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First outing with the her new shoes on

Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Rory from Bristol go to Cornwall

Hi guys, I’m new to the club and look forward to meeting you at your gatherings. I’m located in Frome, just outside of Bath. I collected my first Westfield (Seight) from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 on Saturday, it’s always been a dream car. Wow, what a machine!! 400 miles of pure joy and excitement 😁

Oops! I seem to have lost an engine and gearbox… not to worry, new one being built by Richard Wragg at ProDev Engineering. Build thread to follow…

Had a ball yesterday; over 200 miles around Exmoor, expertly led by Adge who did a fantastic job organising and planning the route for the Dorset area. A few gate crashers including me from Devon & Somerset and Bristol joined to make eight cars (seven Westies and a very rapidly pedalled Mini van!), with an eighth Westie finding us for a while in Bude. Starting at Ralegh’s Cross Inn, we headed across to Bude for a stop at Widemouth bay, then up to Lynton and finally back to Ralegh’s Cross. Generally the roads were pretty clear; a few slow bits behind tractors, stopping to let a herd of ponies cross but plenty of fast open sections too, great fun! I’ve recorded much of it on my Insta 360 so will post some videos up from that, but here are some pics in the meantime. The guys are out for more fun today so I’m sure they will post up separately. Thanks again to Adge for organising, and to Chris, Rory and John for providing tools and help fixing my broken exhaust mount bobbin thingy! Temporary repair done by John to get me home today. 👍 Despite the warm weather, my temps stayed between 85 and 90 so the new rad and water pump etc are working well, and the brakes were fab with the new AP Racing master cylinder 👍. All in all, a grand day out; beautiful weather and great company. I do however need to learn that an ‘All you can eat’ full English Breakfast is not necessarily compatible with a narrow bodied Westfield 🤪 Leg 1 - Ralegh’s Cross to Widemouth Bay Leg 2 - Widemouth Bay to Lynton Leg Three - Lynton back to Ralegh’s Cross

Well a short run out ( about an hour) to check all my recent mods work and didn't fall off. Pleased to say yes and no in that order. Just my local park on a lovely sunny day ( not often can you say that around here !).

In good company at Goodwood 100 Breakfast Club this morning. Great turnout and varied selection of cars and bikes.

Just an apology for absence really, some ( but not all) are aware I have mental health issues, well it hit me again and only this last few days/weeks have I begun to engage with the world again ( sounds stupid but that's how it is) I need to be somewhere that I am familiar with again, and here is really were I should belong. So expect more mayhem from me , lots of car changes have happened since I was last on here and I will post those as and when . catch you around folks. Regards Richard.

All clean, ready to get dirty around Exmoor tomorrow 🤪 Expecting a lovely day, so the doors have come off 👍

Nice little country road blast in the sunshine.

New MOT and tax today, so first run out of the year. A joy.

MOT done. Now for some nice weather.

Coil packs finally arrived today, so waited for my oldest to finish school, he put them in and we took it for a test drive. It appears to be a successful result, super happy.

I probably know a bit more than most on this as a couple of us have been putting in a lot of time (some more than I) trying to help in our own time in the back ground. The car was a non-runner being sold at a very low price for a Westfield of exportable age. It last had an MOT in 2020 and had been sat untouched ever since. James (who was selling the car) managed to get the car started and a video was seen of it ticking over (although not running particularly well). Using contacts from our end, a transport company was sourced for Nikos to get the car to the docks in Bristol and he had sorted the export paperwork. Rather than being container shipped, the car was being exported as a running car (i.e. was to be driven onto and off the ship by the dockworkers). The transport company did not start the car, they winched it onto and off their trailer and it was delivered safely. When the dock workers attempted to start the car they could not. It was assumed that they were not used to an old car running webers. At this point, a helpful member rang various local garages who could attend the dock to get the car started. Paul at Bristol Classics agreed to do this, arriving very early to try and start the car. Unfortunately when the car eventually started (after over 2 hours of fault finding) the carbs were so far out of tune a backfire caused the filters to catch fire. Thankfully Paul managed to extinguish the flames. Bristol Classics then agreed with Nikos that the car be transported to their workshop to get the car running. They spent many hours on it with various electrical and fueling issues. For instance, they found the ignition was permanently on (which they fixed), the fan switch had failed and the fuel was stale (tank drained, system flushed and fresh fuel added). On inspection of the carbs, the 40 webers are of two different types (one from a Lotus and one from an Alfa) with different jets etc. The carbs were dismantled and cleaned along with new jets etc so the car could run with reasonably balanced fueling. While the bill is a lot if money, the car was not in a road legal state (known to have no MOT and be a "barn find"). Bristol Classics have done a lot of work and shared photos and videos at most stages of the work. The sale agreement (who with, what was described etc) is really between the seller and the buyer. It's not something I could or would offer an opinion on in open forum as its not fair on either party without all of the facts. Even with the £1500 spent, the car us still thousands below the price of all other exportable age Westfields I have seen for sale. On a side note, I'd like to thank the people who have helped in the background (you know who you are!). One person in particular has spent hours and hours of his own time liaising with the docks, transport companies and the garage trying to help someone in need.

As Andy said, a brilliant day out, that is one good route up there on the tops of Buxton especially in this clear air. It is Drive it Day today so it was great to see so many unusual cars on the roads too. We met at Cupola The Westfield's started gathering All the other cars were blue today, even Billy's Porche is blue The motorbikes have now discovered this new venue Bonnet's soon came off as the advice flowed After breakfast (thank you for the black pudding ABC)we set off and had a great time on the twisties of Buxton before relaxing on the final mile or so behind the inevitable wobblebox to land at Quacker's cafe. In the car park at Quacker's were the Jaguar Club, making for a wonderful display. This car is a SS100, well, we don't think it is actually, we think it is made of fibreglass so it's definitely not a 1939 car. I was a interested in the name, the SS stands for Swallow Sidecar (SS Cars Ltd used to build sidecars) and 100 is the theorectical maximum speed. It was a beautiful looking car and I think it was probably brand new, it looked it. Lunch at Quackers Apology for the rubbish photo, someone forgot her camera so it was all done from my phone, the breakfast one in Cupola was even worse, grrrrr. Let us know how your daughter went on in the London Marathon @ianali and the other Ian @Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AOon the parade in Windsor, how exciting. Thanks for coming everyone, hope you have enjoyed your cars as much as we have, see you next time xxx

Clares first trackday ever, novice session at Donington, she loved it. Even managed to get some heat into the tyres even though its was 2degC and blowing a gale. Might have to have his and her westfields now, I can see her taking over all track driving duties from now

Great day with some of the east anglian area. Nice to have a new face today in Si Salisbury also. Over 500 vehicles at tydd st mary fair. We had a lot of interest which is always good.

Cleaned & ready to go on track for the first time. I had an instructor booked yesterday to give me guidance before I tackle a track day. What a great time I had improving my technique and entry lines. The car felt epic and very predictable, when the rear broke away it was progressive and easily caught. I even had a hero moment of oversteer at the hairpin after that I steadily improved my lines to avoid this and carry more speed.

This cool dude @Glynn Walters has done a very impressive job of fitting another 1.8 litre mk2.5 MX5 NB engine into his car, only this one has got a turbo fitted to it whoosh, it didn't overheat and nothing fell off, so Glynn was pleased to get some 'running in' miles done. Well engineered Glynn, for someone that works full time, you have really trapped on and got it done, in no time at all you are back out in Gnasher, great. Early bird got the worm, bagging the best parking spot The others soon lined up and after a closed A38, Stuart did make the mammoth journey to join us too, along with Mark and Sonia in the SLK. The museum's gathering was well attended and also included 'Morgans in May' With Tony in his tin top, and Dave and Andy having to scoot off, that left the rest of us to go on the run out, keeping a careful eye on the black clouds, thankfully we were blessed with sunshine all the way and even got home in the dry. In the absence of all 3 Andy's we kept up the tradition of supporting the local cake industry going at Hulme End. The monkeys tea party Parked at Hulme End I am sorry @Stuart that I didn't get a photo of your car, it was lovely to see you and let's hope it's easier for you next time. Tony @TM54, always lovely to see you and hope the lowered floor is a success. Lastly @Mark zawada, thank you for bringing Sonia, keep her warm and cover those ears and let's see you both on The Long Way North 2, you will make great memories together. Thanks for coming everyone, see you next time xxx

After sometime away in others kits am back in a Westy and a model I have always wanted 😀

Well Julie what a fabulous day driving around the Peaks we all had. Another beautiful route and fantastic weather. The sky was so blue and the sun was finally out and topped off with great company. Some great classic car out and about too. When we got to Quackers there was a Jaguar meet also.😎

It’s that time again (well almost!) I thought I’d post another diary of the SKCC (southern kit car club) trip as the 2022 Alps one went down quite well. (and most likely a video afterwards) Genuinely I cannot wait, counting down the days! We postponed the 2023 trip (due to the organiser @Tony Bee not being able to ride his mountain bike and falling off!) so this is much needed, especially after the last year or terrible British weather we have experienced. Were all off on 12th June. The same Seven sevens (Westfields) reunite for 10 days of mountain twisties in the sun. @Ricky_B Joint Kent AO @barryO @kenton @Mark Bishop @Rich T The rough plan is 3 of us are travelling from UK to France via the euro tunnel and the 4 from the south coast are jumping on the Ferry travelling from UK to Diepe where we will all meet in Rouen the first night and then the following day convoy south through France to the mountainous playground on the French/Spanish border. We will spend the week in the Pyrenees and then all do a big loop back up through France and back to the tunnel on the 22nd. For now, it’s car prep time, fit a new set of rubber, change some euros and pack the essentials - oh and explain the finer detail of the “few days away” trip duration to the wife 😅 more to follow…. ☀️ 🏔️ 🍺

Thanks for the kind words. You are of course correct - even poorly driven the Westfield will beat most any street car out there. I’m fortunate to have some serious “modified” competition. There are 1/2 dozen cars that really challenge me to drive my best - a supercharged Ariel Atom, a Winston Cup Fiero (full tube chassis, small block V8, Porsche transaxle, massive slicks…etc), a LeGrand Mk18 and a few Formula 500 road racers. On a tight course with hard pulls out of slow corners the Atom is the biggest threat with its 320 lb/ft of torque and 13” wide slicks….on a fast and open course where aero really comes into play the LeGrand Mk18 is the real deal. With massive downforce it looks like a slot car as it wiggles through slaloms. I always shoot for FTD and I most often get it. Harder to come by is a PAX (performance adjusted index) win - there is a PAX handicap for every class of car that does a pretty good job of leveling the playing field between a street car like a Honda Civic and a full race car. I typically take the PAX award a few times a year and it’s much harder to do. It’s very course dependent but averages out overall over a season. Our regional club does a points series for the season and this past year I’m proud to say that I took the FTD points competition and placed 2nd in PAX points for the year based on lots of top 5 finishes and not all that many first places. It’s good fun any way you cut it! dave

It’s certainly the full experience with them off. So long as it’s warm, not raining and you aren’t on Motorways then I enjoy it more. I just had the little wind deflectors on for our Exmoor trip and it was lovely, my hat even stayed on! When it warmed up, I took them off for some more fresh air but need to reverse the baseball cap and look a right idiot for it to stay on! 🤣

At last, Westy weather is here again ☀️

You can get a golf trolley and bag in your Westfield!

Daughter lazer cut this wasp / jasper for me a while back, I was worried the car wasn't conspicuous enough.

Had a little run out through Wolsingham and Stanhope and on the north Pennines

Not Westfield but 7 type still MNR Vortx CBR1000RR sc59 . Visited dyno: 192hp 128NM. Std sc59 honda engine , MNR exhaust , mine airbox intake Happy

Decent progress being made now, back on it's wheels after the front end rebuild and on a transporter to the painter on Friday evening 👍 I'm getting the roll bar repainted too, can anyone tell me the rose joint sizes as they seem to be different on top and bottom?

1st time MOT pass at Snow Hill Motors, Wolves after winter fettling - 🤝

Well it was well worth washing the car! 🤪

Just because we all like pictures.

Good show today, great weather and also meeting new people. Thanks to all who made it. @Marcus Barlow - Show and Events Co-ordinator @Breakable? @Nicholas Rycroft @SigmaA @Martin OU61 @Ross Seight @Gareth D (GAZ 4885) @bigron @MGG @Stuart Smith and anyone I've forgotten!

Just taken the Westfield for a half hour blat around the lanes outside Crewkerne to check all is well ahead of a big day tomorrow around Exmoor 👍. Doors are off, and it’s great to be back to basics again.

I'm pleased to advise the car boarded the boat and it's on it's way to sunny Greece! @I H Freelance Services @Toybox Specialist Cars

I’ve been quiet on this thread for the last few months, mainly because there had been some suggestion that the regulations would change for this year so I waited for entries to open earlier this month before investing too much in the build. That don’t stop me drawing though and gathering a few of the parts need for the build. One part I did buy over winter was a body to make the sidecar. I’d looked at various things such as pedal bins and water butts but in the end I found an eBay seller local to me who made fibreglass tote Tot-Rod bodies. The cost wasn’t much more than a pedal bin would be and it would save me a lot of fabrication work. With that sorted I moved on to finalising the sidecar drawings, I’d initially looked to mount the pivot low to minimise tyre scrub but since the course is straight and the turns are minimal I instead settled on a high pivot as it would simplify the construction. The sidecar frame itself is quite crude but I wanted to keep the design of it simple and the weight down. Finally to get the BMX looking more like a motorcycle I modelled an engine. This will also double as a mount for the sidecar and also stop the crank arms from rotating. This week I stripped the BMX down and it got a rattle can finish in Red and Black while I wait for the laser cut parts to arrive so I can fabricate the sidecar. Finally my trusty companion Gromit who will be riding alongside me.

Meet at Cupola, Stoney Middleton, S32 4TF at 9.30am on Sunday 21st April for breakfast before heading into the hills of Buxton to enjoy driving in the Spring sunshine. We will finish, possibly at Quackers cafe, Bakewell for lunch and cakes. Who is joining us?

Entirely not car related, but has been taking time away from fixing my car so now it’s done I can get the car sorted. We decorated my daughter’s playroom for her 10th birthday back in March and she was promised a desk, so I made this. Based around IKEA drawers salvaged from an old chest of drawers which has gone to the tip. All made from 12 and 18mm ply, drawer fronts refaced too to get rid of the MDF or whatever they use. I have finally taught myself how to use a router properly, and this project is the first not to have blood stains under the paintwork which I guess must be progress 🤣🤣

For sale is my lovely Westfield 1700 Crossflow with twin webber 45’s, finished in Audi Nardo Grey. It underwent a full restoration in 2017 with a new carpeted interior, Williams harnesses, sports bucket seat, team dynamics wheels with Kumho v700 tyres amogst other things. All work is documented with receipts in the service history file. It was then repainted in Audi Nardo Grey in 2022 as part of a covid lockdown project. It’s a real head turner and I very often chat to passers by who fall in love with how it looks and sounds. A bit about the spec: Current mileage on the odometer is 2437 miles 1700 Ford Crossflow with twin webber 45 carbs Type 9 5-speed gearbox Sports exhaust SPAX coilovers Team Dynamics 13” alloys Kumho v700 tyres Sports seats with Williams harnesses. Weber throttle linkage Reconditioned Lucas starter motors with new internals To the best of my knowledge it has a Sierra/Westfield rear diff MOT is valid until June 16th 2024. Side doors included Wet weather hood included (but needs poppers installing to be able to use it) Seat runners included but not fitted (I am tall so have the seat bolted to the floor as far back as it goes. I installed a new Weber throttle linkage last Autumn before she went away for the winter, and since this upgrade it would benefit from a carb tune up to get it running its best. I sadly don’t have the skills or time. I have adjusted the asking price accordingly. In my ownership I have also had the Lucas starter motor rebuilt. If you are new to 7 cars don’t be put off by the xflow option. The car has a little over 100bhp so it goes well, but most of all it’s an authentic experience and the carbs sound wonderful. The car is the closest thing I’ve driven to a kart. It handles like it’s on rails. I’ve owned it for 2 years and I’m selling the car as I have a young family and I now need something that I can throw the kids in the back at the weekends. If anyone had a Mini Cooper JCW R56 or F56 I’d be interested in a px. Thanks all. Any other questions just ask. Dave 077733 09841 dave_clow00@yahoo.co.uk

Really loving my time with the car (nearly 2 weeks in). Naturally helped by the perfectly timed change in the weather! Slowly building up my 'feel' of the car. The car always looked mega, came from a wonderful source and was also known via this club to be maintained on a no-expense-spared basis - but that hasn't stopped me wanting to build up my own trust in the cars abilities and reliability patterns. I've therefore been building up the length of my runs out, carrying out routine checks, and generally just gaining more confidence after each trip. Pleased to report it's been fantastic. Hot and cold starting is effortless, it's leak free, handles like a dream, and basically just a joy to own. Carried out a couple of small additions so far - a hard wired CTEK MXS and a small suction rear view mirror as I found I needed a bit more rear visibility aside from the side mirrors. Reactions are great aren't they! Always had positive reactions with cars such as the Elise in the past, but the amount of double-takes, point-and-stare reactions and thumbs up are on another level. Wife and kids currently having to draw straws on who's next to be the passenger, which is great as it's proving to be fun for everyone as I'd hoped for. Finally, a nice self indulgent pic to round off the post.

Dry run this weekend in the tintop to make any updates necessary to the road book, I had forgotten just how good this route is! you guys participating are going to really enjoy it, the scenery is stunning but I did struggle today with pictures 😅 a few better ones 😎

Sorted. Just need to change the oil filter and fill him up and we are good. It was an almost perfect fit, just had to adjust a couple of the brackets. EDIT Just found the invoice for the original and it was 23 years old, so hadn’t done badly at all!

Thanks to Nick for the stickers and membership card, race ready for gurston this weekend

Ah ha! A full member now, and here she is

Just done this 😎

I am no detailer but this is what i did this year It does not say how you are polishing but i got a cheap DA for XMAS https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hyundai-Polisher-Variable-1500-4500rpm-Polishing/dp/B09SV2R1Q6/ref=asc_df_B09SV2R1Q6/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=570334618003&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10150476833655681978&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006567&hvtargid=pla-1639964677321&psc=1&mcid=d173ac3fd56e32b59161f103a95f2e19&th=1&psc=1 you get all the pads with it. there is a video on you tube that covers how to use it. Based on reviews I used the turtle wax products its called hybrid one and done it cuts and finishes at the same time they do really good deals on their website. I got better at using it the more i got further down the car I then used their spray on flex wax again easy to use and spry it on wipe off. should last 6 months but you can spray it on when drying a washed car to top it up. Happy with the results the car looked the best it has for years. I got out all the swirls. Deeper scratches would need more attention but i was not going to spend ages on it. And any excuse to post a picture ha

Minnis Bay, Kent classic car night. Freezing cold, wet and windy but me and Rob enjoyed it