What westfield will I fit in ?

[pwright238]

I am trying to buy a secondhand Westfield , I have a budget of around £6000. I am over six foot tall & have had problems fitting in some cars. What should I be looking for , do the type of seat fitted make any difference to leg room ?

[Mark Stanton]

Look out for an SEi wide body car, seats can be changed, if necessary      Adjustable seats are commonplace        

and join the WSCC before you buy            You may find what you're after  

[chrisbin]

For starters look for an SEW ( SE wide body, live axle) or SEiW (SE wide body, independent rear). As well as width yiou gain length  

After that, if it has sports/racing seats they are likely to be thinner so will give you more room.

If all else fails, get hold of a bench seat to give maximum room, but less support

HTH

[Guest]

I am not sure what spec you will be looking at, but you will have more flexibility if you avoid floor mounted pedals.  Some cars have a pedal box which permits limited but useful movement.

JD

[Bananaman]

I think an SEiW might be out of your budget at £6K  but an SEW should be available for that sort of money. SEW's do seem to be a little thin on the ground though.

you will have more flexibility if you avoid floor mounted pedals.

I have an SEiW with floor mounted pedals (which have been adjusted forward about 4-5cm) & i fit in with 4-5cm spare adjustment in the seat, which is a standard padded Westfield sports seat.  I'm 6'1" with 34" inside leg if that helps?

Andy

P.S. I did not have the pedals moved myself so don't ask how.

P.P.S. pwright238 if you can scrape another £4K together mines for sale, have a look in the forsale section!!      

[minghis]

I'm pleased to see someone doing a bit of homework before they go and try them.

My SE is for sale and I've had someone look at it who could only just fit in it, unfortunately he decided this after a test drive which was a bit scary as he couldn't operate the pedals properly as his feet were too big and his knees were fouling the dash panel. Not pleasant at all, especialy at the speed he was trying to do..

He was about 6' 3" and it wasn't ever going to be right unless he changed the seats.

Minghis.

[Bob Green]

Now then.

I am 6 ft tall and have an SE.  Since re-shaping the pedals, buying a bench seat again (long story) and a pair of Karting boots, it has transformed the car, giving me infinitely more control and forward vision.

Kind regards

Bob

[pwright238]

Thanks for all the useful info'

Can anybody answer the following :-

1. Is the foot well in a wide body longer than standard body ?

2. Is the width of the foot well any wider in the pedal area ?

3. How easy is it to move the pedals further away from the seat ?

4. Is there any difference in bodywork on standard earlier models than later ones (not wide body models)?

Cheers !

(I drive a (proper) Mini on a daily basis so was not expecting any problems fitting in a Westfield)

[chrisbin]

I think, from having tried them in the past, but don't have "empirical evidence".....

footwell is longer and definitely wider - more space around the pedals - meant I could drive in "normal" footwear..

[Blatman]

1) Yes

2) If you have a type 9 tunnel in a wide body chassis, Yes. If the Wide chassis is constructed to take an MT75, No.......

3) Depends how handy you are with spanners/drills/welding...

4) Yes. Some very early SE's and SEi's had "low line" body work. I forget how to tell the difference, but a search for "low line" will find the answer......IIRC, you can fit "high line" body work to a car that had low line bodywork without too many problems, but I'll stand to be corrected on that.

[Pinto Boy]

I'm 6'2" and drive a SEiW with a fixed (bench?) seat.

I have no problems with the pedals when wearing a pair of Catapillar boots and can stretch my leg out behind the clutch pedal without touching the end of the tunnel.

My brother (6'6") found that the steering wheel pushed against his leg so he couldn't borrow it - much to his annoyance

According to the builder of mine the adjustable seats give you less room than the fixed type - though it was built 6 years ago so things may have moved on.

[DAVE O]

6'04" and have no problems in a seiw. Where in the country are you based- I'm sure somebody will let you try one for size!!

Dave O.

[Graham.J]

I'm 6'3" and fit into my narrow-bodied SE with a couple of simple modifications (thinner seat and steering wheel spaced out to stop my knees hitting it)

But then again, I'm 17 and a skinny little bu**er so I'm a bit more flexible than you old folk