Questions on a Westie (before buying)

[haydj]

All,

I've been considering getting a 7 style car for some time and have viewed a couple

Two DAX's one of which was very nice but cost over 9k, the other was a complete dog costing approx 7 ish.

A tiger which looked somewhat poorly bolted together.

I test drove a caterham, but to be fair it was a complete mess. Went to the factory and they took me out in a track prepared varient with dodgy instrumentation. Poor quality build and a knackered clutch. Bits were dropping off it as we drove down the road. Seeing this has kinda put me off Caterhams - that and the price. The one I drove was over 16k.

Yesterday I viewed an older Westfield built circa '92, its got a Nissan 1.8 turbo engine (which is smooth and progressive! as well as sounding great) for 6k. Its a independant suspention version and looks to have been very well made indeed. However I have a couple of worries about the car which I need some knowledgable advice on.

Firstly on inspection of the car there was mild rusting of the chassis, I think this is surface rust and I presume this is relatively easy to fix? Looks like the chassis is painted with "some kind of black paint", where the paint has been chipped there is rust.

Secondly the GRP panels are chipped and discoloured - Can the panels be re-juvinated using T-Cut & Elbow grease?

Thirdly the engines Sump seems to hang down quite a lot again there is surface rust on the base of the sump - in common with the chassis.

The instruments have some dew in them, but again I suspect this is easy to repair.

All of the above seem to me to be repairable with the exception of the chassis which worries me a bit. How easy is it to work on a chassis like this? Is it a specialist repair?

The other potential problem is that the car has done 19k miles since build. The Engine was new at the build.

Is anyone available who may be interested in assisting with an inspection?

(The car is in Newbury, I'm based in Surrey).

Many thanks
Dave

[busa_rush]

The surface rust is to be expected and as long as that's all it is then a quick clean up and repaint and it'll be fine.

The gel coat is harder to repair but it can be done - you cna buy gelcoat in a small pop and fill in the chips then sand it down and polish - bit of elbow work but it's pretty cheap.

The mileage isn't a problem - might be for a fireblade engine but for a big car engine that's no problem.

Your best bet is to pop along to www.wscc.co.uk and join the boardroom. (A forum like this) Ask the question on there - there's a good chance somebody will know the car and the person selling it and there are enough Westy owners that there's bound to be somebody in your area.

There are also a number of cars in the for sale section - or post a note in general chat as some people don't always keep their adverts at the top. £6k should get you a nice car, £9k a really good model and £12K will get one of the best there is, much better value than Caterham

[dern]

haydj said:

Yesterday I viewed an older Westfield built circa '92, its got a Nissan 1.8 turbo engine (which is smooth and progressive! as well as sounding great) for 6k. Its a independant suspention version and looks to have been very well made indeed. However I have a couple of worries about the car which I need some knowledgable advice on. Firstly on inspection of the car there was mild rusting of the chassis, I think this is surface rust and I presume this is relatively easy to fix? Looks like the chassis is painted with "some kind of black paint", where the paint has been chipped there is rust. Secondly the GRP panels are chipped and discoloured - Can the panels be re-juvinated using T-Cut & Elbow grease? Thirdly the engines Sump seems to hang down quite a lot again there is surface rust on the base of the sump - in common with the chassis. The instruments have some dew in them, but again I suspect this is easy to repair. All of the above seem to me to be repairable with the exception of the chassis which worries me a bit. How easy is it to work on a chassis like this? Is it a specialist repair? The other potential problem is that the car has done 19k miles since build. The Engine was new at the build. Is anyone available who may be interested in assisting with an inspection? (The car is in Newbury, I'm based in Surrey).

My initial thoughts are that I would expect the owner of a westfield or similar to be on top of things like chassis corrosion. The chassis is powder coated but I guess it can get chipped but if it was my car I'd be keeping an eye on it once I noticed any rust and treating it pronto. If it's definitely just surface rust then you could clean it off, treat the rust and paint it and it should be fine. If it's worse than that then it's only box section steel so in theory you could cut out the offending section out and weld in a new bit. My old car was an 88 of indeterminate miles and had no corrosion at all. Having a xflow chassis oiling system installed helped though

If the GRP is painted you may be able to cut the paint back. If it's gel-coated I'm not sure but I'd say not.

Dew in the instruments is pretty common for that kind of car and I got it in my westfield and tvr even when they hadn't leaked for while. I can't imagine you'd be able to fix I as some of the seals in the instruments may have perished. You could be some new instruments I guess.

The mileage shouldn't be an issue if it's been serviced. My fireblade has 17500 miles on it... I'd expect it to do well over 100k with servicing and they have gone to 200k (although not, admitedly, in cars as far as I'm aware).

Is the car at a garage or is it privately owned? I live in Newbury and will come along with you if you like but it depends when. I'm sure justin s would come along too who has a westy and is based just down the road.

Regards,

Mark

>> Edited by dern on Monday 16th May 10:39

[haydj]

Thanks for the posting chaps.

The car is private in Newbury.

I've registered on the WSCC and will post the same question there too. Thinking back to when I viewed the car it did have a WSCC badge on it so its probably a known car. The present owner purchased it from his dad, who sounds like a proper petrolhead - touring to Le Mans etc. I also know the car has been lightly used for Hill Climbs, it has a specialist exhaust and a RAC (?) roll bar.

Dern, I was intending to go back either later in the week (one evening) or at the weekend with a load of cash and to finally check the car out properly and see what I can negotiate. Surface rust etc can be a good negotiating point for a price reduction assuming its not too bad.

I will of course check with the WSCC before proceeding


Thanks Again

[big@l]

PPC Magazine is doing a 7 or 8 page guide to 7's in their next issue, which may be of help. Brian Page of Classic Assessments may also be able to help with an assessment if you think its worth it.

Hope thats of use Haydi, good luck.

www.classicassessments.com

www.ppcmag.co.uk

[big@l]

PS: See Brians long piece and tips in Practical Classics either this issue, or next.

[dern]

haydj said:

Dern, I was intending to go back either later in the week (one evening) or at the weekend with a load of cash and to finally check the car out properly and see what I can negotiate. Surface rust etc can be a good negotiating point for a price reduction assuming its not too bad.

I can come along one evening this week if you want a second opinion. I'm away from friday all weekend though.

Regards,

Mark

[Wacky Racer]

Hi Dave,

If you are interested, I have a lovely Tiger supersix for sale with full photographic build history from day one, professionally built, green/yellow, with yellow bonnet stripe, fitted with a 2 litre Ford pinto and twin 40 webbers, alloys, full weather equipment etc, although I am based near Manchester..

The car has covered only 3500 genuine dry miles from new, price £6950........

Sorry for the plug, but e-mail me if interested......

[justin s]

As Dern says,am avail during the week.I'm also awol from Friday for the week end.So mail us if you need a second(or third) pair of eyes.I don't know of any Nissan powered cars in Newbury.Not a bad thing,as they are cooking lumps.Sounds a bit of a bargaining on it's condition tho.

[haydj]

right gents,

Dern, Justin I'm sending an invite. Idea is to meet on thursday nr newbury. Now I've got to travel from inside the M25 which can take some time. Is the M4 traffic fairly bad?

I'm aiming to get there before 7 pm.

Thanx for your help.

I did also contact the WSCC and there was some technical assistance on this but no offers of assistance. If we have problems sorting this out this week I will try to rearrange for next week

Cheers again

Dave

[dern]

haydj said:

Dern, Justin I'm sending an invite.

You have mail Dave.

Regards,

Mark