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Newbie after some advice


KugaWestie

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Hi There

I am new to the forum, so please be gentle!

I am seriously considering building a new Westie by going down the single donor car route, breaking an MX5.

Can anybody give me an idea of performance coming from a 1.6 MX5 engine, and how much more a 1.8 MX5 engine will give?

Also, I am 6'3" tall, will I get into a westie comfortably?

I intend to visit the factory next week to hopefully take advantage of the current 10% discount offer, but would be good to get an idea if I can fit and the performance with an MX5 set up before I go, as this will aid final decisions.

All help appreciated!

Thanks

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Hi Kuga,  Welcome to the world of Westfilds.     This guy has just started an MX5 build

null

You'll be ok in a Widebody car but may need a different seat.  As you are visiting the Factory you'll get all your questions answered there.

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Welcome Gary,

I'm bias but I think the mx5 is an excellent donor for a lightweight kit car.  As a road car the power is ample but if it's going to be seeing the majority of it's miles on track then you may be searching for a little more.

The decision was easy for me, the retention of the MX5's ecu and inlet means it drives as easily as an MX5 around town and when you get out in the country the powers there when you need it.  Also compared to the ford and VX based cars you also get a decent set of gear ratios as standard.  My car does the majority of it's mile on the road and touring so this drivability was an important factor for me.

IMO the difference between the 1.6 and 1.8 is negligable.  The Mk1 1.6 is only 14bhp less than the 1.8, but it's lighter and also doesn't need a CAT.  There's also some simple mods that can be done to bring the 1.6 up to the same power as a 1.8.  My cars a 1.6 and has been on the road now for nearly 3 years.

I don't see your height being too much of an issue unless you are exceptionally long legged or of the larger build.  I'm 6ft2 and still have room to move my seat a bit further back, but I am also quite slim :)

As an idea of performance here's mine at snetterton earlier this year

Some photos of my build can be found at www.mx5westfield.co.uk

Enjoy the test drive and ask as many questions as you need :t-up:

Mark

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Thanks for the link

Does the widebody come out with a wider wheelbase?

Is the whole body wider, or the tunnel narrower?

Any ideas on performance smokey?

Also, what can you do to the MX5 engine to improve its performance?

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Just stopped in to say two thing:

> That's some nice smooth driving there Smokey, impressed

> Strangely curious but also not sure I want to know where you put the camera recording your feet

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All Westfield's now sold are Widebodies.  The wide is approx 3" wider and 3" longer in the seating area than the narrow.  Comparing a wide to a narrow the extra width is all in the seats.

The overall width of the Mazda SDV is idential to the modular Westfields but the Sierra SDV's are a lot wider at the back.

To get an idea of what can be done to an MX5 engine take a look here.

Performance wise 0-60 is about 5.5seconds, and the fastest I've been is 115mph at Castle Combe last year (the windscreen and aeordynamics don't help performance).  The car also ran a 15.5second standing 1/4mile last year with a very sick engine.

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Just stopped in to say two thing:

> That's some nice smooth driving there Smokey, impressed

> Strangely curious but also not sure I want to know where you put the camera recording your feet

Thanks Scott  :D:t-up: the camera was mounted under the scuttle behind the dash  :D

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the camera was mounted under the scuttle behind the dash  :D

*Phew!*  :suspect:  :D

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Thanks smokey

I have not had much experience of the MX5 engine, is it old fashioned (distibutor/coil etc) or a bit more advanced?

If I break an MX5 and go down the single donor route, will I avoid a Q plate?

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The mx5 engine is multipoint fuel injection, all ecu controlled, no dizzy or unreliable starting to worry about and no carbs to set up either. Always starts on the button first time, everytime.  The technolgy seems quite old and not as advanced as some of the more modern ecu arrangments (it is close to 20 years old now!) but for someone like myself that knows little about engines it's pretty simple to work on and understand.

If you source all the donor parts from a single car or do as I did and buy a pallet donor then you'll get an age related plate (in my case a K).

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The mx5 engine is multipoint fuel injection, all ecu controlled, no dizzy or unreliable starting to worry about and no carbs to set up either. Always starts on the button first time, everytime.  The technolgy seems quite old and not as advanced as some of the more modern ecu arrangments (it is close to 20 years old now!) but for someone like myself that knows little about engines it's pretty simple to work on and understand.

If you source all the donor parts from a single car or do as I did and buy a pallet donor then you'll get an age related plate (in my case a K).

Good work smokey, you are a website king! does the £1250 donor kit provide everything you need?

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the camera was mounted under the scuttle behind the dash  :D

*Phew!*  :suspect:  :D

They call Mark "clever d**k" know we know why, he can hold a camera with his.

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The mx5 engine is multipoint fuel injection, all ecu controlled, no dizzy or unreliable starting to worry about and no carbs to set up either. Always starts on the button first time, everytime.  The technolgy seems quite old and not as advanced as some of the more modern ecu arrangments (it is close to 20 years old now!) but for someone like myself that knows little about engines it's pretty simple to work on and understand.

If you source all the donor parts from a single car or do as I did and buy a pallet donor then you'll get an age related plate (in my case a K).

Good work smokey, you are a website king! does the £1250 donor kit provide everything you need?

Yes it includes all the parts you need from the donor and they even label up the wiring look for you.  It's a more expensive option than buying a car and stripping it yourself as you don't recoup any money by selling the unwanted parts but the advantage is that if you're tight for space you dont have to worry about storing the shell etc and you can start building straight away.

When I bought my pallet donor I opted to delete a few parts and got the price reduced accordingly as I splashed out for new brakes and calipers.

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The mx5 engine is multipoint fuel injection, all ecu controlled, no dizzy or unreliable starting to worry about and no carbs to set up either. Always starts on the button first time, everytime.  The technolgy seems quite old and not as advanced as some of the more modern ecu arrangments (it is close to 20 years old now!) but for someone like myself that knows little about engines it's pretty simple to work on and understand.

If you source all the donor parts from a single car or do as I did and buy a pallet donor then you'll get an age related plate (in my case a K).

Good work smokey, you are a website king! does the £1250 donor kit provide everything you need?

Yes it includes all the parts you need from the donor and they even label up the wiring look for you.  It's a more expensive option than buying a car and stripping it yourself as you don't recoup any money by selling the unwanted parts but the advantage is that if you're tight for space you dont have to worry about storing the shell etc and you can start building straight away.

When I bought my pallet donor I opted to delete a few parts and got the price reduced accordingly as I splashed out for new brakes and calipers.

Was the engine stripped down and rebuilt, or just a clean?

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The mx5 engine is multipoint fuel injection, all ecu controlled, no dizzy or unreliable starting to worry about and no carbs to set up either. Always starts on the button first time, everytime.  The technolgy seems quite old and not as advanced as some of the more modern ecu arrangments (it is close to 20 years old now!) but for someone like myself that knows little about engines it's pretty simple to work on and understand.

If you source all the donor parts from a single car or do as I did and buy a pallet donor then you'll get an age related plate (in my case a K).

Good work smokey, you are a website king! does the £1250 donor kit provide everything you need?

Yes it includes all the parts you need from the donor and they even label up the wiring look for you.  It's a more expensive option than buying a car and stripping it yourself as you don't recoup any money by selling the unwanted parts but the advantage is that if you're tight for space you dont have to worry about storing the shell etc and you can start building straight away.

When I bought my pallet donor I opted to delete a few parts and got the price reduced accordingly as I splashed out for new brakes and calipers.

Was the engine stripped down and rebuilt, or just a clean?

Engine as with all the other parts was as it was removed from the donor so grime and all :D I gave everything a good clean and paint myself before bolting it to the Westfield.  

I was a little bit worried about buying an engine that I hadn't seen run, but they came reccomended to me by Westfield when I bought my kit and they also gave 3 months warranty which started from when the car was completed.

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