Cheap SEIW? Advice Please.

[CornishWesty]

I am just in the process of buying a 1998 factory built 1600 "Q" SEIW with a 1600 CVH engine, type 9 gearbox and 16,000 miles.  It is advertised on Pistonheads here at £5500:

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/westfield/all-models/1998-westfield/2147877?isexperiment=true

 

I live in Cornwall and would be using it purely as a weekend fun car, used exclusively on the road.  I want something that will cost as little as possible to run and will not depreciate by very much but will be good fun.

 

I've been to see this particular car and it is in very good condition, has had a Kent fast road cam put in (with invoices for the parts, so is probably running 120bhp up from 105bhp standard) has a shift light fitted and Toyo R888s, but other than that appears to be as it left the factory in 1998. It is currently untaxed and there is no history, but there are a few invoices, including the original factory invoice.  It is Q reg, as the engine was a reconditioned unit as confirmed by the factory yesterday. The owner paid £7250 from a dealer in London 4 years ago and seems like a nice chap, but hasn't got much of a clue about it.

 

I have made an offer of £5275, subject to it having a clean bill of health from a local Lotus specialist  - The South West Lotus Centre, who I believe have a good reputation.  He has accepted this.

 

What is the consensus on this?  I know CVH's aren't especially sort after and I'd prefer a Zetec, but at that price it seems good value and if I was to sell in a year or two, I suspect I'd get £5k wouldn't I?  If I was just to upgrade the engine to a Zetec, what would I need to change and at roughly what cost - £2k?

 

Any advice very gratefully received.

 

Thanks.

 

Tim.

Edited March 18, 2014 by CornishWesty

[Darrell O'Neill]

Good to chat yesterday mate and even better to see the car itself.

Looks good to me, wouldn't call it cheap, but seems bang on the money for a 1600 widebody roadcar.

 

Can't see anything in the pics that would worry me at all, infact it looks very loved and tidy. As I said, don't get too hung up on the engine, you will be getting your hands dirty at sometime :-) Providing it pulls ok, and sounds good, all should be well.

 

Changing to a Zetec would be around that figure but the archives here will show that money can soon disappear and you may be better off looking at swopping the car in..

 

All in all, it looks good. GET IT BOUGHT ;-)

 

Im sure someone will be along soon enough to tell you that the rollbar needs changing and the wet weather gear is a waste of time, but i'll leave that too them :-)

[Darrell O'Neill]

Oh, and welcome to the club :-)

[pickmaster Andy Lowe]

It looks like a very nice car and would do what you say you want it for very well indeed

The only big coats with Westfields is upgradeitus

Welcome to a new fun way of life

Just remember the cost of a car and the fun don't always increase in proportion

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Welcome to the club.

 

Thats a really pretty car, in one of the nicest colours    (OK, I'm biased, am currently building one in Electric Blue).

 

It looks cherished and well looked after from the photos. It also sounds like it would suit your needs well. 

 

It's true, the CVH is a little under appreciated, but that doesn't make it any less an engine.

 

Weather gear plus heaters etc can be damned useful in this country, if you want to get the most out of the car, touring.

 

I'd strongly recommend getting a car, see how you like it over the summer/autumn, find out what works for you and what doesn't, and then plan any changes from there. Cost wise, it's probably at a point now, where providing the condition remains the same, it probably won't loose much value over the next few years.

 

£2k (on top of purchasing the engine!) isn't unusual for an engine swap. Plus, if it makes lots of holes in the body/chassis of the car will affect its value/desirability. So it's generally better value to actually swap cars.

 

What you have to be careful of, is loosing the character of the car. It's reasonably easy to make a really nicely balanced lower powered, smaller engined car, that feels great on the lanes and day trips out. It's not too difficult to make a higher powered car that feels great on track and gives a real adrenalin rush on the road.

 

What is really difficult is making a car do both. And too often in a desire to hit the big numbers, the very thing that drew us to Westfields gets lost in the process.

[blue ass fly]

120bhp in a cvh westy is as good as 120bhp from a xflow or sigma

Cvh is a fairly light,simple engine that works well if looked after - and cheap to fix if it goes bang

If you do decide you want more power , a zetec transplant is as easy as it gets and can be done reasonably if your carefull

I ran a cvh in mine for 3 years and loved every mile

[CornishWesty]

Thanks guys - very useful.  

 

Darrell - really good to talk to you and thank you for spending the time chatting yesterday.  I agree it isn't cheap, but I meant cheap for a Westfield.  If I do get it, then I'd love to meet up with you for a chat.

 

I agree that the CVH will meet my needs at present and an equivalent Zetec would be another £2.5k+ for an extra 15-20bhp or so, which would be the cost to upgrade it anyway.  If I do crave more power, I'll sell it and buy a Zetec but in the meantime, I'll just enjoy it as it is.  

 

By the way, it has a Magajolt system fitted, which I assume was factory fitted as it appears to be built in to the bulkhead?

 

It is a nice looking car and hopefully I'll have bought it by the weekend, assuming all is well with it.  I'll keep you posted.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim.

Edited March 18, 2014 by CornishWesty

[M444TTB]

For the money that looks great to me.

[Dave.]

Thats  a nice colour and a very nice looking car.

[Welly Jen]

By the way, it has a Magajolt system fitted, which I assume was factory fitted as it appears to be built in to the bulkhead?

 

It is a nice looking car and hopefully I'll have bought it by the weekend, assuming all is well with it.  I'll keep you posted.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim.

Welcome to the club Tim.

I'm not sure if Megajolt had come out in '98. I suspect that a previous owner had installed it. It is a very good upgrade to have. I fitted it to my car to replace the distributor based ignition and it made my car much more drivable.

Good luck with the purchase.

 

Jen

[M444TTB]

My car is an 1800Q of a similar vintage so I suspect bar having a 1.8 Zetec instead of a 1.6 CVH they are basically the same? If it has Weber carbs I expect it had a Weber ecu. Think I'd rather have the Megajolt.

[Murraymint]

Great looking motor...

[CornishWesty]

Welcome to the club Tim.

I'm not sure if Megajolt had come out in '98. I suspect that a previous owner had installed it. It is a very good upgrade to have. I fitted it to my car to replace the distributor based ignition and it made my car much more drivable.

Good luck with the purchase.

 

Jen

Thanks Jen.  I originally thought the Megajolt was aftermarket, but when I saw the installation, I thought it must be factory.  There is an aluminium blanking plate over the dizzy hole, which doesn't look quite as neat as the rest though.

 

Glad to hear it's a worthwhile improvement.

 

Tim.

[CornishWesty]

My car is an 1800Q of a similar vintage so I suspect bar having a 1.8 Zetec instead of a 1.6 CVH they are basically the same? If it has Weber carbs I expect it had a Weber ecu. Think I'd rather have the Megajolt.

That's interesting Matt.  I didn't know Weber made ECUs - perhaps a previous owner replaced it with Megajolt?  Do you have a shot of the bulkhead at all so I can see if it is similar?  In the Pistonheads ad in the link above, the 5th picture shows the Megajolt on the right hand side of the bulkhead. I also didn't know that the 1800Q had a Zetec - I assumed it was the 1800 CVH.  

Edited March 18, 2014 by CornishWesty

[M444TTB]

Unfortunately I don't seem to have one from before I started fiddling with it all! My Weber Alpha ecu was mounted under the scuttle though. This is by the book as far as the 1800Q goes.