MY WESTFIELD BUILD
Stage 1
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Welcome to my build site all you motoring enthusiasts.This part of my website is designed to show a stage by stage build up of my Westfield Seight .It is intended to show people what is involved in building a kitcar and ultimately realizing a dream. My story starts in 1998 I had been thinking about a kitcar for some years and always liked the Lotus Seven inspired sportscars .But also I had a passion for big V8 engines, there's just something about a V8,power, torque and of course that big V8 exhaust note!! It was with this in mind that I visited the Westfield factory where I was duly treated to a tour of the premises and a ride in their factory demonstrator,"I was smitten",It was brutal!! everything I dreamt it would be. So, after a lot of deliberation I finally plucked up the courage to make the first step. It was on the 4th of may 1998 at Stoneleigh kitcar show that I put down my deposit and ordered modules 1 and 2 of my "Westfield Seight". Five weeks later I received the rolling chassis (pictured). |
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Chassis as delivered but in this shot I have started to fit the wiring loom . As electrics are not my strongpoint I took my time with this !
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The body meanwhile was stored outside with the nosecone,cycle wings,scuttle etc. distributed all over the house.(Oh my long suffering wife!!) |
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The diff.(3.36:1) was bolted into position, allowing me then to install the driveshafts and petrol tank. Then onto the fuel pump and speedo sensor (clever device this , it detects the drive shaft bolts going past and sends signals to the speedo!). |
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"Then started the dirty bit" I obtained an old Rover SD1. |
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and I (with the help of Brenda my wife) removed the engine and gearbox. |
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To say the engine was in a mess was an understatement. Grease, filth and smelly oil everywhere(and I do mean everywhere!! hands, arms, living room carpet... oops!) |
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Stripping the engine did'nt exactly fill me with hope so I decided to do a complete re-build. I stripped it completely before having it rebored and cleaned. (no I'm not strong its a light ally block). |
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I used the bare block to find out where to drill the gearbox mounting holes. |
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After the gearbox mounts were sorted out the engine re-build could start properly. "Where do these wiggly bits go? I took the opportunity to use the Vitesse pistons for a better compression ratio 9.75:1 as opposed to 9.35:1. I also the replaced the standard camshaft for a Viper Hurricane cam (extra 20-25 b.h.p. from Real Steel.) |
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