Accident repair

[Two7]

Update.     I took it to central garage in Brixham and they got it up on the ramp and we all had a good look at chassis and suspension.   Simon , the owner sprints and hill climbs and has his own 7 style car.  He could see no damage to any of the chassis or suspension,  given the damage to the tyre he recommended a new wheel just in case.  So I have agreed  a cash in lieu settlement.   They  agreed with my numbers for spare parts and for my labour i used the build manual to justify 22 hours work and I went with £50 an hour , which they accepted. It's not my fault but they still kept excess of £200,  so I will use legal insurance to get that back.

 

I have ordered a new ns rear wing from westfield chesil, due end August.   In mean time starting to strip it down.  Have a look at my build diary for progress. 

[Greg Mills]

Hi, Totally new to the Westfield world so I'm not very knowledgeable on things but you said that the roll hoop might have moved ? If this is the case how do the roll hoops stand-up to a more heavy impact or even a roll-over ?

Interested to know as looking to get a Westfield soon and was considering one with a cage as I think they look/feel safer.

 

Good luck with the repair and hope it all goes smoothly.

[Two7]

@Greg Mills

 

The 1/2 cage roll over protection marketed by westfield as msa roll bar thankfully shows no damage, no distortion or bends etc.  Its rear diagonal bars go down to the very rear of the chassis.   It protected the rear components of the car , I.e. the suspension, the fuel tank, the rear hub.  The westfield hoop doesn't have the rear diagonal bars ,  so would not have protected the rear.

[Flying Carrot Steve]

26 minutes ago, Greg Mills said:

 

Interested to know as looking to get a Westfield soon and was considering one with a cage as I think they look/feel safer

 

 

Bear in mind with a full cage you should wear a helmet (even though often I don't), in an accident the cage itself can kill you if you are without a helmet. 

 

Think being smacked hard around the head with a scaffold pole. Nasty. 

[LoneWolf]

18 minutes ago, Flying Carrot Steve said:

 

 

Bear in mind with a full cage you should wear a helmet (even though often I don't), in an accident the cage itself can kill you if you are without a helmet. 

 

Think being smacked hard around the head with a scaffold pole. Nasty. 

I do agree, but you shouldn't be moving enough to touch the cage if you're strapped in properly, even in case of a bad accident.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman)]

1 hour ago, LoneWolf said:

I do agree, but you shouldn't be moving enough to touch the cage if you're strapped in properly, even in case of a bad accident.

That’s true to a point, but if you’ve ever been properly strapped into a race car by the pit crew, it would shock you just how tight “tightly strapped in” means. I doubt any owners will strap themselves in that tight while using on the road.

 

Also, keep in mind, with some belts, the material they’re made of is able to stretch/deform somewhat to help absorb some of the initial shock of a bad impact.

[Flying Carrot Steve]

12 hours ago, LoneWolf said:

I do agree, but you shouldn't be moving enough to touch the cage if you're strapped in properly, even in case of a bad accident.

 

Nobody straps in that tight in a road car though, that's the trouble. In fact at track days I've never seen anyone strap in that tight either. Even strapped in well you'd be surprised how much you get thrown around in a crash, it's absolutely violent as hell. 

[Flying Carrot Steve]

12 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) said:

That’s true to a point, but if you’ve ever been properly strapped into a race car by the pit crew, it would shock you just how tight “tightly strapped in” means. I doubt any owners will strap themselves in that tight while using on the road.

 

Also, keep in mind, with some belts, the material they’re made of is able to stretch/deform somewhat to help absorb some of the initial shock of a bad impact.

 

 

Yep, lots of variables, type of seats, seat material, type of straps, 4 point, 6 point etc, then of course they have to be correctly fitted to the car in the 1st place. Size and height of driver. Some tall people find their heads are VERY close to the cage! 

 

I think on balance it's fair to say, if you have a full cage, best to wear a helmet. I may even start following my own advice! 😂

 

I have a lovely, brand spanking new carbon lid, so beautiful I left it in its box for the last 3 years, too scared to scratch it 😬  I think I will be wearing that soon. 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman)]

Also, one other often misunderstood bit of cages. In general, the type of padding sold to go on the roll bar tubes by specialists motor sport supply places, is NOT to directly protect your (bare) head!*

 

Its intended to reduce the initial impact of your helmeted head, hitting a tube, so the helmet doesn’t get wiped out on the first blow, and continue to give some protection as you’re bounced around etc, during a crash.

 

*I have in the past, seen padding advertised as protecting you without a helmet. Not sure how much I’d trust it though, and it was much bulkier and way more expensive.

 

But like all these things, everyone uses their car slightly differently, and everyone has to do their own mental risk/reward calculation, and do what they feel comfortable with.

[mega ade]

No matter how tight your strapped in in a serious collision with something hard the cage bars might bend towards you helmet always 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman)]

56 minutes ago, mega ade said:

No matter how tight your strapped in in a serious collision with something hard the cage bars might bend towards you helmet always 

Also very true.