NVP66S

Not a very good test, and just plain wrong in some questions. Q2 asks for the 4 engine strokes. There is no correct answer, and their "correct" answer is the one that includes a combustion stroke. Nope. Combustion takes place in far less than a complete stroke, and it usually starts before the end of the compression stroke. Expansion stroke is the correct answer. Q8, says that a turbocharger is "A turbine that compresses the air traveling to the engine" Wrong. Turbines don't compress, they expand. In the case of an automobile turbocharger, the turbine expands the exhaust gas and extracts work, then via shaft power spins the compressor that compresses the induction air. Q12 says "Internal combustion engines are a lot more efficient than external engines..." Baloney. Tell that to the owners of nuke or coal burning utility power plants. They are both Carnot limited. It's true that early steam cars had less efficient engines, but they didn't even bother to close the cycle with a condenser. There was a push in the 1970s to develop Stirling engines for cars, but the major reason they did not was because they cost more to build. High pressure and high temp continuous compared to bang-bang in an Otto or Diesel. The highest efficiency power plants are combined cycle Brayton-Rankine units. Q13: "What's another name for the 4-stroke engine cycle" Their correct answer is "Otto". I think Rudolf Diesel would disagree. Q21 has Diesel cars getting better mileage solely because the fuel has more energy per gallon (true). But completely ignores the lower specific fuel consumption of the engines. Efficiency goes with the root of compression ratio and Diesels are about a factor of 2 higher than Ottos, and there is no throttle plate. At part throttle, pumping losses across a partially closed throttle plate are Vdot * delta P. This is why the same car with a smaller engine gets better mileage than that car with a bigger engine; it spends more time with a wider open throttle. Q23 and 25 are more of the same. (I got tired of typing) Or did you post the link intending to start a discussion on the quality of the 'quiz' ? :lurk:

I can't count that high! :smilielol5:

Here in West Texas, the interest is in old Detroit Iron. I take my car to local shows with this crowd because there isn't much else. Everybody is polite and I've never had a question go unanswered. Mostly, I get people walking up and saying versions of "Well, that's different" The kids love it "It's just my size!" I can't be too far out of it, as I got a personal invitation to visit the Chaparral 2J with the body work off behind the scenes at the museum. I find that if you're honest about what you have, you're accepted. The only clique I found is the low riders, and they keep to themselves in re everyone else, not just the funny little furrin car people.

Nah, I have a subscription to Autoweek and they frequently use that line. "OMG, what's next, a Porsche SUV??" :seeya:

Jaguar has built sedans for many years.... Now if Porsche built an SUV it would be a sign on the apocalypse. :cheers: That reminds me.... remember the Lotus Eminence?

Let me clear up some confusion. I just talked to Dennis on the phone, and I talked to him in person at a car show in Odessa a week ago where I was showing my car. He's not computer or 'net savvy, so I am interpreting. The '62 Lotus on BAT is not his car. Dennis has a RHD '67 S2 project for sale. The car is complete but disassembled. The project has new body panels that are not yet installed and at least 4 maybe 5 Kent engines available. One is a Cosworth pushrod non-crossflow, and the rest are crossflow. It has Panasport wheels. If anyone is serious about buying this project, I can go take photos and look it over. His wife's email address is ndonovan10220@yahoo.com Dan

My Miata powered Westfield has no booster, per the plans. The pedal force needed is greater than my Miata, but not by much. When I built the car, I got new pads from Flyin' Miata and they work fine.

I ran across a guy in Odessa, TX today with a 7 series 1 project for sale, and was lamenting that Craigslist brought no inquiries. I gave him my contact info and said if he really wanted to sell it, either go to this forum or contact me directly and I would post it. Dan

I think this flowchart is about 20 years out of date, and I'm taking it way too seriously. Since about 1965, I have been collecting and using a lot of tools for welding, woodworking, composites fabrication, machining, and vehicle maintenance. I had my own company for awhile that did engineering and fabrication of prototypes. The problem with the flowchart is that Craftsman quality has been declining since they got their good reputation. Their marketing department thinks that 'features' are more important than quality. "Our screwdrivers have square shanks so you can put a wrench on them when you need extra torque" That sounds nice, but the square shank makes it hard to spin the screw by twirling your fingers on the shank until it gets tight enough to use the handle. I do that about 20% of the time I use a screw driver. The number of times I've used the wrench feature? Maybe twice in 50 years. Ditto the 'griplock' features on their tool chests. For an extra $20, you get to unhook each drawer before you can pull it out. I bought one and it drove me nuts. But it wasn't hard to take the Dremel and grind the griplock features off. I think what's been happening is that Craftsman is fighting for customers against the Home Depot and Lowes and Harbor Freight store brands by cutting prices and quality. On the other hand, the only hand tool I have ever broken was a Harbor Freight 1/2" drive extension that I managed to overtorque. I've worn out a lot of Phillips screwdrivers but that's the only tool I've broken in many thousands of hours.

I wouldn't worry about the engine. The stuff that goes bad has been mostly replaced, and Miata engines have an excellent reputation. I do recommend you talk to the seller more about the history of the engine. If you are really concerned, you can get a Mazda factory remanufactured engine for $3500. or a factory new engine for $5k. http://www.srmotorsports.com/SpecMiataEngine.html Go ask your local Mazda dealership if they would be willing to make the swap for you. They may or may not. Failing that, there are plenty of Spec Miata race shops around the country that would be happy to swap engines for you. Dan

Yes, and Flyin' Miata is the official builder support organization for Westfields that use the Miata drivetrain. And they're all-around good folks.

As a Westfield builder/owner/driver myself, I have to say that it looks well built and well maintained. ..... OK, OK, ..... nice car! :auto:

Kind of a long drive from TX, but I am seriously considering it. Dan

It looks like it has about 5X the ground clearance that my car has.

Yes, they are all electronic. They accept inputs from either the GPS sensor, Hall effect, or reluctance sensors on the tail shaft. I used the separately purchased GPS sensor with mine and it works well. It takes about 2 sec to catch up with acceleration. In a tunnel, it displays the speed when signal is lost, then reacquires in about 2 sec after leaving the tunnel. I opted to not power it with the engine OFF, and it takes about 30 sec to acquire the satellites after cranking the engine.

I used this VDO one from North Hollywood Speedometers. http://www.vdo-gauges.com/instruments/by-type/speedometer/cockpit-120mph-3-1-8-electronic-speedometer-with-autocalibration.html They have 3 1/8 and 3 3/8 but no 3 1/4 as far as I can tell. The 3 1/8 probabaly has a bezelbig enough to cover your hole, but you can call them and ask. Since my scuttle is fiberglass, I just mounted the GPS antenna on the top of the instrument cluster and it works fine. dan

Westfields still in production have heated windshields, and may fit with minor mods.

Had to be out of the apartment by Jan 1st this year, and we had a foot of drifting snow on Dec 30th. So I drove my Westfield to the new house that night, about 12 hours after getting my wife's Mercedes 300D stuck. It was only about 10 miles, but in the dark with refrozen slush in random places. I almost high centered the Westfield twice and noticed after the trip that the front license plate was folded against the lower nose. Was it fun? yeah. Was it cold? yeah. But I never would have chosen to to it. The guy in the video is all over the road; not a good idea if you can't see what's coming.

That build stand looks quite sturdy. Does that come with the kit or do you make your own?

Certainly, always interested in how these are built. I had a build log on this site and I found it helped me keep things organized and going. "People are expecting me to report, so I guess I'll have to do more" Dan

I've done some research on this, but certainly not enough to be an expert. It is my understanding that, as of the agreement, Westfield's tooling was transferred to Caterham and Westfield agreed to immediately stop selling ".... cars under the name SEVEN, 7, and SUPER SEVEN or of substantially similar appearance...". Furthermore, in Caterham press release of December 1987 (of which there is a copy in the Ortenburger book (Lotus Seven and the Independents), Graham Nearn says "I am satisfied that the new Westfield SE is an independently designed car, that it will not cause confusion in the marketplace and that it will compete with the Caterham 7 on legitimate terms." The Caterham press release was signed by Chris Smith of Westfield.

Well, if you want to split hairs, 'pre-lit' could mean many things. There was Caterham vs Birkin in 1998, Caterham vs Westfield that was resolved in Dec '87, Caterham vs Tiger in 1990, Caterham vs RM Classics in 1992, and Caterham vs Robin Hood in 1994. There is a copy of these in the book: Lotus Seven and the Independents, which also mentions Westfield suing Tiger in 1990. But none of them are after '99, so the ad seems to me to mis-state that. On the other hand, Westfields can be identified by their different cast windshield post compared to the triangular supports on all the others. That feature started in '88 as far as I can tell, and the advertised car has the earlier supports.

Battle of New Orleans? Here's the same tune with different words. WARNING: If you listen to this, you will never get it out of your head.

Boy, it's pretty obvious that Peter Egan is no longer doing these trips and writing for R&T about them. I well remember getting my subscription copy and reading his story about assembling and driving the Westfield Eleven from SoCal to Middle America. Damn I wanted one of those cars.

So, you're a member of the non-jogging, non-tennis philosophy: "If nominated, I will not run. If elected I will not serve." And, XCAR, why would you want to turn a wrench in a really bad way? Now seriously, I think modern public office is something decent people don't want to do.