A Very Wet Isle Of Man...................

[mikef]

Got back late last night from the Isle of Man. We (2 Fireblades and the Westie) met up at Welshpool to catch the late ferry from Liverpool on Monday.

Tuesday was excellent and we had some good runs especially over the mountain section.

Wednesday was virtually a washout with very strong winds and lots and lots of rain – not pleasant! We managed a couple of runs on the Mountain but called it a day by lunchtime. Went by tram to Douglas – a bit of a rip off at £10 a ticket.

Thursday was equally awful so we played cards until catching the ferry. The ferry was delayed because of the weather and I finally got home at 10.30 pm after an “interesting” 120 mile drive in the pouring rain. I was quite snug in a waterproof but my glasses kept getting wet and steaming up because of the slow speeds getting in and out of Liverpool – nightmare!. It was a lot better on the open road. The Westie is both filthy and soaking wet – Ooops! If I sell it I now can’t say it’s never been driven in the wet.

I had my usual problems of getting on and off the ferry. The crew are really helpful but on the first attempt, the rope matting got completely tangled up under the car which took a while to disentangle. I still grounded twice getting on and off despite the rope matting.

On the return journey they produced an aluminium ramp which did help but they only had one ramp and I still managed to ground it twice. The circular section crossbar under the gearbox is now a lot flatter on the bottom.

I have 7cms (2 ¾ inches) ground clearance under the crossbar. Is this a lot lower than normal since I know that other Westie owners do not have the same problems???

We really enjoyed it despite the weather but the getting on/off the ferry does put me off for the future. I could go from Heysham but it’s a lot further and more expensive. Even then, one of the crew reckoned that I wouldn’t have made it off the ferry at Heysham which is odd since I have been told that it is easier at Heysham.

For anyone thinking of going, I can thoroughly recommend it – assuming you have a bit more ground clearance.

[mikef]

Blimey! Not a single reply or comment. Is it something I said.

Any chance of an answer to my question about ground clearance?

[Norman Verona]

Although not a Westfield, I've set my minimum ground clearance to 4".

Sometimes the suspension can be set too low for the best handling.

[pistonbroke]

Not much to say about the trip , sounded interesting , the main thing is you enjoyed it in spite of the brithish summer weather .

I.O.M. is on about the same latitude as the english lake district , prolly one of the wetest spots in the northern hemisphere .

AFAIK Wessy ground clearance is usually measured from front cross member Is yours measured when you are sat in it ?

Would like to ask if you tried getting out of the car , unloading it and pushing it a'board

[mikef]

Norman - how do I set the extra height? Is it done via the shock absorbers? Will that then affect the handling or is it a matter of trail and error?

Pistonbroke - I measured mine without me in it at the lowest point which is the cross member under the gearbox. Worth thinking about getting out and pushing it aboard. I will check what the difference is with me in it.

Thanks.

[pistonbroke]

assuming you have adjustable shocks , you need a C spanner to wind the height up , ther's a grub screw in the nuts you need to undo first

HTH