Potential Future Owner...?

[MrMajestic]

Hi

Although in lock down, I'm interested in buying a Westfield to tinker on in the coming weeks... months!?

 

As this will be my first venture into kit cars, not looking for anything extreme, just a bit of weekend fun on the roads, possibly a track day at Castle Combe.

 

I tried to buy a Westfield 1800 Speedsport, but the seller pulled out when I went to place a deposit and sold it to someone else.

 

Is there any advise or specific models to look at that would suit, engines, specs or colours to avoid etc.? I'm fairly average size, 5'10 13st.  My budget is 5-6k.

 

Thanks

Kevin.

 

 

[BigSkyBrad]

If you can squeeze to 7-8k, the pool gets bigger and better.

5-6k is tidy Pinto cars, or raggy Zetec etc. There's nothing wrong with a well sorted Pinto, but an extra couple of grand gets(usually) more reliability with say an injected Zetec.

[MrMajestic]

I think I want either a 1800 or 2000 zetec, just for something fairly modern.  Is there any carburettors I need to look out for? 

 

I was going to buy this for £5250. https://www.gumtree.com/p/westfield/westfield-1800-speedsport/1369402264 the only issue was a tear and damage to the seats, so needed Upholstery work and hadn't been through an MOT since 2018.

 

8k appears to get one from a dealer, but happy to get something private that may need a little work to save a few quid.

 

What's the deal with the motorbike engine cars, are they any good?

[Paul T]

I'd say you'll probably need a bit more budget for a Zetec unless you want one that needs some work.

 

As a guide I bought a ropey 1999 1.8 Zetec on carbs for ~5k (private sale), which needed an engine rebuild, I have spent ~2k on it (plus a few hundred hours of time) and it's been valued at 8-9k (take a look at my rebuild thread for details).

 

A friend of mine has bought one more recently (2019), very similar car but with some more trick bits on and in better condition than mine was for ~£6.5k, which was a steal - but he had to pull it out of a barn in Cornwall. If you're willing to look around and travel to collect you may get lucky.

 

It's probably worth adding that (very much unfortunately for some) it's probably going to be buyers market this summer as no doubt some of the unlucky owners amongst us may have to sell their cars for financial reasons - which is awful but it would be better for those cars to go to club members and enthusiasts than traders.

 

[Kingster]

£5250 is VERY cheap for a zetec engined car, so I'd expect that one to either have "issues" or the seller is in need of cash fast.

 

£8k will get you a decent car, but be patient!

 

£5k will not get you a bike engined car unless it’s even more dodgy than a £5k Zetec. 

 

Bike engined cars are fine - but tend to be more track focussed needing to be light in order to get the most out of them (so normally there's little in the way of weather gear, windscreens, heaters etc).

 

BUT that's not to say you can't use a bike engined car with a heater, screen and seats - some do and are happy - it's just more usual to have a car engine in a 'touring' style Westy. Bike engines will rev higher and so can be a bit tiring on the ears at motorway cruising speeds.

 

The larger Hayabusa engine will cope better as it has more torque than a 900cc Blade engine (the smaller Blade might just be in an £8k budget, but a Hayabusa will be way over!) - you really need to try before you buy though.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

My heart sinks when I see Gumtree add’s - such a dodgy reputation though I’m sure there must be plenty of perfectly normal sales on there.

 

Thats extremely cheap for the spec of car it suggests. However, it also has so little information and no decent photos at all, that it’s almost meaningless. It may have been registered in 2000, but gut feeling is, it’s quite a bit older, or possibly used older parts when built. Nothing particularly wrong with that, it can be a good way to build. But you need to be aware of and understand this when examining such cars.

 

I’ve absolutely zero idea of what Westfield values are like at this precise moment, and for the immediate future. The values quoted by previous posters were all on the money, but now?

 

It does sadden me to say, it is likely to be buyers market, soon. There’s going to be a lot of people moving on all sort of toys from better times to raise cash, and many will have to move things on quickly and accept the hit.

 

A lot of those will probably be good, stock, or near stock Zetec Westfields, too.

[Kingster]

34 minutes ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

It does sadden me to say, it is likely to be buyers market, soon. There’s going to be a lot of people moving on all sort of toys from better times to raise cash, and many will have to move things on quickly and accept the hit.

Agreed Dave. It’s very difficult to gauge right now - “unknown territory” doesn’t come close!

[MrMajestic]

Thanks for your replies.

 

I'll probably stay away from the bike engines if there's no real benefit and will mainly be using on the road.

 

Paul T - I think I've seen a video of you in your car on You Tube!  I can see my boy always wanting me to take him out for spin.

 

ref. the Car for sale on Gumtree, they spent an hour on WhatsApp video call going all over the car, they told me it had a Ford Granada rear axel, MT75 gearbox and engine was from a Fiesta RS1800, recent new suspension and brakes.  The bloke appeared to prime the carburettors manually, which seemed a little odd?  He was more keen to sell it to the other interested party who was a mechanic, maybe something on his conscience.

 

What do people tend to do for car servicing?  Is it accepted that the people who buy these cars service themselves and keep receipts etc. as proof of maintenance?

 

Is there a chassis no. or year that is better than others?

 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

That's good to hear.

 

On the whole, car's like Westfields sell principally on condition, it's way more important than age or mileage, or any of the other measures, typically used when selecting second hand cars.

 

Certainly many, probably most, do do the work on their own cars to a greater extent, there are some specialists around for the less diy friendly jobs, but the reality is, depending on the model, the car is going to be mainly relatively simple technology/engineering, that really has just be refined since the fifties/sixties/seventies. So, generally, a relatively basic tool kit and a little knowledge will get you a long way.

 

Of course, this also means that they're pretty easy for any experienced garage that can cope with classic Fords etc to work on.

 

You will probably find a Zetec on factory Ford fuel injection is slightly easier to live with/look after than a car on twin Weber carbs, just because there's a little less maintenance and a little less "knack" required with them, again though, for anyone that wants to learn and have a go, there lot's of info around. Though the old carb specialists that used to tune them are perhaps something of a dying breed now! They are still around though.

[Paul T]

4 hours ago, MrMajestic said:

Paul T - I think I've seen a video of you in your car on You Tube!  I can see my boy always wanting me to take him out for spin.

 

The bloke appeared to prime the carburettors manually, which seemed a little odd? 

 

What do people tend to do for car servicing?  Is it accepted that the people who buy these cars service themselves and keep receipts etc. as proof of maintenance?

Yeah the kids love it mate, I’ve got a ‘bubble bum’ inflatable booster which fits perfectly,  just wish there was more seats to take them all out in 😉

 

ref the carbs, it’s perfectly normal to prime with a few squirts from the accelerator pump, some people prefer to use the choke but I don’t have mine connected and it starts fine, just need to tickle the throttle for the first 20secs or so.

 

Service wise I always keep all my receipts and note the mileage down on them when things were changed/updated, I think it shows care if you have a nicely kept folder with everything in (mine even had all the original  sales docs, SVA reports, invoices, MOTs, receipts etc...even both previous owners WSCC membership forms and a stack of club magazines!

 

[Paul T]

One thing to add, from my experience (this is my first WF) if I was buying another or recommending to someone else I’d consider the following:

 

- Definitely wide body

- Fuel injected (better drivability, mpg, less fumes, more flexibility/simplicity to change going forward)

- Windscreen but not necessarily full weather gear (half hood is an easy add later)

- Detachable rear arches a must (highly recommend this, mine doesn’t have and it’s the only thing I can’t easily change myself) gives you much more choice for wheels, is replaceable if you’re unlucky to damage, and wider rear looks better IMO.

- T9 gearbox is more flexible if you want to change ratios

- LSD - easy to change but good ones are becoming hard to find now

 

[MrMajestic]

On 11/04/2020 at 19:15, Paul T said:

- Detachable rear arches a must (highly recommend this, mine doesn’t have and it’s the only thing I can’t easily change myself) gives you much more choice for wheels, is replaceable if you’re unlucky to damage, and wider rear looks better IMO.

 

 

Are the detachable rear arches on the later models only?  

 

I'm still looking, but doesn't appear to be much choice on the private market at the minute.

[Paul T]

I think they started around mid 90’s but mine’s a 99 and still has fixed arches so you’d need to check

[Kingster]

10 hours ago, MrMajestic said:

Are the detachable rear arches on the later models only?  

They would have been introduced at some point as said above - but were still listed as an “option” when I ordered my kit in 2014 (not sure if anyone didn’t order that option at the time though!).

[shrops-paul]

Where are you based MrMajestic? Best bet is to get along to the local club monthly meet once the lockdown is lifted. Plenty to see and try before you make youre mind up.