Fiat Twin-Cam Powered Westfield
Discussion
Well I'm starting to collect bits... on top of the set of gauges I have now acquired a Megajolt electronic ignition system. I'll also be investigating which route I want to go down for the new shocks and springs.
I've got it booked onto a trackday at Abingdon on Friday 14th November, primarily so I can get it out on track before pulling it off the road for the winter so I can fit all the upgrades. Why Abingdon? Mostly because it's 20 minutes from my house and I can easily get the car home if I break it
I've got it booked onto a trackday at Abingdon on Friday 14th November, primarily so I can get it out on track before pulling it off the road for the winter so I can fit all the upgrades. Why Abingdon? Mostly because it's 20 minutes from my house and I can easily get the car home if I break it
I was hoping Abingdon would be a good final hurrah before pulling the car off the road for winter to start working on her, so when I woke up to pouring rain on Friday morning I was more than a little gutted. The morning continued in a similar vein - the ten miles to Abingdon took over an hour thanks to the Oxford ring road - loads of fun sat there in traffic, in the rain, in a car which doesn't really idle very well 
Finally, after getting lost and employing the help of a friendly local, we arrived. And I promptly failed the noise test
I had a chat with the guys doing the test and they said I was only just over the 100db limit, mostly because the engine was popping and banging a lot with no load on it - and perhaps I should have a word with the organisers and see if they could test me with their own equipment. A quiet chat later and a reading of 99.9db and I was through! Thanks to the chap in the Caterham who offered me a muffler, that was plan B. Plan C being 'drive home and get the Subaru.'
Out onto a wet track we went. I know it was wet, but going sideways in third gear on the first corner of the sighting lap was a bit of a wake-up call! I quickly learnt the differences on surface type and their associated grip levels (or lack of) - one particular corner onto the main runway had a surface change at the apex which lead from wild understeer to hilarious oversteer. The sun came out and as the track started drying I had a lot of fun with this section - a couple of 'hero' moments at full opposite lock in third gear finally lead to my only spin of the day although there were a couple of other hairy moments (apologies to the respective passengers at the time!).
Brilliant day overall though, the track was bone dry by early afternoon and I was really finding some speed with the little car. The earlier geo setup really came into its own and I was very pleased overall with how it handled. It felt astonishingly quick through the coned chicane sections, I'm sure I could have gone faster with some more brave pills!
No vid from me sadly (my knock-off Go Pro died) but I did find this video from another trackdayer. I feature from about 30 seconds in, and you get an idea of the noise from the little Fiat engine going through the chicanes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzTG3m_KMWE
And a couple of pics:
The day after, true to my original plans, work begun!
Before:
Out comes the dash...
And, for good measure, off comes the nose!
The wiring in there is mostly OK, but does appear to have been attacked bu a five-year-old in places. Plans are to mock up the new dash layout with MDF and tidy up the wiring loom as much as possible (hopefully I won't have to start again). I'll need to get hold of some back=lit switches along with a directional indicator switch - the ones in there at present are next to useless as I can't see which is which in the dark. Not ideal.
Once the dash is in and working I'll then start looking at the Megajolt system - ideally both of these will be complete early 2015, but given that earlier this evening I was proud of myself for wiring a household plug (yes, really) I obviously have a lot to learn! The good news from Abingdon was the suspension - it's horrendously hard and too short for the road, but it works very well on track. The idea is to sort out a trailer and compete in the Javelin Sprint Series. Fingers crossed
Finally, after getting lost and employing the help of a friendly local, we arrived. And I promptly failed the noise test
I had a chat with the guys doing the test and they said I was only just over the 100db limit, mostly because the engine was popping and banging a lot with no load on it - and perhaps I should have a word with the organisers and see if they could test me with their own equipment. A quiet chat later and a reading of 99.9db and I was through! Thanks to the chap in the Caterham who offered me a muffler, that was plan B. Plan C being 'drive home and get the Subaru.'
Out onto a wet track we went. I know it was wet, but going sideways in third gear on the first corner of the sighting lap was a bit of a wake-up call! I quickly learnt the differences on surface type and their associated grip levels (or lack of) - one particular corner onto the main runway had a surface change at the apex which lead from wild understeer to hilarious oversteer. The sun came out and as the track started drying I had a lot of fun with this section - a couple of 'hero' moments at full opposite lock in third gear finally lead to my only spin of the day although there were a couple of other hairy moments (apologies to the respective passengers at the time!).
Brilliant day overall though, the track was bone dry by early afternoon and I was really finding some speed with the little car. The earlier geo setup really came into its own and I was very pleased overall with how it handled. It felt astonishingly quick through the coned chicane sections, I'm sure I could have gone faster with some more brave pills!
No vid from me sadly (my knock-off Go Pro died) but I did find this video from another trackdayer. I feature from about 30 seconds in, and you get an idea of the noise from the little Fiat engine going through the chicanes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzTG3m_KMWE
And a couple of pics:
The day after, true to my original plans, work begun!
Before:
Out comes the dash...
And, for good measure, off comes the nose!
The wiring in there is mostly OK, but does appear to have been attacked bu a five-year-old in places. Plans are to mock up the new dash layout with MDF and tidy up the wiring loom as much as possible (hopefully I won't have to start again). I'll need to get hold of some back=lit switches along with a directional indicator switch - the ones in there at present are next to useless as I can't see which is which in the dark. Not ideal.
Once the dash is in and working I'll then start looking at the Megajolt system - ideally both of these will be complete early 2015, but given that earlier this evening I was proud of myself for wiring a household plug (yes, really) I obviously have a lot to learn! The good news from Abingdon was the suspension - it's horrendously hard and too short for the road, but it works very well on track. The idea is to sort out a trailer and compete in the Javelin Sprint Series. Fingers crossed
Edited by BenWRXSEi on Tuesday 18th November 20:34
...been a while then!
Finally back today after an extended stay at NMS - victims of their own success in terms of workload I think, but still - I'm really happy with the new dash setup and they also very kindly balanced the R1 carbs for me so it runs beautifully now!
Quick run out this evening:
And a full house again!
Finally back today after an extended stay at NMS - victims of their own success in terms of workload I think, but still - I'm really happy with the new dash setup and they also very kindly balanced the R1 carbs for me so it runs beautifully now!
Quick run out this evening:
And a full house again!
Having watched a friend of mine compete in his MR2 in the Toyota Sprint Series, it didn’t take much persuasion for me to enter a round of the Javelin Sprint Series. Both series are operated by Javelin and run simultaneously through the day using the same circuit, timing equipment etc. The Javelin series is open to all marques and runs a fairly loose class structure accordingly – on the same day there was everything from a Yaris Hybrid to an Ultima GTR!
This round was at RAF Woodbridge, with a very technical layout paired with lots of ‘interesting’ surface changes. Having done a handful of trackdays this was my first timed/competitive event, and to be honest I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was in a class of three – me, a track-prepped Caterham running a 160 VVC k-series, and another Westfield – which turned out to be running a 3.0 V6 Duratec-powered SEiW. Gulp.
After a couple of sighting laps and an untimed practice run I was still struggling to piece together the twisty circuit in my mind – my first time was 1:52.8. A couple more runs and I was starting to get more confidence in the car and getting a feel for the lines, but I was struggling massively with heel-and-toeing – frustrating, as this is normally second nature for me. I think I need to reconfigure the pedal setup a tad (or buy myself some new feet!). After a few runs with frustrating mistakes, including a *small* spin at the end of the back-straight, my times started falling. I finally got down to 1:47.2 on my first run after lunch, which I was happy with, but felt I still hadn’t had a good clean run. Naturally, I then fluffed up my next two runs – the first was tidier but slower (more brave needed!) and the second was horrendous – missed braking points, missed gears, terrible lines, the works. I was pretty frustrated with myself. When finally I lined up for my last run of the day I sat in the queue just thinking to myself “braking, braking, braking.” The start was tidy, and once I made it through the twisty midsection with a clean set of braking points and downchanges I started thinking it could be a good time. I hammered down the final straight and through the final two chicanes and caught a glimpse of the timing board: 1:46.06! I was over the moon, so pleased to have knocked over a second off a time I thought I couldn’t beat. It’s a hell of a rush!
A few pics below, I’m hoping for a few more once the sight photographer puts his photos up. It was an excellent day in all, and I managed second in class by 2-3 seconds (no chance of catching that V6 though! I think I need some sticker tyres. And a turbo…)
And I borrowed my friend’s GoPro for what turned out to be my fastest lap of the morning. It’s pretty messy still, with plenty of sideways and a missed gearchange slowing me down. I promise my later runs were neater!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvRLziLpCSc
This round was at RAF Woodbridge, with a very technical layout paired with lots of ‘interesting’ surface changes. Having done a handful of trackdays this was my first timed/competitive event, and to be honest I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was in a class of three – me, a track-prepped Caterham running a 160 VVC k-series, and another Westfield – which turned out to be running a 3.0 V6 Duratec-powered SEiW. Gulp.
After a couple of sighting laps and an untimed practice run I was still struggling to piece together the twisty circuit in my mind – my first time was 1:52.8. A couple more runs and I was starting to get more confidence in the car and getting a feel for the lines, but I was struggling massively with heel-and-toeing – frustrating, as this is normally second nature for me. I think I need to reconfigure the pedal setup a tad (or buy myself some new feet!). After a few runs with frustrating mistakes, including a *small* spin at the end of the back-straight, my times started falling. I finally got down to 1:47.2 on my first run after lunch, which I was happy with, but felt I still hadn’t had a good clean run. Naturally, I then fluffed up my next two runs – the first was tidier but slower (more brave needed!) and the second was horrendous – missed braking points, missed gears, terrible lines, the works. I was pretty frustrated with myself. When finally I lined up for my last run of the day I sat in the queue just thinking to myself “braking, braking, braking.” The start was tidy, and once I made it through the twisty midsection with a clean set of braking points and downchanges I started thinking it could be a good time. I hammered down the final straight and through the final two chicanes and caught a glimpse of the timing board: 1:46.06! I was over the moon, so pleased to have knocked over a second off a time I thought I couldn’t beat. It’s a hell of a rush!
A few pics below, I’m hoping for a few more once the sight photographer puts his photos up. It was an excellent day in all, and I managed second in class by 2-3 seconds (no chance of catching that V6 though! I think I need some sticker tyres. And a turbo…)
And I borrowed my friend’s GoPro for what turned out to be my fastest lap of the morning. It’s pretty messy still, with plenty of sideways and a missed gearchange slowing me down. I promise my later runs were neater!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvRLziLpCSc
samj2014 said:
That video looked like a ridiculous amount of fun!
Oh it was! Messy as hell, but I had a lot of fun 
I've already booked the next round at Croft in August. Jobs needed before then:
- Track wheels and sticky tyres (if I can find some that don't break the bank). The Federal RSRs are good for dry road and trackday use, but they're too hard a compound for sprinting.
- Fit tonneau cover I have in the garage (for when towing).
- Get some decent driving shoes. Possibly also rearrange the pedal box.
- Buy a GoPro and play around with mic locations. Not that you can tell from the vid, but it actually sounds chuffing awesome
Great thread.
I've also been looking at getting into some kind of hill climb / sprint eventing, and had never heard of the javalin one. What did you think of it? Croft isn't far from me so might book on and come have a go in my bike engined seven (build thread also hanging about in the readers car section).
I've also been looking at getting into some kind of hill climb / sprint eventing, and had never heard of the javalin one. What did you think of it? Croft isn't far from me so might book on and come have a go in my bike engined seven (build thread also hanging about in the readers car section).
ol said:
Great thread.
I've also been looking at getting into some kind of hill climb / sprint eventing, and had never heard of the javalin one. What did you think of it? Croft isn't far from me so might book on and come have a go in my bike engined seven (build thread also hanging about in the readers car section).
Thanks ol I've also been looking at getting into some kind of hill climb / sprint eventing, and had never heard of the javalin one. What did you think of it? Croft isn't far from me so might book on and come have a go in my bike engined seven (build thread also hanging about in the readers car section).
Whilst I can't compare Javelin to anyone else personally, I have attended several of these as a spectator and without fail every single one has been impeccably run. There were probably about 50 cars in total (split between the Toyota series and the Javelin series) and we each had two sighting laps, one untimed practice and eight timed runs in plenty of time for the day to wrap up at about 5ish.
The class structures are deliberately loose but there's a large variety of cars in attendance, so you may find you're one of only 2-3 cars in your class, but for me the target was knocking as much as I could off my original time
One of the things I was struggling with at Woodbridge was getting enough temperature into the fairly hard-compound tyres. I'm currently running a set up Federal RSRs which are fine for road and track-day use, but need a couple of laps to get them warmed up.
So yesterday I went and picked up a set of sprint wheels:
13" Minilites shod with SG (super-soft compound) Toyo R888s. Probably wouldn't last a whole trackday but will be ideal for ten single laps from cold. Gave them a quick road test yesterday and the difference is immediately noticeable
So yesterday I went and picked up a set of sprint wheels:
13" Minilites shod with SG (super-soft compound) Toyo R888s. Probably wouldn't last a whole trackday but will be ideal for ten single laps from cold. Gave them a quick road test yesterday and the difference is immediately noticeable
Thanks Alan. To be honest, no - when I discussed it with the guys at NMS they explained it was a fairly common issue with the early SEI's and not something that could be adjusted out.
I've got a new set of rear shocks to go on soon which are both longer, softer, and have the luxury of working adjusters (woo!) so I'll need to get it realigned. Will be interested to see how I can get it set up with some suspension which is the right size
I've got a new set of rear shocks to go on soon which are both longer, softer, and have the luxury of working adjusters (woo!) so I'll need to get it realigned. Will be interested to see how I can get it set up with some suspension which is the right size
Thanks to your advice I'll probably be at Croft to try my first sprint. Mine is just finishing an engine transplant - I'm meant to be picking it up next week, so it's all dependent on it being back in time so I haven't booked on yet. I think I would be in class B1 due to the bike engine.
ol said:
Thanks to your advice I'll probably be at Croft to try my first sprint. Mine is just finishing an engine transplant - I'm meant to be picking it up next week, so it's all dependent on it being back in time so I haven't booked on yet. I think I would be in class B1 due to the bike engine.
Excellent news! I'm all booked, looking forward to it immensely. I spectated last year and Croft looks to be a fantastic track.Yep, you'll be in class B1. Class structure is fairly loose, I usually pick a couple of cars in other classes who are of similar pace to me and try and beat them
ol said:
Thanks to your advice I'll probably be at Croft to try my first sprint. Mine is just finishing an engine transplant - I'm meant to be picking it up next week, so it's all dependent on it being back in time so I haven't booked on yet. I think I would be in class B1 due to the bike engine.
Tried to ping you a mail but it's not working - just a heads up, the entry list for Croft closes in a couple of days ETA: Just to keep the thread on track, here's a picture of the tonneau that I finally got round to fitting. Should keep the worst of the weather out while towing...
Edited by BenWRXSEi on Monday 10th August 10:19
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