Recent snap of your Westfield

[Naranja_Al]

Not a Westfield but a fantastic bit of kit. I hitched a ride in my friends Fiesta ST240 tonight at Donnington Park, I think my insides are still somewhere near Redgate Corner!

 

 

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

10 hours ago, Naranja_Al said:

Not a Westfield but a fantastic bit of kit. I hitched a ride in my friends Fiesta ST240 tonight at Donnington Park, I think my insides are still somewhere near Redgate Corner!

 

 

 

That looks rapid! @HB46443 had a passenger ride in a Ginetta G55 race car at Donington last week and looked quite pale when he got out too 😂

[Naranja_Al]

4 minutes ago, Rob Hunter Derby & Notts AO said:

 

That looks rapid! @HB46443 had a passenger ride in a Ginetta G55 race car at Donington last week and looked quite pale when he got out too 😂

I’m not gonna lie, I felt a little queasy afterwards too! The braking power into Redgate & Roberts was ridiculous!

[Flying Carrot Steve]

13 hours ago, Naranja_Al said:

Not a Westfield but a fantastic bit of kit. I hitched a ride in my friends Fiesta ST240 tonight at Donnington Park, I think my insides are still somewhere near Redgate Corner!

 

 

Is that thing road legal or an out and out race car?

[Naranja_Al]

1 hour ago, Flying Carrot Steve said:

Is that thing road legal or an out and out race car?

Not a chance! It is a full race spec car that races in the Airtec Fiesta ST240 Championship.

 

https://brscc.co.uk/formulae/airtec-motorsport-fiesta-st240-championship/

[Flying Carrot Steve]

2 hours ago, Naranja_Al said:

Not a chance! It is a full race spec car that races in the Airtec Fiesta ST240 Championship.

 

https://brscc.co.uk/formulae/airtec-motorsport-fiesta-st240-championship/

bl**** quick then! Never been in one but seen footage

[GaryD1971]

On 04/09/2023 at 10:05, Flying Carrot Steve said:

Yep I know the feeling. Wish I'd kept all my old Ford's. Several Mk1 Escorts, Mk2, Mk3, Mk4 Cortinas, Corsair 1700 V4, Mk1 Capri, Granada. Probably be minted now 😂 

 

That's some history! 😂

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

8 hours ago, Naranja_Al said:

I’m not gonna lie, I felt a little queasy afterwards too! The braking power into Redgate & Roberts was ridiculous!

I would think it should be doing the National circuit in the low 1m 20's looking at the laptimes the ST240 does elsewhere. That will definitely feel quite rapid especially as a passenger!

We were there last week pretending to be racing drivers ourselves 😂

[Flying Carrot Steve]

27 minutes ago, Rob Hunter Derby & Notts AO said:

I would think it should be doing the National circuit in the low 1m 20's looking at the laptimes the ST240 does elsewhere. That will definitely feel quite rapid especially as a passenger!

We were there last week pretending to be racing drivers ourselves 😂

The fastest guys seemed to be doing the Donington GP circuit in under 1:47 if that's any help? 

[Naranja_Al]

51 minutes ago, Rob Hunter Derby & Notts AO said:

I would think it should be doing the National circuit in the low 1m 20's looking at the laptimes the ST240 does elsewhere. That will definitely feel quite rapid especially as a passenger!

We were there last week pretending to be racing drivers ourselves 😂

Lapping 1:23 with me onboard. Low 1:20’s on his own but the car is down on power. His team are trying to sort it, he’s back tomorrow night for further testing

[Labrat]

Making the most of the lovely weather I took the Westfield to the vets in Matlock to pick up Broadline for our cat. Any excuse for a birthday blat. 

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

2 hours ago, Naranja_Al said:

Lapping 1:23 with me onboard. Low 1:20’s on his own but the car is down on power. His team are trying to sort it, he’s back tomorrow night for further testing

 

That's very quick!

 

I managed to muscle the Westfield around in a 1m24.4 with a passenger last week but I'm getting to the extremes of my meagre talent 😂

[CarbonWest - Chris Broster - Bristol & Bath AO]

So after a mammoth (self induced)  period upgrading my front end to wide track, protech, westy uprights, willwood brakes  etc I managed to make it to the start line for my summer trip round Wales - Bill 7 H's Welsh 500.  For clarity, I am Billy (long story, beer required...) and H is my mate on his trusty BMW 1200 RT.

 

H has done many a bike tour of Wales but generally in the pack and not planning or leading, I've done none! So quite rightly, I left that bit to him.

 

Having got the car finally together on Bank Holiday monday night I set off to see Dave Gallop, Track Developments, North Of Castle Coombe - he worked his old school magic and the car came back handling a dream.

Rear wheel alignment and height setting

Bump steer adjustment - including machining down the camber adjusting nut and making a castor adjusting shim to go under the steering rack.

I then struggled to bleed my new brakes but with help from the forum and local members I got this done Thursday morning and finished the final bits - cycle wings etc on Thursday evening approx 2200!

 

We set off at lunch time on Friday, meeting at the M48 Service just before the Severn bridge...

Via Chepstow, and heading to Raglan to pass over the Brecon Beacons heading West....or we were until my left Cycle Wing stay undid itself and picked a fight with the tyre!

H drove and found a garage that was kind enough to provide some bolts, washers and spring washers which allowed us to get to  Abergavenny to raid the Motor Factors for more appropriate bolts and threadlock. (voices of I told you those bolts might be too long echo from Tim Thall...). Checked the RHS too and they were starting to undo too!

 

Onwards again! Glorious roads over the Beacons with little traffic we shook down and worked out riding/driving styles and comms too. In the end my cheapo phone mount kept popping off the windscreen (@Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO I need to follow your lead and bolt it to the dash!) so H lead most of the way which lead to him nimbly overtaking at every opportunity and me painfully waiting for a suitable spot to stretch the Westy's legs.  All was well with only a few showers but as we headed down into Cardigan we hit a lovely forested section with great bends going downhill but both H and I realised that the roads were still wet and a tadge slippy!  But we made it safely to Flambards Hotel, Cardigan where we parked the motors round the back nicely out of sight and after a quick change had an awesome Rib Eye steak dinner and few sleeping juices.

 

Saturday morning we refuelled before we did the same with the motors and then off for a monster drive up the West Wales coast dipping in and out for some of the best bits to end up in Snowdonia.

Easy drive up to Aberystwyth for a coffee stop on the sea front having just missed the Rally of Wales WRC! However, what we didn't miss was one of H's detours for a more interesting single track scenic diversion - beautiful to look at for him up high on motorbike, but I only saw the hedges and the long grass in the middle of the track - Oh yes and the chuffing big tractor that won the face off. Battle scarred and muddy we cracked on!

Some of the valley roads and inland forays were truly spectacular and we just kept going until we arrived for a late lunch at Bala - memories of old from my youth in my 1275 Mini GT were strong!

 

By now we were running a little late so we applied some haste and made up some ground by cutting the corner North from Capel Curig to Bangor finishing some nice roads in the process and then onto the Great Orme for an Ice Cream.

 

On arrival at the top we both baulked at the £4.50 minimum car park so took some snaps and headed back down, taking the lower Orme roads that circumnavigates the rock (one way traffic too 😉) and gives stunning views out over to a foggy Anglesey...

 From here it was a easy run down through Conwy, including the Tunnels, no excessive throttle blipping was conducted M'lord... We arrived at Furnace Farm, Bodnant for our accommodation which was top notch and we certainly enjoyed the local Welsh Lamb cutlets and beer too!

Next morning, Sunday, was another beautiful day and we had a hearty breakfast in the Farm Shop Cafe before I borrowed a hose to wash the car, making H sit in to keep it ticking over, or was that to ensure he got his fair share of mud too!

After kitting up we set off back into the heart of Snowdonia for the return leg to Bristol.

This was again a blessed route with little car traffic and plenty of bikers who, having a bike escort, treated me nicely!

Back through Bala and then out onto the moors and those lovely flowing roads. We were there early enough to miss the hordes that we saw heading there later and had some nice drives with other enthusiasts including some mega fast sports bikes, touring bikes and a blinking fast Westy that caught us up! Apart form one caravan, dispatched quickly and a single 'driving miss daisy' couple we had glorious weather and empty roads again! This was truly epic for me and really let me stretch the legs of the car and test the braking, steering and suspension mods to the full - all good happy to report!

Stopping for a late lunch at Crossgate Biker Cafe it was clear that the Westy was a rose between thorns (in my view) and did indeed attract some nice comments and intrigue, especially when they found out I was paired with H on an ex-Police RT! 

 

We did a final top up of fuel and set off for Abergavenny and the final stretch down the Wye valley. By the time we got to Tintern Abbey it was baking hot and so an Ice Cream stop was in order!

What a magnificent building this must have been in its day.

 

Then it was the final stretch down the Wye Valley with its thankfully shaded sweeping bends and out over the M48 Severn Bridge again to land back in England. H peeled off to head South on the M5 and I pootled home to Bristol.

 

Gave the car a quick check on return and no new issues.

 

Stats for the weekend were:

560 Miles

68 L of Fuel

37 mpg overall

Smiles a million

 

Next year either Devon & Cornwall or NC500....

[Benrobson2999 - Kent AO]

Fantastic write up and great pics ☀️👍🏼👍🏼 on for the to do list…

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

40 minutes ago, Chris Broster - Bristol & Bath AO said:

 

 

 

 

Did the steak cost more if cooked? 😉

 

What a great trip and well written up too.

 

Shame you were a solo Westie and more didn't join you.