Donor done, build started

[Dommo]

Alrighty then...

The cycle wing brackets got fitted earlier this month and as I'd known about previously (and subsequently forgotten), they'd need fettling.

It's the tyres that are catching, not the alloy itself. For reference, the tyres are 195/45/15 and wheels 15x7 with an ET40 offset. After a quick consultation with the experience on this site, I dug out the hammer and started attacking.

Some time later, I adopted the much more effective method of putting them in the vice and bending them. That worked a treat...

I've only done one side so far, and think I'll be recovering them this winter as the powder coat is now broken in places.

The fuel filler has also been fitted now. Somehow, between the storeroom at the back of the garage and the back of the Westfield I managed to lose the cork gasket that sits between the tub and the filler. I've found it now, but it's not fitted in this photo.

The cap is IVA friendly being tethered inside.

When I got home from work on Tuesday I was pleasantly surprised to find my replacement windscreen fillet had arrived. This one fitted much better, which they tend to do when you don't attack them with hacksaws.

I got to work fitting the wiper wheel boxes which, frankly, is a bit of a faff. Got there in the end but much trimming of the rubber pipes the spindle goes through was required.

The wiper motor was fitted along with the washer jet and the scuttle made it's way back onto the car

Then I noticed something odd...

Oops! I think my measurements must have been off slightly! The column is supported by an exhaust clamp rather than the standard Mazda mounts and must not have centralised the bracket for that properly. Not a hard job to knock a new one up. It looks like the column has shrunk slightly having the new spline welded on to it, so I may have a fairly hefty hole in the dash for the steering boss rather than just the column. I think I'll buy a sacrificial dash rather than cut a hole that big in my carbon one straight away.

So, when will the car be ready? Well, thank fully I didn't book the IVA. I printed off the forms, got all the paperwork together but the evening before I was going to send it I muffed the windscreen fillet up, so decided to delay until I knew how long that will take. To be honest, I'm enjoying the build more now I'm not pushing to get it ready. I'll send the paperwork off for an ASAP date once the engine is running I expect. Not far to go for that, seal the sump, fit the exhaust and fill the coolant. This weekend? Maybe, but I won't rush for it.

[Doug Dastardly]

It's a nice stage to be at isn't it Dom.

Totally understand what you're saying about enjoying it more when not rushing it.

I probably should have sent my IVA forms, but wanted to make sure I didn't put myself under any pressure. Then I booked a MOT and pressured myself to get it ready for that!

I fitted my filler cap with the cork under the body. The concensus seemed to be that you don't really need it at all if it's not sealing the tank, which it isn't as the tank and filler are joined by a hose. And wiper boxes are a pain.

Good stuff,

Doug

[M444TTB]

Ready in time for winter

[Dommo]

Latest bunch of updates:

After wondering where I'd attach my fuel tank earth to, I remembered the was a mounting on the nearside of the tank. Oops! One ring terminal (well, two) and bolt later, the tank was earthed.

Continuing with the random odd jobs I've been doing some work on securing the wiring loom. I dug out the relay mount that was removed from the Mazda and bolted it onto the chassis. I put it on the other way round originally. It look tidier, but the wires were too close to the manifold for comfort, so it's ugly way around unfortunately.

I'd researched into fitting an induction kit and worked out it'd cost me £220, plus the wait for the silicone hoses as I'd want them in orange. I've now come to the conclusion that I'll be going with throttle bodies over winter so it seemed pointless spending the money now. I thus reduced the airbox to it's component parts and fitted it into the gap in front of the engine. Years of tetris prove their worth! Oddly though, if I use the passenger side mount for it, the box would be in the crank pulley. I've put a strip of metal in to bridge the gap.

and after butchering the standard intake pipe... christ this thing is getting dusty.

I needed more hose clips to join the pipe to the airbox, so I started on other things. For some reason, I decided the exhaust downpipe would be a good idea. It's impossible to do anything but guess where the hole in the tub should go, but I did some measuring anyway. Forward/backward area wasn't too difficult to work out, holding the downpipe above the exhaust manifold and seeing where it would exit. I then measured how far the top stud on the manifold was off the ground and marked that position on the tub. Then, it was a case of seeing how much difference there was between the top and bottom of the downpipe. Simples. Would have been if I got the last measurement right! Had to dremel the hole downwards in the end. Good excuse for a custom manifold to fill the slightly oval hole I reckon!

and now everything is orange...

The two hose clips arrived and the flexible ducting was attached. All I can see is orange dust though. Still, another job ticked off.

Other non-photogenic jobs completed includes sealing the sump (I swear it's lower to the ground in the westfield jacked up than it was in the MX5 on its wheels) and filling the coolant, which promptly drained itself from the water pump inlet. New gaskets arrived today.

I made a new bracket for the steering column out of thicker metal which has straightened it up a touch. Still looks like the hub will be through the dash though so I may get the column extended by 1-2cm. I might also put some spacers on the bracket to drop it lower but I'll refit the seat and test it before making that decision.

Still not worked out an estimated completion date yet. Given the weather, that doesn't seem such a problem! IVA at the end of May I guess, though I'll caveat that with it being a busy time at work so I may be doing overtime instead. All makes the winter upgrades better... assuming the car is even on the road by then

[Dommo]

Let's pretend it hasn't taken me this long to stop the waterpump inlet from leaking and I've just been taking it on and off for the last two weeks for err... practice. Eventually solved after various combinations and resorting to the traditional method of various grades of sandpaper and one gasket. Ahem. The coolant is all topped up now, so lets hope for it's first dry night.

I've trimmed the steering column cover and fitted rivnuts for it but I've left it off for now. I need to get the middle steering column extended so I need the access. The only other thing I've been doing whilst waiting for the coolant to drain for the umpteenth time is securing the wiring.

Still a bit more to go on that front - the MAF wires need extending and front/side indicators routing.

With the wiring largely done and the earths connected, there wasn't anything stopping me connecting the battery. So I did. After a quick test it seems the following is working:

• One sidelight (think a bulb has gone)
  
• The horn
  
• Windscreen washer pump
  
• Hazards
  
• Switch backlighting
  

And the following definitely isn't working:

• Headlights
  
• Windscreen wipers
  

Guess I'll be breaking the multimeter out. Motivated by the mild amounts of success I was having, I decided to plug the dash in. Low and behold, it came to life!

Wow those LEDs are bright! I think the warning is for the lack of fuel, or at least I hope it is. Obviously, the sensors need configuring yet - I'm pretty sure the coolant isn't that cold. It did show the alternator output light worked, as does the handbrake switch. The rear fog warning comes on when the rear fog is switched on (fog light itself not fitted yet of course), but I can switch it on independently of the lights which I think is an IVA fail. Nothing a simple relay won't sort out. The indicator err... indicator works so apart from the full beam that's all of the warning lights accounted for. Oh and the rev lights dim when the lights are switched on. Couldn't see any backlghting but I also didn't check.

Looking forward to getting it fired up now.

[Speed Freak]

et40 is a bit high... I had some 30's and had about 5mm clearance which was a bit tight. when I bought my team dynamics they told me straight away that the et25 is the one that fits perfect for westys..

[Dommo]

Much lower and they'd rub on the rear arches I reckon. I should have gone staggered with the lower offset on the rear on the mx5, then swapped frack to bunt for the Westfield. No matter, all bent out the way now!

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

et40 is a bit high... I had some 30's and had about 5mm clearance which was a bit tight. when I bought my team dynamics they told me straight away that the et25 is the one that fits perfect for westys..

You'll get yourself in to a whole world of pain making such a sweeping statement! There are a lot of perfect Westfield offsets, 'cause there are a lot of suspension permutations and a lot of rim widths used! Even the factory struggle occasionally matching the right offset to model without more information.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

et40 is a bit high... I had some 30's and had about 5mm clearance which was a bit tight. when I bought my team dynamics they told me straight away that the et25 is the one that fits perfect for westys..

Dom's car is Mazda based not Ford like your own. Not all Westfield's are the same, and different axle and upright configurations across the models will nescesitate different wheel offsets.

FWIW my car uses ET38 on a 6" wide rim. I also have some ET45 rims but i have to use a 5mm spacer on the front wheels to stop them rubbing on the wing stays.

[Dommo]

Filled the engine and gearbox with oil today ready for it's first starting up and drive. No photos - it looks remarkably similar to before it had oil in it.

I've also solved the headlights issue - I hadn't connected the headlight relay to the sidelight switch. Eventually I found where the wire got to and spliced it into the sidelight switch feed.

Just the wiper motor to sort then, until I discover more gremlins.

[darve]

its getting close to launch day

[Dommo]

Continued progress this week - something that hasn't happened for a little while! I made a plan to get the car started and mobile by tomorrow, and I seem to still be on track.

Yesterday's tasks were to secure the battery and extend the MAF wires. No problems encountered - I use the aluminium tray that Westfield supply mixed with the fixings from the MX5.

Could be prettier, may have to break the black rattle can out!

Todays task was to fit the exhaust and put the drivers seat back in. So, I started drilling the hole for the rear bracket, sliding the spacer in and bolting together the fixing. A bit more orange dust later and...

Then I fitted the strip the D clamp bolts onto the right way around. Then I fitted it the actual right way round!

I managed to persuade the silencer to fit onto the downpipe - took some going. Thought I was going to have to break out some sort of grease!

I suppose at this point I should mention that those aren't the tools I was fitting the silencer with. No, those are the selection I decided I needed to tighten the drain plug and fill the gearbox with oil the other night.

Knowing how the IVA man is fond of the clamp on the front of the exhaust, I continued the exhaust wrap down to the silencer. I think it helps make it all look a bit less weedy to be honest.

Add the heatshield et voila. Maybe this could also be black!

Hopefully it's back far enough to cover the rear clamp

Last job for the day, playing with the dash.

I've uploaded the standard westfield 2000 sport configuration for now, changing the coolant sensor settings to a standard bosch sensor. The resistance values of that are about right, but I'll need to do some electrickery to change it to a voltage reading. There's no point in configuring the oil pressure sensor as it's just a switch on the Mazda. I need to work out if it's normally on or off but if the value changes, I know something is up.

So tomorrow I'll secure the loose exterior wiring, clear a path onto the drive, stick some fuel in and see if it won't fire up!

[Dommo]

It's alive!!!

Filled it with 10l of fuel, cable tied the loose wires out of the way, rolled it out of the garage and turned it over. Monumental fuel leak. Doh! The clamp on the outlet of the fuel pump was too big and so not tightening enough. I've replaced it with a small jubilee clip for now and will source a fuel hose clip a bit smaller than the previous one.

Turn it over again - fired but didn't catch. Turn it over again... brmmm!! A quick inspection for further leaks showed there was none, so I shut the bonnet and got in. "Why's there a lot of smoke coming from the bonnet?". Back open the bonnet goes and it's coming from the manifold. It's all the fibreglass dust burning off. I'd thought that'd happen when dusting off as much as I could a few weeks ago but in all the excitement I forgot. Suppose it's always good to investigate smoke anyway!

Shut the bonnet again and went off for a drive round the block. So far so good, no hesitation (though I didn't take it through the rev range obviously), brakes seem ok and doesn't appear to pull in any direction.

That'll do for now - I'll plan the finishing of it this weekend and book the IVA on Monday, aiming for a mid June date I expect. Only two months later than I was pushing for. Oops!

Still, it's alive and it drives. Happy days! There is the obligatory video, but it's on Facebook. I'll have to get the original file from my friend who was videoing it and upload it to YouTube or something.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Nice one Dom

[deanoecosse]

Well done Dom, the first little drive of your creation on "private roads" is a great moment isn't it. Another couple of weekends work and you'll be done, ready to enjoy summer.