Davemk1

Is the car fitted with an inertia switch? They are designed to cut fuel during an accident and can be triggered by a big jolt. My Lotus Elise had one and my current Westfield is wired for one but I left it off. If you have one all you need to do is reset it and you should be good. dave

I have a good and local friend who is heavily involved with the Kurtis brand and he has a Facebook page dedicated to the brand. If you are on FB it's worth the time - https://www.facebook.com/groups/788669467822168/ dave

The SCCA national rules are still the same....DM is limited to 2.0L and when you go above that you need to run in EM. The tough part is that you need to meet the minimum weight for EM which in most cases will mean a lot of ballast. As I recall the min weight on a Seven type DM is 1420 lbs and for EM it's 1750 lbs. I would expect this means that one would need to add about 300 lbs. I've not tried to do it but i should think that is would be pretty tough to find a place to put 300 lbs of anything in a Birkin. I wonder if you can just bump yourself up to AM to be fair to those running in DM and/or PAX? I'll bet the 2.5 L will be really fun where ever you run it. dave

That sounds like fun. What class will you run it in? have fun! dave

Cool, I completely understand. If you are serious about having a S2000 engine in the car you might reach out to the importer of Westfield - Manik - http://www.manikllc.com/ . There was some talk of them being able to bring in turn-key cars that are ready to drive this year. It's a wonderful car. dave

I'm sure if one is handy and crafty that you could stuff an S2000 drivetrain in most Sevens but I think the Westfield Mega S2000 is the only Seven built to work with the Honda set up from the start. It's a plug and play deal and works very, very well. Here's my car this past fall near my home in Bozeman, Montana. If you have any questions about building a Westfield just let me know. Dave

I owned a Birkin years ago with a solid rear axle and it worked very well as long as the road was smooth. If it was bumpy or ripply you could certainly feel the back end struggling to stay on the floor. If you buy a Birkin with a live axle I would strongly advise changing the track rods out for something with rose jointed ends if it's not already set up that way. My car had the stock rubber metalastic bushings which limit roll and give way too much roll stiffness and make the car very tail happy. I put new rods in and they were better in every way....smoother ride and more predictable handling. I think the first thing to consider is do you want a more traditional Seven type car (Lotus, Birkin, Westfield...etc) or do you want one with a more hot rod type character like a Stalker. They have VERY different characters and feels to them and I think some will love one and not the other. I owned a Birkin many years ago and now have a Westfield and while they are much different in design they have a similar feel and character.....and this feel is certainly my personal preference. As for the quality.....I think most of the quality that you will find in these cars stems from the peson who built it and less from the design. My Birkin was poorly assembled (I bought it used) and it took me a very long time to bring it up to a level I was happy with. I'm a very detailed (anal) guy who builds very high end bicycle frames for a living and the build quality of the Birkin I bought was not up to snuff for me. When I went to get in a Seven type car again I chose the Westfield Mega S2000 and bought it as a complete kit so I could control every little thing about it and now I really enjoy having things be just the way I want them to be. Plus with the Honda S2000 engine running throttle bodies it's very quick and has more than enough power to really make the car move. So.....what type of experience do you think you'd want? Traditional Seven or a Stalker with a V8? dave P.S. - One thing I forgot to mention - if you buy a Birkin with a Zetec the exhaust is on the driver's side and I found that very tiring on a hot day. All that noise right at hip level along with the heat was a bit of a bummer for me personally. When I went shopping for a second Seven it was down to the Birkin with a Duratec of the Westfield with the Honda S2000 because both put the exhaust out on the passenger side. So nice not to have to worry about stepping over that hot thing between autocross runs!

I don't know enough about the properties of aluminum to speak intelligently but it seems odd that the heat of powder coating would affect the hardness of the wheels. Powder coat typically needs to run at 425° - 450° to get the epoxy in the powder to do its thing and it seems surprising that this would be hot enough to change the molecular structure of the alloy. Does anyone here know enough about aluminum to say for sure? dave

I would think the tire brand/model/compound would factor in as much as the width. Do you know what tires you will be using? dave

Is there a lower profile cap that you can fit? Lower motor mounts that can drop the whole lump down enough? dave

When I suspected the dry collar I decided to do a diagnostic test first. I strongly suspected the clutch needed replacing anyway but didn't want to jump right into it as I had some time left in my short driving season.....so....I sprayed some spray grease into the area through the slave cylinder opening. I knew this would compromise the clutch but did't care as it needed to be replaced anyway. It took some creative spraying but once I figured it out and got some of the grease on the sliding collar the resistance went way down. The spray grease is crap and didn't last long but it told me what I needed to know. FWIW my clutch felt like it sounds yours does.....even take up and "normal" aside from the very high effort. I assume Westfield had given me the wrong size master but that wasn't the case in the end. Frankly the design is weak......you spread grease on the parts and they are exposed to air so the grease dries and wears out in time. My engine is from 2001 so that grease had sat in there drying for 15 years. That is a long time to expect it to do its job. if yours has never been apart I've got $100 that says the grease is toast and the collar is scored. It's super easy to fix once you are in there and Honda stocks the parts. While you're in there replace the stock flywheel with a lightweight Fidenza version and it will really allow it to spin up quickly. I'd plan on pulling it out sooner rather than later. dave

I hear you. That is what I found on my S2000 too (see post 3 above). I look forward to hearing who the OP's deal works out. dave

I use this engine and trans in my Westfield and when I first built the car the engine had 70,000 miles on it. I put it in the car and it was so hard to push the clutch that I thought it was broken. It turned out to function just fine but it was very stiff to push and I too suspected the size of the master might not be a good match to the slave. I'll save you the rest of the story but I ended up taking the engine and trans out for other reasons and when I looked at the throwout bearing I could see the issue. The Honda throwout slides on a collar and this collar is supposed to have a special Honda grease on it and mine was bone dry and badly galled. I replaced it and used the proper grease and the pedal effort was much, much lower. Now it feels normal and good. So.....it's certainly possible that yours is the same way and that all that pedal effort is being put into grinding the bearing in/out on the collar. Something to check. I hope that helps. Dave

Windage tray not in place? dave

I owned a live-axle Birkin years ago and autox'd it a lot. It had an open diff and spun the inside wheel all the time. I put a quaife in it and it worked perfectly. No wheel spin and no understeer. After the first few solo runs I forgot about it. I've driven, but never owned, a few cars with welded diffs and they just flat out sucked. Unpredictable rear end behavior but totally predictable front end push during acceleration. It sounds like Quaife doesn't offer their LSD anymore? Is that right? That would be a bummer. I'd search long and hard for one. dave

I'm using the Mintex 1144 and like them very much. Great cold bite and not fade. I've not tracked them, only autox and street. dave

Thanks for the interest - they are sold and paid for. dave

I returned your PM - dave

For sale - one pair of genuine made-in-England Brooklands screens. I used these for a short time years ago on a Birkin and loved them. When I sold the car they got wrapped up and put in a box and I forgot about them. I was cleaning and came across them and now they need to find a new home. I would say the condition is a 9+ out of 10. The finish on the metal parts is as new and the glass is spotless. I'd say they are perfect but nothing is....but they are close. All mounting hardware is of course included. I'd like $130 for the pair shipping included to any place in the lower 48 states. I can ship further and the price will need to be adjusted. Payment via paypal please. Thanks for looking, dave

This guy makes them......very well made and a fair price for carbon I think. dave http://www.carbon-nv.co.uk/

A fall sunset photo of my Westfield taken near my home in Bozeman....winter is coming. dave

I have a Westfield that uses the S2000 engine and trans and it suits the car perfectly. Mine has all stock internals and ITB's that bump the power up some. Currently it's putting 220 hp to the wheels and so far it's not given me any trouble at all. I just love it. dave

My sense is that unless your caster is very low that you have more camber than is optimum. I would want to autoX the car or set up a slalom and run it and take tire temps across the width of the tire tread. My money says that you will find that the insides are a good bit warmer than the outside and that you aren't effectively using the entire width of the tire. dave

Yes....D Mod is limited to 2.0L and if you go above that you'd be bumped to EM. I don't recall the exact min weight for E Mod but I think you are very close with your guess of 1700. dave

Good deal! dave