Why:
Well I've owned 2 Westfield's in the past and enjoyed them both in varying degrees.The first, a White 1990 SE with Ford 1700 Crossflow, twin 40 webers, clamshell wings in was my first complete build. Thoroughly enjoyed building it but would have liked a better engine. Sold that one in 1993 as I needed the money.
Craved for another one and in 2003, picked up a non registered 1992 SE again in white (just my luck) with a Lotus engine. This was very poorly put together and needed a total rebuild top to bottom. I re-wired it, new dash, seats, wheels, replaced gearbox and the engine with a Vauxhall XE, twin 45's and a new body, but at the end of the day, it was a narrow body. With my big butt, it was a snug fit and at 6 foot, my legs always got in the way so the options were to chop off my legs OR build another one to my ideal spec (money permitting of course).
This was my 2nd Westfield SE
Side Front Rear Interior EngineWhen:
I fully intended to sell my 2nd one but an opportunity came up and I sold it within 24 hrs of telling someone about it, so it went sooner rather than later. This gave me the chance to build another one, over the cold, dark, wet winter days so lots of thermal underwear was ordered and to Westfield Sportscars I went AGAIN!Fortunately, they had an offer on of 10% off kits and parts for 6 months. I actually paid this back in September (now being November) so the intentions were always there.
What:
November 2nd, I finally ordered a Seiw Starter kit with the following:
- Seiw Chassis, powdercoated with Front Widetrack and inboard Anti rollbar, inertia belt points removed.
- Yellow (hence the name) bodywork with Detachable arches and cycle wings
- Racing seats, covered with yellow piping
- Lowered floor, ideal option so I can see through rather than over the windscreen.
A week later, I amended my order, one of many calls as I was never very good at making decisions. Updated to include:
- Powdercoated alloy panels, scuttle panel to be blank as I want to fit the fusebox under the dash
- Alloy front uprights
- All the lobro joints and outer rear wheel hubs
- Fuel tank for injection
- RAC Rollbar
- Quickrack with alloy mounts
- Lower Steering column
- Lowered sump for my new 2nd hand engine
Still having some money left from the sale of my last Westy (not a lot), I then contacted Cat Motorsport for some nice light goodies. These included:
- Ultralight 4 pot calipers
- Ultralight front alloy hubs
- AVO Alloy Pro Race shocks with springs
- Front Grooved disks
- Oh and some Mintex 1144 brake pads just in case I want to stop
- Quickrack with alloy mounts
Blimey, how easy is it to spend a few thousand bucks in a couple of days, dead easy if you get the Westfield bug so beware. Well I thought, I may need a diff and some rear brakes so off the the scrappies searching and found and ENGINE. A Vauxhall XE 2000 16valve with 80,000 miles on the clock - Nice! The next day I stripped it out of the Cavalier SRI it was in and took it home, I then spent 3 hours trying to extract it from my hatchback by myself.
Some pictures of the engine looking in a very sorry state.Meanwhile, back at the ranch, just counting the days to picking up the kit, van ordered, scoured the house for blankets, quilts, anything to ensure the kit arrives home safely in one piece, maybe I should let "Me Julie" drive the van home instead - hoo hoo.
I've also borrowed some Westfield build stands from a good friend (Jeremy) as my back is not getting any younger, he told me I'll need about 6 friends to remove it from the stands once the wheels are on, problem is ....... I don't have 6 friends - LOL.
Collection day:
Hired my van and took a long trip up to the Westfield factory, it was like rowing a skip up the River Thames, slow or what. If you ever hire a van to pick up a kit, try and get one with better aerodynamics than the side of a house. Arrived in plenty of time to see my kit all ready and waiting on a trolley.
It didn't take long to load it onto the wagon, I then picked up a few extra parts that weren't on my shopping list (as you do). Poor Gavin from the stores was very patient, I must have changed my mind about 6 times and used half a rain forest in invoices but we got there in the end.
Me Julie and I then took a quick tour around the factory, I was amazed at the jig they put the frames on to make up the chassis, these are done in house including the seat trimming but all the Glass fibre work is done in a separate factory just down the road. They also make customers cars at the factory, below are some more pics from the tour, maybe this was your car being built?
Some kits ready for collections and an Eleven chassis
We finally got home after hours of battling through the Friday night traffic, I actually hit 70mph at one point - lol.
we unloaded into my recently cleared out garage, believe me, this IS tidy! and sat down, boy was that a long day, more of them to come me thinks. Let everybody on the WSCC forum know I got the kit and got to bed earlish ready for an early start tomorrow.
