Room between rear bulkhead and boot box?

[blankczechbook]

if they have the amp built in then they do sound like they should work quite well - ie without the head unit.

but that section is just flat alloy - so it'll vibrate like hell without some extra bracing i reckon.

tiny tweeters at the front will give you some good results too i'd have thought - the other speakers behind your back will lose the high tones IMO.

gotta admit though - i find the ear speakers very good.

i leave them in on long boring runs even without music to cut out the exhaust noise a bit.

consider speakers as a future option if you still need it...

HTH

[Pete_London]

Thank you very much to the last 3 posters.... great advice.

I'm usually really against earphones while driving - for safety reasons - but they may be a great idea for long drives. I have seen 1 or 2 Westies with aircraft-style headsets with mics for communicating. Probably worth seeing if something like that can have auxiliary audio input.

Daily driving should be read as daily 'not atrocious weather' driving. I'm not planning on using the hood very often as it's just too much hassle.

As for having an MX5 instead of a Westfield - not an option for me... I've been wanting to build a car for the best part of 20 years and after my wife rented me a Caterham for 4 days last year we have been working towards building a car of our own.

We've looked at and ruled out Caterham, Luego, Dax and Tiger before deciding on a Westfield. This has been a research project that started at Stoneleigh last year and I have travelled the length of the country a few times to look at cars and visit factories.

This is starting to sound like I'm justifying my worthiness to the group hehehe... but I guess it's my way of saying I'm a newbie - posting in the newbies group - my wife and I are building the car together and when she has questions I can't answer, I need to ask somebody.

Cheers,

Pete

[matt_c]

Probably worth seeing if something like that can have auxiliary audio input.

The ones I used to deal with (For light aircraft) had the facility for auxiliary audio inputs.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

The aux input + intercom route seems a popular method of hooking up iPods/MP3 players etc with a few owners. You'll find with some of the systems you can plug mobiles in as well.

Please don't take the day to day, rough and tumble on here personally. (Sometimes what can scan as quite an aggressive posting, actually reads completely differently the second time around, - worth taking note of smilies etc to get the intended tone of the post, though not everyone uses them!)

Loads of very helpful and knowledgeable people on here, it's just some like to call a spade a spade, often just before beating you over the head with a shovel  

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

Good luck in what you are doing - you have made a great decision in buying a westy - I have nearly owned mine a year now and it still brings a big smile to my face every time I drive it (good job i wear a helmet else i would look a right t**t)  

I have done about 5k this year in it - like somebody else suggested I would be inclined to build it, use it for a bit, and then decide if you wanna go adding speakers into it

welcome to the forums  

[sport 2000 Dan]

Hi, as for intercoms i can realy recommed autocom: http://www.autocom.co.uk/

they alow driver to passenger, driver to pits, music by ipod or phone ect and hands free phone calls, even bluetooth connection if you want it.

Regards,

Dan

[combatsapph]

Hey - for the record - you'll love building a Westfield and you'll enjoy driving it even in London.

Keep a build diary and keep us posted on its progress :-)

[stephenh]

Good luck, Pete. Personally I'd advice against speakers in the rear bulkhead, for reasons already stated. Conversely, earphone type speakers on an ipod (whatever that is) sounds like a good idea. I know lots of Westie owners have earphones in when driving, which I assume they plug into something!          

[pistonbroke]

good job he didnt ask if there's room behind the dash for speakers  

[slater]

QUOTE

when she has questions I can't answer, I need to ask somebody.

I can never answer my wife's Questions.  

lewis

[Mid life crisis]

You could of course fit the speakers to the panel under the dash, so as not to compromise the rigidity of the rear alloy panel. They would also be to an extent away from the elements, however I would try and make some form of waterproof cover for the back of the speakers just in case there is water ingress.

As others have commented I doubt you will be able to hear anything over about 30mph, but will probably be fine in traffic.  

Just a thought.

       

Must type faster

[Symbiotic_Caterpillar]

I'll put in another vote for the earphone option. I now always drive with isolation earphones in. Often they are not plugged in to anything at all. They just reduce the noise of exhaust and wind. After a few times finishing a drive with ears ringing I thought it best to protect my hearing a bit. Ringing ears means damaged hearing.

Before I moved to the land of eternal summer (Queensland - The sunshine state) I used to use Peltor Tactical Pro ear protectors. I was most impressed with them. They cut out the loud noises but amplify the quiet ones. They also have an input for your ipod or SatNav so you can hear the directions. Also they help keep your ears warm on a typical British summer's day.

[Blatman]

I use Green Leopard custom earplugs. Had then for several years now and they are hard wearing and completely brilliant. I wouldn't be without them when driving the Westfield. They can also custom make earplugs that will accept personal stereo headphones, so you can actually hear without turning the volume up to 11

[archersam]

good job he didnt ask if there's room behind the dash for speakers  

I have 4 speakers in my narrow SE.  Round ones by my right thigh and on the opposite side for passenger and square ones pointing down from under the dash.  Yes at loud volumes it vibrates but I have it for slower journeys and such things as lines of traffic in built up areas when I have the volume at a very reasonable level.  

If you put a stereo with CD player make sure it is modern enough to have that skip delay thingy built in otherwise you won't be able to use it as it will skip like hell.   I just changed my tape player for an aux-in device but could have just had a CD player as it does a great job.

Sam

[Pete_London]

Before I moved to the land of eternal summer (Queensland - The sunshine state)

I tried to PM you, but am not allowed.... did you take your Westie to QLD with you or buy another there?

I ask because I am from there originally and plan to return at some stage...