Introducing my Westfield SEiW (Aerorace)

[Andrzej]

Hello from Poland!   I am a new Member of Your Community.

I was reading WSCC forum from long time, but became a member of WSCC today , so here I try to introduce my Westfield : 

 

Bought it as a "started project" from Belgium last autumn/winter. The car was not touched from 2-3 years by previous owner, except of painting the fiberglass panels. I was not allowed to start enfgine after such a llong period, I would not try . So I had to take it "as is" . I got with a car a second spare engine (for sure to rebuild  - this one is now in the car) , some parts, wishbones, tyeres, rims etc. 

Needed to take apart almost all , and put together again, some investigation what previous ovner had in mind instalig this or that , in that or other way etc. 

But, in the end, with rebuilded engine etc. I had a chance to take it on track few times and it is amazing how it drives comparing to regular, even track prepared cars, but of few hundered kilo weight more. 

It is also more demanding from driver (I had not driven RWD cars from almost 20 years and that was an old fiat with less than 50 horse power engine I think  ) And demanding in terms of phisical fitnes (a lot of work for me in this area ) too. 

 

Here is some info and photos / video :

 

Westfield SEiW in Aerorace version (I Think it was previous Belgium Cup car from their Westfield Cup Racing series), track only, not road legal. Chasis looks not touched, straight, no rust.

Engine -   freshly rebuild Zetec 2.0 Blacktop, head porting in hands of one of the best motosport engine builders  here in Poland (huge increase in flow on flowbench !) Grzegorz Kuśmierz, some more aggresive camshafts catcams , Jenvey  45mm ITB . Tuned on road , with results about 200 hp and 200 Nm , max revs set conservatively to 7200 as I am learning the car, not competiting yet. 

4-1 Exhaust,  

KMS Standalone ECU and KMS wiring, coil, lambda, etc,

MT75 gearbox with quickshift (there was an additional gearbox-oil radiator, not sure if this MT75 gearbox really needs it ? for now I detached it as I am cotributing on trackdays with max 10-15 min  sessions ), Sierra 3,92 diff (I think its LSD) . Not sure what the gear rations in this particular MT75 gearbox are, and from what car this gearbox is. Car is LHD, starter is on the right side, clutch line on the left side. 

Helix 5 paddle clutch 240mm, with Sachs sport clutch cover, std not lightened flywheel

Rear wheels with tyres 240/570/13 , front 200/540/13  both Michelin s412 slick (used) , Compomotive CXR rims. Some Team Dynamics rims with intermediate and wet tyres Kumho , but only 175 to 215 width, I think it might be to narrow for rear, not sure about it.  I think I will try to find a pair of 13x10 or 13x9 rims for rear, preferably CXR Compomotive . Not driven it on rainy day yet, but some day I will have to ;-/ (not looking forward for wet trackday ) 

Suspension is widetrack , nitron R1 shocks,  Front stabilisator, springs rates - do not know (front red, rear black, but propably it tells nothing)

I set geometry myself with strings according to values in Aerorace Manual (front little toe out, camber front 1,5-2deg ; rear toe little in, camber 0,5 -1 deg). 

I made an DIY corner weighting which shows rather ok cross weigth and 40:60 front to rear (I sit maximum rear and my weight is 100kg , so partialy propably that is why, also there is a huge fuel tank in rear, which I intend to change for some 20-25 liters cpacity or smaller sport tank. Total weight without driver , with oils, and  20-30 ltr of fuel  is 590kg

 

Here are some video records from last trackday 

 

 

 

 

 

Well , there was a lot of work to make it driveable, especially as I am not an engineer  and work with car alone, fiirst time taking engine and transsmision out, putting freshly rebuild engine in, rearrangment of all fuel lines (precedeor made it in such waym that there was no fuel filter after high pressure fuel pump, so two injectors was 10% less efficient ---> knock and destruction to engine (the other one, its a pity , that engine had a set of burton power larger pistons and special rods, special camshafts etc. But hope to rebuild that engine too .

Lots of wortk with setting pedals, seat, steering wheel for my size  (still have tro rebuild a gas pedal in some way to make posibble brake bias adjuster to fit and not interfere with gas pedal).

 

But, for the moment now I can eventually say that Westfield is alive  , is in shape I am not ashamed to introduce to such a wide an experienced Westfield Owners  Community!

 

For now I have lot of learning and getting used to the car , and having fun with it drivig or just working with it in garage as there is a long list of thigs to do in winter time . 

 

I am happy there is such a wide Westfiield owners community, forum with so much info and advice. Kitcars are not popular here in Poland, so WSCC is mine basic source of knowledge on this car and whole subject.

 

Regards to All !

 

Andrzej

 

 

 

 

 

[Gary Taylor]

Hello and welcome from sunny Scotland, congratulations on getting your westy I enjoyed the video

yes it can be a bit daunting when you first start working on cars but Westies are simple and straightforward in the main.

that said don’t be afraid to ask any questions on here we may be a distance away from you but there is a wealth of experience and knowledge on here and most of all enjoy her

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

 

your car looks great and I bet you certainly have a smile on your face.

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

Welcome and what a great first post.

[tolf]

Welcome to the club I’m sure you’ll find lots of support here and your video looks great

[Kingster]

Welcome Andrzej - I’m glad you managed to get signed up as per our emails! Car looks like a lot of fun 👍

[TAFKARM]

The track in your first video looks great!

 

 

[TableLeg]

Welcome

 

Great videos,  really enjoyed them. Good camerawork.

 

 

[SootySport]

Hope your Westfield generates a lot of interest in Poland, Will we see more Polish owners in the near future?

Well done on the rebuild, looks and go 👍 

[Andrzej]

Thank You All for the warm welcome !

 

Yes, Westfield truly generates a lot of interest on track / in depo , not only among other drivers.  But I am not sure if I want more Westfields around on track - that means more competitors  

 

As for the video from outside, on some trackdays there is a company with experience in recording every car , they know where to place camera, and make a lot of work later with putting all together. 

 

As for the track, it is specific track, with veeeery slippery so-called "karting" part . When wet it is gettig worse : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kqIokGE290

Well, not sure how the Westfiled can handle it in Wet... I am thinking of some modifications , like addig a Racing Traction Control (cockpit operated power of control, know cars with it and it helps a lot on exits )  . But it needs ABS sensors on the wheels to work . So far I can not figure out how to fit a ring for ABS sensor on Cortina upright in front.

Not sure also what WET tyre sizes would be better for wet track. Especialy in rear - wide one  like dry tyres  (240mm) ? or of less width than dry (200??)  ? maybe I find some answers here in archiwes in this forum .

 

 

[TAFKARM]

My personal opinion is that you won’t need more than 195s with 200bhp. 

 

Dont worry about the wet either, traction control not required, westfields are fine with some confidence and practice. 

 

Even Nankang AR1s work in the wet if you drive hard and get some heat in them (as @AdamR showed me) 

[DonPeffers]

 Andrzej from sunny Scotland.

 

Your car looks great.  Enjoy.

[AdamR]

As Russ says, the best traction control is your right foot 😁 Narrower tyres work better in the wet for me, they heat up faster and cut through surface water more easily.

 

Plenty of practice in the wet is key, a lot of people shy away from wet driving when in fact its the best time to learn how to drive your car.

 

I know a guy who does a lot of track stuff in Poland (in an M3, Alex Zoltowski, maybe you know him?) - the locations and events look brilliant!

 

Welcome and hope you continue to enjoy the car 👍

 

Edit: after watching your videos, it looks like a quicker steering rack (or shorter steering arms, depending on which uprights you have) will make a huge positive difference to the car.

[Andrzej]

Yes, but practice in the wet conditios in open car is... lets say something I am not familiar with 

I have no full confidence how the electricity is going to behave , and myself wet in racing suit. And then the traction and grip oeverall. But have to try, I know it, maybe this autum .

Many racing instructors says that in rain is best training.

As for Alex , no I have not met him yet.

 

As for the foot as TC propably with a loooot of trackdays (in wet , ouch )  it will work as TC, but TC I am thinking of,  makes lap Times better. You do not lift gas on exit (gaining time) just push throttle pedal , make some corrections and drive with confidence. It has settings from zero reaction  to full . 

Here is some info , it is not an ordinary car TC as we know from serial cars, it is race TC system :

http://racetcs.com/

 

But again, on dry conditions  after just  2 trackdays I can feel pretty confident on exits , first trackday it was in, I had some parial or full spins on exists . So yes, Westfield looks like pretty friendly to driver.

 

As for the rack i  think it is  2,4  steering rack and I think it is ok, on slow tide corners one after another , and hot front slicks mine hands was tired Not sure if there are quicker racks for Westfielrds ? Mine is from used car, so it might be worn in some way. Do not know if that is what You think of, but I can feel some play on steering wheel.

Oh, and I changed rack fitting clamps to stiff one - aluminium, not original with rubber.

Steering arms .. I am not sure which I have, all I know there are Cortina uprights .

 

[Andrzej]

Hello!

 

would like to present some update after a Year of tinkering and driving my Westfield Aerorace .

Photographers seems to like the car  kitcars and super7ths derivatives are rather unusual here , so after a Year I have collected a lot of pictures and a bench of cups from different trackdays  

I am still getting to know the car, not easy,  but thaks to so many good advices from the WSCC Members(!!!!)  it is getting more fitted to me (or I am getting more fitted to Westfield ) 

 

( the website is in Polish but it is not  very extensive,  and I hope one picture tells more than 100 words) 

 

https://aswestfield.wordpress.com/