1 week in.

[Dan Hook]

Afternoon All. 
 

So I picked up my first Westfield last weekend. It’s a very clean and tidy car built as a retirement project. See photos. It’s picked up a nickname already in my household. No prizes for guessing. 
 

Thank you again to all the people I talked to about what to look for with a first car. I think I’ve made the right choice for me and my intended use. 
 

Car is a 2011, 2.0 Zetec Blacktop, Type 9 gbox, Omex, single throttle body, lowered floor and pretty much as standard as you can get otherwise. 
 

Couple of things I either was unaware of or not prepared enough for / didn’t notice before buying the car. Keen on any opinions. 
 

1 - only driven it in ‘fresh’ autumnal days but the dials seem to fog up quite quickly. Is this normal? Makes sense that they do but after only 5 miles there’s visible condensation. 
 

2 - cold starts on injection engines. I anticipated a bit of TLC on carb engines but modern ish injection with an ECU I thought would be more robust. A 10degC start after a few days in the garage and it did need the throttle poked and for me to get in and going to be happy idling. I’ve not really got any history from the seller (was a classic car dealer) on the pedigree of the calibration the car is running but a couple of cold starts in a warmish showroom were fine. No issues when driving and warm.  
 

3 - longer down time / storage tips? As weather gets pants it will live in the garage more between uses but anything recommended to make spontaneous outings not disappointing?

Other than that the car is everything I hope it would be and more.

 

Thanks

Dan

 

[DavidMiller]

Nice looking Westfield! Regarding the issues with cold start: fuel injection shouldn't struggle with this so it points to a potential issue in the tuning for cold-start enrichment. At colder temperatures the ECU should be adding more fuel until the engine warms up. The colder it is, the more enrichment needed. If it is struggling at 10C then it will likely be even worse once temperatures drop. I'm not familiar with the software for that ECU, but cold start tuning is actually very easy. You do need to ensure the engine is properly cold though so you only get once chance to do it per day. Adjust the enrichment as the engine warms and then extrapolate down to lower temperatures. You may need to adjust the idle valve too. If the software is available cold start tuning is definitely something you can do from home.

[Captain Colonial]

4 hours ago, Dan Hook said:

1 - only driven it in ‘fresh’ autumnal days but the dials seem to fog up quite quickly. Is this normal? Makes sense that they do but after only 5 miles there’s visible condensation. 

 

Very common and "normal".  The heat inside the working gauges causes any tiny bit of moisture to turn to mist, particularly if the lights are on.  The more and longer you drive it, the more it should clear.  I CAREFULLY ended up drilling a few tiny holes in the bottom of the gauges (the bottom of the casing facing the floor to prevent water dripping into the gauges) to allow them to "breathe" and it reduced fogging significantly.

 

4 hours ago, Dan Hook said:

3 - longer down time / storage tips? As weather gets pants it will live in the garage more between uses but anything recommended to make spontaneous outings not disappointing?

 

Car cover.  Piece of wood between the roll hoop and the depressed clutch pedal to prevent the clutch plate being frozen to the flywheel in spring, which is not fun to unfreeze, not hard but unnecessary and avoidable work.  Disconnect battery.  Roll the car forward or backwards once a month to stop flat spotting the tyres.  Keep the tank closer to full than empty as long as the fuel won't be older than 6 months old when you use it (although fuel takes longer than that to go off).

 

Once the household members get taken for a "spirited" (ahem!) ride, it'll stop being "Brum" and more likely become "Bumblebee" or "Wasp".

 

 

 

[Flying Carrot Steve]

I seem to recall another bit of advice on tyres is to inflate them by an extra 50% over winter. Just don't forget to let them down again come spring! 😂

[Dan Hook]

Thanks chaps. Learning curve still steep I think. 🫠 

[Captain Colonial]

2 hours ago, Flying Carrot Steve said:

I seem to recall another bit of advice on tyres is to inflate them by an extra 50% over winter. Just don't forget to let them down again come spring! 😂

18psi is the normal most used tyre pressure.  If you’re keen on seeing what it’s like to hydroplane, pump them up to 30psi and drive on a wet road and you’ll soon find out what looking at the world sideways through your windscreen is like.*

 

*Do not do this!

[Chris Larner]

My Westfield is roughly the same model as yours and my gauges are exactly the same.  They fog up for a while but clear once engine and heater temps get up.  I also saw advise on the group saying to drill a tiny hole in the side of the back (which I did) and this has stopped them fogging at all.

As for tires I tend to run about 20psi all year round.  No higher or lower pressure will stop them fogging at car going sideways in the cold or wet, you just have to take it easy or enjoy facing the other way.

[Tim-s]

Mine has a 2.0 blacktop in omex and when I do a cold start the idle is a lot lower than if it was upto temperature 

it does start without any throttle though 

my car was mapped at Northampton Motorsport and they said it’s perfectly normal 

 

[Dan Hook]

I think before too long I’ll be over there meeting the gang at NMS. 

[AndrewBClarke]

If it’s just engine stuff, A P Racing Engines are brilliant and may be more convenient for you to get to. 

[Captain Colonial]

12 hours ago, Dan Hook said:

I think before too long I’ll be over there meeting the gang at NMS. 

While NMS are fantastic and did work for me, I’d advise you to give it some time for you and the car to get to know each other before whipping out your wallet.  A bit of throttle blipping during a cold start would be nice to eliminate but it’s hardly deal breaking or even inconvenient.  You will learn optimum starting techniques by repetition.

 

Besides, spending your money on upgrades is what the members will help you do!  Let me start by recommending a 280mm Team Momo steering wheel with a quick release, a 6” diameter repackable exhaust in chrome or carbon fibre, some wind deflectors or half doors to make driving more open and enjoyable, perhaps a half hood for weather protection… getting the idea yet? 😂

[AndrewBClarke]

5 minutes ago, Captain Colonial said:

While NMS are fantastic and did work for me, I’d advise you to give it some time for you and the car to get to know each other before whipping out your wallet.  A bit of throttle blipping during a cold start would be nice to eliminate but it’s hardly deal breaking or even inconvenient.  You will learn optimum starting techniques by repetition.

 

Besides, spending your money on upgrades is what the members will help you do!  Let me start by recommending a 280mm Team Momo steering wheel with a quick release, a 6” diameter repackable exhaust in chrome or carbon fibre, some wind deflectors or half doors to make driving more open and enjoyable, perhaps a half hood for weather protection… getting the idea yet? 😂

And a heated Keis jacket and gloves….😁

[SXRORY]

My cold start is similar idles low and likes a few revs when it first gets going after a couple of minutes all good. If it was a daily you could get cold start dialled in I'm sure, but mapping takes a day I drove it there "warm" drove it home. Never bothered me on something like this 👍. My VDO's steam up and have a mind of there own at times 😁 it's all endearing traits of a kit car.....well mine anyway. 

Winter is for tinkering fixing a few bits, I've never done anything other than put it in the garage and put a cover over it. Once the salt is gone I put the ctek on it for a day and it starts and we are off again. It's only 4months or so. These you tube barn finds etc start with 8 year old fuel. Few months should not hurt it at all

Welcome to the club!!!

[Dan Hook]

Plugged into the Omex today. Cylinder head temperature sensor giving dodgy readings. At ignition on, or at least in the minute after i’ve turned the key jogged round the car and connected laptop, the temperature starts to climb with the engine off. After 15mins or so its climbed to 75 deg C and stays there. All this with engine off in a cold garage. 
 

Poor cold start seems to be explained…new sensor ordered. 

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

Bingo, glad you’ve found it