John Higgins Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 My dear wife wasn't keen on me restoring yet another motorbike and even less keen on me riding one as I'm recovering from cardiac surgery. Bless her she suggested a "car" project instead. Browsing e-bay I found an unfinished 1988 SEi kit (incomplete) for sale and took the plunge. This one came with a hard top and gull wing doors. I've been retired for a couple of years now but spent the last 15 years of my working life as an engineer at Aston Martin in Gaydon so I know a bit about the industry, products and supply chains. Having said that, I'm definitely on a learning curve with the Westfield. Essentially, what's there needs dismantling, restoring and rebuilding but I will need a few components in the near future i.e. windscreen pillars and a roll cage. I will also need some key dimensional information and/or a 3D CAD model of the chassis and bodywork if anyone out there has such things (any format will do). I could also do with making contact with other members in my area (Southam). All input gratefully received. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 Welcome John, I am very jealous of your hard top and doors, would love to see pics as and when you can. I may just have to copy the design ☺️. Don't worry you are in the right club and forum for any type of question you can think of regarding Westys. Ask away, and don't think a question is stupid , no such thing just stupid answers. Good luck with the build 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 Welcome on board @John Higgins - it's good to have another 1988 SEi near by (I'm in Leamington). The esteemed @John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison is even nearer to you. Happy to lend a hand or for you to look at my car for reference if you like. Good luck, you're in the right place for support! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 Welcome! If it's the factory parts, the hard top and doors were going to be an option, but I think only one first batch were ever made, the obstacles to make it work, and their effects on the price were, at the time, insurmountable, for the volume of possible sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 There's a white kit with, (i think) never fitted white hard top kit that has popped up for sale periodically, some years ago was owned by a member on here for a few years. I think this was it: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hunter - Club Secretary Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 Welcome from South Derbyshire! I've been down your neck of the woods in the Westfield a few times visiting the Long Itch Diner, the Red Banger at Draycote (worth the trip for best lamb burgers in the world!) or driving past on the obigatory visit to Caffeine & Machine. Looking forward to seeing the car, it'll certainly stand out from the crowd with the hardtop 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heawooi Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 Hi @John Higgins, Welcome to the club, If it helps you can look around my 1995 seiw, I'm in Moreton Morrell(couple of miles from Gaydon) Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy119 Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 Hi @John Higgins, Welcome to the club. Lots of useful info and people on here. This will help ID which car you have: https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/93131-how-wide-how-narrow-will-it-fit-whats-the-width-or-length/#comment-1433392 Although being an early car it’s probably a narrow chassis. I’m also local in Leamington Spa. Ian Grant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Higgins Posted June 25, 2022 Author Share Posted June 25, 2022 Thank you all for your kind offers and the build manuals. Dave, I'm pretty sure that the white Westfield in the picture is my pile of bits, it looks the same. Rob, I live about a mile away from the Long Itch Diner. I've partaken of a few bacon sarnys and mugs of their brew in there over the years. The first thing that I need to do before dismantling what's there is to do a "dry" build of all the grp panels and get them properly aligned before getting things painted/powder coated etc. There are no alignment markings or datum holes so I'm winging it and I'm missing windscreen pillars so can't set the windscreen. The rear end grp appears to sag slightly on one side (I know from a previous life at Lotus (educational!) that polyester grp can distort over time if left unsupported. So I may need to add some framework to put it in the right place, and so on.............Picture of the chassis plate below. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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