Bits are a small family business, I sometimes suspect that they may have successfully mastered the telegram, are nearly there with the phone and I'm not entirely sure what they think email is! On the other hand, they absolutely know what they're doing with trim, and talking to them by telephone generally gets everything sorted out. They do get increasingly busy though as we get into the season, so lead times and telephone answering times do start to stretch out. It's worth it, but in the worst case scenarios, can be a wait. The other thing they're excellent at, is tailoring existing products specifically to you/your car, from tweaks on dimensions, to whole extra bits.

No castor isn't adjustable on normal Westfield suspension. Though a few companies, including Westfield themselves, years ago, have made race wishbones with rose joints, where it was. Thats a massive left right castor difference and not right, I'd have said. Because of the lack of adjustability, there's usually some difference, but that's crazy.

No worries, it's yours Dave! (Must admit, for a minute there I was dreading bringing it to the meet in the Westie! )

Hi Andy, I have been looking at the same, as I bought an SE Narrow a few weeks ago. PlaysKool have narrow specific parts, Aerodynamix I understand have the ability to make Narrow parts. I have got bogged down in making my car actually usable (alternator, battery and carbs) but my plan is to have a look at other Narrow cars at Stoneleigh to refine my shopping list. Steve

It's gonna come up heavy on a trailer! On the other hand, if your "tinkering" means the engine is out, that's definitely not in the spirit of the Weigh In

Thanks mate, didn't get anything, have checked spam to. I just want to know my booking is received.

Looks good value

Equally, older tyres can be like driving on marbles with lightweight cars like these!

I have 195/50 x 15” on my 7” rims and they are fine.

Please don’t let this distract from the debate, and excellent feedback, but... One other point; Area events are not exclusive! Area events are club events, this is why club equipment etc is available for them. Sometimes it’s easy to lose site of that. As a club member, I regularly attend other Area events and meet up’s. Even if you live right next door to “your” AO, who in turn lives next door to your regular meeting spot, you are still free to go to whichever meets and event you want to! I only mention it, as sometimes newer members, wrongly, get the impression they might be somehow supposed to stick within their area.

On a new to you car, it’s always worth getting a full geo set up done, as it massively affects the handleing, and will then give you a known good baseline if anything needs further adjustment later on. There isn’t really a single correct geometry setup, instead it’s more of a range of combinations of settings that work well, but each give subtly different benefits, reflecting the preferred style of the individual driver, and whether the car is more road or track orientated. This is why, specially for that first time, it’s worth going to a specialist that knows the cars well, even if it means traveling a bit further. They will be able to listen to your feedback and help guide you to the right combination for you. 2 degrees toe in, does sound a lot, and 15psi is quite low, you’d be amazed in cars as light as these how much even 1psi can make a difference. As has been said, there are some good starting point geo suggestions on the site linked to.

The committee is always listening, infact it goes blue in the face both asking members via their AO's for suggestions, offering AO's support and kit from the club kit store, and asking for ideas via the Boardroom. We don't get many back at all. Its not just the very North that feels disadvantaged, the very South does too, complaining that all the events are in the Midlands and the North. As we don't necessarily have direct equivalents to Stoneleigh conveniently located all round the countryside, we do need the benefit of members local knowledge, it's not just a case of Googling what events are coming up, we need people's input on what events would be a good "fit" for the club, and stand a chance of getting support from the members. From what I remember, the original Coast to Coasts were a local event that really captured members imaginations and took off over the years, to the extent that the club then provided help with promotion, ticket sales etc. We don't really seem to have had lightening strike twice like that since, despite Areas organising some fantastic tours. One thing though that can be really, really difficult, is getting a small number of the Clubs AO's to promote their activities outside of their immediate areas, either via the Boardroom or the website, or even the magazine. As a consequence, it can look to those further afield, like the Area's are doing nothing, when in fact some of them are little microcosms of activity, (people tell me). Please, do keep the ideas coming!

It sounds quite a lot of toe in to me! Don't forget that the toe is adjustable on the back as well on all or most of the independent rear suspension cars. In my admittedly limited experience, most cases of unstable handling on these cars is more likely to be down to excessive tyre pressures, or suspension setup rather than steering set up, but it all needs looking at if you aren't happy. What are your tyre pressures, as that is the easiest thing to start with. Most run them around 18psi for road use, less on track.

As long as it's not hissing down I'll come.

Yep or you damage the upper wishbones. Some numpty on here did it recently.......

Refer to Dave Eastwood's post in the link above, needs a separate thread for the discussion. Rednop's decision was a respectful one IMO.

The scholar sump is something like the raceline one.

See you guys there

Thanks Dave. Everyone, I'd like to echo what Dave has said and to remind you that this is a Club run for the benefit of the Members by Members who are nominated and voted into roles on the committee every year. By nominating and voting you are entrusting the Club's future to these volunteers and will have considered that things are great as they are or need a bit of a change. Many people I have spoken with over the years have some great ideas and would have a positive, real and lasting influence on the way we do things; to those people, I encourage you to stand for a committee role. I believe that every Member has the capability and skills this Club needs so please, please do nominate yourselves or others you know and when required, use your vote. Thank you...

Don't omit the headlight spacer, else you'll crease your wishbone! Which is costly and could be painful!

Mockumentary as in BBC2 10pm tonight 'Cunk on Britain'.