With the half hood fitted and the forecast rain appearing to be drizzle I decided to have my first run out in questionable weather. First leg was taking James out to West Coker then over to Yetminster to pick up Allanah from dance. Once back home, Tricia had finished work and we went for drive out to East Chinnock to look at a new estate car for her then back home and Myles and I went out for another drive North of Yeovil.
All agreed that the half hood is a success - keeping out the weather, noise and also turning the heater into something other than ballast. Ingress/egress was a challenge for most and very entertaining as we each worked out the best way for each of us.
Best of all the 3 central instruments fogged up and then eventually cleared having got quite warm hopefully on a longer run the rev counter and speedo will clear too.
Another 50ish miles covered and no need for woolly hats/gloves/coats..........................
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Friday, 8 February 2013
Budget Review - a sobering event
After much discussion with Tricia about the cost of the car I thought it was time to check overall spend against the original budget which was £18,000. Tricia has maintained all along that I would spend at least £20,000 and I have constantly denied that it was even close.
So here's the damage:
(the kit & options bought from Westfield during a 15% discount)
So, on the face of it Tricia is claiming victory however, I believe all the *d items shouldn't count as the TB upgrade was an addition due to an unexpected bonus payment, I needed 2/3rds of the tools, she has a private number plate on her car, road fund licence and insurance shouldn't count hence I claim that the final figure is £20,047.96 minus £2,673.50 therefore £17,374.46 and therefore I'm under budget. The final compromise is that the TBs and 2/3rds of the tools still count but, I can exclude the rest, hence the final cost against budget is £18,877.96, there is probably >£100 that I've failed to record! and therefore.......................... we we're both right and wrong by roughly the same margin.
However, so far it's been worth every penny with 700 miles of fun so far plus a trip to France/Belgium planned for the summer and, to put it into context, it's less than the depreciation so far on Tricia's tin top!
Finally, Myles decided to change the background on the blog. He thinks its Mount Everest and that the rain drops make the Westfield look better! :) (or perhaps more realistic!!!!!)
So here's the damage:
(the kit & options bought from Westfield during a 15% discount)
| Sport FW Special Edition | £13,217.54 | |
| Chassis build stands | £48.50 | |
| Westfield Front & Rear Calipers - upgrade | £303.82 | |
| 205 T1R tyres - upgrade | £65.09 | |
| Heater Kit | £217.01 | |
| 4 Point Harness | £56.41 | |
| 12V Socket | £10.62 | |
| Wide Track Wishbones - upgrade | £173.61 | |
| Sport Turbo Seats - upgrade | £260.41 | |
| RAC Rollover Bar - upgrade | £96.23 | |
| Throttle Body - upgrade | £1,190.00 | * |
| Carbon Effect Headlight - upgrade | £83.33 | |
| Hood Trim | £26.27 | |
| Side Screens | £253.01 | |
| Tools | £950.00 | * |
| Cockpit Cover | £54.95 | |
| Copper Grease | £6.47 | |
| Rivnuts | £12.50 | |
| Stainless Allen Bolts | £13.90 | |
| Tool Oil | £8.20 | |
| Hi Level Rear Brake Light | £36.00 | |
| Alloy Steering Rack Clamp | £28.20 | |
| Heat Shrink tubing | £4.09 | |
| LED Indicator Repeaters | £12.00 | |
| Convoluted Tubing | £20.96 | |
| Rear Diffuser | £110.00 | |
| Cable Ties | £7.00 | |
| Sikaflex | £11.00 | |
| Fibre Glass Repair | £8.00 | |
| Plastic Bolts | £5.90 | |
| Thread Lock | £3.00 | |
| Torque stripe | £6.00 | |
| Carbon Fibre Stone Guards | £168.00 | |
| 1/2 Hood | £306.00 | |
| Alpha D steering wheel & Q/Release | £325.00 | |
| Misc consumables | £50.00 | |
| IVA | £450.00 | |
| IVA Fuel | £60.00 | |
| Private Registration | £405.00 * | |
| Registration | £275.00 * | |
| build insurance | £218.95 | |
| Petrol (3 Mar 12) | £45.00 | |
| Van Hire (9 May 12) | £88.00 | |
| Van diesel | £60.00 | |
| MOT & Alignment | £130.00 | |
| 1st Years insurance | £167.00 | * |
| Grand Total | £20,047.96 |
So, on the face of it Tricia is claiming victory however, I believe all the *d items shouldn't count as the TB upgrade was an addition due to an unexpected bonus payment, I needed 2/3rds of the tools, she has a private number plate on her car, road fund licence and insurance shouldn't count hence I claim that the final figure is £20,047.96 minus £2,673.50 therefore £17,374.46 and therefore I'm under budget. The final compromise is that the TBs and 2/3rds of the tools still count but, I can exclude the rest, hence the final cost against budget is £18,877.96, there is probably >£100 that I've failed to record! and therefore.......................... we we're both right and wrong by roughly the same margin.
However, so far it's been worth every penny with 700 miles of fun so far plus a trip to France/Belgium planned for the summer and, to put it into context, it's less than the depreciation so far on Tricia's tin top!
Finally, Myles decided to change the background on the blog. He thinks its Mount Everest and that the rain drops make the Westfield look better! :) (or perhaps more realistic!!!!!)
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Half Hood Fitted
When I got home there was a big parcel sitting in the hall so off to the garage with Myles to fit the Half Hood.
The hood included everything needed to fit it including the tools to install the female popper clips. First we fitted the popper male to the inside of the screen and then offered up the screen channel. Once on place with the central popper clipped we marked the position of the front outer poppers and then removed the hood, driiled and fitted the poppers.
Next I worked out the position of the internal support bars and cut the both to length and Myles installed them. We then refitted the hood and after a bit of effort to get it into position over the roll bar support strut upper mounts it was in place.
We drilled and riveted the side poppers and the thumb locks. After a bit of playing we got it looking reasonably evenly tensioned. After a discussion with Nick at softbitsforsevens he's going to send us new Y straps that are 50mm shorter so that we can increase the tension and the velcro will also lay flat.
Finally we removed the hood, fitted the side screens and then refitted the hood for the complete weather fit. Myles got in and out of the car making it look easy enough, then I tried and it's going to take a bit of practise before I look anything close to elegant!
About 2 hours work in all but a good result overall, hopefully I won't be needed too much over the summer.
The hood included everything needed to fit it including the tools to install the female popper clips. First we fitted the popper male to the inside of the screen and then offered up the screen channel. Once on place with the central popper clipped we marked the position of the front outer poppers and then removed the hood, driiled and fitted the poppers.
Next I worked out the position of the internal support bars and cut the both to length and Myles installed them. We then refitted the hood and after a bit of effort to get it into position over the roll bar support strut upper mounts it was in place.
We drilled and riveted the side poppers and the thumb locks. After a bit of playing we got it looking reasonably evenly tensioned. After a discussion with Nick at softbitsforsevens he's going to send us new Y straps that are 50mm shorter so that we can increase the tension and the velcro will also lay flat.
Finally we removed the hood, fitted the side screens and then refitted the hood for the complete weather fit. Myles got in and out of the car making it look easy enough, then I tried and it's going to take a bit of practise before I look anything close to elegant!
About 2 hours work in all but a good result overall, hopefully I won't be needed too much over the summer.
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