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Long time since I did any modelling, but spent a couple of hours in the loft today. Carried on with a Lotus 72 I started over 6 years ago. Got quite a lot of the decals on.

I started planning our route to try and get as many of @Quinten's desired places in, shortly after offering to guide him round in place of a fairly dull drive to GBS. In parallel, I'd suggested using my favoured Whatsapp live location to aid finding each other and staying in contact during the trip etc. Very quickly the trip gained attention from others wanting to join us including @Paul Hurdsfield, @bioman and kibriya Ahmad (NWKCOG friend) from the North and also @LukeW and @Nemesis who ducked the Evo triangle in favour of the peaks! Whilst putting the way points into my TomTom software on my PC, I was getting regular prompts from the growing Whatsapp group as to what time we'd be at the Devil's Ar$e car park ! I also had domestic chores to complete to earn forgiveness for spending a Saturday without the family😂 I eventually suggest 11am for meeting up with the 'Northern Rabble' (that's north of Stoke on Trent and not to be confused with @Chris King - Webmaster and Joint North East AO's Hobbit Squad 😉). @Quinten suggested an 8:00am meet at M&S Ashbourne. @LukeW wasn't so excited to hear about such an early start! I was pleased to see messages as I ate my breakfast showing the really early birds had left their nests: It was great to see as I set off, where both @LukeW, @bioman & @Quinten were in Whatsapp too. Leason 2, on how to set a more useful profile pic than a grey silhouette would be at breakfast no.2. @LukeW (Red S2000)& Paul @Nemesis (yellow Rover V8- named the ASBO) stopped for breakfast with Ronald: As I approached Ashbourne, I could see kibriya had set off too (Yes another bland grey, silhouette!) I had a nice uneventful run to M&S at Ashbourne as was met with a virtually empty car park! I was shortly joined by @Quinten and his son in his Mini. Coffee's and cakes were soon ordered in M&S (Thanks Quinten!), and @lukew arrived with @Nemesis We set off bang on our planned 8:30am departure time, and made a quick visit for fuel for Paul. After we'd waited for Paul to clean his windscreen (3 aeroscreened owners puzzled by this requirement) Here's @LukeW modelling his 'Peak District Summer Range of Clothing' We then had a nice quiet drive up the high street in Ashbourne and then up to Ilam. After Ilam, we headed to Wetton Mill and then through ASBO Tunnel (Swainsley Tunnel). I hope the dog and it's owners just outside the entrance enjoyed it as much as 4 Westie's and a Mini did! (It was on a lead). We then went passed Hulme End (no stops for cake) and through Harrington, passing Tagg Lane Dairy (No stops for cake or Ice Cream) and into Bakewell. Driving along the Infamous 13 bends. Once in Bakewell we took the road down past Chatsworth house, turned round at Calton Lees Car Park (leaving a bemused parking attendant!), and drove back to get the better view of the house. We then got even closer: We then took the road through Hassop towards the Devil's Ar$e car park. As we travelled, my phone indicated @Paul Hurdsfield was calling. It was circa 10:20am. As I was leading, talking to @LukeW via blue tooth headset, who was holding up the rear of the convoy and following my TomTom, I wasn't able to take the call. However could see via Whatsapp that the 'Northern Rabble' where close. A few miles further on we found @bioman @Paul Hurdsfield & Kibriyah waiting at the side of the road, so they joined the convoy and we were now 7 Westfields and a mini. The cars were parked in colour groups at the Devil's Ar$e carpark We discovered Kibriyah had broke his cycle wing for a second timein recent weeks and hence we all displayed the normal NWKCOG sympathy he's used to: @LukeW may get to regret smiling so well later 😉 We then left the carpark to drive up Winnat's pass together. Just as I turned off the main road to head up the pass, @LukeW started to indicate issues with his car over the headset. Due to the traffic and the convoy, I suggest we'd carry on up the pass and I'd come back to help him. At the top of the pass @bioman and @Paul Hurdsfield kindly agreed to lead the convoy to the Rambler Inn and I'd go and see what had happened to @LukeW This meant I'd got to drive down Winnat's pass 😎 I easily found @LukeW who was being assisted by our tail running mini driven by @Quinten's son Justin. They'd already got the Mini jack out under the Westfield and established the CV Joint to the driver's side rear hub had come away! (He had been on track on Curborough on Thu!). We suspected the 6 pins holding it together had possibly come loose and then sheared off, so we expected it wouldn't be a quick fix as broken studs would need to be extracted from the hubs etc. Luke was happy to book the 'truck of shame' and go and sit in a nearby pub to wait. Hence I then drove up Winnat's pass again, with Justin behind me in the Mini. I found the rest of the gang at the Rambler Inn, who had kindly un-chained the entrance before 12, just to let us in and no other cars! @Paul Hurdsfield, @bioman and kibriya weren't able to join us for lunch and shortly headed their separate ways. The rest of us were well fed and watered by the staff as usual. We then headed to the east side of the Snake pass, but rather than take the top road to hope, we though we ought to drive past @LukeW as we were worried he was drowning his sorrows We told him we were coming past and he did ask us to check his car was okay, were he'd dumped it! We advised that some of it was still there and 'peeped' as we went past the Watering Hole he was stranded in! We'd advised Luke to ensure they sent a flat bed etc, and guess what...................they didn't.......... The RAC Patrol Man was able to confirm what was expected: The chunk out of the upright may weld up, but I think @LukeW is hoping to replace with new. We started the snake pass next to Ladybower Reservoir and quickly turned right for a look a Derwent Dam. I was keen to see if the water level had risen from a family trip there last Nov, when it looked like this: Alas, we seemed to have somehow, driven past a road closure and moved a cone, to access the Dam Viewing Point. Google street view pic below: No sooner had we jumped out to take this photo: When a lovely Ranger Lady arrived, to tell us what naughty boys we'd been and how we'd best jump into our toys and F.O.! We were polite, apologetic and she still carried on to tell us what she was going to do if we had the audacity to drive up another road too (Note to self, need to find this one too ). Shame she didn't seem to give the same warm, welcoming treatment to all the owners in tin tops, parked on all the grass verges with double yellows on the way in! @Nemesis was in need to 'water the flowers' but we felt it best not to dangle, little Paul at her, so we did as we were LOUDLY told and got out of there! We then drove westbound on the Snake Pass almost into Glossop. Next we headed south passing through Hayfield ( @Julie Hall - Peak District AO would have know the county show was on and avoided the area). We did get caught up slightly in the Senior Fell Race closing the road briefly, but we were only waiting a few minutes. Next was a fuel stop in Buxton and onto the Cat and Fiddle, I was conscious at this point that I'd not delivered one of @Quinten's aim. So we quicky peeled off left and headed to a very busy Blaze Farm (They've got the builders in too, so the car parking is reduced). Here's a tripple dutch Ice Cream: We then headed back to were we'd left the Cat and Fiddle and drove the rest of it towards Macclesfield. The Cat and Fiddle Pub did have a lot of vehicles (mainly bikes) parked there, but we weren't sure if it was actually back open again. Once in Macc, we headed south and called into the Rudyard Hotel briefly (Yes, they still let me in after my birthday attire from last year!). We had a quick look at the lake (despite it been virtually in my back Garden, I couldn't confirm the connection between the author and the lake's name- It's actually the author was named after the lake- http://www.rudyardlake.com/rudyard-kipling/). We then said our goodbyes and headed for home. I hope all had a good day, and it's it not another 21 years before @Quinten comes to visit? Especially so I can see his lovely wheels again! They really suit his car and are so unique: Catching up with @LukeW later, he did get a flat bed, eventually and got his car safely home.

Up early and did my suspension setup now the new front springs are on then as it was a cracking day I went out for a mooch about I ended up on a hill road that turned to a track and 3 miles later was a dead end but with stunning views, turned around and retraced my steps then wound my way around some new wiggly roads to lochindorb and the ruined castle of “ the wolf of badenoch “ then to logie steading for coffee, then round some back roads to Forres for coffee then home over the oak hill road What a lovely day mooching around

He's been up to his usual mischief on his hols in them, there lakes again:

back home one I did make it!!!! Thanks for a great half a day around the peaks, and thanks to the very lovely bunch that kept me company in the pub whilst waiting for the truck of shame!! Glad @Quinten enjoyed it sorry I wasn’t able to drive back with @Nemesis @IanK (Bagpuss) thanks for organising and I apologies for making you drive winnats pass 3 times 👍🏼

I'd forgotten about the 'ex Sport 250 clan' 😉 I'd also suggest to clean and paint mark. Then you can quickly and easily visually check if they've moved, before/after/during track events, road trips etc.

Left home at 6.15am Did a little driving Got back home at 6.35pm

HI Guys..... I've owned my westfield black top 2.0l zetec for 9 months now however I've just sold my car but now on the hunt for my next looking at either a westfield 250 sport or a S2000. Mark

A mooch about the hills today

What a beautiful day to be out today. Where did you go?.

What a fantastic day out it was, and what great planning was put into it by Ian. Julie, I'd be a little concerned I've just had a look at what Google thinks I've driven and at nearly 300 miles I think we've done well! What Ian missed just after Luke's unfortunate breakdown was Nemesis and I trying to turn around our cars after Paul H wasn't sure where the turn off to The Ramblers Inn was, on a cobbled path with a grass bank as high as Mam Tor and a cattle grid at the start. I beached myself on the bank and we had to push the car off after which I let it roll a little down the path until I reached the cattle grid, where I promptly put my leg in just as I was reaching for the hand brake to stop the car... If I'd missed or was a second later I would have for sure returned home on a stretcher with a crushed leg 😲 Anyway, slightly burned head and painful right ankle aside, I've loved every minute of it and will be back for more Peaky adventures.

Hi @Mark Crompton I have the standard S2000 single throttle body and have had no issues with noise at either Blyton, Donington or Cadwell. These are the only circuits I've done to date but hope to add to this list next year. Just to add, I dont know the db level for my car as I've not had it tested at any of the circuits.

Cheeky gimp 🤣

Where the s2000 boys are concerned it's more 'talk' than torque Joking aside. Either strong loctite or just drill and lock wire. Seen a few instances of these working loose.

Adjusted them this morning. Nearside needed tweaking by two divisions (when I removed the pin I could turn the nut with my fingers) and offside by one.

I've booked a garage,if either of you need to take cover to swap wheels/fix stuff feel free👍 I've got two other m8s that also want to use it,but they have roofs so we can kick them out if need be!

I've never put anything more than 10 lbft through mine, especially when pedalling along with you and @CraigHew behind 😄 We've just not had a good Torque debate with our Sport 250 friends for a while!

Estonia today makes it 7 countries in 7 days! Weather was pretty horrible this morning on the way to the ferry. The waterproofer I picked up for the roof made a big difference. There was very little water coming through the fabric of the hood. Instead it was running into the zips where it leaked like a seive right over my steering wheel! Oh well, easier to deal with now at least. I can run a rag or towel over the zips every time water is visibly pooling before it starts dripping. Onto the ferry then, and had the usual tradition of people coming over asking to take a picture of the car etc. Its great how positive people are about it! Also get to hear about some great cars other people have too. There was one Swedish guy with one of 3 remaining Buicks still running that he was telling me about. Unfortunately I didn't quite catch what model it was though. Once we got off the ferry into Estonia, the weather was initially dry, but quite overcast and threatening to rain. We went to our first stop - a short trail down to saula siniallikad, a natural blue spring. The photos don't do it justice unfortunately, but it looked spectacular. The rings you can see in the photo are actually 3 or 4 metres from the surface, and created as the water flows through the sand at the bottom into the pool. It was pretty fascinating to watch, and the colour was so vivid. After that, and another round of locals asking about the car and taking more photos, we set off towards our hostel in Pärnu. The weather was still looking pretty threatening and the forecast wasn't good, so we left hoods up. We got onto some fun little roads, with some nice twisty sections. You have to stay awake on the Estonian roads though, they're regularly rutted where years of wheels have run, resulting in a raised section in the centre. With the low mx5 sump under the car, that was a littlw nerve wracking at times! About a half an hour down the road, I was very tempted to gamble on the weather, but glad I didn't in the end! When the rain came, it came heavy, and to be honest, the waterproofer has now made a massive difference with the hood. It was dripping in the morning having had the car stationary in the rain for a few hours overnight. When you're moving, the water seems to stay out of the zips, so it's a much more pleasant place to be in the rain now. That said, the popper for the driver's side zip has broken now, having been opened maybe 10 times at most, so that's another slight disappointment but doesn't really effect the use other than a permanent jingle when hood is up. The only other niggle I've got at the moment is the car has been running quite rich. I know mx5s have a tenancy to do this at the best of times, but it's definitely worse now than when I set off. It might just be a product of the stock. Ecu coupled with a much more free flowing exhaust and intake setup, or it could be down to the fact that since leaving I've switched to 95RON fuel rather than 98 (couldn't afford 98 for the miles I'm doing). Or it could be down to the temperature. Anyone familiar with my build thread will remember I switched the thermostat from an 88 degree one that was in the donor to an 82 degree one that it should have had to begin with due to it running quite hot on the day of my IVA. With the much cooler air temperatures up here, coolant temps have generally been around 84 degrees, so it's not impossible that the ECU has been pumping more fuel in to try to bring the engine temperature up a bit. The other option is that my O2 sensor may have died but annoyingly I forgot to pack my little diagnostic LED circuit to check for any DTCs. I'll keep an eye on it as we head south to warmer climates and see if it changes at all. Anyway, clothes (and ourselves) all washed atand ready for another few days camping. We'll set off in the general direction of Riga tomorrow - after the rugby of course!

Oi! Who’s nicked my GoPro?

I've made a Facebook page for my models. Hopefully I can share them with more people and get myself back into more modelling. If you're on Facebook, please have a look and if you like what you see, then please like it. It's only an hour old, so not much on yet. "Red Spider Models" Thanks, Robin.

@Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary started fitting a supercharger last winter and it's certainly made his car quieter 😎 Though that's because it'snot back on the road just yet. Another supercharged S2000 owner has fitted a 2nd silencer above the first, so I suspect it does indeed increase the noise and I'm pretty sure the factory have stopped recommending carbon cans for Supercharged S2000's due to the increased gas flow blowing them to bits!

Oops sorry about that guys (again) I have some video footage of my misdemeanours 🤣

Yesterday: The clue's in the last picture.

Hi all, what a fantastic write up @IanK (Bagpuss). The "northern rabble" enjoyed ourselves and it was great to meet up with some fellow WSCC members. The whatsapp is a fantastic app to have when meeting cars coming from different directions. I think this years Blats on such a scale will be out the window until 2020 but who knows? Thanks again and for the refreshment ( Diet Fanta Orange) it really was welcome. Sorry that @LukeW had his problem but glad he got home eventually . Nice to meet you @Quinten and @Nemesis Bioman

I've used these for 3 overseas road trips: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Excelvan-Motorcycle-Bluetooth-Motorbike-Interphone/dp/B06XQHM7SK/ref=asc_df_B06XQHM7SK/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310747102469&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14084940944126207477&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9073591&hvtargid=pla-564141831721&psc=1 I've typically paid circa £60 for a pair. These seem a little pricey. I then mount them in these ear defenders- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hellberg-Secure-S1H-Professional-Ear-Defenders-SNR-26dB/111411972434?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 The Peltor ones are shown for comparison and the deeper shells caused more wind noise (I'm aero screened). Happy to share construction/destruction techniques if you go this route. The head band is adjustable and my daughter has used them since age 8 in the car.

Welcome @Mark Crompton, as discussed via FB, there's a few S2000 owners on here who track more often than me: @Scotty72 @Andy (Sycho) @Tom (T3OMF) - Cotswolds AO @S2KGSYCan you gents please give Mark some advice as to which tracks you've had noise problems with etc.

Great, you can get back playing in it now!

Very kind, thanks Kev! Looking forward to it 👍

Agreed, but why have they come loose?

He's very lucky it went at low speed, it would have caused much more damage at higher speeds. @LukeW give me a call later and I'll talk you through removing the long pin holding the bottom of the upright in

Sorry to see the truck of shame Luke, it’s got nothing to do with the abuse you were giving it on Thursday has it ?? Hope your back on the road again soon , Andy

You are correct that Richard Usher has sold it to Ginetta, he has been runnning it for them but will be handing it over to another Circuit Manager in October. Alan Mugglestone who is a very experienced race engineer running a Motorsport business with his son Nick. He has worked in all kinds of motorsport at all levels from F1, F3, GT3 etc As for noise they do have a drive by just after the start by about 30 metres, it's exactly as Andrew has said.

I couldn't possible comment that @LukeW broke his car pulling out of the devil's ar$e ! Who say's S2000's have no torque! I've not heard of a Sport 250 snapping a CV joint off the rear hub yet! @AdgeC @BugMan Challenge on! I hope you're quickly fixed Luke! But I'm not sorry that you're breakdown mean't I had to drive Winnat's pass 3 times instead of 1, like the others! 😎

You know the law, without pictures it didn't happen......so......don't believe you.

Spent 7hrs driving on some great roads - Newcastle, Stanhope, Middleton in teesdale, Brough, Kirkby Lonsdale (Devils Bridge), Hartside, Alston, Langley and home. Had too much fun to take any pics 🤣🤣 Ok there was a couple but they are pants... need to to get the go pro shots from the Caterham 😁

I’ve worked it out.. my membership had expired.

Yeah that’s great to hear it’s just a little disconcerting when the drive by is as low as 92db & you have been ping at Mallory at 106db. But I am tempted all depends how work goes.👍

It's a 41mm socket

Here's some photos of the models currently in the cabinet.