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Took her out for the first time today, was a little nervous to say the least lol

Autocrossing my 2014 Mega S2000 in Bozeman, Montana, USA. dave

Looking great. get some shake down miles on her now and start to open her up. Just don't go into the Vtec zone. It's addictive 😉

I need to go lie down

Now the adrenaline has dissipated I should probably tell you about my first race.... BRSCC MX5 Clubman Championship supporting the C1 24hr weekend. I've not been on track at Silverstone before, and the GP circuit is pretty long so I decided to do the test day the day before racing. It'll just be a like a track day right? Sure its raining, but I'm half decent in the wet so it'll be fine, right? Testing was in sessions - I pootled out ready to get up to speed. What followed was an absolute assault on the senses. Getting passed on the inside and the outside at the same time, while i'm trying not to fall off and learn which was the track goes. Mildly terrifying. After a couple of laps, I had a word with myself and decided to send it. The rest of the session was much better and I was a lot more comfortable, although I suspect this may have been that the fast guys had gone past so I was settling in with the drivers who were around my pace. As the day progressed, it dried out and I got happier and happier. Much more comfortable being in very close proximity and it was all good. Ready for race day. Didn't sleep, obviously. Got to the circuit around 730, scrutineering resulted in a couple of small jobs for the team. Very impressed with the scrutineers. I thought they'd be terrifiying ogres but he was so helpful - they really want to get you out there and keep you safe. Drivers briefing - dont remember much, surprised at how short it was and they basically said "guys, you have to stop crashing into each other". Next up, 15 mins of qualifying. Which to me, seemed pretty much like an actual race but with a rolling start. It was awesome, I didn't find myself with much space and probably should have backed off to get some, by the time I'd thought this it was half way through the session and I didn't want to sacrifice any laps (bearing in mind, its probably only 4 flying laps for quali). All going well, big smile on my face, I've almost done my first qualifying session! Then smiles turned to tears - the car lost power down the Wellington Straight and I could hear the distinctive noise of big end bearing failure. Gutted. In to the pits to lament. I qualified 19/33 though, which I was really pleased with. Catastrophic engine failure aside. Race 1 was in less than 2 hours. This was not looking good. The team didn't have a spare engine, even if they could get it swapped in time. Luckily, they 'obtained' a bottom end from somewhere and the plan was to put the old head on the new bottom end and get that in. It was clear race 1 wasn't going to happen for me, so got out of the way, let them get on with it and did what i do best - a cup of tea and a sausage butty. Race 2 was scheduled for 1640. Time was ticking... I'd have to start race 2 from the back of the grid, pretty disappointing but race 2 was looking less and less likely anyway The team told me to get suited up and get in the car. Its still on axle stands at this point and the "new" engine hasn't run. I'm strapped in, the other drivers are already in assembly. One of the lovely race people (?) is on the radio giving control updates, while I'm stressed AF. Engine starts, straight off the stands and round to assembly. Yes! I'm going racing!! Of course I got lost on the way to assembly, but figured it out after a wrong turn. They are making some checks on the car while we're waiting for green flag - a coolant leak is spotted...tools are dispatched, but its too late. The rest of the guys head for green flag lap and I'm stuck in assembly. I'm gutted, my racing dreams are over for today. . . . . . . . . Or are they? Jubilee clip tightened and the car is good to go, they'll let me start from the pit lane. I high tail it over to the pits from assembly, the nice flag man explains he'll turn the light green for me when the pack are through turn 1. Excitement building now, lights go green and off I go! Getting onto the track as the pack head through Maggots and Becketts, I think I'm about 3s behind the guy who is next to last. Engine seems strong though. I needn't have worried, I was on the back of them pretty much immediately and managed to get past 4 in the first lap. I was into my stride, this is so much better than track days. Trying to leave racing room, but passing on the inside and the outside. Managed to get on the power early, get a couple of overtakes on the long long straights and on the brakes. The short 15 min race was over in a flash. It was actually cut short to 13.5 mins because of delays earlier in the day. I managed to bring it home 23/33 which tbh I'm over the moon about considering the circumstances (racing driver excuse #72). I am still buzzing and absolutely hooked. Next outing Oulton Park on 23rd July, which I'm expecting to be different to silverstone but I cannot wait!!! ETA - I'd post a video, but the gopro fail

Not a bad turn out tonight, 3 Westfields and 2 Cobras. Others in real cars too. Sat outside all night. Let's fill the car park next month.

Bargain - you seen the price of timber lately 🤣

Cheers bud. Yeah definately need to bed in the brakes before testing out Vtec, thats if im brave enough lol

Cycle wings, and both wing and headlight bracket sold.

@Si.Dalziel

Yes... and no... Basically, it'll be nice and simple Tel. Nothing to worry about for a while yet. When it happens, unplug your phone from the wall and plug it in to the BT (or Sky or PlusNet or whoever supplies your phone line) hub that will be sent to you. That's it...

I have learnt quite a bit about cooling a Crossflow in a Westfield so if you have any questions just fire away. However, starting with basics and minimal cost. How do you know it is getting hot? Is it just the gauge or can you smell it/boiled over. The wee on the garage floor might just be from an overflow pipe. Where is it leaking from? Hopefully, it just needs a hose clamp tightening. Or the overflow pipe during expansion. Might be the water pump (hopefully not). The bottom hose goes to the water pump on the front of the engine. Does the water pump look old or new? Drop your coolant into a washing-up bowl or similar from the bottom hose on the rad. Is it 100% water, or some coolant (coloured)? Is it a rusty sludge? If a rusty sludge, then do a coolant flush. You can find products on eBay. I have used Wynne's in the past. Refill with coolant designed for a classic car. This is important as modern coolants are designed for modern engines, i.e. not an iron block. I use Miller's Alpine blue coolant. A bit pricey but you don't need much. Make sure it is full and avoid trapped air (depends on your specific set up). Monitor your coolant temps (make a note with the ambient temp and driving conditions, i.e. stuck in traffic). See how that goes and hopefully that will be fixed. If you still have cooling problems then there will be plenty of advice on here to help you spend your money on upgrades 😀

That's not good. I hope she's soon home and well again.

Yes please. Can't miss a naming ceremony!

Sounds like you’ve been busy with it. I realise now that the fettling is all part of it. I also feel like I should have opted for breakdown cover 😂 Good tip on the wheel spacer. I’m going to look into this. Tonight I think I found that the radiator cap is the likely source of the leak as there is residue and stains all around this area. Once I manage to get it started I’ll let it get warm and monitor. I popped it on charge again tonight even though it was only on charge 2 nights ago. Tonight the charger read that it was 2/5 bars charged again so it could also be the battery. Cheers all.

oh this is a family friendly name, particularly liked by young lads😀

Hmmmm……… I’m intrigued! I called it plenty of names when I was building it! (And a few more when I couldn’t select gears last week!) but not very family friendly ones😉

Yes please. Count me in.

Oh dear, sorry to hear that Jon. Hope she’s feeling better soon.

Wow, I’m genuinely blown away by the help guys. Thanks so much to you all. I’m a complete newb to all this and not a mechanic, but I could build you a nice website 😅 Collecting the car was 20+ years in the making and a bit emotional. I was going to build a kit with my late father but we didn’t get time unfortunately. He was a mechanic with a lifetime of knowledge so in his absence I’m extremely grateful for the help. I’ll keep you posted.

Draft route is mapped out - another 200 mile run, with a good mix of A, B and single tracks and they'll be dead quiet, except for Westies coming in the opposite direction (some more loops this year to keep everyone second-guessing if they're on the right track). Next job is to scribe it into a route book and test it. So far, this is the only run scheduled for the rest of this year's McWesty calendar. South of the border types are more than welcome if you want 200 miles of near-deserted squiggly roads. Last time I looked online, there were still rooms available at the castle if you want to make a weekend of it, great if you have a significant-other who's not enamoured on the usual day-run blasts - they are just as involved in the day as the driver.

Anytime from around 4pm Thursday, or from 7am on Friday. Briefing will be 8.30 with sighting laps from 9am. If you are any later than that we can sort you out

Have a great day @Andy Banks , @Charles King , @James Charteris & @Rhett Turner - Black Country AO 🍺🍺🍺🍺🎂🎂🎂🎂

@SteveB21: Yes, that's what they look like when they're finished, @Michael8 (Brooklands banking and test hill in background.)

Visit to Page Motorsport to have the old Webers and the new Nodiz set up.

Cant make this one, 70th birthday darn sarf🎂🍾

Sorry I can't make this one 🥺

Sorry have to decline for tomorrow. My mother has been taken into hospital.