Leaderboard

(By request of and on behalf of @Terry Everall - WSCC Competition Secretary… Thanks so much for paying in £460.00 to help grant life-changing wishes. We're so grateful you chose to fundraise for Make-A-Wish UK.  Thanks to your fantastic efforts, seriously ill children will get to have their unique wish granted at a time when they need it most – children like Scott, who wished to be a police officer for the day. "The wish has really boosted him up. It’s a wonderful finale to the end of a difficult journey; the start of an easier journey for Scott. It was a dream come true. Not every child is ill or goes to hospital, but not every child gets a wish. He will be speaking about this forever more." - Scott’s mum, Rena (Disclaimer: While at times I have been accused of acting like a five year-old, this young chap is not me - we just happen to share a fine first name.)

Welcome. I can’t answer about throttle lag but I do have a carb engine and have learnt how to start without choke. Turn ignition on. Slowly press accelerator to the floor 3 times. Turn key and activate starter with another press of the accelerator. Rev to keep running till steady. This also acts as a neighbour annoyance programme. Have fun.

Nice car! Looks familiar but I can’t place it. I’m not allowed in green cars for SWMBO’s understandable superstition reasons, but I like the black stripe with black wings, nice balance. I used to have twin 40s on my CVH and everything you said is true, huge flat spot at 3-3.2k when starting to accelerate from a light to moderate throttle. You learn to adapt your driving by either staying in a lower gear to keep the revs up, or stick your foot down harder below those revs! It’s kind of a Westfield Riverdance, with only your feet and lower legs moving. Converting to throttle bodies eliminated it, but I’m not going to start you on the financially lethal upgradeitis road. You’ll find that all by yourself. The weather warms up next week, just get out there and have fun for now!

Welcome to the club. I had a similar issue as I run a 2ltr zetec with twin 45 Weber's. After speaking with Alan at Carbcare when he serviced and set up the carbs, he said to keep a bit of throttle on as you change gear and he also increased the idle rpm. It's much better now.

Hi all, Just bought my first Westfield - my knowledge of these cars (and mechanics/cars in general) is very basic but I want to learn more and try to do most of the work on it myself! It was bought with track days in mind as have done a few of these in MR2s and MX5s. It's a 2L Zetec with twin webers, my first question is about the throttle response, I've noticed that if I 'floor it' at low RPM it sort of stumbles over itself and then kicks in, after which it revs fine and can go through the gears with no issues. Is this normal for cars with carbs? Any tips and info on driving cars with carbs would be greatly appreciated - especially the start up procedure where you need to let them fill up with fuel for a few seconds(?). Thanks!

Well worth finding somebody local to you, check the set up and tune if required. It shouldn't be too much of a gap as you accelerate. Vauxhall XE on 45's. Start without choke, two pumps of the accelerator and keep the revs up until warmed up a bit.

There’s only one thing we can do: Pick your least favourite first.

Ahh but should be ok for me. Sorry son but you're for the pot.

Accelerator pump or accelerator pump jet sizes checking.

Depends. If the other people cook them, burp loudly to show your appreciation. If you’re cooking them, offer the other people a spot at the dinner table so they can partake as well. Remember, a child is not just for Christmas - with planning, they can last over the winter.

I spend my weekends meeting strangely dressed people in secluded car parks making weird noises..... Oh, and then we drive our Westfields about a bit too 😂

Thanks Dave really appreciate your help! I'm going to try and work out what all the major parts are that I have and go from there in terms of servicing and getting people's opinions. Will definitely check things like the hoses but the car is very clean so I would imagine everything like that is in good nick anyway.

Thank you - it doesn't feel like a major issue but just wanted to see if it was a 'known problem' and was signs of something bad - just sounds like a general thing with carbs/Webers that they are tricky to setup. I'm just not used to driving with carbs as you say so that won't help either!

Welcome, can’t help with the carbs but I’m sure someone will be along soon iirc there was a “fix” to do with the progression holes…… or I could be forgetting, like I said I’m sure help will be along soon. enjoy her

Welcome! Getting Weber set up right with Zetec engined Westfields is always a little tricky, usually with a compromise or two, being made somewhere. Modern fuel injected cars are so thoroughly sorted, that it can come as a shock to drive traditional carbs. And it's difficult on an internet forum to know to what degree something is happening, if you see what I mean. So it may just be that it's not something you can do much about, BUT, it's always worth getting all the basics right and working well together, and them perhaps getting the carbs jetting etc checked over. One thing I do remember with Weber/Zetec set ups, is that they can be very sensitive to the "progression" drillings, I think Zetecs should have five holes, but four is standard on most Webers? (These are a set of holes drilled in sequence, so that as the throttle snaps open, it uncovers progressively more of them, which it uses as a signal to squirt in extra fuel.

Pull over and let the sevens pass! 😁

Had another fun trip out today with my little co-pilot. We headed down to Bridport to fuel up, then to West Bay for lunch. After that we went along the coast road to Abbotsbury with some excellent views across to Portland Bill. We then headed up to Dorchester, and back up the A356 to Crewkerne; really nice, fast A road driving, though a little chilly! Tea and hot chocolate to warm up, car washed, dried and tucked safely back in its bubble. Knackered but a fun day.

Just fabricated some roof bars to give that little more height inside ☺️ the constant rubbing on my head just became annoying for a follicley challenged chap you had to keep a speed of 70mph to keep it off your head 😂. Looked at Soft bits but found them a tad expensive and they don’t give you the additional height. any one else fancies a go give me a shout and I’ll give you the shopping list.

yes fine for one ☺️could be fun with a passenger.

Wouldn't eat mine... Don't wash their hands or anything else for that matter. I'd rather eat a rat...

Does one have to have them flamegrilled? Just er, asking for a friend! Could make a good casserole!

It has been noticed that you don’t participate so often but happily watch and film whist shouting encouragement

Looks solid. If you haven’t thought of it, I would look at protecting between the roof material where it will rub against bar ends and the wing nuts.

Good to know it's normal then haha, and yeh I think the trick is slowly applying the throttle at low revs or just not being anywhere near low revs in the first place! ITBs can come when I win the lottery or something similar

Oh, and a bit of a weird one, but don't think just because the car may only do a few k a year, that things like changing coolant and brake fluid etc every two or three years doesn't matter. Both these fluids are still deteriorating over time whether the car is driven or not. Also, check your fuel hoses, as it's new to you. The increased ethanol in modern fuels is problematic for older hose materials/specifications. This is easily replaced with modern ethanol safe hose, but something to check

I think people tend to use the Mondeo workshop manuals for the engine, but for normal servicing, I'm not sure it's really necessary? Asking on here will get you all the variations on peoples favourite oils to use, spark plugs etc. As for things like brake pads, you need to work out what brakes you have, if you're not sure, (and this applies to any part of the car) just grab some good close ups showing plenty of detail from different angles and post them up on here, someone will be able to ID them for you. One tip I would give; particularly when it comes to things where a range of options will suit. Sometimes, after asking for recommendations on here, you can feel like you've got so many alternative suggestions back you're no closer. BUT, this is rarely truly the case, you just have to do a bit of filtering - go with the suggestions of those that mostly use their cars in a similar way to you. If your heavily into track days, and almost no road use, pick the oil recommended by someone who practically lives at the circuit. Likewise, if you like to just tour, and are asking about brake pads, go with the suggestion of someone who like to tour, too. and so forth. It really helps make sense of the diversity of the answers you get, when you factor in how those owners drive/use their Westfields.

Yeah that's a good approach. In practice, the cars are really simple, and while driven hard, don't do huge numbers of miles, so some of the preventative work you might expect on a modern tin top, just isn't there. On the other hand, things that modern tin tops have left behind like self undoing bolts can be a thing! As a result, what you'll see referred to as a spanner check will crop up often in maintenance suggestions. Again, on a new to you car, it's practically the first job I'd do! (It's also a great "get to know the car" job, as it will have you poking in all the nooks and crannies! A spanner check is literally going round with a spanner (well, a torque wrench, unless you're a grizzled old mechanic whose touch is just as accurate), and checking all safety critical nuts and bolts are still tight. - you'll see most of us tend to use marker paint on the nuts and bolts both to show we've tightened them properly when building the cars, and to help indicate movement. In truth, except sometimes after a joint has just been assembled, you don't get many slackening off with use, but it can and does happen. (Westfields have almost none of the noise/vibration/harshness damping and management of a car from the last thirty plus years, let alone modern 21st century cars, the vibration and heat is what works them loose occasionally. Check every service, before and after big trips, like Euro tours, and before after particularly hard on the car events like trackdays. Don't get paranoid though, 99.999999% of the time everything will be perfectly fine!

I'll definitely speak to him and get his opinion, it doesn't ruin the driving experience at all but wanted to be double sure that it wasn't a problem! I suppose quirks like this make the car more fun to drive and gives it more character

My first Westfield was a Zetec on twin 45 webers and it was the same. Modern fuel injection allows you to just plant the throttle at any revs and the electronics sort the fuel/air ratio for you. It's a little less sophisticated with carbs... As others have said, there are things that can be done to smooth the power delivery but carbs tend to be set up for an optimum rev range. My old car was set up for sprinting (huge chokes etc) and was never happy below 3500 rpm but went like a stabbed rat after that, I just had to learn to ease the throttle on gently at low revs (the webers sound amazing though!) Not sure where you're based, but Alan at Carbcare (in Lichfield) as @Andy Westwood recommends is a great guy who does an amazing job at a good price. Lots of us have used him 👍 Love the car BTW!

Great! The key thing is, do question stuff like this! I can't tell you how many times at local events, shows etc, you get chatting to someone new, that's owned their car for years, but perhaps didn't build it, when they casually mention some little niggle or other, that they've just ignored "because it's a kit car" so bound to have issues, and the shock when you say, no that's not right, it's perhaps not set up right, or set up for some one else's driving style, or sometimes even just build slightly oddly! I always recommend just sorting out basic servicing, once you get the car, so you know for sure when it was last done, and can plan to that date in the future, then, once you've had some time to settle in with the car, find any little bits that need sorting etc. Get the geometry set up done by someone that knows these type of cars and how to get the best out of them. Then just get to know your car, live with it before delving too far into personalising it, you'll soon start to get an idea of what you like/need/works for you!

I'll give him a call soon, changing gear in mine feels great so no issues there (I assume!) thank you

Thank you! I had a rough idea which was similar to this but usually just sort of spam the throttle and pray

I've PM'd you

All pods are taken but there is the facility to pod share and help split the costs. 16-18 June 2023 at Gairloch Contact me or Gary Taylor if wanting to join in

There’s a bunch of us doing a long weekend in June. Not the full NC500, but as mentioned I don’t rate the full route anyway. Not sure if there’s any spaces available as it was organised a while back (and not by me) - but having an MK shouldn’t be an issue 😁

The normal V6 or V8 motorbike helmet intercoms are quite cheap, especially on Aliexpress (about £50 a pair)

A big thank you to all those that attended. As many of you will know, it is customary for us to hold a raffle and / or auction in aid of charity. this year was no exception and the charity was 'Make a Wish' which specialises in making dreams come true for terminally ill children. Between us all we managed to raise a total of £460 on the evening. A big thank you to all who donated prizes including sponsors A Plan, GGR Communications, Triple M Motorsport, Force Racing Wheels, Northampton Motorsport. Well done everyone.

Long time SCUBA diver who ventured into technical mixed-gas diving and then re-breathers; happy to dive in a muddy puddle and spend as long under water as I can - pure bliss and silence! Dived all round the world, but despite the sometimes chilly waters UK diving is so good - favourite UK dive is HMS M2 - Submarine with an aircraft hangar that sank(?) of Portland, Dorset, 1932 with all hands. Also loved diving Malaysia and Borneo - wonderful reefs and so much wildlife. However, the recent passing of my Father has found me with a full set of Fly Fishing gear and so I may try to rekindle that old skill and supplement the larder...

Ah, I have same hobby! It’s great, cause it also comes with the “collecting big card board boxes” hobby!

I collect empty bottles - which sounds so much better than “being an alcoholic”.

I've been diving into home brewing beer as a hobby over the last few years. I think it's the perfect counter hobby to meddling with the Westfield: Carbon fibre addiction now has a stainless steel addiction counterpart. Weight that comes off the Westfield is now added to me. There may be a slight imbalance in that one.

Studied photography at a local college as a night course after work and travelling before COVID trashed that one.