neville Posted January 20, 2007 Posted January 20, 2007 The local circuit - Knockhill - is inisting that all vehicles are fitted with a towing eye before being allowed on track this year. Does anyonehave advice on how to do this - there don't seem to be any obvious mounting points. Thanks Quote
pistonbroke Posted January 20, 2007 Posted January 20, 2007 The rule may only apply to tin tops or any enclosed bodywork cars A tow rope would easily fit around the front suspension leg of a wessy I have been towed back to paddock at Oulton when the thing decided it didnt wanted a rest . The recovery guys put a sling around the lower wishbone as I recall Quote
Mark Stanton Posted January 20, 2007 Posted January 20, 2007 QUOTE A tow rope would easily fit around the front suspension leg of a wessy QUOTE The recovery guys put a sling around the lower wishbone as I recall No, please don't do that it can cause damage a tow eye will only be effective when welded or bolted/bracketed to front end chassis cross rail Failing that, then use top of roll bar tow point stickers can be found at most rally spares shops or Demon Quote
John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison Posted January 20, 2007 Posted January 20, 2007 My car has a U shaped steel loop made from bent 8mm rod welded to the lower front chassi member. The loop is approx 4 inches wide protrudes forward by approx 6 inches. The nose then has 2 slots cut into it, one either side of the lower Dzeus fastener for the nose. these then slot over the forward facing lengths of rod that make the loop when the nose is fitted. John Quote
pistonbroke Posted January 20, 2007 Posted January 20, 2007 My car has a U shaped steel loop made from bent 8mm rod welded to the lower front chassi member. The loop is approx 4 inches wide protrudes forward by approx 6 inches. The nose then has 2 slots cut into it, one either side of the lower Dzeus fastener for the nose. these then slot over the forward facing lengths of rod that make the loop when the nose is fitted.John Too late my boy ! actually I don't see the harm when the car weighs next to nothing , and it's free wheeling , out of gear , I rather think you are underestimating the strength of the suspension componants ! there ar ebigger lateral forces encountered in normal road use surely Quote
higgsti Posted January 20, 2007 Posted January 20, 2007 been to a trackday this morning (not driving )at oulton where the same thing was mentioned in the briefing although it was then said the recover truck would fasten to anything to get the track clear i asked the question and they said they would tow from a roll bar fitted to a westy as mark said failing that anything they could get a hook round Quote
Lurksalot Posted January 21, 2007 Posted January 21, 2007 You weren't on track , were you with someone who was ? I was taking a couple of shots today with my new box brownie I have lots of shots of blurred things so shout up . Quote
moochofun Posted January 21, 2007 Posted January 21, 2007 The local circuit - Knockhill - is inisting that all vehicles are fitted with a towing eye before being allowed on track this year. Does anyonehave advice on how to do this - there don't seem to be any obvious mounting points. Thanks Hey Neville, I'm a newbie to the Westfield scene - just recently purchased an 04 Megablade (just broke my ankle, so I canna get out in the blimmin thing yet! ). I live north of Arbroath, so Knockhill will be my nearest haunt for track action (went down a few times last year with my old man in his Ultima GTR, so lookin to forward to try and kick his ass - well only if I can nip out in front of him first as there is little danger of me passing him on any of the straights and even less of a chance of him letting me pass anywhere else - he can make his Ultima really wide!). Anyway back to the tow eye - I was thinkin of the same thing.....but if I can get away with them towing me from the roll bar, that's got to be the easiest way to go. I might try emailing them to see if they an give me a yes/no answer. Look forward to catching up with you (and with any other Westie owners) on a top marques night. I've still yet to contact Paul (the AO for Scotland) to see if there is any plannned runs etc as this should be a good way of meeting like minded nutters . Ta Quote
neville Posted January 21, 2007 Author Posted January 21, 2007 Thanks for the tips guys. But a word of warning for those planning on using an unbraced rollbar as a towing point - don't! I've seen it tried and it nearly ripped the thing off. Moochofun - look forward to meeting up at some point this year. Try one of the Borders Sevens Group meetings if you can - there is a great turnout most months and a good mix of Westy's and Caterhams. First meeting this year is in April at the Museum of Flight in East Fortune. Look on the Scottish Sevens site for the details or pm me. Neville Quote
Sir Greg Posted January 21, 2007 Posted January 21, 2007 Hi guys.........yet another Knockhill bound Westy owner here... I attend some of the Dreadnought Garage track events at the circuit and I think they have around six or seven provisional dates booked for this year. Looking forward to getting out on the track again and seeing what the car is capable of. Maybe I'll bump into you guys at one of the events. Are the Top Marques events good? Never attended one of those to be honest. I was also wondering about the tow hook situation so any info from the track would be helpfull. My take on it was that tow hooks were required on tin tops etc. If the car has exposed wishbones / roll cage they would be happy to use those (at the drivers risk of course). Quote
moochofun Posted January 21, 2007 Posted January 21, 2007 Thanks for the tips guys. But a word of warning for those planning on using an unbraced rollbar as a towing point - don't! I've seen it tried and it nearly ripped the thing off. Moochofun - look forward to meeting up at some point this year. Try one of the Borders Sevens Group meetings if you can - there is a great turnout most months and a good mix of Westy's and Caterhams. First meeting this year is in April at the Museum of Flight in East Fortune. Look on the Scottish Sevens site for the details or pm me. Neville Cool.......I'll go have a look at that website too and stick the date for East Fortune in the diary. I'm recovering from a broken ankle just now, but should be back fit by then! Hopefully be back way quicker than that or I'm gonna miss the start to the track day season! On the tow eye front, I've got the RAC spec roll bar (?) but it's not the full cage seen on the racers. It looks like it will take a bit of pulling tho........... Cars weight is hardly anything anyway - pushable by hand anyway when I'm in the car (no reverse box!). I'll wait and see if I get a response from Kinockyhill tho before I go modifying. Quote
TerryC Posted January 21, 2007 Posted January 21, 2007 Greg can you email some of the dates for Dreadnought nights. I intend to try and get some nights in with them this year, but as I work Oil & Gas, I might not hear about them till it's too late. I only live 6 miles from Knockhill so I supose I can go and ask them for provisional dates. Terry Quote
darthurs Posted January 21, 2007 Posted January 21, 2007 You weren't on track , were you with someone who was ? I was taking a couple of shots today with my new box brownie I have lots of shots of blurred things so shout up . It was me on track in my westy with higgsti (the racing god) giving me some pointers. I was in the navy blue westy, which according to MSV was 105db exactly @ 4000rpm (pinto engines) with the standard Westfield exhaust (only been used for just over 2000 miles). Would be interested to see any blurred pics if you have got any of us, think I will get the photos from the day off the official photographers anyway but its always nice to see more. Back to the point, they did say that they wouldn't let any car out on track that didn't have a towing eye fitted. They let us out without one but don't think they bother to much with 7 type cars where there are plenty of points to tow from. Dan Quote
neville Posted January 21, 2007 Author Posted January 21, 2007 The problem with the kockhill gravel traps is that they are very deep and it can be very difficult to get a tow rope under the car when its well embedded - I know this from practical experience! I've tended to stick to the top marques evenings myself, which I've found to be pretty satisfactory - two hours for 55 quid with reasonable driving standards - but thats mainly because I've never been able to find out about the Dreadnaught events. Do thay have a website or something? Whatever, hope to see some of you there during the course of the year! Quote
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