I'm not new here, but back for the third time

[Thrustyjust]

Hi All, just to say I am back like a bad penny, but this time is different. After buying and owning a couple of Westies, I am now looking at the joy of building one. I have to sell a car to free some funds towards an S2000 build. Looking forward to joining in again with the regular banter here. Few questions for the S2000 and Westy owners.

Just going through the spec on the Westfeld site and hope you can help

1/ Standard shocks for the car are ? Sports shocks are ?

2/ Comes with a diff. Not stated which one and I am guessing not an LSD ?

3/ Are the factory good at leadtimes and what is the expected wait on a full kit?

4/ Anyone in Berkshire with some build stands ? Prefer on wheels as my loft store is above where the car is going to be built and you can guess where I am storing the parts !!

Other questions on the S2000

 

1/VED cost for this engine if going for a new plate build ?

2/ Where best to get an engine from ?

3/ What alternatives for wheels other than Pro Races, not that I mind them.

4/ Front ARB or both ?

 

Also, we are going to Stoneleigh and do Westfield have any deal for buying the kit at the show ? I hope by that point I will have the engine and box and be tinkering on that , so will be ready for storing while I build the car.

Sorry for the long winded and probably repetitive questions , but I will get through the years of posting and maybe find some of my old stuff again !!

[Kevin (Mr T)]

Can't answer any of your questions, but welcome back seems appropriate and I look forward to following another build!

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

Weclome back, some S2000 answers below. Might be worth editing your post title to get more S2000 focus?

 

Hi All, just to say I am back like a bad penny, but this time is different. After buying and owning a couple of Westies, I am now looking at the joy of building one. I have to sell a car to free some funds towards an S2000 build. Looking forward to joining in again with the regular banter here. Few questions for the S2000 and Westy owners.

Just going through the spec on the Westfeld site and hope you can help

1/ Standard shocks for the car are ? Sports shocks are ?

Sport shocks are Protech adjustable coilovers.

 

2/ Comes with a diff. Not stated which one and I am guessing not an LSD ?

Standard diff will not be LSD and I believe the factory are struggling to get Ford diffs to recon and are now supplying MX5 diffs.

 

 

3/ Are the factory good at leadtimes and what is the expected wait on a full kit?

I ordered in Oct 2014 and took kit delivery (nearly complete) in Feb 2015. Best to call Simon for lead times.

 

4/ Anyone in Berkshire with some build stands ? Prefer on wheels as my loft store is above where the car is going to be built and you can guess where I am storing the parts !!

Other questions on the S2000

 

1/VED cost for this engine if going for a new plate build ?

 

I 'think' it's currently around £225 but have you seen the plans for 2017 VED?

 

2/ Where best to get an engine from ?

 

Shop around the scrap yards best to see if you can get one which you can see running / compression test. Are you aware of drive by wire/drive by cable issues? Soon to be made better by those upgrading to Omex Throttle bodies.

 

3/ What alternatives for wheels other than Pro Races, not that I mind them.

4/ Front ARB or both ?

 

I've gone for both, but not driven mine yet.

 

Also, we are going to Stoneleigh and do Westfield have any deal for buying the kit at the show ?

 

You're likely to get a discount at Stoneleigh and maybe in advance if you ask nicely ;-)

 

 

I hope by that point I will have the engine and box and be tinkering on that , so will be ready for storing while I build the car.

I did that and was still painting when the kit arrived!

 

Sorry for the long winded and probably repetitive questions , but I will get through the years of posting and maybe find some of my old stuff again !!

 

Enjoy the build

 

[Andy (Sycho)]

Hi, welcome back

I can answer a few questions as I finished my s2000 last year but I went a different route by just buying a starter kit & sourcing other parts as needed.

I also got a Honda S2000 write off for engine & box took what I wanted & sold the rest of the parts, which saved a bit of money so I got mine finished (if they are ever finished) for quite a bit less than most.

As for shocks most fit protects, I got mine from procomp.

Diff, I fitted a Sierra lsd but now WF are fitting the Mazda lsd now.

I haven't fitted arb's but that's a personal choice.

Lead times for the kit are good but it can be a different story with parts.

As for offers I had a email the other day I will have a look.

Hope that's helped

Andy

[Thrustyjust]

Cheers guys for the replies. I was aware of the 2017 VED changes, but not sure how that will affect a kit car low volume vehicle. To be honest, I am one of them stupid people who will soldier on with every hour possible, so may get it done before the March 2017 deadline to register the car. Also with buying the whole kit in one hit, I hope this will cut out standing around waiting for bits, which would be a bugbear of mine (says the current wife !!).

Thanks for the welcome back, its been a while and nice to see Windy still hasn't finished that sodding escort yet .

[Andy2000]

I've just looked at the proposed VED rate changes. Does anyone know what emissions a WF S2000 does? The standard S2000 is around 235 g/km which would be £1700 for the first year, then £140 from then on. 

 

It would seem to make (economic) sense to register for the first year, then apply for a refund after a month. Then put it in a garage for 11 months to fix all the bits that fell off after the IVA   .

[Andy (Sycho)]

At the moment it doesn't take into account the s2000 emissions, they are just rated as plg. so I can't see that changing.

[Thrustyjust]

235g/km is pretty smokey. My 300 bhp Focus st is only 224 g/km. Sheesh, better get selling the ST and get ordering the kit !!. Must be another way other than Q plates, which I don't fancy again.

[Thrustyjust]

Another question on buying the engine. Has anyone replaced the clutch on it before fitting, as I am sure a 45k mile cars clutch would be fine. Also anyone fitted a lightened flywheel as well ? Just looking at budgets etc

[Andy (Sycho)]

Yes most replace clutch, I replaced mine with a standard Honda clutch, don't bother with a paddle clutch as it seems to be just an on/off switch for other people's comments.

I left my flywheel as standard for cost reasons, but I know some that have changed them. Don't know weather it makes much difference.

Andy

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

A lightened flywheel can make quite a big difference, (depending on the degree to which it's lightened), but the engine spins up and down quite quickly anyway compared to a more "bread and butter" engine design, especially when fitted with individual throttle bodies, like the Omex.

 

Speaking generally, a nice lightweight flywheel can do wonders for increasing how responsive an engine feels. BUT, by the same token, for road use they can sometimes feel a bit of a compromise; the engine may have a noticeably worse idle. More annoyingly, when coming to a stop at junctions, traffic lights etc, after, ahem giving it the beans, you can very occasionally find the engine speed drops so fast the engine can hesitate a little as the idle control tries to get the revs up again to normal idle speed. (Worst case is they can even actually stall, with exceptionally light flywheels - it's rare, and good mapping helps avoid it though)

 

Unless going for big numbers via forced induction, when replacing, the standard oem Honda clutch should be fine.

 

It's much easier to change the clutch before installing the engine, but not the end of the world if you have to do it down the line. Depends how much meat there is on the friction disk, and whether there are any signs of excess heat or scoring on any of the friction surfaces, whether it needs changing now, or not.

 

One thing to bear in mind if reusing the existing set up and you're cleaning everything up; DO NOT soak/immerse the release bearing in solvent to clean it. Just wipe it off with a rag soaked in degreaser. Soaking it will take the internal grease out too! and on the OEM Honda bearing, it can't successfully be re-greased internally afterwards.

 

Also, make sure you're using the correct greases when re-assembling the clutch. Honda have their own special urea based grease, but other IIRC Lithium based high pressure types can be used - check the Honda S2000 workshop manual for specs if in doubt. (The same grease is used to lube the clutch slave cylinder too.)

[Thrustyjust]

With the weight of the car being so low, I have always used standard clutch plates in previous Westies. Found Dewsbury Autosalvage  showing a few cars on there with engines. May call them later and find out how much they want. Just want to check, I need, engine and box , engine wiring loom, rear engine mount, ecu and anything else  ? Am heading to Sunderland at Easter time, so hope we will have the kit ordered and will go to Stoneleigh to grab photos from cars and nick nacks in the stands. Then on the way to Sunderland, I can stop at Dewsbury and run a car up and check it over. Most have the usual rear end stuff , but wonder how much of a stuff may damage the gearbox tail. Then get it palleted to my office and fork it off and put in the workshop until it is needed. May even prep the engine there as mate has a workshop round the corner, he can tig the baffle in the sump. Does that baffle come with the kit?

Might call Westfield later about new regs and March 2017 , see if they know as just a bit nervous on that date !

[Andy (Sycho)]

There are quite a few salvage places, I had mine of a salvage auction site without seeing it. But be prepared to do some searching, they are fetching good money now so don't rush in to it & shop around.

Not sure on baffle plate but would think it's extra.

[Thrustyjust]

Just chatted to Simon at the factory. Answered many questions for me............... need to sell my car now......... then pop up to see him for sorting the car hopefully.... Yes, they do read all these threads. Obviously its quiet there at the moment or lots of coffee break are allowed