NVP66S Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Back to sheet metal work. At this stage, it's easy for two people to flip it over. Sure beats working from underneath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce K Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Back to sheet metal work. At this stage, it's easy for two people to flip it over. Sure beats working from underneath. fantastic work on that westfield. one could guess your aeronautic background after perusing the precise rivet alignments, perfect bends in the brake lines and so on. another thing i've noticed about you mile high guys: you think not only analytically, but sequentially (for example, the handbrake issue). must come from all the checkoffs you guys perform before every wheels-up. but one point of disagreement regarding that "adequate" total of 144 mazda bhp in your featherweight seven: it will not be enough. it will never be enough. this point will be corroborated by everyone. challenge me. you will see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikker Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 You loose the bet, I think it is just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 fantastic work on that westfield. one could guess your aeronautic background after perusing the precise rivet alignments, perfect bends in the brake lines and so on. another thing i've noticed about you mile high guys: you think not only analytically, but sequentially (for example, the handbrake issue). Thanks for the accolades, but the handbrake early installation came from Flyin' Miata's build diary and the straight rows of rivets come from the predrilled holes in the precut sheets from Westfield. There are other issues with the kit, (It's not perfect!) but I'll get to them later. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 . . . . but one point of disagreement regarding that "adequate" total of 144 mazda bhp in your featherweight seven: it will not be enough. it will never be enough. this point will be corroborated by everyone. challenge me. you will see. I'll admit, HP is addictive. But truly, it's the inherent 'fun' factor of such a car that really shines. HP aside, the pure joy of a unique driving experience will be what causes Dan to continually pick bugs from between his teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboWood Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I love it, arguing about what is more fun the 0.1% or the 0.01% of car performance. I imagine even fred flinstone would have a fun "drive". Having said that, I'm questioning if 144x2 is enough. Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancylad Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 So is your car one in the silly photo in front of the really big dump truck? I love that photo. Yes, that's my fun machine. It's got the 1.9 Ford cvh and I can get in all sorts of trouble with just that little engine on board...glad you like the pic, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Still in February, here are 2 more photos of the chassis upon its side. The first shows some of the Miata wiring loom. There's a lot of tape to remove. The second photo shows the fuel lines going in. There are 3 lines that run fore/aft, the fuel supply from the rear-mounted pump, the return from the regulator, and the charcoal can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 I'm amazed at the difference in a Westfield build vs a Caterham build. Yours is truly a "build". The Caterham assembly is more like putting together a model than a build. I could never have done what you're doing. That's going to be a great car as you obviously have the skill and patience to do it right. Great job! I hope Dave Kirk is taking notes for his upcoming build. :seeya: Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemk1 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 I'm amazed at the difference in a Westfield build vs a Caterham build. Yours is truly a "build". The Caterham assembly is more like putting together a model than a build. I could never have done what you're doing. That's going to be a great car as you obviously have the skill and patience to do it right. Great job! I hope Dave Kirk is taking notes for his upcoming build. :seeya: Tom I've been watching this build and some of the others happening over at the Westfield forum. It's cool to see the different ways some folks are handling the running of brake and fuel lines. I'm told my kit should arrive here in Montana at the end of the month and then the build will begin. I have my engine and trans nearly ready to drop in place and fully inspected and it looks like it should run well and make some good numbers. I can't wait.......... dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 (edited) I'm amazed at the difference in a Westfield build vs a Caterham build. Yours is truly a "build". The Caterham assembly is more like putting together a model than a build. I could never have done what you're doing. That's going to be a great car as you obviously have the skill and patience to do it right. Great job! I hope Dave Kirk is taking notes for his upcoming build. :seeya: Tom Yeah, the 7 family seems to have an entire spectrum of build/buy choices. On one end is the Locost where you build everything and design a lot yourself. On the other end are turnkey cars. I think I found the middle ground that suits me best. Here's a similar angle shot with the brake and fuel lines done. Pop rivets and 'P' clips both supplied with the kit. You can just barely see the pedal box mounted. And speaking of the pedal box, it comes nicely assembled with an aluminum AP Racing clutch master. Too bad the location is wrong. Maybe it fits the S2000 donor, but with the Mazda clutch slave, the master needs to move up an inch to get the correct force & stroke. The 2nd photo shows it moved. Edited April 5, 2014 by NVP66S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fimi 7 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Nice log. Need to ask a favor. Can you post a few photos of the westfield Miata front wheel wings. I made my own and have had issues with them coming lose. What I am trying to understand is how they built the brackets to bolt to the hub and hold on the wings Anyone else has photos please share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Nethercote Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 There are various threads and photos over on Locost USA showing successful (and unsuccessful) cycle wing mounts. For example http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=14364 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Nice log. Need to ask a favor. Can you post a few photos of the westfield Miata front wheel wings. I made my own and have had issues with them coming lose. What I am trying to understand is how they built the brackets to bolt to the hub and hold on the wings Anyone else has photos please share I should be able to post photos tomorrow night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 Nice log. Need to ask a favor. Can you post a few photos of the westfield Miata front wheel wings. I made my own and have had issues with them coming lose. What I am trying to understand is how they built the brackets to bolt to the hub and hold on the wings Anyone else has photos please share Yes, WF uses the Miata front & rear uprights, and yes, they supply nice fender stays. Sorry about the black on black, but I derusted my uprights and painted them. The upper attach is a flat bar running between the two stay tubes. The bar mounts to the underside of the upper ball joint. The lower attach picks up the lower caliper bolt. Quite the nice installation. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share Posted April 8, 2014 I'm traveling so no continuous net access. The next build step was to hang the front & rear suspension. The WF and Mazda parts work well together with few questions or problems. Of course it helped that I got a phone call from this guy: http://www.ronmathis.com/ He said he was bored on Sunday and did I want any help on my WF project? I couldn't turn that down and I have no worries the steering rack and suspension went on right. The only problem was some of the rear A-arm bushings needed to be reamed to fit the attach bolts. No problem as it could be done with a hand pistol drill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Ron Mathis seems like an amazingly knowledgeable guy. Surprised he dropped out of nowhere to help (Does he have a cape?). I will probably buy his book. Suspension looks beautiful, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share Posted April 8, 2014 Suspension looks beautiful, btw. Thanks, I have about 110 hours logged on donor removal and refurbishment stuff, like derusting and painting the uprights and grinding off the forging flash. The rear bearings sounded a bit unhappy so I took the rear uprights to an independent car repair shop to have new bearings pressed in. "They're off my '97 Miata" was good enough for them. The Mazda dealership refused the job, saying they only do that if I bring the car in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 The next step was to drop the engine/trans into the chassis. This part went fast and painless. WF supplies motor mounts and the only problem was that the cleft side hassis mount holes were off about 1/2 inch. So I just drilled another set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Here's the left side mount showing the extra hole pattern. And the right side that just dropped into place. The WF only has 3 inches of ground clearance to the oil pan, so I added the two 1/4 inch spacers on each side. That adds 1/2 inch without needing any other mods. I made the spacers from some 2024-T3 scrap I found. Plenty overkill on the strength but not so corrosion resistant. So out came the yellow Rust-Oleum and the airbrush again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now