Davemk1

I've had a mixed experience with TMW and Dick Brink. I bought a used Birkin from him many years ago and very much enjoyed the transaction. Only in time did I discover that there were lots of short cuts taken in the build of the car. It was running well when i sold it but shortly thereafter it developed serious engine trouble that was eventually traced to the MBE ECU having too aggressive timing. Mr. Brink was always very nice to speak with and I met him and very much enjoyed his company. I always felt like I was being treated fairly and honestly. Where the whole thing fell down was on the mechanical side and it took me some time and money to get the whole car sorted. Once done it was wonderful but it was a good amount of work. Unfortunately only luck and timing made it so the next owner of the car was holding the bag when the engine went. I autocrossed the car a lot and a fellow racer loved my car so much he wanted one of his own and on my recommendation (made before my real issues surfaced) he bought a Birkin from TMW. I don't know the details but I know he could never get it running right and that TMW was not able to help him much. In the end he told me he spent more than $8k to get it running as it should and now it's a great car - what it should have been all along. I suppose all of this might be moot. Isn't there a new distributor for Birkin in the USA now......he's in Colorado as I recall. So I anyone would need to do biz with TMW if they didn't want to. I could own a Birkin again in a heartbeat. I built a Westfield last year instead because the timing of the wide body Birkin seemed so uncertain but I wouldn't hesitate to put money in that direction. dave

I hear you. I'll only use these tires for solo so I'm not too concerned about top end. Thanks for your input and thoughts. dave

Thanks - I've got a Westfield and I'm thinking of going with the 20x9-13's for solo work and just wondered what you were running. thanks for the info - dave

Hey Klasik - Can you please tell me what size tires you have on the car in post #14? thank so much! dave

I have the R1R's on my Westfield and I like them very much. Solid in the rain, smooth and not too loud. The grip is vey good and turn-in nice and crisp. I like them a lot. They so far have about 2800 miles on them and are wearing very well and even. Unless they wear much quicker than expected I'd buy them again. dave

I had a set on a Birkin years ago and did not like them at all. They were smooth and quiet while cruising and that is the only thing I liked about them. The wonderful crisp turn-in the car had on most any other tire was gone and they gave the car a vague and crappy feel as if they were very low on air (regardless of the pressure used). For me they were a quick way to take the 'sport' out of a sports car. I'll never buy them again. dave P.S. let's see a photo of the Europa. I love those cars.

I bought mine as a kit and sourced the engine and trans here in the states myself. dave

I ordered a Westfield kit through the US distributor and paid a flat rate for shipping and it landed ay my door. They handle all the paperwork and fees. dave

That works - thanks for the link. dave

When I click on the Stalker banner ad at the top of the page it's a dead link. Does anyone have the current address? dave

Thank you - I'd sure love an aluminum version of that design for my Seven. dave

Was this trailer built by Brunton? dave

I'd love one too. dave

Hey Randy - It's a stunning car...........for sure on my short list. Do you happen to know the front/rear weight ratio of the car? dave

It does help - thank you. About how much room do you have in the rear between the rim edge and the upright hardware? Thanks again, dave

I'd love to know what brand/model of wheels you have and what the backspace is of your wheels. Dave

That's the plan.......13's are defiantly the way to go. Are you running on 13's? If so what wheel width and backspace are you running? It looks like going from the 15's to 13's would require a bit less backspace in the rear to keep the inner edge of the rim from hitting the hardware holding the upright to the A arm. What have you found? dave

A photo shot by the one and only Bob Allen at our last local autocross event of the season........I'm really pleased with how well the car preformed on street tires and really look forward to putting it on slicks next spring and really dropping some time. dave

Hey - I'm sorry that I missed your question so long ago. I bought the Westfield side curtains and full top and they work well and it was a bit time consuming to get a good fit but the end result was worth the effort. I think you can see the size in these photos. Let me know if you have other questions and I'll try to respond in less than a month! Dave

I use Simpsons and like them very much. Five minutes with a seam ripper or razor blade takes off the silly patch on the side and you are left with a simple black shoe that fits very well into a Seven foot well. dave

I owned a Birkin with a Zetec years ago and the footwell was silly hot. I wrapped the headers, insulated the outside of the footbox, put in some sheet metal heat shields and finally put an opening in the forward lower section of the box to push air into the box. It worked pretty well and lowered the temps a lot. dave

I was excited to see the episode but in the end it was a real let down. It seems like that really want to give the impression that it's a vey high tech company.....every segment had some guy doing CAD work as if that CAD work is done each time they build a car. I'm sorry to say I thought it was weak. I've worked in manufacturing for the past 30 years and was hoping to see the shop and not the office or the subcontractors. dave

Ahhh. That makes more sense as the rockers change the leverage ratio. Cool.

Interesting - I would think that maybe they would be 200 in the rear but would expect twice that at least in the front. I think I ran the Birkin I ran years ago on 325's in from and I think my current Westfield has 350's I think. Fun stuff. dave

Hey Don - I know of Lotus guys who have installed prop valves on each circuit and had no trouble with it..........I'll bet you'd be fine. I installed one on the Elise i used to run in the front as the bias was too heavy that way and it worked well. I didn't have one in the rear but I can't see how having one there too would have been an issue. dave