1997 Westfield SEIW

[rowey200]

Bit of extra time on my hands due to the current situation we all find ourselves in, so thought I'd post up details of the latest four wheeled purchase.

I've been after something to tinker with for a while. A Chimaera was the dream, but the reality was I didn't really have the budget - might have missed the boat, but I still hope to own a TVR somewhere down the line. I then switched my attention to a kit car - always loved the 7 style cars since I was a kid. I've a friend who has a Wesfield SE (Redtop) and another who used to have a Quantum Extreme (Zetec). I've also been in / driven Caterham 7s, so know that a kit car is something that I would get along with.

The car I bought (Westfield wide body / independent suspension) popped up fairly local to me, traded into a local garage by the original owner (so I am the second). Modular built back in the mid 90s and registered in 1997. 14k miles in total, but only about 1500 over the last decade, so some light recommissioning is in order, although it seems to be driving fine (I've not done that many miles in it as I only got it a few weeks ago). I know the CVH is not very desirable in this day and age, but it meant the car was within my budget, and it's a great opportunity to get to know my way round a Westfield. There is always the option to upgrade the engine down the line, as the condition of the rest of the car is nothing short of outstanding. When you look under it you can see that it has never been used in the rain etc. The engine is on twin Weber 40s, and goes fine for the time being.

So far I've only done a couple of jobs - oil service, cleaned the air filters and set the suspension up (it had a rake of almost 50mm). Oh, and changed that horrendous gear knob for a nice aluminium ball. The car also seemed to be running a little warm when on 'A' roads - I noticed that the rad was coated in 23 years of dead flies, so took the nose off and cleaned it to improve air flow. I plan to change to coolant this weekend. I've have also properly secured the battery in place & installed a fire extinguisher/stick.

On the list is a new set of tyres as the ones currently on it are ancient. I think I'll also remove the spare wheel to tidy up there rear. Other that that I hope (when things hopefully return to 'normal') to enjoy putting some miles on it!

Anyway, some pics (from the day I picked it up). All comments welcome - be great to hear from some fellow Westfield owners!

Edited by rowey200 on Friday 3rd April 08:00

[Andy665]

Very nice, had two Westfields now and rate them highly - very rare to find one that has not been very well built

[rowey200]

Andy665 said:

Very nice, had two Westfields now and rate them highly - very rare to find one that has not been very well built

That’s good to hear. This one seems pretty good, although I’ve not really got much to compare it with! The areas that I imagine could look poor, such as electrical wiring, all look great. The interior & carpets are well fitted. All switchgear (not that there is much) works, as do the gauges etc. All in all it seems well put together :-)

[Monkeylegend]

Same here, my first was a 1600CVH bought from Terry Nightingale, British Racing Green with burgundy leather interior and although it was only 115 bhp or so it was still pretty quick and handled really well.

Lovely car OP and won't bankrupt you and should hold it's value, with the bonus of being very cheap to insure. Wish I still either one of mine.

[Wacky Racer]

A very nice example.

I built a navy blue Westfield SE in 1990, using a 2 litre Pinto engine, the technical bod at Kingswinford was John Grosvenor who gave me a great deal of help as the build progressed.

[rowey200]

Monkeylegend said:

Lovely car OP and won't bankrupt you and should hold it's value, with the bonus of being very cheap to insure. Wish I still either one of mine.

Insurance was a real pleasant surprise - half the price of 12 mths road tax! And like you say, there is no real depreciation worry, so happy days :-) Just want to get out and drive the thing now.

[Monkeylegend]

My two Westfields are the only cars I have sold for more than I paid.

Now is the time to take it shopping, roads are fairly quiet

[rowey200]

Monkeylegend said:

My two Westfields are the only cars I have sold for more than I paid.

Now is the time to take it shopping, roads are fairly quiet

Haha, I nearly caved today and ‘took it to the shops’......I managed to resist though!

[Monkeylegend]

rowey200 said:

Monkeylegend said:

My two Westfields are the only cars I have sold for more than I paid.

Now is the time to take it shopping, roads are fairly quiet

Haha, I nearly caved today and ‘took it to the shops’......I managed to resist though!

Not for much longer I bet

[sociopath]

Nice. You'll love it. There's something unique about a 7, I much prefer driving mine to driving my porker. Maybe it's that it feels much more involving at much lower speeds.

Like many though, I've SORNed mine during this lockdown, and I'm missing it with all this great weather were having.
Get in a club, whether it's the Westfield club or the north west kit car owners group (NWKCOG) , and you'll me amazed how many miles you can rack up in a year

[rowey200]

Little update - there has been plenty of ‘garage time’ of late! I never really got the idea of carrying a spare wheel in a light weight kit car (especially as I don’t have a wheel brace / jack in the car), so that has now gone, and been replaced with some Tyre Weld. New Square plate and plate light fitted etc.

My search for new tyres led me to discover that there isn’t much choice in 14” (my preference is a set of Yokohama AD08Rs). A few minutes after discovering this I’d bought a set of Team Dynamics 1.2s off eBay for a bargain price. As they came with a new set of tyres (Falkens), they have gone straight on the car for the time being. I’ll sort some AD08Rs as and when.

Got out yesterday for a countryside blast for the first time since the Coronavirus situation began - it felt great, very lucky round here as the roads are quiet. Still seems to be running a little hot when at maintained ‘A’ road speeds - temp drops back to normal when you ease back / at town speeds. I’ve flushed the cooling system and replaced the coolant - I’ve also replaced the coolant temp sender in case that was dodgy. Next up I’ll change the thermostat in case it’s not opening fully - anyone have any other recommendations?

Apart from that the car has had a decent clean and polish - the gelcoat has come up a treat!

Anyway, couple of pics - hope everyone is doing ok in these strange times!



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Edited by rowey200 on Sunday 17th May 20:00

Edited by rowey200 on Sunday 17th May 20:01

Edited by rowey200 on Sunday 17th May 20:02