So, tell us a little about yourselves

[Grady]

Joined to look at a WCM S2k for sale, made the deal and waiting on the car to ship. 

Edited July 13 by Grady

[Vovchandr]

14 hours ago, Grady said:

Joined to look at a S2k for sale, made the deal and waiting on the car to ship. 

 

Did you join the right site if you were looking for an S2K?

 

What did you end up getting?

[Grady]

Deleted

Edited July 2 by Grady

[Grady]

33 minutes ago, Vovchandr said:

 

Did you join the right site if you were looking for an S2K?

 

What did you end up getting?

 

Apologize forgot to put the WCM in front of the S2k.  Purchased the yellow one listed on this site. 

Edited July 2 by Grady

[Grady]

Took a while for shipping but it made it!

[IamScotticus]

@Carz01

How are you getting on with the BDR?

Is that  4 spd I see?

[Carz01]

On 7/20/2024 at 11:05 PM, IamScotticus said:

@Carz01

How are you getting on with the BDR?

Is that  4 spd I see?

Ah the BDR is moving along. It is a 4-sp. I’ve been checking the car, oil change, taking some drives in the area, seems to be pretty well sorted, Based on my limited knowledge. It is a hoot to drive, and what a great symphony of sound! I forgot how much I like RHD. There are a couple of things I’m trying to better understand but more on that later

[slowdude]

11 hours ago, Carz01 said:

Ah the BDR is moving along. It is a 4-sp. I’ve been checking the car, oil change, taking some drives in the area, seems to be pretty well sorted, Based on my limited knowledge. It is a hoot to drive, and what a great symphony of sound! I forgot how much I like RHD. There are a couple of things I’m trying to better understand but more on that later

Oh man she's looking good. Perfect for a blast on ocean drive

[GLBaxter]

Ah, a little late to the party, but here it goes anyway.

 

I recently bought a 1997 Westfield SEiW that appearance wise is quite attractive.  It's bright red with a light tan interior, special seats from Westfield and a recent ceramic coating which improves the looks enormously.  OK, so I'm a sucker for a pretty car, but then who isn't?  I live in N. Va, and the car was located in Iowa, so I had a heck of a time getting it to the house.  I decided to rent a U-Haul car carrier, which weighs 2200 lbs.  That, and the car (appx. 1300 lbs) add up to 3500 lbs.  I drive a Toyota Tacoma, so while I was well beneath the allowable capacity, I also had to figure in the mountainous regions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, W. Virginia and western Md.  The Taco did fine though the mileage plummeted, but it handled it OK.  It was NOT a fun 16-hour drive especially since I started at appx. 4 PM.  I made it home though safely and the car was unharmed.

 

Mechanically it's a nice 7, but it does need a little work.  The carbs (twin Weber 40 DCOE's) have not been tuned nor sync'd in quite a while.  Now that is something that I can sink my teeth into.  I'm a retired mechanical / software engineer (a lot of us on this forum!), so two kits are on the way which is right up my alley.  The car is leaking a little oil which requires a lift which I don't have.  I'm letting someone else take care of that for me.  Also, the muffler is essentially a damn near 30-year-old glass pack, so any fiberglass packing has gone the way of the dodo.  Still looking to get a Raceco muffler (silencer to you Brits), but so far, I've not received any feedback from them in spite of my persistent efforts.  I am nothing if not tenacious.

 

I finally got the thing registered and have my tags and title on the way, but I'm allowed to drive around on a temporary tag.  It's a blast to drive and all sorts of thumbs-up, miles and the like.  For having a researched 120 HP, it's actually quite lively, though very loud.  

 

Bottom line, like most of you guys (and gals?), I'm smitten with it and look for reasons to take it out and run some errands, necessary or not.  My friends think I've lost it, but I'm still grinning like an assassin, but this is a normal response to the 7's.

 

While this was built by Westfield in 1997 and subsequently imported, it's certainly not a new car, but then used ones tend to have their own personalities, so I plan on getting used to this one over time, something that I'm sure I will enjoy.

 

More to follow!

 

Greg

 

 

 

 

 

[Austin David]

you're right, that is quite attractive

[Croc]

I know another red Westfield conneiseur on USA7s    
@JohnCh 

[JohnCh]

5 minutes ago, Croc said:

I know another red Westfield conneiseur on USA7s    

I reached out to Greg almost 3 weeks ago   

 

1 hour ago, GLBaxter said:

Still looking to get a Raceco muffler (silencer to you Brits), but so far, I've not received any feedback from them in spite of my persistent efforts.  I am nothing if not tenacious.

 

Good call on the Raceco.  I had no trouble getting in touch with them a couple of years ago, but not much luck lately.  Let me know if persistence pays off.  

[David Hansen]

Greetings from the great PNW.

 

Much like a lot of you I have been looking off and on for a bit now to find the right kind of car for me.  I wanted something of a project, maybe a little unkempt but with good bones.  I was ok with seven-ish and not ready to make a big plunge and go and buy something new like a Caterham yet.  I prefer the simplicity of older cars and that is why I have felt that siren song of the seven. (say that 7 times fast).

 

I have spent different times working very hard to find a car and missed out on a few in my range of mechanically sound (mostly) and just grubby enough and in the right ballpark price wise and the right timing.  The stars finally aligned this last week.

 

Let's be clear that I would not be here typing this today without this website so big props to Croc and his never ending scouring of the interwebs to find these cars and putting them all in one place for dreamers like myself can go out and finally find one.  

 

Big thanks as well to JohnCh who was kind enough to jump in and give me some low down details on the Westfield's of the Bob Yarwood vintage builds.  Thank you!

 

Over time I considered a number of cars and tried to put a deal together for a pre-lit Westfield out in Connecticut (I am in Oregon) and another up in Seattle only to find my new to me Westy in a town about 7 miles away from my home.  Crazy you say - it can happen!

 

Like any of us who purchase and care for these cars the PO was bit of a character in a good way, an engineer and a tinkerer. By the time I stumbled on to the Facebook Marketplace add it has been up for 3+ weeks and it had not sold.  Part of me thought maybe something majorly wrong?  Presented poorly?  I had to find out myself.

 

The PO spent about zero minutes cleaning up the car.  Zero.  Dusty, carpets needed a good vacuum and the interior was in need of a good scrub.  This kind of grubby was right in my wheelhouse.  He was very proud (and deservedly so) of the new fuel injection system he put on the car and was very excited to show to me and explain it.

 

I was patient and listened gleaning bits of data on whether or not I could trust this bit of work and hearing more of the right bits to feel confident it was solid.  Four individual throttle bodies sourced from a Suzuki Hayabusa, port fuel injection (with recently cleaned / tested injectors), custom fuel rail machined by him,  wideband O2 sensor and a Megasquirt ECU running the show.  It started immediately and ran nearly perfect from what could ascertain.

 

The owner had a number of folks out to see the car initially and he was being very firm on price and they all ended up fading away.  Secretly I don't think their "potential new owner" interviews went too well.  Some demanded log books of maintenance and were turned off by the general appearance and or his unwillingness to let you test drive his baby (but he was willing to take for a rip down his favorite country road).   All the tire kickers and seven owner wannabes faded to the background.

 

I visited 3 times (it was close to home after all) and each time conversations got a bit more cordial, me asking the right questions and gaining trust.  

 

We had a few concerning issues, an oil leak and rear CV boots starting to crack and die from age.

 

My last visit as we were getting down to brass tacks we had the car up in the air a bit with me crawling underneath (jack stands!) to ascertain the potential cause.  Me figuring worst case rear main seal but wanted a look there regardless.  

 

She (the car) was obviously unhappy about potentially changing hands because she left puddle on the driveway where we rolled the car out to do the underbelly inspection.  This was clearly to my advantage given the situation given this was beyond just a wet spot in the garage where the old car had been parked for more than a decade.

 

Me - offering that I would be happy at a number around 10% off.

Him - saying he would be much happier at around 5% off.

Me - given all the know issues and possible unknown issues (it is a 34 year old car after all) I am good at 10% off

him - so you would take the car at your price and walk at my price

me - yes

him  - ok he would go talk to the boss

me - great

 

I departed and headed home for some family obligations and I got a text from the owner stating he wanted the 5% discount price.  I texted back "ok- thanks" and let him stew.  This is the fun part of the negotiation - who blinks first.  He clearly did not have anyone else on the hook at the moment and it had been weeks on marketplace and I had spent the time and passed the "interview".

 

A few hours later I responded back I would be happy to pay his asking price (5% off) if he would address both the oil leak and the cv boots.

 

I quickly got a response that my offer in a cashiers check would be great and a deal was sealed.  I did a proper test drive and handed over the check.  

 

Upon arrival home I started my list of items to be addressed.

 

Water pump is failing - sounds like it has gravel for bearings and I sourced a new one for $45 (yeah)

 

Oil leaks - turns out if you don't properly tighten down your oil filter it will spew everywhere and create a terrible mess.  Judicious use of dollar store citrus cleaner in a pump sprayer and power washer will clean away all your sins.  Fresh oil and filter and I have yet to see a drop of oil from this engine - amazing!

 

Pod air filters for the throttle bodies looking tired - amazon to the rescue

 

Brakes - will swap fluid and unknown pad type.  These are the Ford M16 calipers and I will be happy to take recommendations here on pad types for front and rear.

 

Tires and wheels - I am not 100% sold on the 15" wheels and the tires have aged out and will go soon.  I am thinking 13" - 14" minilights or panasport type wheels unless I can find some other 4 x 108 wheels that are interesting.  Not many choices in small sizes these days for either wheels or tires so not sure my direction yet.

 

Condition - early Saturday morning I spent about 20 min with some Spray Away cleaner and a microfiber towel or two and it was 80% better looking.  Still not polished but significantly better.  I also did the same on the interior and the grubbiness started to fade away.   Once I get the mechanicals sorted here shortly the buffer will come out to play and I am guessing a large majority of the scratches will disappear.

 

So there is my story - happy to finally be one of the team and again thanks to those who have reached out and been supportive in the journey.

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnCh]

@David Hansen great to see we were able to corrupt another person into ownership!

[IamScotticus]

Nice.  A Crossflow?

[David Hansen]

Yes a crossflow  - purportedly 1700 but I am uncertain how one would verify this (1600 vs 1700cc).

 

 

[GLBaxter]

So, are you going to pull the hood off and show the mighty ITBs for us to drool over?

 

Mine (a 97 FYI) does have a 1700 but w/ 2 Weber side drafts.  They're tuning up is number 3 on my list of ToDos, done the 1st two (almost!).  Any idea what kind of rear wheel HP you're getting out of your setup?  I like it a lot, but as per usual, I could use another oh, say 200 HP or so.  Yeah, I'm dreaming a lot but what the hey, it can happen?

 

Also, is that a stock muffler and if so, does it have any acoustic filler still in existence?

 

BTW, all should go to JohnCh's ThrottleSteer blog.  He's got a nice (though way too short) video of himself launching his Westfield w/ a slightly modified Duratec.  It's impressive.

[panamericano]

Congratulations.  Nice looking car.  Ditto the wanna see the intake.

[David Hansen]

ok - here you go and thanks for the opportunity to go out to the barn and appreciate my good fortune to find this car in my back yard...

 

It is all very tidy.

 

My plan is to go to the local tuner I know well and have them give it a rip on the dyno and make sure we are all in good tune and nothing dangerous has been programmed into the mix.  Megasquirt!

[SENC]

Nice!  And congratulations!