JohnCh

Good to see another 951 owner! There are a few of us on the forum. Westfield leaves more up to the builder than Caterham, but it is still straightforward and doesn’t involve any special skills. Most of the problems I ran into were due to non stock items I installed. One caveat though is I built the standard version, not the Miata-based kit. -John

I tried to take a comparison photo with the LED in one tail light and the incandescent bulb in the other, but the light output from the LED was so powerful that it overloaded my camera’s sensor. :jester: -John

Good article in the new Kit Car Builder about Flyin Miata’s turbocharged Westfield. PDF here. I wonder if we should start a Wiki or perhaps new section on the forum where we can post articles like this? It would be nice to have them all in one place. -John

I have the Protex 27-1162/SC with the 613/7 SS locking pins. I like the fact that they have a locking latch and can take a pin as back up. Shipping a new bonnet from England is expensive! http://www.protex.com/images/product/large/27-1162%252FSC.gifhttp://www.protex.com/images/product/large/613%252F7+SS.gif -John

I installed LED replacement bulbs in my rear brake lights this week and I’m blown away by the difference. Most of the reviews I’ve read of the various replacement LEDs on the market have been pretty damning: yes they react a lot faster than the original incandescents, but they have low light output, and considerable drop off when viewed off axis. One of the exceptions has been the Genesis 48 LED 1157 replacement from Custom Dynamics (also available as the creatively spelled Radiantz 1.85” Replacement Clusterz). They claim their LEDs have a 120 degree viewing angle, and based on first impressions, I have no reason to dispute that claim. I started by installing one of the LED bulbs in the passenger side cluster and leaving the 2357 bulb (it’s a slightly brighter substitute for the 1157) in the driver’s side light. I then stood back about 20’ while SWMBO hit the middle pedal. WOW! The passenger light was much, much brighter! Next I moved up so I was only about 5 feet behind the car and then moved several feet to the right until I could just still see the driver’s side light. Even at that extreme angle the LEDs still looked a touch brighter. So other than cost (about $25 a pop) and weight (the combo added…gulp…nearly 2 ounces to my car! Argh, I need more carbon fiber!) there is no downside to this upgrade. They even come in a few different mounting options to make things easier: direct replacement, hardwire, and pigtail with an 1157 base. The latter gave me the flexibility I needed to mount it in the little brake light housings I’m using on the Westfield. -John

Never underestimate the utility of a se7en! I use mine for Home Depot runs when buying small quantities of 8’-10’ long pieces of lumber, and I even used my old Westfield once to pick up a 7’ tall Christmas tree. I certainly got some weird looks from people at the tree lot that day as I loaded up the car -John

Great pics!

Chip, to join the club, go to User CP, then click on Paid Subscriptions near the bottom of the left nav. You should also be able to access that page via this direct link. http://www.usa7s.com/vb/payments.php -John

Have you considered buying from the UK? Assuming you are on the left coast, shipping will likely be more, but I imagine the purchase price will be quite a bit lower due to the increased supply. I frequently hear of people taking their older Caterhams to Arch for reskinning and chassis repair, so you could have the car fully refurbished there before it is shipped to Canada. I imagine that Westfield would offer the same service if you went that direction. -John

There are a few in the UK. Do a search on WSCC. -John

Quite a few se7ens have IRS these days. Caterham uses it in the CSR, Westfield has offered that setup for over 15 years, Birkin recently added it as an option, the WCM Ultralite uses it, and I'm sure there are others. Regarding ground clearance, I was recently talking to the folks at Raceline about a dry sump for the Duratec. Their wet sump is level with the botom of the bellhousing, so although the dry sump increases ground clearance at the engine by 38mm, the bellhousing remains the low point - until now. They have just added a new low profile, dry sump specific bellhousing to their lineup that increase ground clearance at that point by 23mm. It requires a new fllywheel, but uses their standard 8-1/2" AP clutch. -John

I just checked an old email from Pagid. At the end of 2007 they told me that a set for the Westfield would run around $350. That's to fit the Outlaw M16 front and Sierra rear calipers. -John

And where is the adventure in that? :jester: -John

I’ve heard great things about Pagids in se7ens. Stupid expensive, but as you noted, these cars are very easy on pads, so they will last a long time. I’m thinking about swapping out the Porterfield R4S pads currently in the Westfield for Pagid RS 4-2-1 Black or RS 4-2 Blue during upgrade season. -John

First off, welcome! You can't go wrong with a se7en, so my advice is to get the one that appeals to you the most and fits your budget. The standard Westfield engine is the Ford Duratec, which is used stateside in the Ford Focus, so no issues there. I have a 2.0L 210hp spec version in mine, which is far from high strung (no problem starting out in 3rd gear which is good for 102mph). You can also go with the 2.3L if you want a torque monster. The Duratec is also used by Caterham and Birkin, so it is pretty popular in Se7en circles with lots of power options available. As Mike mentioned, Flyin Miata offers a highly regarded turbo kit for the Miata engine. Skip has that combo installed in his Caterham and seems extremely happy with it. -John

Never underestimate what you can do with an abundance of spare time and a big box of legos. -John

The lengths people will go to get a free pizza from Papa John's...

I say we start impeachment proceedings. I can't believe I spent all that the time stuffing the ballot during the last election, and this is how I’m rewarded :jester: -John

The Raceline sump holds 5 liters. Another good brake fluid is Ate. I alternate between their Super Blue and TYP 200. They are blue and amber in color respectively, so it makes it easy to determine when the new stuff is coming out when bleeding each caliper. -John

I think he is referring to degrees Celsius while you are quoting degrees Fahrenheit -John

I carry a Motorcycle/ATV tire repair kit similar to this one. It simply adds CO2 canisters and an adapter to the standard plug kits so you can inflate on the road. I carry 6 cylinders which should be enough to get me going again. They don’t take up much room and are lighter than a compressor -John

Like this? (Note: picture was blatantly stolen from the CCC version of this thread) http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1030&g2_serialNumber=2 -John

Glad to see you decided against that porky Elise, and bought something reasonably light ;-) I’m looking forward to seeing the beast in person and going for a blat after it arrives. BTW good choice on the color - red cars are the fastest -John

Scion yellow?

I like that color! It goes really well with the polished aluminum.