JohnCh

Best prices I've found on Toyos: http://www.tiresdirect.net/. -John

Anyone know if Evotell is opening this up to all manner of Se7ens, or is this a Caterham-only affair? Thanks, John

I didn't realize you had a Westfield. I had one of Yarwood's engines, and although it didn't make the claimed power, it was a great little engine and there were no issues with the carb jetting as supplied by him. Of course that doesn’t mean someone didn’t mess around with the jetting over the years and screw things up. I would go through the various items people have identified in this thread and see what turns up. BTW Blatchat is a great resource for crossflow tuning info and worth a search to confirm jetting and timing basics. For reference, Yarwood’s 1700 engine used 9.8:1 pistons, Kent 234 cam, and stock valves. -John

When you write “backwash of raw gas in the two rear carb” do you mean spitting back through that one carb? If so, that is usually caused by a weak mixture misfire. As others have suggested, make sure your ignition system is working correctly. If is it, then check the following basics, most of which were also recommended earlier: Check for air leaks around that carb. Any leak will lean out the mixture and cause spitting back. Ensure the carbs, as well as the barrels within the same carb, are properly synced. Check the butterflies on the spindle to confirm there is no slop and the position is the same in both barrels. Look over the various internal bits to ensure no fuel residue that is gumming up the works. Check the float levels. I don’t recall what they should be, but if the front carb is working fine, ensure the rear float level is the same. -John

Not even close on my car. Unfortunately I discovered this after I had the exhaust manifold made, so no option to use an exhaust side alternator mount (oh the joys of being an early adopter). I ended up fabricating a new mount that allows the steering column to pass between the alternator and the block. Karl, the engine looks fantastic. The anticipation must be killing you. -John

I didn't realize you fit the alternator there on a LHD Caterham. On a Westfield, it would block the steering column -- I found that out the hard way -John

I've seen a couple of older Westflields with IRS and crossflows go for ~$17k, so $14k for a non-running, live axle car seems very, very high. -John

Regarding brakes, I checked one of my books and it states the SEi came with discs and the SE with drums. So it's probably a live axle car. -John

rzempel is correct. That's the CVH engine. Decent power potential, but they are affectionately known as boat anchors on WSCC. Given how long the car has been sitting, a lot of the seals could be toast, so you might want to budget for a brake rebuild and perhaps an engine freshening. -John

That looks like an SE or SEi (both introduced in '88). If the car is an SE, then it has a live axle, if it’s an SEi, then it has IRS out back. Westfield’s IRS uses a Ford Sierra diff and Westfield designed uprights, but I *think* the early cars used a different setup at least for the diff. A search on WSCC should provide a lot more info. -John

I stopped by the shop on my way to Monterey this summer. He is really doing some amazing things. -John

We need an admin to move this to Off Topic :jester: You should check out ZCars Mini web site for inspiration. They do a bike-engined, chain driven, rear drive Mini conversion that might give you some ideas. The web site itself isn't overly helpful, but the downloadable brochure has some nice photos of the mechanicals. Also, look at http://www.dpcars.net/ Dennis has taken some very creative approaches to weight saving with his dp1 and dp2 designs, and has documented it quite well on the site. -John

Welcome to the forum! I believe the 86 refers to the year of manufacture and the SE to the model. That would mean you have a Pre-lit, but not sure if it is first or second generation. Is the tub made from fiberglass or aluminum? From what I have read the first generation was made from ’84 to late ’85 or early ’86. It had an aluminum tub and scuttle, used Triumph front uprights, and Ford-based engine, gearbox, live axle (I think all Cortina bits). I’ve also heard that some of the early Pre-lits used Spridget drivetrain, which wouldn’t be surprising given that platform was the source for the Westfield Eleven. The second generation was made from early ’86 to ’88 and was all fiberglass. The uprights went from Triumph to Cortina, and the drivetrain remained Ford based. In early ’88, Caterham sued Westfield for infringing on the S3 design which they had purchased from Lotus in the early ‘70s. From that point forward, Westfield changed the body style and began straying farther away from the original Seven concept by adding IRS, a wider cockpit, lockable boot lid, etc. The early cars became known as Pre-litigation, or Pre-lit for short. As for posting pics, there are two options: 1) Click on the Post Reply button, click on the little paperclip icon circled in red below. Follow direction in the popup window. Note: if you exceed either the max file size or max height/width for the file type you upload, this process will fail. 2) Upload your picture to a photo sharing site and copy the URL for the picture. Click the image icon circled in green below. Paste the picture URL in the popup window. http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/picture.JPG -John

Kind of interesting that Mazda is contemplating going in one direction, while Hank is going in the other. Glad to hear you're okay! -John

I think that’s in place to keep page load times acceptable since the trigger to create a new page for a thread is based on number of posts, not total page size. I’m a member of another forum that has no limits and it isn't uncommon to have several posts on a page that each contain a huge amount of pictures. Every time I return to one of these threads, I have to wait for all the images to load before the page stabilizes and I can get to the new posts. Really annoying. I’m not sure that 4 images is the correct number, but a throttle has merit. Great pics BTW! -John

All, You may have noticed that I deleted about 40 posts tonight from Javellins7 and BrunnyS1 as spam. This is actually the same individual who has been banned multiple times under different user names over the past couple of years. He has an unhealthy dislike for some members (after tonight, I’m sure I’m now one of them ) and has a habit of making highly offensive personal attacks in the midst of otherwise civil threads. Tonight he added to his repertoire by not only taking the offensive nature to new heights, but by posting random remarks and gibberish in approximately 30 different threads in an attempt to disrupt the forum. Although he may be in need of professional help, you can't deny he's persistent He appeared to use his BrunnyS1 account to make useful, relevant posts, so we allowed it to continue, but he went off the reservation tonight once he realized his new Javellins7 account had been banned in mid spam attack. I’m sure this behavior will continue, so don’t be surprised if you see posts marked as spam coming in batches. Thanks to those of you who reported some of his more offensive posts tonight, and please continue to do so as you find them. Thanks, John

Ignoring the inflammatory aspects of BrunnyS1’s post, this is a good conversation. USA7s has grown into what it is today in large measure due to the work of Al and Mazda; both deserve a huge thank you from the community even if neither one spends another second thinking about the club. But what’s next? How do we grow the membership and increase active usage of the forum? Rather than throw that onto the shoulders of one or two people, I’d love to see the community come together and crowdsource some options. Is there interest? Should we start a dedicated thread on the subject? -John

Yet those wheels fit Westfields just fine -John

A carbon fiber monocoque is a great way to reduce weight. Just wish they were still making that car... -John

If you opt for a 993, Adrian Streather's Porsche 993 The Essential Companion is well worth the money. -John

It depends on your commute. I don't deal with stop and go traffic, snow, or a bad parking situation, so I want to drive something I enjoy every day. I've used Porsches as my DD for 14 of the last 15 years and can vouch for their reliability and competence as a great daily stress reliever. -John

Here are the directions from the Caterham Assembly Manual: -John

Tom, you also missed this shot that day. Ed and I had stopped for lunch in the mountains above Santa Cruz, and as we exited the cars we saw this little boy just staring at us open mouthed. I remember being that age and just discovering the magic of cars, so I asked him if he wanted to sit behind the wheel. He looked up at mom who quickly told him "Go ahead, get in!" http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/kidincar.jpg -John

Yes, 205/60-13 all around. -John

This is one of my favorites of the Westfield. It was taken during this summer’s tour from Monterey and has a back story that elevates the photo for me. Towards the end of our first day on the road, we were flagged down by a Jetta whose driver had been keeping pace for a few miles. It turns out the passenger (the kid in the photo) was a huge se7en fan. Although he knew all about the cars, he had never been in one and had convinced his mom, who was behind the wheel, to keep us in sight. Mom caught us at an intersection and before I could take off from the stop sign, the kid jumped out of the car and was excitedly trying to engage us in conversation. Eventually he worked up the courage to ask if one of us could take him for a quick 5 minute ride. He was so enthusiastic and genuine about the whole thing, I said sure and took him for a 10 mile drive down some great twisties. He knew the road well and was playing co-driver by calling out upcoming potholes and areas where there is usually a lot of slip inducing crud on the road – gotta love a passenger who contributes ;-) This picture was taken at the end of that little blat. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t have a se7en of his own someday. http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/2010-2.jpg -John