Sold - Ideal First Westy - 1998 Sew 2.0 Zetec - Flexible And Reliable

[AdamR]

Update 23/2/12 - Deposit Taken

Update 29/9/12 - SOLD!

My 1998 Westfield SEW with 2.0 Zetec Silvertop engine is up for sale. In my opinion it's an ideal first Westfield, being quick, flexible and reliable - it's certainly served me well!

I've had the car since around May 2011, and it hasn't skipped a beat in 3 track days and around 1000 road miles. The only work I've had to do was re-seal a temp sensor, other than that it's just been straightfoward MOTs (last one was a couple of days ago), oil and filter change (last one was 1 track day ago), and to let upgradeitis take hold!

When I first bought the car it looked like this....

Upgradeitis resulted in GRP seats, a Quaife LSD, a Westfield aeroscreen, a custom made front anti-roll bar, some Carbone Lorraine RC5+ front brake pads and a set of Compomotive CXRs with Yokohama A048R tyres being added to the car during my ownership.

It now looks like this...

The car was re-built in the 5 or so years before I purchased it by Ian Prior ('fatbaldbloke' on the forum), who has been a Chartered Mechanical Engineer for over 25 years and was recently elected a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Ian is a very meticulous chap and this really shows in the car - I've tried to carry this on each and every time I've worked on it, too - and the large folders of receipts and information he created will be included in the sale. Details of the work Ian carried out can on the car be seen on his website: http://www.fbbmotors...westfield1.html

My reason for sale is the most genuine one I believe - I've bought another Westy! I would not be selling this car if my intentions were less track-focused. That's not to say this car isn't track capable, it's just I fancied more power and a full cage since the car was getting used less and less on the roads. Such a turnaround would have taken me a lot of time and money to achieve, so decided changing the car would be a 'better' solution all things considered.

You can see the car in action here:

and here:

One thing I was once a bit wary off, was cars that had been used on track. But think about it - if there is anything wrong with the car, it will be shown up extremely quickly once it's used hard. I had the same with a Clio - did about 1500 'hard' road miles in it, thought everything was fine, but the power steering pressure sensor split within 10 mins at Cadwell Park. This car has been faultless and only required routine maintenance for the past 15 months, a true sign that it's well-built and reliable.

Facts and figures aren't the be-all and end-all of how Westfields perform and drive, but the combination of a superbly flat torque curve (see below), plenty of BHP (and still going strong at 6400rpm), a good overall weight (575kg), balanced suspension / geometry setup and grippy tyres (nearly new Yokohama A048Rs in Medium) make the car very easy to drive - either cruising at 30mph in 5th gear around town, or on track at 70mph mid-way through a 4-wheel drift in 3rd!

The rev limit is set at 7400, with the engine mapped to 6400. This is a very safe level (especially with the ARP conrod bolts which are installed), and even if the engine did go bang, you could drop any standard Zetec 2.0 straight in and achieve the same power.

I have the full screen, pillars, mirrors, wind deflectors and side doors from when I bought the car, which will be included in the sale.. The heater and wipers are still installed, so swapping everything over is a job that involves about 8 bolts, 6 grub screws, and less than half an hour.

The tonneau cover is also made to fit the car, however it does not fit over the (now slightly taller) new seats - this could be easily modified to fit though. It's equally useful to keep the elements out both in storage, driving by yourself or while the car is on a trailer.

[AdamR]

Here's some details:

Model/chassis:

1998 Westfield SEW (live axle, wide body).

Body:

GRP nose, bonnet, front mudguards and scuttle - orange gel coat.

Rear body - dark green gel coat sprayed orange and blue.

Carbonmods carbon wheel arch protectors.

Willans FIA approved turnbuckle driver's harness with 3" straps.

Willans 4-point seatbelt buckle style passenger harness.

Steering:

Rack and pinion (Escort Mk2). Uprights and hubs (Cortina Mk3).

Alpha leather steering wheel with Racetech quick release boss.

Suspension:

Front - unequal length wishbones (camber increases with suspension travel) fitted with polybushes, plus coil over steel AVO 2.25" spring and shock absorber units, 300 lb/in. 10 mins toe in, 1.7 degrees camber.

Rear - live axle (Escort Mk2) running a 4.125 Quaife ATB limited slip diff, twin parallel trailing links and panhard rod with coil over steel AVO 1.9" spring and shock absorber units, 200 lb/in. The car was originally on 150 lb/in springs, but I tend to run 2-up so increased the spring rate. The axle is straight and true, with zero toe and zero camber.

Custom made front anti roll bar, solid, 12.7mm diameter. This provides approximately 20-60 lb/in extra spring rate. I have this set relatively soft to in order balance the extra stiffness added at the rear, and find it extremely useful on track days to make the handling neutral.

Wheels and tyres:

Front - 6" Compomotive CXRs with 185/60R13 Yokohama A048 tyres, less than 6 months old, 4-4.5mm tread remaining (new they have 4.8mm).

Rear - 7" Compomotive CXRs with 205/60R13 Yokohama A048 tyres, less than 6 months old, 4-4.5mm tread remaining (new they have 4.8mm).

Brakes:

Front - Group N Solid discs, Westfield Hi-Spec 4 pot calipers. Carbone Lorraine RC5+ pads (awesome on track but need a bit of heat - I have some standard pads which I'll include with the sale if you'd like a bit more performance from cold)

Rear - 8" drums, single leading shoe.

High quality Dot 5.1 fluid.

Engine and gearbox:

Zetec "silver top" 2 litre (Ford Mondeo).

Head, block and cams as standard.

Shallow sump with revised baffles (Dunnell Engines).

Lightened flywheel and heavy duty clutch (Dunnell Engines).

ARP rod end bolts.

Intermediate spec hydraulic tappets (Dunnell Engines).

Carbonmods carbon plug lead cover.

Modified cooling system (Dunnell Engines).

VW Polo rad with Pacet Profan.

Individual throttle bodies (Suzuki GSX-R600).

Red Bull manufactured fuel rail, swirl pot and 0.5 litre catch tank.

ITG performance air filter.

Megasquirt ECU.

Magnecor KV85 competition plug leads

Large bore competition spec exhaust manifold and silencer (Dunnell Engines), with heat wrapped manifold.

Varley Red Top racing spec gel battery.

Brise high performance starter motor.

Type 9 5-speed gearbox, with gear lever extension to move it away from the dash. Driving position is very important and I've sat in a few cars with the gear stick in a clumsy place - makes it much harder to drive!

Best run on 5w40 oil (standard engine is 5w30) as recommended by Dunnell. I have always used Fuchs Pro Race S and Ian used Millers CFS - both over £10 a litre. The engine doesn't use any oil, even on track.

Performance:

Power - 174 bhp at 6350 rpm (rev limit set at 7400 rpm).

Torque - 152 lb ft at 4830 rpm (mapping done at Jamsport, Northampton - I have a copy of the map file just in case!).

Weight - 575kg.

0-60 - about 4.2s.

Other:

20 litre standard Westfield tank (good for ~125 steady miles or a bit less if you are giving it beans).

Carbon fibre tunnel top, with clip-lid sealed sandwich box for keys, wallet and phone!

Passenger footrest with griptape.

Drivers heel-rest (helps with kangaroo throttle over the bumpy bits).

Pedal positions set up for heel and toe (brake higher than throttle).

RAC roll bar (the standard Westfield bar is what I call the 'Ikea One' - 'flat pack' if you ever needed to use it!).

Custom mohair boot box cover with poppers. Boot box is big enough for an overnight bag, small tent, etc.

1mm thick HDPE mudflaps attached to the front cycle wings. These are great at keeping crud (including stones) out of the cockpit.

Well-fitting GRP seats, with JK 5-piece padding, which are a perfect fit for my ~36-38 inch waisted frame (is that giving too much away?). I actually prefer them to the JK seats in my other car, but they took me a long time to fit so I'm not doing the swap! The drivers one is on a standard Westfield runner, the passenger one bolted into the floor.

Q-plated means visual-based MOT emissions test (bonus!).

Insurance is cheap - under £200 fully comp for the year with none of my no claims used (all held against another vehicle).

Mapped and used on 98 RON fuel, but equally happy with standard 95.

The 'bad' bits:

The car is clean, but not showroom. It's certainly not in bad condition, by no stretch of the imagination, but there are a few small chips in the gel coat on the rear arches, a few scuffs / dings in the front cycle wings, and the odd rubber mark from tyre debris flying off on track days (which could be cleaned off no problem).

The wishbones etc have a little surface rust, but this is not bad at all and I completely forgot about it - I just wanted to be honest.

There were 5 advisories on the last MOT:

1 and 2: Both front wheel bearings having slight play. This is required else the bearings sieze up when they get warm!

3 and 4: Both front brake pads have slight play in caliper. Again this is required so the pads don't sieze in the calipers once they are hot on track.

5: Steering column touching chassis. The bushing on the column had come loose, meaning the steering column had just been allowed to touch a chassis rail. With the bush back in, it clears fine, and this has never been noted on any other MOTs in the file of receipts etc. I think the MOT tester was being a little bit particular there!

The diff is a tiny bit whine-y, which you can hear in the vids. This hasn't got any worse, and it has high quality fully synthetic Castrol oil in there, plus a heavy duty gasket and some silicone sealant - no leaks, which is rare for a live axle!

And some more pics...

[AdamR]

'It could be you...!'

The car is located near Preston, Lancashire, just off Junction 29 of the M6. I bought this car from near Bedford (3 hours each way) and got my current car from Taunton (over 4 hours each way) - don't be put off travelling if you are 'darn sarf'. It's worth it for the right car! I would be happy to pick you up from a train station (nearest is Preston), or even an airport (the last chap to buy a car from me came from Northern Ireland!) if that helps.

The sale includes the spare screen setup, the Innovate Wideband Lambda sensor, 11 1/2 month's MOT, 11 month's tax and a big grin every time you plant the throttle

More than happy to take people out for a drive, but unfortunately I won't allow anyone to drive the car on the public road unless you have proof of fully comp insurance or have handed me some money beforehand. It is kept indoors in a secure warehouse on an industrial estate, which has some quiet private roads so you can take it round the block if required.

If you have any questions or would like more info, please don't hesitate to get in touch by PM on here, email (mr_b1tch@hotmail.com) or phone / text 078 345 346 12.

I would very much prefer to keep this car 'in the family' so won't be advertising it elsewhere for at least few weeks. I'm also more than happy to help with questions, advice, etc. after the sale, which Ian very kindly did for me.

I think that's all - but please give me a shout if you'd like to know anything else.

Many thanks,

Adam

[Bob Green]

That is a very informative and brilliant advertisment for your car. Well done.

Given the fact that I believe FBB built it, the car will be an ace to the purchaser.

[AdamR]

Thanks for your kind words Bob! It is indeed a superb car, even thought about keeping it and putting the full screen back on for road use only!

Just realised I forgot to add the mileage to the advert. I think it's around 13000, which is the amount it's covered since the new clocks went in during Ian's ownership. I can confirm that figure later though.

Also thought it worth mentioning that it is currently insured with an agreed value of £8000 (car only, of course), which was the value I requested and was immediately agreed.

Cheers,

Adam

[lenny65]

Great ad, nice looking car and good price ..............good luck with the sale

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

good luck with the sale fella - really nice to see a good advert for a car - does it justice

[alexander72]

I really thought about buying this one in 2011 before finding Martin's old car... FBB put's his vehicles together with a meticulous eye for detail. Great car and great advert. James

[AdamR]

Thanks guys - appreciated!

Also forgot to mention that the starter is also heat wrapped. On a Zetec the manifold is the same side as the starter, so after a run you can easily get some heatsoak into the starter. This causes it to get a bit tight and can lead to starting issues - the heat wrap noticeably helps with this.

[Conehead]

If I had 8 grand i'd buy this. You dont want to PX an xflow westy, cheap chearful and reliable to run!

[AdamR]

Luckily you don't need 8 grand haha.

Seriously though, thanks for the offer but unfortunately I need to get rid of a Westy, not gain one!

[Dave the Sparky]

Good luck with the sale Adam, great advert, can't speak for the car but the owners a thoroughly nice chap!

Dave

[User0083]

I'd do swap for mine... but still leaves you with one to sell!

[AdamR]

Thanks guys - appreciate the kind words!

Checked mileage today, 12015 on the clock. This may increase slightly as I will try to use the car for a few miles every now and again to keep it running sweet

[AdamR]

Quick heads up - I'm away on holiday from tomorrow until 23rd Sept, and will be trying my best to stay away from all forms of technology! If anyone has any questions, I'll get back to you when I return. Cheers!