Sheered Aluminium Upright

[Gary Sport 250 Barcelona]

Hi there!  First post, first Westfield, not first problem.

I bought 2 new Westfields, factory assembled and had them shipped to Colombia... seemed like a good idea at the same until I realized my business "partner" over there had no money to invest.

Anyway, thats besides the point.  After a 2 year process of importing the cars, we have now done around 1000km on them both in the last couple of months.  I have had a range of issues, wiper switches not working or jet on either car, fuel pumps had broken, clutch cable was loose and left me stranded, indicators stayed on without blinking, loose steering rack etc etc...... But thats not the point either.

So getting to the point, the garage that fitted a new steering wheel (had different hole alignments so had to make a new boss) took the car out for a spin to see that all was well, since I had complained of a whining noise at about 3900 revs in second *still running engine in.
When he got back from the test run, the front right upright had broken!  See fotos.

This is a new car direct from factory and I had not really put it under that much stress although the roads here are not great, I had avoided most pot holes.  Speed reducing strips are pretty hard going here, but again, Id taken as much caution as I could, so was very surprised this part failed and now I am screwed as I will find it hard to get one in South America as you can imagine.
I found some artilces on these parts from 2008, but not the new ones sold direct from westfield, so was wondering if anyone else has bad experience.

Would it be possible / recommendable to repair as I think thats what the garage is going to try to do at a local work shop, but cant be easy.... I will keep you posted.  Its a small piece that has sheered off and looks like metal fatigue, but no real reason for it.  I was not driving it, but I trust the guy who was and for the 200$ the part costs, he would tell me if he hit a big hole or a curb or something, so weird it broke like that!  
It also makes me worry about other one and the quality of the car in general to be honest.  The Exhaust mount also sheered clean off on a bumpy road.  

I have researched and see ford cortinas are donors for this part originally, but not sure that car ever existed here and maybe not a good idea to change one side without changing the other side too?  I would probably feel safer with a steel one than an aluminium one though.
Its that or wait 5 weeks for westfield, pay a fortune in shipping to colombia and dont use my car for 6 7 weeks  . just when I was starting to enjoy some winding roads I had found!

WEll hopefully the workshop comes up with something

Thanks

gary

[Thrustyjust]

That looks to me as the caliper fixing to the upright. I havent known one to break, but there could be many reasons for it, from a loose caliper bolt , to a bad casting, or physical damage from something hitting it. It sounds as if the cars are having a hard time where you live , which although are tough little cars , a land rover maybe a better british car to use ? 

As for fixing it, its a critical part , as a brake caliper falling off is not something you wish to happen. Yes, the Mk3, Mk4 cortina uprights will fit and are made of cast iron, they will be heavier and tougher than the alloy ones, they are available still and will be quicker than an alloy replacement from the factory.

[Gary Sport 250 Barcelona]

4 minutes ago, Thrustyjust said:

That looks to me as the caliper fixing to the upright. I havent known one to break, but there could be many reasons for it, from a loose caliper bolt , to a bad casting, or physical damage from something hitting it. It sounds as if the cars are having a hard time where you live , which although are tough little cars , a land rover maybe a better british car to use ? 

As for fixing it, its a critical part , as a brake caliper falling off is not something you wish to happen. Yes, the Mk3, Mk4 cortina uprights will fit and are made of cast iron, they will be heavier and tougher than the alloy ones, they are available still and will be quicker than an alloy replacement from the factory.

ahh yes, that makes sense.  As I say, Ive not seen the part, just photos from the guy and as its not the actual caliper, I assumed it was the upright.  Did not know there was another separate part between the two.  Well I guess westfield wont sell that individually anyway.  Problem is cortina never existed here, so not easy to get part here, but we will see.

Thanks for the reply!  Yes well in general I avoid bad roads, really not hit a hole at all, but rumble strips can be brutal... but try to take them as slow as possible and I mean at 5mph max, even less...   
Landrovers sell well, but not quite the same cornering.. hah..   and the attention from the colombian girls would not be quite as flattering either.

[Thrustyjust]

You could try Hi Spec brakes, they might be able to sell replacement uprights, although they cast them for the factory , you might be able to source an un- westfield upright. If you do go Cortina, you will either have to redesign the front wing brackets to fit. There are some Cortina brakes on UK ebay currently, so perhaps you can arrange shipping to yourself ?

Mmmmm, columbian ladies........... this thread could be enlightened with a few pictures ....................... of the car................... obviously 

 

http://www.hispecmotorsport.co.uk/uprightscortina.html

 

[Gary Sport 250 Barcelona]

they have fixed it, but bit nervous....   it looks okay though.  see foto

[Gary Sport 250 Barcelona]

dont want to get myself into trouble... but here is an example of a colombian... woman.... obviously, and well, they are about...

[Gary Sport 250 Barcelona]

a bit more photogenic than the weld on the upright part..

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

How were the cars checked over once they'd been shipped? We're all the bolted joints checked for tightness?

If not, I'd strongly recommend going over the complete cars and checking all th bolts etc are correctly torqued up and reapplying marker paint to suit; after a long ocean journey, presumably crossing the equator, they could have been subject to some quite extreme temperature changes, and who knows what vibration,

Its not uncommon for very new Westfields to have nuts and bolts work loose in the first few hundreds of miles anyway, (though it doesn't affect all cars, by any means). Given the amazing journey they've had though, it does probably increase the chances.

Its hard to tell from the angle of the photo, but it does look a little like the paint indicator marks on the front lower damper nut and bolt down line up. Obviously, this could have been undone and re-tightened during the course of the repair, but it's important to check.

Ill look forward to reading and ahem, seeing more of your adventures!

[Gary Sport 250 Barcelona]

Hi there DAVE

They were not checked over at all to be honest, its not a popular car here, although there are 30 Caterhams and some Lotus 7's originales and copies...

Hence when I first went to use the cars, both petrol pumps were caput, as were the batteries of course.  No reason the clutch cable should be so loose I lost use of the clutch though, or that window wiper switches or indicators should fail, but other things yes.

Its a very good idea to check all the torques on the bolts.  I have the instruction manual, but is there anything with a table showing all these by any chance?  Or just a case of finding each bolt and tightening it, as we had to with the steering rod down to the wheels, which has now twice come loose so the steering wheel is slightly loose ie has play in it along the line of the steering rack/rod.

I did indeed expect some things over the first 500 miles or so, and so it is proving, but I have the impression that the journey did not have so much to do with all of it, but some slack wormanship which was shown in the last topgear review, which is a shame as the devil is in the detail and there is no excuse for some things.  I feel sure the cars themselves could improve no end, for little money and little thought, just a bit of imagination and work and they would be far better put together, but what do I know.. its my first one.

I will keep you posted.. on my / their adventures.

 

I have bought a drone, so hope to get some good video also.... of the cars I mean... 

[Gary Sport 250 Barcelona]

well the repaired part did work, kind of.  It holds, but the car now pulls off to the opposite side when breaking.  If hands on steering wheel not that noticable, but if no hands, steering wheel does a good full turn....  to the left :(.

I guess this is as the alignment between the two holes that go to the caliper are not quite perfect and hence the caliper does not sit perfectly and hence does not break as well as the other side does, and hence the pull to the opposite side.

Will take the car looking for some good colombian roads over the weekend and leave it with them next week to try to machine it to perfection and hopefully fix issue.
If not, I am pleading with westfield as I think the part was faulty or over tightened from the start, as we have not touched it here and the factory says they have never seen anything like this!  Hence I feel they should give me a replacement, has only got 900Km use and no accidents or bumps.

If not, I guess thats another 350 pounds or so and shipping and lead time.......

[Rednop1]

loving your photo gary 

 

[Wilfman]

I think I can see the bumps that need machining out!

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

15 hours ago, Gary Bogota said:

 as we have not touched it here and the factory says they have never seen anything like this!  

It's funny you should say that, but when one of my engine mounts failed a few years ago, that's what they said then, yet there were a number of similar failures reported on this site. I think it's their standard answer so as not to admit there may be a fault now and again.

[XTR2Turbo]

There seems to be a dent in the side of the top fitting. I wonder if it was dropped at some point.  Assuming the weld is up to scratch and what looks like a thread insert securely fitted I think I would want it machined properly but personally  I would not see this as a permanent repair 

 

[David Oxfordshire]

Dont suppose there is any video of the columbian lady in the westfield on a bumpy road? Just for research purposes of course...