Discussion
I'm looking at kit cars. Started off looking at Caterhams but then my budgets been cut to around 5K, so I'm now looking at Westfield's.
For this budget I have a few Westies to choose from but not loads. I'm planning on using the car as my daily day to day for a while. Will a 5K Westfield be up to the job?
What spec's am I wanting to be looking at and what to advoid?
For this budget I have a few Westies to choose from but not loads. I'm planning on using the car as my daily day to day for a while. Will a 5K Westfield be up to the job?
What spec's am I wanting to be looking at and what to advoid?
I bought one for £5k and it was a bit of a dog. Great fun but probably wouldn't have been too good as a daily drive, I just used it for weekend hooning. If I were to do it again I would probably look at a Tiger, better car for this kind of money? saying that when I get back into Kitcars it will probably be an MK Indy.
I have owned both a (new) Westfield and a Tiger Supersix.....I think the Westfield definitely has more "street cred", although still far behind a Caterham, however for the budget you have in mind I would look for a nice Tiger Supercat.....(Supersixes are getting a bit long in the tooth now)....
One thing is for sure, if you pick up a decent one for around 5k, you certainly won't lose much when you come to sell it.
Have fun...
One thing is for sure, if you pick up a decent one for around 5k, you certainly won't lose much when you come to sell it.
Have fun...
A good friend of mine has a early westfield SE that he will be selling in the near future. It is quick and handles really well and is currently owned by a Audi technician/kit car nut.
yellow
5 speed type 9 box
1.9 CVH ported and flowed with twin 40's 150bhp
carbon wing protectors
new dash
Toyo 888 on the rear
black front wings
oil cooler with radiator ducting
It is in good nick and would make a great first Westie but as for using it everyday i would'nt, but anything is possible. Good luck in your search. PM me if you are interested
yellow
5 speed type 9 box
1.9 CVH ported and flowed with twin 40's 150bhp
carbon wing protectors
new dash
Toyo 888 on the rear
black front wings
oil cooler with radiator ducting
It is in good nick and would make a great first Westie but as for using it everyday i would'nt, but anything is possible. Good luck in your search. PM me if you are interested
Ferg said:
They are easier to build, but if you're buying second-hand that's that advantage gone.....
Except that it means more consistent quality of course... the quality of Locosts runs from 'pretty good' to 'dangerous shed', whereas at least with a Westfield you stand a better chance of the basic structural components and suspension/steerng geometry being sound. If you're not confident of your ability to assess the quality, handling and integrity of these sorts of car, you're better sticking to the established marques; Caterham, Westfield, Sylva, Tiger.At that sort of budget for a Westfield you're probably looking at older cars with a more traditional engine (likely a Crossflow, though you do get the odd SE with a Lotus Twin Cam or other more interesting engine fitted).
The mechanics and electrics are very simple; the engine/drivetrain (particularly if it's Ford) is generally pretty tough and it's usually fairly obvious if it's in good health. Main thing to check with an older car is the condition of the chassis (for rust and accident damage, obviously).
If you're expecting one in reasonable condition at that sort of budget range, you're more likely to be looking at live axle SE or pre-lit than the independent rear suspension SEi. The ride and handling of the live axle cars is a lot more basic and kart-like, but they're still great fun.
All my research is to do with Caterhams as I was hoping to get one of these. The Caterhams I was looking at were powered by Crossflow, going onto K series engines.
I'm guessing 5K isn't much when it comes to a good, study, good nick Lotus Seven replica car? I am looking to Westfield as I considered it to be the next best machine in the Lotus Seven world. Now I know this will bring up a lot of controversy and many people who easily know a lot more than me may say different.
As to looking at one. I've no experience of these before and would be hopefully dragging along a mechanic to help me cast an eye over it.
Also, what are the key points to look for? If the engine and body work are sound, the rest would be easy to repair if it needed TLC?
Are Westfield's all built by Westfield if that makes sense? Can I go to them to get any replacement part necessary, or is there other ways?
I'm guessing 5K isn't much when it comes to a good, study, good nick Lotus Seven replica car? I am looking to Westfield as I considered it to be the next best machine in the Lotus Seven world. Now I know this will bring up a lot of controversy and many people who easily know a lot more than me may say different.
As to looking at one. I've no experience of these before and would be hopefully dragging along a mechanic to help me cast an eye over it.
Also, what are the key points to look for? If the engine and body work are sound, the rest would be easy to repair if it needed TLC?
Are Westfield's all built by Westfield if that makes sense? Can I go to them to get any replacement part necessary, or is there other ways?
If you're taking along a mechanic, you should have no problem - they really are as simple as a car can possibly be in mechanical terms, so if you do the usual checks on the engine and transmission, check that all the electrics are working, and that the body and particularly the chassis are in good condition, then you're unlikely to have any expensive surprises.
So to directly answer your question, yes, the rest is easy to repair if it needs TLC, but there's really no excuse for a car to fall into a neglected state in the first place, so I'd avoid anything that looks scruffy or down-at-heel.
All Westfields kits are manufactured by Westfield (which gives you a lot more consistency with design and manufacturing quality than the numerous other 'Seven' types, Locost derived or otherwise), but you still need to make some level of assessment about how well the car has been built, and the builder's budget. Some cars will have been built to a tight budget with minimal reconditioning of parts and a fairly basic specification, while otthers will have been built 'money no object' with all new parts and lots of performance enhancements. Since you're likely to be looking at older cars, though, this may be less important as the differences will have been averaged out to some extent by wear and tear on the high spec. cars and enhancement of the low spec. ones!
So to directly answer your question, yes, the rest is easy to repair if it needs TLC, but there's really no excuse for a car to fall into a neglected state in the first place, so I'd avoid anything that looks scruffy or down-at-heel.
All Westfields kits are manufactured by Westfield (which gives you a lot more consistency with design and manufacturing quality than the numerous other 'Seven' types, Locost derived or otherwise), but you still need to make some level of assessment about how well the car has been built, and the builder's budget. Some cars will have been built to a tight budget with minimal reconditioning of parts and a fairly basic specification, while otthers will have been built 'money no object' with all new parts and lots of performance enhancements. Since you're likely to be looking at older cars, though, this may be less important as the differences will have been averaged out to some extent by wear and tear on the high spec. cars and enhancement of the low spec. ones!
bought a ´89 westfield se last year for 4200,-pound
independant rear suspension, right and height adjustable coilovers all around, 4-spoke revolution wheels, freshly rebuilt lotus twincam big valve engine, bored to 1739cc with twin 45 dellortos. white gel coat, burgundy red interior.
prices seamed to have rised a bit, but most cars are advertized too expensive.
the above wessi was advertized twice for nearly 2 months at pistonheads.
the only enquiries the owner had was about seperating the engine from the car.
independant rear suspension, right and height adjustable coilovers all around, 4-spoke revolution wheels, freshly rebuilt lotus twincam big valve engine, bored to 1739cc with twin 45 dellortos. white gel coat, burgundy red interior.
prices seamed to have rised a bit, but most cars are advertized too expensive.
the above wessi was advertized twice for nearly 2 months at pistonheads.
the only enquiries the owner had was about seperating the engine from the car.
Edited by Comadis on Sunday 6th July 18:42
That's unusually cheap, Comadis.
Beaing in mind that if it was properly built, a fresh 1700cc Big Valve Twin Cam would easily fetch a couple of thousand on its own... the sensible thing to do would have been to sell the engine for £2K, then bung a 1600cc Crossflow in there (say £650) and you'd still probably be able to sell the car for £4.5K if it was in reasonable condition.
You got a bargain...
Beaing in mind that if it was properly built, a fresh 1700cc Big Valve Twin Cam would easily fetch a couple of thousand on its own... the sensible thing to do would have been to sell the engine for £2K, then bung a 1600cc Crossflow in there (say £650) and you'd still probably be able to sell the car for £4.5K if it was in reasonable condition.
You got a bargain...
another example:
friend bought a freshly built sylva phoenix (the one with the outboard suspension and the front valance), lightweight race body, freshly rebuilt and tuned 1300 x-flow (using anglia pistons and transit crank or conrods..or something like that), incl. new drysump-system, 2 twinweber, racing-alloys incl. yokohama´s, car was built up at end of 80´s using new parts, than forgotten. new owner built up the engine to race in the 750 series, car had a fresh mot when sold and was running on an age related plate. escort diff with 4,11 ratio, 4 speed gearbox with quickshift and differnt ratios for the 1st 2 gears. new balanced propshaft, new spax coil overs ride and height adjustable.
after the car arrived in our garage we recognized that it wasnt driven more than to the mot and back...so more or less everything is new.
cost: 2300,-pound
friend bought a freshly built sylva phoenix (the one with the outboard suspension and the front valance), lightweight race body, freshly rebuilt and tuned 1300 x-flow (using anglia pistons and transit crank or conrods..or something like that), incl. new drysump-system, 2 twinweber, racing-alloys incl. yokohama´s, car was built up at end of 80´s using new parts, than forgotten. new owner built up the engine to race in the 750 series, car had a fresh mot when sold and was running on an age related plate. escort diff with 4,11 ratio, 4 speed gearbox with quickshift and differnt ratios for the 1st 2 gears. new balanced propshaft, new spax coil overs ride and height adjustable.
after the car arrived in our garage we recognized that it wasnt driven more than to the mot and back...so more or less everything is new.
cost: 2300,-pound
Are those German prices, Comadis?
My Sylva is a similar spec (albeit 1630cc Crossflow with a 5 speed box and a taller diff) and I'd expect to get £4.5K+ for it.
There are always occasional exceptions, but if you think you can deliver a steady supply of such cars, you need to become a dealer.
My Sylva is a similar spec (albeit 1630cc Crossflow with a 5 speed box and a taller diff) and I'd expect to get £4.5K+ for it.
There are always occasional exceptions, but if you think you can deliver a steady supply of such cars, you need to become a dealer.
BoRED S2upid said:
I bought one for £5k and it was a bit of a dog. Great fun but probably wouldn't have been too good as a daily drive, I just used it for weekend hooning. If I were to do it again I would probably look at a Tiger, better car for this kind of money? saying that when I get back into Kitcars it will probably be an MK Indy.
why a mk?...any reason?..just curious.Ferg said:
wiz 1 said:
Would also consider MK Indy and Sylvia.
I'm still reading the replies guys. Thanks for the help so far.
Just waiting till my Birthday on the 19th to see what funds I have to play with. I don't want to charge in too much to end up disappointed, so I'm trying to take an interested but yet not tooooo keen approach. Makes sense to me anyway!
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