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gbduo

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:p Hello and welcome to the best site on the net. :t-up:  :t-up:

The second car in your links is a very well known car on here. I believe the paint scheme is in fact stickers and could be removed. As you say it is a narrow but some prefer the look and the lines of the narrow to the seiw.As has been said you dont need monster power for at least your first westy. My 150 bhp cvh keeps up well with most of my local area boys on a run.Just a further warning...if you do test drive in this weather BE CAREFULL. Many a new owner has ended up in the hedge.

Mark

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I have about 165BHP and it's more than enough to get into trouble with

So where did you find the other 10 then?

And all 165 are next to useless sat on the garage floor.

Graham, April 12-13th sees the Kit car show at maidstone, lots of westfields to look at and a few of us to ask questions of.

All the engines have merrits, and that includes the CVH.....I used one to hold open a door for a few weeks a treat. On a serious note though. I would say really think about what you wanty the car to do. The odd trackday and lots of blatting will see you with a comfy padded seats/windscreen and carpets type car. All track work and litle road will see you fix your mind on more practical matters like fire extinguishers/6 point harnes, cage etc.... Either way the one golden rule is "purchase one that is as closeto your ideal spec as possible" it is by far the cheapest way to do it.

The beuty of the Westfield is tha it can be modified to suit though, so I would always recomend condition over toy count, and toys like sensible breaks/suspension/safty equipment/gearbox and LSD over engine power. far too many cars claim xbhp with a dyno plot as evidence. Well how do you know that the engine is still the same, is not ill, makes the same power, was even that dyno plot........ What does 190bhp in a westfield feel like? thay are after all all different weight, and 190bhp Pinto power will be ahell of a difference to 190 hyabusa.....So perhaps forget the actual Bhp for the moment and think more about what is fitted or not.

the yellow car is on std injection, so while perfectly good, not what you are thinking about. If it has an aftermarket reprogramable ECU that is a start, if not you will be looking at £1500 for the kit and a further £300-£500 mapping/fitting etc. So £2000 on top of £8400 looks pricy compared to ones that are already in this spec.

On a personal note i find it hard to recomend cars with STD roll bars.

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Chaz, after reading your post I had a look at Pistonheads again and found these ones which look interesting, what do you think?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/855537.htm

I like the Lotus colours on this one!  

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/736668.htm

This is not the widebody version of the car, but it has well over 200bhp, so someone spent A LOT of money on it!  I am not sure if I like the paint scheme or not, it is quirky and very me, but not sure on re-sale...but it is cool!  Throttle bodies though and racing engine...

Certainly the Redtop seems to generate more power, never really looked into it before, but now I have looked at them, its like umm...!

I would snap Mark's hand off at that price, one cracking car, with or without the stickers.

The yellow and green one, is probably good, but the roll bar looks like a standard one to me, not too sure what is so good about it for £450.....but pictures can be decieving.

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Chaz, after reading your post I had a look at Pistonheads again and found these ones which look interesting, what do you think?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/855537.htm

I like the Lotus colours on this one!  

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/736668.htm

This is not the widebody version of the car, but it has well over 200bhp, so someone spent A LOT of money on it!  I am not sure if I like the paint scheme or not, it is quirky and very me, but not sure on re-sale...but it is cool!  Throttle bodies though and racing engine...

Certainly the Redtop seems to generate more power, never really looked into it before, but now I have looked at them, its like umm...!

I would snap Mark's hand off at that price, one cracking car, with or without the stickers.

The yellow and green one, is probably good, but the roll bar looks like a standard one to me, not too sure what is so good about it for £450.....but pictures can be decieving.

The roll cage in the second car for £450 is not in the pictures, I spoke to the guy, nice chap, he has only literally just fitted it so it is brand new.

I am worried that Mark's (there seem to be a lot of Mark's on this site!) car might be too much for me too soon, but I am going to go and see it on the 22nd so, time will tell!

MarkCooper,

Thanks for the post!  Really helpful!  Unfortunately I go to sea for 3 and a bit months on April 13th and I imagine April 12th might be hectic the day before.  

However in saying this, I have family in Chatham so could go and see my family and Westfield, ummm!  ...but I would like to have one sat in the garage by then, ideally.  But I can wait till August when I get back if need be.  I'm in no real rush and would rather get the right one than the wrong one!

I think my Westie ideally is:

A 2ltr of some description, around 170-200bhp

SEi at least, W preferably

Rollcage

Harnesses, 4 point.

I want the car for a blat around at the weekends and during the week with the occasional job.  My job as a naval officer means that I am typically, at sea for the next few years over the summer, so I will miss out on all track day fun really, so looking for a road going car with some comfort.  

However, having never sat in a car with fibreglass seats or leather seats it is hard to make a decision on which is better as a driving experience.  

The car for £7250 (Marks?) is a amazing spec, but as I say, I am worried it is too much too soon and I will end up wrapping it round a tree.  So, I want to see and get a experience in the two extremes, the Green/Yellow as a fast road going car, and the black one which is kinda the extreme road going track car to see the benefits of cons of both and at the end of the day, which one I can live with.

They both look amazing and definitely worth seeing, they are something that I am looking for.

Just got to experience some Westies now and see how they should handle and what to look for, which Cleggy and Brindle have kindly said they would do, which is quite frankly, amazing.

Thanks for all your help guys, I spoke with the owner of the Green/Yellow car this evening, and he said how helpful you guys were on this site, he wasn't wrong!

Graham

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I think Mark's car is a cracking machine and at a good price too.

There are a few things about the narrow cars that you need to know if you go down this route.

The SEi according to many (and a few at the factory) is rekoned to be about the best indipendent rear suspenson chassis that the factory did.

It's lighter than the equivlent SEiW and set up properly they handle very well indeed.

I prefer the look of the narrow cars over the wides as to me they look more "right" but many think the wides look better, they are certainly more accomodating for the man with a fuller figure but at a high of 17.5 stone and 5'6" I fit into a narrow just fine.

As far as I know all the SEi cars have an Escort English diff in a bespoke Westfield casing (if it has a Seirra diff it will have been retrofitted)

There are reports on here of broken drive shafts and broken output flanges on the diff on higher power cars.

None of these bits are made by the factory and various people have had one off parts made when they have broken the origionals.

This won't be cheap.........................

The diff cases are available from the factory as are the uprights, rear wishbones ect.

Again the English diff is a pretty robust bit of kit but putting more than around 180Lbft (200ish BHP) through it won't help it to live a long and happy life, but of course I'm sure that some on here are running in excess of this without problems.

All the bodywork is still available for the narrow cars and will be (according to the factory) untill the moulds become unviable.

At some stage (I think it was last year) Westfield destroyed the chassis jig for the narrow cars and will no longer produce new chassis.

They can however repair a dammaged chassis if they deem it appropriate to do so (this judgement appears to lay solely with the factory and thay have the last word)

What this effectivly means is that if you stuff a narrow badly enough to bend the chassis and Westfield choose not to repair it you will most certainly be looking at a write-off but I would assume that you would have the option to buy back the salvege and re-build on a new kit.

Westfield basically have you by the short and curlys unless you used the insurance money to buy used.

There are of course plenty of skilled fabricators up and down the country that could repair a chassis to just as high a standard as Wesfield.

Don't be put off the narrow cars by any of the above, thay are just as good as the wides, if one comes along at a good price with all the kit you want go for it.

Chaz.

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I am not that wide...at the moment!  I am only like 12st, but square, 6ft1.  I think I will be alright!  The tribulations of being young I suppose!  See how long it lasts!  Haha!

Could you make the output flange at home, what I mean is, I go to a engineering university, we have a fully fledged workshop with various lathes, mills, etc...if it the flange did break, can you fabricate one and weld it onto the old shaft or do you have to replace the whole shaft?

I think a drive shaft which has to be perfectly balanced might be beyond my workshop, haha!

I can't really say my feelings on the car as much as you, for fear that Mark Purves will read them, but it is a excellent example.

If the car has the English diff on it, how easy is it to change it to a Sierra or Freelander diff, which I think are stronger?

I guess the key is not to crash the car!  Always a good mantra to go by, haha!  

What is a oil catch tank?  It says that Mark's Westie has one, does this mean that if you track the car, the engine is not starved of oil in high G corners?

Thanks Chaz for all the help!

Graham

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A 1.8 zetec in standard trim will give you around 135bhp with 2.0 cams fitted an extra 15bhp (cheap upgrade) with a little head work a 168bhp is within grasp just by flowing the head and will cost in the region of £400 the 1.8 will rev higher and harder with 2.0 cams you will seeing the red line at around 7200rpm the 2.0 will not rev as high (again in standard trim) but will give you more torque so choice's choice's I would always recomend injection over carbs far nicer to drive and don't seting ip nearly so often.

Lightness is the key I have a freind who has a 2.0l atmo cosi powered westi producing 200bhp (at the mo) this is 25bhp more than mine and the two cars are so closly matched you couldent tell, the key is lightness.

The other thing I would mention that you have already stumbled on is forget age go for spec and quality of build over age I have had both wide and narrow bodies cars and I would never go back to a narrow bodies car although the look is more pleasing.

Oh a LSD is a must but IMHO a plate or wtb type is more preferable to a viscous type ( more progresive) and to answer your question a catch tank indeed does catch the oil from the engine, these are often fitted to slow the engine to breath correctly.

Oh yeh don't worry to mutch about an RAC roll bar they are a saffty choice it does mean you have a narrower boot/ mo boot (depending on build) and these cars her very rarely roll intact I can't remember the last time one was.

And body panels like the v8 bonnet look cool but add weight.

Goodluck.

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Oh yeh don't worry to mutch about an RAC roll bar they are a saffty choice it does mean you have a narrower boot/ mo boot (depending on build) and these cars her very rarely roll intact I can't remember the last time one was.

I agree with everything you said apart from the rac bar.

It must be the first "mod" to do imo.

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hmmm very varying opinions on roll bars. Mine just has the standard one and I never even considered changing it to be honest. Didn't think anything different would make a difference. Also what are easy cheap ways people would lighten their cars. I am considering removing the windscreen for an aeroscreen, also removing the heater (It makes a lot of noise, but produces no heat). Don't think it's working but I can't really see the point anyway.  It weighs 640kg at the moment. How does this compare to others and how much could I shed.
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hmmm very varying opinions on roll bars. Mine just has the standard one and I never even considered changing it to be honest. Didn't think anything different would make a difference.

The Standard Rollbar is for pushing the Car in the Garage

This has been discussed a few times on here and there's Photo's in the Archives of what happened when a Westy was rolled with a Standard rollbar fitted     :down:     :down:  

RAC type bar should be the first upgrade imho

and should be the minimum spec' for Road use..

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Thanks for the help guys!

Mark's one I posted earlier, has a full roll cage and I want one really, I mean I am sure some of you feel comfortable with just the std roll cage, but personally I would feel safer with a full triangulated, roll cage which I know will support the weight of the car, rather than a hoop, which although it employs the second strongest shape (arc) it has nothing on the triangle!  

It is just the re-assurance I like.

Also, the Westfield I posted only weighs 560Kg and has around 200bhp, so it is fairly light already.  I think much lighter and it will fly away!

So...ummm!

Thanks for the ongoing help guys!

All advice appreciated!

Graham

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Graham

Go for the best spec' you can get in your price range

Don't worry too much if the car lacks a full cage or nice wheels etc as these can be sorted once the upgrade bug strikes    :D

Try a Narrow body for size and go for decent drive in it to make sure you will be comfortable over a long distance

Then try a Wide and see how that compares

Also don't worry too much about BHP

Aslong as you enjoy the car that's all that matters

Just because it's got 200 brake plus doesn't mean you'll end up in a hedge, You just need to learn the car and take it easy to start with

Go for an Engine with Throttle bodies if possible

They are nicer to drive and will be more economical to boot

Overall, Don't buy in haste and regret it later

Take your time a get the right car for you     ;)

HTH

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Graham,

I have just skimp read all the posts - don't think anyone has mentioned the SDV kit (Single Doner Vehicle) - which I 'Think' the yellow one is.

Plenty is the search archives but to sum it up the SDV vehicle usually takes a lot more components striaght from a Doner vehicle (Sierra or MX5) things like front & rear uprights, brakes, steering rack & column, drive shafts, engine, gearbox, sometimes stalk controls (indicators etc) - these things on a true SEI/W kit are supplied from Westfield or other after market sources but as a result are normally new at the build stage.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in a SDV kit but you need to ensure you know what your looking at and what the realistic build value is (and therefore 2nd  hand value) as they are usually some £2k cheaper to build than an equivalant SEIW, then again some SEIW are built with drive trains straight from a doner vehicle and some SDV's have all the components re-furbished so you need to ask all the questions(confusingly the SDV could actually be called a SEI as it has the indepandant supsension at the rear)

I suspect the yellow one is based on a Sierra SDV kit but with the Zetec engine ?

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Graham

Go for the best spec' you can get in your price range

Don't worry too much if the car lacks a full cage or nice wheels etc as these can be sorted once the upgrade bug strikes    :D

Try a Narrow body for size and go for decent drive in it to make sure you will be comfortable over a long distance

Then try a Wide and see how that compares

Also don't worry too much about BHP

Aslong as you enjoy the car that's all that matters

Just because it's got 200 brake plus doesn't mean you'll end up in a hedge, You just need to learn the car and take it easy to start with

Go for an Engine with Throttle bodies if possible

They are nicer to drive and will be more economical to boot

Overall, Don't buy in haste and regret it later

Take your time a get the right car for you     ;)

HTH

What do you think of this one?

I posted it earlier, but think you may have missed it...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/736668.htm

I think it incorporates everything I would like out of it, and it has throttle bodies, looks good and seems like a good starter.

I am not really bothered too much about comfort, I am young and free with a body that mostly works, its time to abuse it whilst I can!! I can recover in a few hours, in a few years when I hit 30odd, I might get fed up with it, but until then, I am tempted to go a bit crazy.  (I am 21 atm)

I am going to see two members cars this weekend and then going to see this one posted on Sunday 22nd and see where I go from there.

I don't want to waste my money, but equally, I don't want to keep waiting for a car that may never come up and just teasing myself!  I am not keen on spending it on the wrong car in haste, but if this one feels right then I will get it.  

Thanks for the help, I am just a natural worrier and going from 85bhp in a eurobox to 200bhp in a very light car is a little worrying.  But I guess if you keep your right foot light on the pedal, you will be fine!

Graham

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