a few westfield questions...

[juansolo]

:blush:

The green car above is my brothers Though none of the picture links work any more, I'll have to sort them out later...

As for the LSD in an English axle, your main two choices are a Quaife ATB which is the way to go if the car is primarily a road car or a Tran-X plate LSD if it's a track car.

The reasoning behind this is that the Quaife is quiet and seemless but in certain situations can become 'open', particulaly on a live axle car. The plate diffs are noisy and clunk a fair bit but they work by effectively locking the drive to both wheels when neccessary.

>> Edited by juansolo on Thursday 19th June 06:39

[dern]

juansolo said:

As for the LSD in an English axle, your main two choices are a Quaife ATB which is the way to go if the car is primarily a road car or a Tran-X plate LSD if it's a track car.

Sorry, what I meant was is an LSD essential? Basically the car I'm looking at doesn't have one and the cost of the ATB (500?) is 10% of the car. Is this really as essential a purchase as I believe or will I have just as much fun but a bit slower with an open diff?

The car, btw, is samcooke's car on the westfield forum.

Regards,

Mark

PS - The green car looks the business

[peetbee]

I don't believe an LSD is essential and would have thought that the number of Seven style cars fitted with them is in the minority. Even those used on trackdays.

[juansolo]

Not essential but very, very highly recommended. They're very light cars that can break traction at the rear very easily. You will be very suprised at how much speed you lose as you spin away all your power out of corners without one. Personally I wouldn't own one without one.

You are right on price though, budget for £550+ for either diff if you're buying one brand new, a full set of bearings and fitting. That's taking the shafts and the front diff casing out yourself then sending them off to a transmission specialist to be swapped, then putting it all back together yourself when it returns. It's a lot easier than it sounds TBH.

I would also warn you that when the bug strikes, you *will* end up spending a lot of money on the car fitting such things. It's the nature of the beast. Buy wisely in the first place and you'll save money in the long run. For example don't buy an X-flow thinking that you'll swap it for a Zetec/XE in the future as the cost of an engine conversion is WAY higher than you'd think. Best to pay the extra and get a Zetec/XE first.

>> Edited by juansolo on Thursday 19th June 09:38

[dern]

juansolo said:

I would also warn you that when the bug strikes, you *will* end up spending a lot of money on the car fitting such things. It's the nature of the beast. Buy wisely in the first place and you'll save money in the long run. For example don't buy an X-flow thinking that you'll swap it for a Zetec/XE in the future as the cost of an engine conversion is WAY higher than you'd think. Best to pay the extra and get a Zetec/XE first.

Thanks for the advice. There seems to be a steady market for xflow westfields so my thinking is to spend 5k now (all I can afford to be honest) and see how I get on with this type of car. If I don't get hooked or it conflicts too much with the time I spend riding my bike I can always sell it without too much trouble and if I really love it I can still always move the xflow car on and invest in something a bit quicker or more modern next year.

Thanks,

Mark

[Gibo993]

Hi,

Not sure if you are allowed to post like this. If not please remove.

I have a Lovely '92 SE Westy for sale.
(New) 1600 x flow and type 9 gearbox (5 speed)
excellent condition for the year, very very well looked after.

Circa about £5000

email me for more info

Chhers
Grant

Email me for more info

[dern]

Well... I've test driven a xflow car and it blew me away. So I bought it

Thanks for all the advice.

Mark

>> Edited by dern on Saturday 21st June 00:38

[dern]

Picked it up today and drove it home (Newbury) from Cambridge. Mad car, works better than I thought on the motorway, drinks like a fish, massive fun on the back roads.

Didn't even mind (too much) when it broke it's throttle cable on the M11

Mark

[madgw1ck]

Just to revive Dern's original thread, a couple more questions...

I looked at a Westfield yesterday with a view to buying, as I'd been told it was a '91 build, but it turned out to be an '89 build of an '88 chassis, so therefore a pre-litigation car, am I right..?

What are the differences between pre and post-lit cars? I've often seen this status being remarked-upon, but until now it hasn't affected me!

One possible problem with the car is the fact that at the moment, I don't fit in it... Please, someone tell me that pedal box is a piece of pi$$ to relocate! Also, I couldn't help but notice the appalling lack of ground clearance under the sump (Lotus TC engine btw). I've also been looking at the TVR S series, which in comparison has good clearance! At least on an S, it's the exhaust which takes the knock, rather than the sump... Is dry-sumping a practical proposition? Thanks for any help.

GP

[dern]

madgw1ck said:

I looked at a Westfield yesterday with a view to buying, as I'd been told it was a '91 build, but it turned out to be an '89 build of an '88 chassis, so therefore a pre-litigation car, am I right..?

Not necessarily. Mine is an 88 registered in 89 and it isn't a pre-lit.

madgw1ck said:

One possible problem with the car is the fact that at the moment, I don't fit in it... Please, someone tell me that pedal box is a piece of pi$$ to relocate!

I've been looking at this also. Potentially the peddles can move backwards about half an inch but I started wearing shoes which a much thinner sole and that pretty much solved my problem.

madgw1ck said:

Also, I couldn't help but notice the appalling lack of ground clearance under the sump (Lotus TC engine btw). I've also been looking at the TVR S series, which in comparison has good clearance! At least on an S, it's the exhaust which takes the knock, rather than the sump... Is dry-sumping a practical proposition?

You can also get (or have made) a shallow baffled sump which is what is fitted on mine. I've had no problems with ground clearance whereas my S3 hit the ground all over the shop. When you say that the first thing that hits the floor is the exhaust on an S3 this means is reality that you fairly frequently have to reset the joints on the downpipes, buy new downpipes and get the silencer box lead edge rewelded in my experience. Also the two cars are chalk and cheese - depends what you want.

Regards,

Mark

[madgw1ck]

dern said:

I've been looking at this also. Potentially the peddles can move backwards about half an inch but I started wearing shoes which a much thinner sole and that pretty much solved my problem. madgw1ck said: Also, I couldn't help but notice the appalling lack of ground clearance under the sump (Lotus TC engine btw). I've also been looking at the TVR S series, which in comparison has good clearance! At least on an S, it's the exhaust which takes the knock, rather than the sump... Is dry-sumping a practical proposition? You can also get (or have made) a shallow baffled sump which is what is fitted on mine. I've had no problems with ground clearance whereas my S3 hit the ground all over the shop. When you say that the first thing that hits the floor is the exhaust on an S3 this means is reality that you fairly frequently have to reset the joints on the downpipes, buy new downpipes and get the silencer box lead edge rewelded in my experience. Also the two cars are chalk and cheese - depends what you want. Regards, Mark

Hi Mark, thanks for that. The problem with the pedals is that they're too close, not too far away for me. I found it impossible to get my legs anywhere near straight and the steering wheel was fairly firmly wedged between my knees.

I agree the two cars are very different, but what they have in common is the 'fun' factor. I'm just looking for something to replace the bike I've just sold. Definitely not looking for a 'sensible' car.

[dern]

madgw1ck said:

Hi Mark, thanks for that. The problem with the pedals is that they're too close, not too far away for me. I found it impossible to get my legs anywhere near straight and the steering wheel was fairly firmly wedged between my knees.

Same here, hence the thin soled shoes. You can also get a smaller steering wheel and move the wheel up if your handy with the spanners.

madgw1ck said:

I agree the two cars are very different, but what they have in common is the 'fun' factor. I'm just looking for something to replace the bike I've just sold. Definitely not looking for a 'sensible' car.

Go for the westfield then imo. I found the tvr a bit tame after the bike.

Benfits of the westfield are... cheaper tyres (just as well), very slidable, more more wind in your hair, loads of upgrade paths and much cheaper to repair if it breaks or you break it.

Mark

>> Edited by dern on Monday 7th July 21:56