ProfGriff

As suspected, I have a bad cylinder due to broken rings. I just have the head off, but it looks like the cyl. walls may clean up with a good hone. If not, it will be time for an overbore and new pistons. I've decided to bite the bullet and do all the changes I want to the car while it's apart. That includes a cycle fender conversion, new seats (Kirkey road race?), wideband AFR gauge, MSD, elect. disconnect, etc. etc. I also have my new Revolution wheels on the way. This may have me screwed for this season (I do have other projects on the go too), but when it's done it will be done the way I want. The encouraging thing is that the 7 was a blast to drive even with a dodgy clutch and down on power. It will be amazing when I get it up to its real potential. Cheers! Phil

Well, I finally got around to pulling the engine yesterday. It went really well. 3-1/2 hours from start to finish for the two of us with a third helper on the hoist. I could probably do it faster now that I've done it once. It helps greatly with angling the engine out to have the rear of the car higher than the front. The clutch problem was obvious once I had separated the tranny. The friction material on the flywheel side of the clutch had sheared almost completely off the clutch disc. I'll be looking into some other clutch options from Burton. The bad news is that it looks like #1 cyl is using oil. This didn't really show up when reading the plugs, but I can see in the #1 exhaust port that there are lots of oil deposits there. I suspect a broken ring or two. I'll have to pull the head and have a look inside. Cheers Phil

Thanks. I'm sure that's possible, but I'll put up with the mileage penalty for the D'Ellortos. There's nothing quite like the sound of one barrel per cylinder, and once the RPMs hit about 3K, It pulls HARD to 7-7.5K. My Westie is mostly a track and auto-x car, but I do drive it on the street some. I have a great twisty, smoothly paved road near my place, so that's where I go for "testing". It sure freaks out the ol' boys when I show up for a local cars 'n coffee too. I think I am going to do an AFR guage. I do really like the look of the Innovate one, although it does look slightly bigger than the std. 2-1/8 dia. I have to learn how to tune these carbs at some point, so the AFR guage should help.

This looks like a good idea. I have no idea of how the D'Ellorto 48's are set up on my 7, other than that they seem to work great. This would give me half a clue, and I like that you can data log too. I'm sure they're set up pretty fat, as my fuel mileage is horrendous for such a tiny car. Cheers Phil

Oh, it won't be back on the road on Monday. It will be the first of May up here in Canuckistan before I even think of pulling the 7 out of the garage. I will do a compression and leak down test before I pull the engine, so that will give me a pretty good idea of its condition. I will also check the timing, because right now I have no idea what it is. I will have a buddy who is the best mechanic I know helping me on the weekend, so hopefully it goes OK. Thanks to everyone for their input. I'll keep all y'all posted on how it goes. Cheers! Phil

That's kinda what I had in mind. I even picked up a leveller already. Strangely, my T9 does not have a drain plug, so I'm thinking of adding one while it's out. Pulling the engine would give me an excuse to pull the head and have a look inside. The engine only has about 3000 mi. since a re-build by the original owner/builder. I may re-seal it and do the "Craigslist Re-Build" while it's out too. Thanks! Phil

It's finally time to change the clutch in my Westie. I launched it a little too hard at an autocross last summer and the clutch no longer releases fully. I'm wondering if it's easiest to just drop the tranny, or to pull the engine and tranny as an assembly like my MGB? I'm doing this on the floor of my tiny garage without a lift, but I do have an engine hoist. The powertrain is a SOHC Ford (Pinto) and T9. I'm hoping to take advantage of a warm spell this weekend when it's not minus a jillion degrees in the garage. Any and all input is appreciated. Cheers Phil

PM sent.

My Westfield uses Ford hubs so it's 4 on 108mm. It's currently sitting on Fox Body Mustang 10 hole aluminum wheels with 18 yr old street tires. I put the race tires on the 5 spoke Penta wheels it came with. Revolution can custom drill blank wheels for most bolt patterns. My set of 15x7s came to about $1300 Cdn. including lug nuts. caps, and shipping. Cheers Phil

Thanks Dave, great looking Westie! That must fly with the S2000. I have my eye on an S2000 powertrain that a friend was going to use in a Bugatti replica, but can't finish due to health reasons. Not that I'm complaining about how mine goes with a ~190HP 2.1 SOHC Ford and T9! Cheers Phil

Fer sher! I'm running a black stripe down the whole car, so I think that will set off these nicely! Cheers!

I'm all excited. I just ordered a set of these Revolutions in 15x7. They should be here in 3 or 4 weeks. Cheers Phil

I pondered on this for a while after I bought my 7 last year. 13's have a definite advantage for autocross, but you are limited for tire choice unless you go to Hoosiers. If you get the right compound, Hoosiers will definitely out perform Toyo's or Falkens. Me, I decided to go with 205/50s on 15x7's because of the greater tire choice, and it's also what I'm running on the street. Also, I'm cheap, and my Maxxis RC-1s were waaay cheaper than Hoosiers. I can also use the RC-1s for track days and not totally use them up.

I blew the clutch in my 7 at a competition event this summer, and hope someone with a similar set-up might have suggestions. My 7 is a 92 Westie SEiW with a 2.1l SOHC Ford and T9. The engine is fully prepped with 11.5:1 compression, a ported head, twin 48 Dellorto's and a BIG Kent cam, ~190 HP. I don't know what clutch is in it now, because it's not apart yet. There's a lot of choices in the Burton catalog, I'm just wondering if anyone is running something similar for street/track and might have suggestions. As an added note, My Westie runs a stock Sierra S IRS rear with 3.55's (I think) and the factory LSD. Burton has a very good deal on a Quaife LSD for the 7" Ford, and with the exchange on the UK pound these days, it's an even better deal. Should I just shut up and do it? Thanks Phil

@lostincomplexity I watched that auction with keen interest. There's some good advice here. I say change the clutch with what the Tilton dealer suggests, and try the car as is. Go from there. Congrats on what must be a beast of a 7! Enjoy!

I run VR-1 in my street/track Westfield and my '72 MGB GT summer daily. My local guy gives me a deal on a case. Rotella works great in my LR Disco tow vehicle and winter daily. Cheers

@SENC I have a 98 Disco1 that I rescued from a barn after it had been sitting for 8 years. It needed some major rust repair on the frame, floor, and inner fenders, as well as electrical repairs mostly due to corroded connectors and bad previous "repairs". I doubt that that is of any concern with your LR3 since you are in NC. Here on the right coast of Canuckistan, everything rusts. Other than that, I can't really help you, as I know basically zilch about LR3s. I will say that once I got the Disco sorted, it's been rock solid reliable. It just turned 100K miles. I tow my 7 on a car dolly with it. Cheers Phil

I'm not sure the deal with Toyo USA, but here in Canuckistan, the ETA for all Toyo R comps is JULY. That's why I ended up with the Maxxis, and they are now sold out also, at least in 205/50-15's.

Fantastic John, thank you so much! Alignment is so key. I'm going to start with this set up. I'll not drive it on the street that much anyway, so why compromise. My street tires are what came on the car, and are old, crappy, and hard as hockey pucks, but still full tread depth. (See pic) I don't care how they wear. Incidentally, Fox body Mustang 10 hole 15x7 rims fit perfectly on our SEiW's with just a 1/4 in spacer. They're heavy and kind of ugly, but that's what I'll run on the street. I got a mint set in trade for a dozen beer from a friend, so it's hard to argue about the price. Plus, I got to drink at least half of those beers. :-) Cheers Phil

I'm hoping I can find some good advice here. I'm planning to Auto-X and track my Westie 7 that I bought last fall. I had ordered some Toyo R88R's but they weren't going to arrive until June, so I just bought a set of Maxxis RC-1s in 205/50-15 because they were cheap and in stock in Canada. Ultimately, I'm probably going to 13"s but this will have to do for this year. I will probably do a couple of track days as well, plus drive it on the street a bit, but I have the street tires that came with it. The car is set up with a totally street alignment at the moment. I'm thinking of starting with -2.5 camber in front and -1.25 in back, with zero toe in front and slight toe in for the back. Does this sound reasonable? I do have access to an old school optical alignment rack, so I can get reasonable accuracy here. Any advice or suggestions would be super helpful. Cheers! Phil

I just tow mine with a homemade car dolly. The 7 on a dolly is light enough to not need trailer brakes anyway, at least with my LR Disco. I do like SENC's idea, the Disco would look pretty cool going down the road with the 7 on the roof! Cheers Phil

Sign me up for the full emblem. I'll PM you. Cheers Phil

Thanks Edger!

Too late! :-)

Hey that sounds great Dave. Drop me a line when you're back. Cheers! Phil