Spyderlegs Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Hi I am hoping to purchase my first westfield shortly. I have a budget of around £10.5K I would like and independant and wide bodied car. I have a good understanding of car mechanics but would like pointers in what problem areas, if any I should be looking for with this brand. I'm hoping to purchase a car that is only a few years old. I am not interested in racing the vehicle or any form of competion so I would prefer a standard Westfield. should I purchase from Westfield? or should I go private?. should I go Zetec,Vauxhall or Rover V8?. I would imagine that latter is not possible because of the running costs of such a big engined car and the mpg. Any help with this would be really great.I have had a look in the magazines plus the for sale section on this wonderful website and have got a little idea of the sort of cost a westfield should be, but any additional help would be great. Who should I contact with reference to club memebership?.Is there any local meets.(I live in Troutbeck in the lake District) Roman (Spyderlegs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studbuckle Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Firstly welcome. visit The Club main site and click on membership, all the details on how to join are there. I'd buy private. It's a good time of year to be buying as there's plenty about (In fact mine's for sale but below your budget) If you dont fancy the fuel consumption stay away from the V8 Vauxhall and Zetec are both very good engines in the Westfield. Zetec is the factory engine of choice. Vauxhall is the tuners engine of choice as ultimatley you can get more power from it. For your budget you could get a nice zetec car of a couple of years old with good history. There aren't many meets in your area (even though you have the best roads) but you'll find many of the localish groups head to the lakes on runs out. Of course the Coast2Coast spent most of the first day in and around the lake district and i'm up there quite often Hope that Helps Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Welcome aboard! For your budget, you should easily find a car to meet your needs. Look for a relatively new 16 valve car for that sort of price. Most newer cars will be independant wide-bodied cars (SEiWs). The choice between Zetec and Vauxhall is an interesting one. Do a search on here. Basically, the Zetec is lighter, but the Vx is more easily tunable for more power. Take a look at the for sale ads on here, as well as places like PistonHeads and Findit. If you have any more specific questions, here is the place to ask. For local meets, check out the main WSCC web page, look under 'Local Events' I think. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbin Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Well you said all the right things!! Club Chairman will be along soon to confirm re membership - I think details of where to send etc are on main wscc page. With your budget I reckon you could probably find an independent wide bodied car with any of the engines you mention, and also pretty new. Therefore, you really need to get out there and try'em and see what you like. This will also be useful research since there is absolutely no substitute for looking at as many cars as possible before purchasing. Westfields tend to be very "individual" and you need to get to know what to look for. You say you have an understanding of car mechanics which is a good thing.....I haven't much but after looking at a few you soon get a feel for what is right and what is not. I worked on the premise that if a car looked wrong on the surface, and details were not "right" then there was a good chance that there were worse things underneath. Conversely if the details and obvious things are right....blah blah Good luck - whatever you get you will have fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadrego Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 10.5k is a good budget to have because it gives you access to a large variety of engine/spec choices. Like the others have said a zetec or vx will fall nicely into this band or even a megablade. If it were me looking for a car, I'd forget about the age of them and look for the following Nice juicy folder of receipts and records Tell tale signs to say the car's owner has had an unhealthy obsession with maintenance An RAC rollbar (I think its a must if you want to keep your head the same shape after an accident) Limited slip diff After that I'd be looking for a few nice details like seats, wheels and dash or a splash of carbon fibre here and there. Don't worry too much about power output yet as all engines are upgradeable and its nice to start low and feel the benefits of a bit of tuning. Here ends today's 2p! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thos Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 I had a £10.5k budget, and last weekend I bought a Westfield Sport 1800, SEiW (Wide Body, Independent rear suspension), 1.8 16v Zetec on injection, Red, chrome pack, full weather gear, adjustable suspension, 15" alloys, and its in absolutley mint condition. It was module built by its first owner, sold to Terry Nightingale, and then had another owner before begin purchased by me. I cant get over how well built the car it, and in how good condition it is. When there are second hand cars in as good condition as this, I dont understand why someone would fork out for a new car. I'm well chuffed with my purchase. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyFerrino Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 should I go Zetec,Vauxhall or Rover V8?. If you can find one, try out a Toyota 4A-GE engined Westfield. A light, modern, 16-valve, twin-cam engine, which is very rev happy and will happily accept an assortment of power-upgrades. This engine has been discussed on previous threads, so please use the Search facility to find out lots more, if you are intrigued. I was first introduced to this engine choice on this forum and it sounded like an ideal choice for me, although it was so hard to find a used Toyota-engined Westy that I was tempted over to the dark side and bought a lovely Caterham with this engine. Very smooth engine, with a superb soundtrack and a limiter set to 8,000 RPM (though I reckon she could push more with a few enhancements). Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 When there are second hand cars in as good condition as this, I dont understand why someone would fork out for a new car because they wanted to build it 'their' way but if you mean buying a new factory built one, it's usually so they can specify what is to be fitted and then have someone do the work as they haven't the time/knowledge to do it (which IMHO is a valid reason for some people although not something I would want to do myself) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oioi Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 10.5k should get you a very nice car. check out terry nightingale he normally has some nice cars in your budget. there is probably a slight premium from buying from him, but a certain confidence. Is there any local meets.(I live in Troutbeck in the lake District) not over on that side as far as im aware. there is the ne7ers (north east sevens - mostly but for some wierd reason one of our lot is in finland........) and we sometimes organise runs out your way. i was passing (rapidly! thro penrith on saturday. to sub to the email list go to www.se7ens.net if you see a car over this side you want to have a look at let me know. OiOi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike dB Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 A light, modern, 16-valve, twin-cam engine, which is very rev happy and will happily accept an assortment of power-upgrades. Modern? It's about 20 years old (the design anyway) they are the same engine aws can be find in the mk1 mr2 & corolla aren't they? They are a cracking engine though nonetheless! Plus has Japanese build quality..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadrego Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Quote (TonyFerrino @ July 01 2003,12:29) A light, modern, 16-valve, twin-cam engine, which is very rev happy and will happily accept an assortment of power-upgrades. Modern? It's about 20 years old (the design anyway) they are the same engine aws can be find in the mk1 mr2 & corolla aren't they? They are an old dsign certainly becasue they were loosely based on the Cosworth BDR engine if memory serves me correct but to say they aren't modern isn't quite correct because they have been developped continuosuly in five phases all the way up to the 1999 20v supercharged version. Great engine, and if I had the money there would be one under my bonnet right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonR Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Like Tony above, I also have a 4AGE under the bonnet, although mine is in a Westfield. Having had a couple of MR2s in the past I was very happy with the reliabilty side of things so it seemed a sensible way to go. The main problem buying second hand is that not many are avaliable, however if you can find one they are definitely worth a test drive as they are a sensible option to the Ford or Vauxhall engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyFerrino Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Well, when I said modern, I meant more that it was a modern solution for a Seven engine rather than referencing the day of it's conception! Mine was from 1987 and yeah, I have also read about the similarities to the Cosworth BDA. But also modern in terms of it's design - for example, the alloy cylinder head, the wide powerband and revving capacity, the compact size....... I think they weigh about 30% less than an average Zetec according to Raw. Mated to the alloy casing of the Toyota RWD gearbox, this makes for a really light engine & box, which I like to think makes it a 'modern' design. Plus, as was mentioned, the 4A-GE has evolved through 5 phases from the 1983 16v to the late 90's 20v, supercharged monsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stanton Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 The Aussies have been using Toyota engines in Westfields for years and there are plenty of web sites with info and parts lists and numbers around. Its only seems over the last year or four that the U.K. has caught up on the idea Its a good engine and very tuneable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpookyMcDookie Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 Hi I dont think you'll find a westfield club meeting in cumbria, there dont appear to many westies in these parts. I live in penrith and would love to set up a club, but dont know how much interest there would be. Also if you want a bit of help deciding on what type of car to go for, you're more than welcome to pop over one evening. Regards Barrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.