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I’ve had this kit for a couple of years but have been a little scared of attempting it, probably in part due to reading the infamous ‘canoe’ tale about what can happen if you get it wrong! Anyhow, having recently done my headrest, I wanted to sort the seat ahead of our Cornwall trip in a few weeks so that I’m a bit more comfortable for longer stretches. I had to complete the task on my own as Mrs Stu is not feeling too good currently, so made plenty of preparations to ensure that if things did go wrong, the car wouldn’t get covered in the stuff. As it turned out, it was all a bit of an anti climax and it went very well. I used a very large, thick plastic bag which was an option with the foam kit. I wanted a bit of padding under my bum, so put some foam on a very thin piece of ply to act as a base, then popped this in the bag. I cut some cardboard to shape and put this down the sides in an attempt to prevent it locking in to place again the chassis rails which as you will see only partially worked. I had a couple of plastic measuring jugs and bought some cheap buckets specially for the job, and mixed up 600ml of each part first off. Once poured in, I sat myself down on the bag and wriggled around until comfortable. It got fairly warm, but nothing too bad, and I was a bit surprised that the first pouring just reached the back of my bum, so more was needed. After about 15 mins it seemed firm enough for me to get out and mix the remainder of the kit and have another go. This time it filled the space behind me ok, and worked its way right up to above shoulder level. Once out, I left it to set whilst having dinner, then set to work trying to get the b****r out! The cardboard had bent outwards allowing the foam to spread into the frame a little so I had to carefully cut the sides off and free the seat. The back section proved a little fragile, so I cut off the top down to a more useable level, having to glue sections back on which had broken away. Then a fair amount of shaping with a knife, and I also cut the hole for the harness to pass through. Finally, I covered it liberally with the tape I bought as part of the kit, and Bob’s your uncle, a foam seat which is actually remarkably comfortable, even if it’s not very beautiful!

Winter/spring engine rebuild...... Core plugs and oil bungs removed and acid dipped. Block bored to 87mm Block face skimmed. Head washed and skimmed. Late crank replaced with a spare early crank I had kicking about. Wossner steel rods and Omega intruder pistons fitted. ACL race bearings. New oil pump with uprated internal gear. QED 450V cams, race springs and steel caps fitted along with solid lifters. Vernier pulleys. Other things that I can't quite remember no doubt!!! All up and running with no coolant or oil leaks. But do want to recheck the shims for the lifters. All machine work done by Grace Engine Developments which luckily are 5 mins drive away!

Out to play in the sunshine today.

Had a good day today at the The Den in Teignmouth, organised by Colin’s Crashbox club. I met Matt at Ilminster Services soon after 8am having had an early morning walking the dog and washing the car. My little (but getting bigger!) copilot joined me and we had a fun blat up in quite foggy conditions to start. After I had phaffed around with our headsets for a while, giving Matt the chance to lust over a couple of nice Landies, we headed up to meet Adge at Taunton services for a quick break and a wine gum breakfast. From there, down to Teignmouth mainly on the M5, with the last part being quite ‘interesting’ down some winding single track roads due to a road closure. Anyway, safely there at about 9.30am in lovely sunshine, and found a fab place to sit outside and have what was a delicious bacon bap and cuppa, before spending time wandering around the building collection of cars of all sorts. It was an excellent turnout with The Den being full by the time we left. Lorna and I went to the beach for a while before heading back to say bye to Adge and Matt when they left around noon. Mark T had spent the morning fitting his cycle wings and was due there around 1pm, so we had a crafty fish and chip lunch, followed by an ice cream and then met up with Mark for a chat before heading home. Nice day, lovely weather and good to catch up with the chaps. Looking forward to Haynes Breakfast Meet on 4th May too, fingers crossed for similar weather 🤞

Lurking away amongst some other cool toys.

My advice is to go elsewhere! My reasoning is that if an MOT tester can determine what engine was fitted by reference to the 'MOT database', apparently a 4 litre one then, he should be testing to that standard. THIS IS A LIE! Here is an image of the emissions database So did it previously have a V8 in it at IVA? I think not! The tester is being very intransigent and very unhelpful when generally, DVSA encourage testers to apply the lower standard wherever there is any doubt about the applicable criteria. The benefit of doubt must favour the presenter. I would be happy to test and pass this vehicle as a pre95 non-CAT test at 3.5% CO & 1200ppm HC at idle only, much the same as RickRack's 1995 V8. Link to the emissions database if you want to check it. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81bcf5ed915d74e6233d90/in-service-exhaust-emission-standards-for-road-vehicles-19th-edition.pdf

Monthly meet at The Old Waggon and Horses, Kiddi Road, few miles out from Stourbridge. Always a good turnout. Have posted it in the events section a few times last year. Sorry, didn't post this one. I wasn't the only one there...

Hi, I purchased an sew starter kit over 20 years ago with a 1.6 ford pinto engine with twin 40's, a type 9 5 speed gearbox and an english live axle. After many excuses it's never been fully built, and now I'm going to give it a good go to get it finished and on the road. I've recently removed the engine and gearbox and plan to go back to the start of the manual and check all work I've done and make sure it matches any changes to the iva. Seeing advice on other posts I'm keen on checking/replacing hoses and pipes in particular. The first problem I've run into when removing the engine is that it looks like there isn't an engine number stamped on the block. I've been thinking of replacing the engine anyway so it's not a massive issue. At the moment I'm working out what to replace it with. A 2.0 pinto might be the easiest option as the engine mounts and exhaust cut outs are already done. I'm sure i'll come across more issues as i start checking it over. Any tips, advice or ideas are welcome and appreciated.

Today was the tail of two halves. First half not fantastic. Second half surprisingly good. Starting with the first half - arrived at the Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum at 10 to meet up with @Jakejmagee, @matthew902and Gary Kingsnorth. Museum was interesting but not particularly overwhelming. At least with Jake there, the photos are good - Second half much more popular. Unfortunately @matthew902 had moved on having decided to visit the Bomber Command Memorial. We were joined by @Chris Emm and Mo at Daisy Made Ice Cream at their car event. This clearly didn’t have the word ‘classic’ in the headline so the average age of the public was significantly younger. Much bigger spread of cars and more of a buzz. Unfortunately Jake had to leave so the photo duty reverted back to me so not so good or plentiful. Glorious weather, lovely company. Quite a day. Thanks.

Having owned my Westy for 24 years, it was time to let it go to a new owner, it will be a sad time, but remembering all the good times, and meet ups with the Scottish lads and lasses, and conversations on here, will be timeless. This pic is me delivering it to its new owner in Lancashire. However, its new owner is no stranger to the car, having actually built it back in 1991, and it may yet see a return to its previous life as a hillclimb / sprint car (which is what it was built for). Wishing Ben all the best with 'ANJ'.....

A few pics from today plus an interesting kit car

There are people getting westfield 11's though iva with 1960's engines , if you can accurately age the pinto it should be possible

Keep us posted on progress. FWIW, I’d take the opportunity to fit something a bit more modern than the Pinto A Duratec would have the exhaust the same side, a bellhousing can be had for about £250 from Rally Design. There would be other costs too of course, but a box stock Duratec with the Westfield exhaust will make more power everywhere than a reasonably tuned Pinto, so depending on your goals, costs might not end up being very different. It’ll be lighter & shorter too. I confess, I never liked the Pinto much. I built our car with a Xflow in ‘91 and switched to a Zetec back in 2005. So glad I did. Just my opinion, worth what it costs

Classic car meeting at the Kings Arms, Heath Common, Wakefield. Sausage roll, mash and beans £5.

Installed another device on my Road Westfield dashboard ( its very "busy" dashboard... no place for next devices or gauges or screens...) - Yanosik. Dont know if there is a similar device in UK - it shows and tells warnings in case of police with radar (with distance to them) , or standing radar (speed trap?) or accidend in front, or police with radar in non-signed car, or roadworks, traffic etc ahead etc etc. Got in in all cars, saves a lot of money

I will go on the hunt for cake in Borneo just to keep up with the Westfield tradition of eating cake.

Enjoy your little trip away.

I would make contact with the DVSA and ask them for clarification on this matter. The car has clearly been tested with the details you have in the past so I suspect the garage you have taken this to is not fully up to speed with how to do this, or is fearful of getting it wrong and being picked up. I have found in the past if you get hold of the right person you can clear most things up and a letter confirming this will make your life so much easier going forward.

Testing to the V5 special notes value is very easy, but DVLA have a habit of missing this vital information from the V5. When my car was transferred into my name, the IVA emissions note were shown. I mislaid the V5 so ordered a replacement. I didn't check at the time and only recently noticed that the emissions notes are now missing! DVLA are the root cause of a lot of these problems! Possibly during change of ownership V5 updates. FWIW I have found my original V5 now, with the notes on.

It was super annoying but luckily only had me off the road for 2 weeks.

I recently had my 2L Zetec fail its MOT on emissions. It’s passed the last 5 years with no real hassle (occasional turn the other way). But this year my local place doesn’t do tests anymore so went somewhere else and it failed. It has no CAT so it’s no surprise but because the garage put it through as a fail it then proved hard/impossible for anyone to pass it without a bit of work and proof of adjustment. In the end I got a local company to fit a sports CAT before the silencer. I got him to use V band clamps and make me a de cat pipe so I can remove it and re fit it each year for MOT.

Thanks Rick that’s interesting and thanks so much for the contact details I will call them and see if they can help! So did your MOT tester not test or fail your car without the notes listed on the v5?

More photos by Jake 😁

Happy days - will try to make one of the next ones 🤞👍

Hi Sam & Dave, the Vauxhall - Luton factory - officially closed on 31st March - the factory is to close completely in approx 12/18 months, I’m unsure if you will get any response but manufacturing is moving up to Ellesmere Port - see the quoted phone number in pic below. But I would ask @Martyn Vann - Warwickshire AO as I have a none Q reg 1999 registered Westy - my understanding is that any MOT station should test 1999 SVA cars to the Special Notes - or CO2 readings on the V5C - my tester confirmed that when I’ve took it the last twice - I took my V5C and they agreed - I have no note & CO2 on V5C so they couldn’t test to anything - Mr V could you advise Sam???

Thanks, really appreciate the advice. I'm not fussed about a q plate so happy to go this route. I'll try to knock a build thread up as it'll be nice having others see what I'm doing and hopefully point out my mistakes before it's too late . I'll start having a look through my documentation to make sure ive got all the info i need for registration.

Oh wow, quite a few owners there 🙂 I used to own a pre-lit purchased from a Westfield specialist in Newmarket and 30 years later am contemplating moving from my motorcycle to another one and hence wanted to have a look around to see how they've moved on.

It’s not secured currently, not sure how I could really. Most likely I’ll take it out for the MOT to avoid any issues. My local garage is quite helpful so I’m sure they would advise me what to do. It has passed fine with just a cushion in place. I’ll let you know what they say! The silly thing is that when I’m strapped in with the six point harness, it’s not going anywhere!

You can, of course, build and IVA with one engine, then change it later...but it isn't as simple as it used to be. In the 'good old days', all you had to do was update the engine number & capacity if applicable, on the V5 and send it to DVLA. Now, you need to produce an 'official' letter from a recognised business in the trade to declare that the engine swap as detailed has taken place. Not the end of the world, but one more hoop to jump, and I honestly don't know what would happen come MOT time with emissions testing. Simplest path by far on that front is a Q plate. I'd be very surprised if you'd be able to get anything else given the history of your build so far. Personally, I love a Q plate for a kit car. Makes things much easier. RFL will be the same regardless of registration and is governed simply by engine capacity as kits are treated as 'PLG'. Under 1549cc is £220, over is £360 The key thing to remember in all this is that DVSA, who handle the IVA, and DVLA, who handle registration are NOT the same entity!! This helps a bit when trying to understand why the left hand doesn't seem to even know there is a right hand at times. One thing to check, the chassis number. Make sure it meets the rules or you may have to have DVLA issue one for you - no big deal, and it's free, but might need doing depending on how old the kit is...maybe!! The DVLA Kits & Rebuilds department are actually pretty helpful in my limited experience with them. And please, do start a build thread. It's a great way for folk to follow along and offer unsolicited advice

Thanks for the info Dave I did find this guys contacts on another forum I sent an email to his address earlier so let’s see but doesn’t sound too hopeful

Yeh I will have to but it’s just annoying having to try and explain all of this over the phone to numerous testers wish there was an easy solution!

I can't remember who told me, but I'm sorry to say I was told the old Vauxhall department that dealt with things like proof of age etc on the engines, shut up shop years ago. I know the old contact info we have on the site here stopped working along time ago. (Scarily) it's two decades since I used them! but here's the contact details kit builders used to use, like I say, not active as far as I know, but you might be able to get a referral possibly? Jonathan Bell, Vehicle Registrations Systems Coordinator Vauxhall, Marketing Services J. Bell 7288 D3, Vauxhall Motors Limited, Griffin House, Osborne Road, Luton, LU1 3YT ,ENGLAND. Ext: 7288 Tel: 0044 - (0)1582-427288 (Office) Tel: 0044 - (0)1582-874405 (Office) Fax: 0044 - (0)1582 427400 Dial-8: 8944 - 7288 Mobile: 0044 - (0)7721-066886 Email: jonathan.bell@vauxhall.co.uk (Office)

Impressed by this. It's something I've considered but having the minerals to get on and do it is another thing!

Did you secure the seat in position somehow? I just ask as the MOT guidance says that an insecure seat is a major defect. I know it's really more of a cushion than a seat but you know how strict some testers can be. D

Re IVA emissions, a Pinto, correctly dated at least, would probably need to pass the least stringent test,

1.6 pinto with a fast road cam and 32/36 carb is about 100 bhp. Standard 2L Duratec on 45s would easily be 160-180bhp. Well set-up fuel injection and you're probably around 200. Fuel injection means re-working the fuel system. Carbs will be a pain for emissions unless you get a Q plate. Don't know if IVA emissions works to different rules but someone else here will.

you made a much better job than this guy did .lol

Hi Andrew. Only just see your post. Many apologies. Updated pictures from today at hunstanton

Great evening out at Brands 👍🏼👍🏼

A lunch stop at The Long Itch Diner. The trike came along and parked next to us. It's powered by a 4.2 litre Audi V8!!!!!!

Finally got myself a good sized double garage for the convertibles 😊. Anyone want a tea chest FoC?

One tyre related note; if you’re not used to cars as comparatively light weight as Westfields, it’s easy to get caught out on the tyre pressures. Typically, most owners end up running somewhere around 18psi, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less - they’re quite sensitive to it, especially on track. 18 is a good starting point while getting used to the car though. Using the quick fit tyre fitters default of around 32 psi will feel horrible, like you’re on ice, and may even have you sliding around

Citation required.

Generally, DVSA will not offer advice over the phone, they will only point to the MOT manual and MOT guide. The only way to get clarification is to appeal a fail or complain about a refusal to test by completing a VT17 and sending it to DVSA.

I first registered my car in March 98, ahead of the introduction of SVA and cat tests, so have always been visible smoke only. Despite this, a new test station this year were still insistent I needed a cat test - I guess we're becoming such unusual cases we're all going to need to carry copies of the flowchart/online tester handbook and V5 at MOT time.

Looks like you had a great day, any day with sun, cars and ice cream or cake is going to be a good day. I would have joined in, but I made plans to see the old folks before going to the other side of the world next week on holiday.

I’ll give this one a miss, too, sorry. (Two hours for me if I do the awful dual carriageway route and considerably longer cross country on nice roads). Have a great day!