NVP66S

Chop: You haven't said what the pedal feels like. Presumably, it has about the same or less resistance than it normally had. My Westfield has an AP Racing clutch master and it really doesn't like American brake fluid. The English seals started to dissolve into the brake fluid and the only remedy was to switch to DOT 5.1 brake fluid. (Brakes and clutches use the same hydraulic fluid) I'm not sure about Girling, but this is true of AP Racing. If this is the case, you need an overhaul of the master, and possibly the slave cylinder, for new seals. Dan

I bought one of these when I finished my Westfield. Works great, but the quick disconnects leak.

I don't know how active you are in other things, but I use my Alumina as a flat bed utility trailer as well as a car hauler. I added a pair of tie-down strips and the trailer is far more useful than a trailer without a flat deck. https://www.uscargocontrol.com/shop/Enclosed-Trailer-Accessories/Airline-Straps-Hardware/L-Track-Tie-Down-Rails I've hauled furniture, a Bobcat, even a Bridgeport milling machine with 4X4s as a load spreader.

Yeah, you need to check what exactly hits when the trailer deck rises above the ground. It wouldn't be very nice if it hit the brake lines.

I have an Alumina 6812HTILT and loading my Westfield couldn't be simpler. First, unlike a fixed bed trailer with ramps, the bottom of the car negotiates the transition just fine. Then, as DaveMK points out, when the front wheels pass the pivot point, the bed tilts up but with very little force, as Nick says. I drive the car up and pause to let the bed tilt up, then drive it to the chocks I bolted to the trailer bed. There's no concern for hitting the nose, as the chocks prevent that. I even have a Stanley toolbox bolted to the deck at the front of the trailer to hold the tie-down strraps, lug nut wrench, flashlight, etc. I also like that the Alumina is only 7'10" outside width compared to the standard 8'6" that seems to be the norm, as it makes the maneuverability on city streets lower stress for me.

I got bored one day and measured various things around the house and shop. Here they are, all 3 ft from the source, and all dBA. The A scale is most appropriate for hearing sensitivity and loss. I used a dedicated Radio Shack sound level meter, not a phone app. Fridge: 40 dishwasher: 51 breadmaker: 61 variable speed range hood: 51 to 61 dust collector (woodworking shop): 84 Rigid shop vac: 92 Craftsman shop vac: 94 If I use the shop vac for more than a few seconds, I wear hearing protection.

IIRC, the industry standard for noise measurements is 1 meter from the source. Closer than that will give you an artificially high noise reading.

When I bought my Elan, one of the front motor mounts had completely failed, as the rubber was gone. The steel plates were still there so I made a dam with duct tape and poured in some 60 durometer castable polyurethane. Worked great.

Pardon my ignorance, but has there been one in the past? Dan

Does it have dish symmetry? If so, turn it upside down. I'm not familiar with what's under the wheel and I would never advise anyone due to the safety aspects, but if it were my wheel, I'd drill 3 more holes to the Momo pattern. (that is if I didn't turn it upside down)

I had hoped to make it, but can't this year. Dang. It's a 12 hour drive each way, my GF can't get off work, and I just declared my Westfield not roadworthy. It's the first problem I've ever had, which is that the Brit rubber parts are dissolving into the DOT3 Castrol that I used to fill the system. I thought (wrong, it seems) that the days of brit rubber needing special brake fluid were over.

Dzus fasteners are common on airplanes. Try Wicks or Spruce: http://aircraftproducts.wicksaircraft.com/category/quarter-turn-fasteners http://www.aircraftspruce.com/search/search.php?s=Dzus&x=14&y=15

Heh, that reminds me of my favorite blonde joke: A blonde, wanting to earn some extra money, decided to hire herself out as a "Handywoman" and started canvassing a nearby well-to-do neighborhood. She went to the front door of the first house, and asked the owner if he had any odd jobs for her to do. "Well, I guess I could use somebody to paint my porch," he said, "How much will you charge me?" The blonde quickly responded, "How about $50?" The man agreed and told her that the paint and everything she would need were in the garage. The man's wife, hearing the conversation, said to her husband, "Does she realize that our porch goes all the way around the house?" He responded, "That's a bit cynical, isn't it?" The wife replied, "You're right. I guess I'm starting to believe all those 'dumb blonde jokes we've been getting by e-mail lately." A short time later, the blonde came to the door to collect her money. "You're finished already?" the husband asked. "Yes," blonde replied," and I had paint left over, so I gave it two coats." Impressed, the man reached into his pocket for the $50 and handed it to her. "And by the way," the blonde added, "it's not a Porch, it's a Lexus."

I haven't used lexan polish, which may be most appropriate for this. However I *have* used the 3M version of headlight clarifying goop (my terminology) and it works great. It comes with several grades of grit and you sequentially use the finer ones. The reason I bring this up is that, if your scratches are deep, it may save a lot of labor getting deep scratches out. For scratches rather than yellowed plastic, I would recommend not using the two coarsest grades; just skip over them and use the finer grades. I've done 3 cars' headlight covers and it works great for that application. I would stay away from the various off brands and stay with 3M. Or, you could try the lexan polish first, and if that doesn't work, go for the coarser grit at that time. PS lexan is polycarbonate. Plexiglass is poly methyl methacrylate. Lexan is better for this application (harder and tougher). Dan

No Mazda chassis or subframes or A-arms used in the Westfield. Try a Catfish or Exocet. I *think* they use the Miata subframes.

My Westfield used a Miata donor car. Engine, trans, diff, halfshafts, wheels, brakes, wiring harness, instrument cluster (though I did my own cluster with all VDO because the steering wheel hid too much), ECU, and a lot of little things like the air cleaner, etc. The driveshaft was custom, as the car is shorter and the engine is entirely behind the front "axle".

Can't promise anything, but will try to be there. Dan

Can see it now. Thanks

It depends on your time scale. More recently, there were productive farms on Greenland in the 12th century AD. Or earlier, when there was enough vegetation under the north slope of Alaska that has become enough oil to drill economically. Yeah, plate tectonics have moved the continents in the past 90 million years, but that latitude hasn't changed much.

BTW, I also get the occasional "Isn't that car dangerous?" to which I respond "I sold my motorcycle" Shuts 'em up every time.

Heh, no. I had a Honda 599 and if you turn my screen name upside down it says 599dAN. I sold my 599 Hornet when I moved from the challenging geography of SoCal to flat West Texas. It's kinda funny navigating my Westfield among the SuperDuty pickup trucks. About once a day I am at a red light and the guy in the F-350 Dually next to me rolls his window down and says "Hey. Nice car" Happened to me yesterday in Odessa. Back to the registration process, I went through about 7 steps, all in two days. At every one of them, the clerk said "how can I help you?" and actually meant it. The steps are 1) Insurance 2) temporary tags "yeah, I can drive it!! 3) brief inspection by local cops 4) certified weight 5) safety inspection [very rigorous and done by any ASE certified master mechanic]. 6) VIN issue 7) title & registration. Oh, yeah, above I forgot to add the $80 paid to the mechanic.

I started my kit build in CA and finished it in TX. Before and during the build, I paid close attention to what others were experiencing. Some CA builders reported smooth sailing through the registration process. Others reported difficulty and frustration; it all seemed to be a function of what DMV office and clerk you used. The worst I heard of was a builder that spent 6 months in CA working to get all the serial inspections done and finally getting his title. He was jubilant for a full two weeks when he got a letter from DMV telling him that his registration was no longer valid. The only thing I knew for sure about CA was that the first step in the process was going to cost me full sales tax for every component that I couldn't prove the tax was already paid. TX charged me $91. Dan

My car is TX registered as a replica, and the DMV took photos that I provided of the original Lotus as part of the title process. Dune buggies do not pass that test.

Very silly. I like them.

Thanks for the tip, I ordered one today.