Devon Run 2015

An 07:00 start and the first leg was the A30 down to Honiton services to meet up with the Dorset WSCCers for breakfast.  Cloudy but dry it was a good run and by 08:05 there was 4 Westfields in the car park and it was bacon roll and tea time.

A straight forward run to Dawlish with a fuel and sweet stop at Sainsbury's before heading off to Colin and Pat's.  By 10:30 all 6 cars had gathered and we headed off on the "Shore to Shore Tour" taking the A379 from Dawlish to Teighmouth then over the causeway to Sheldon and on to Torbay and then Brixham for the first stop.  After a drink we split up and toured the harbour and small market.  By 13:00 we were back in the cars and heading over to Dartmouth via the cable ferry and then off to Bigbury-on-sea and lunch.

 After parking up we walked over the sand bar to Burgh Island and the Pilchard Inn for a pint and baguette. After lunch we had a fairly quick run back to Dawlish to booking into the various B&Bs before heading back to Colin & Pat's for a BBQ.

The following day was to be a treasure hunt followed by lunch in the Smuggler's Inn but after a night of Tricia spending more time in he bathroom than bed we picked up the car and headed home.  Many thanks to Pat and Colin for an excellent weekend, well apart from Tricia not know which way to face the toilet..........

Frustrating couple of days........e

After the Poole Quay run I noticed that the radiator had sprung a leak and it had gone from a minor top up every week or so to half the expansion tank over a 100 mile run.  I ordered a new radiator from  Coolex complete with a direct fitting Kenlowe fan.  Fitting was straight forward, drain the coolant, disconnect all the hoses and electrical connects then unbolt.  Refitting was the reverse and I also replaced the temperature switch for the fan with a 92 to 86 degree in an attempt to stop the fan running almost continuously.  Refilled the system and rant the car upto temperature and everything worked as advertised.

I decided to tackle an annoying scuttle squeak. After removing the the dash, drilling out the internal panel relays I removed the 4 scuttle plots and expansion tank bolts. I then removed the pedal cover and oil catch tank from the front of the scuttle. With everything disconnect I ran a knife through the silicone sealant and attempted to lift the scuttle. No movement, so out with the pry bars etc and thinks started to move, unfortunately I levered against an area of void in the gel coat and the inevitable crack and chip happened. I completed the removal, removed as much of the silicone as I could and applied anti fret tape.  I then tried to repair the gel coat and couldn't get it to go off so it's now sealed up hoping that without air it will go off. 

I had to refit the scuttle ready for the Devon Run so completed the reverse of removal.  When testing the electrics post refit of the dash I noticed a problem with the offside headlight.  Having dismantled it I found the dipped beam shield was broken so removed it to use as a pattern to make another.  Many hours later I eventually got the new shield in place and working.

All in a full day in the garage, not feeling the best after a curry and beer run the night before started their revenge.  Still need to sort the gel coat but at least it's back on the road for the weekend - oh and the exhaust rattle is back so looks like time for another repack......

James and I have booked a Westfield experience day on the Saturday before I drop him off to Uni so something for the two of us to look forward to and means his first track type day will be in a factory car not ours.

More Upgraditis - Oil Catch Tank, Denso alternator, MSD Coil Pack and Orange Cam Cover

After the trip to the Isle of Man I decided that rather than replacing the coil pack with a like for like Ford replacement I'd fit an MSD one.  Unfortunately the only one they make has the original Zetec clip on HT connectors so after attempting to modify my existing connectors and failing I ordered the MSD HT leads to match the coil pack.  As an interim measure I've fitted a cheap set from ECP, as expected they're not the best of fit because the coil mount for a blacktop is different to a silvertop which means they're slightly too long. 





The original oil catch tank was mounted to the engine with a single welded bracket started to crack so I removed it just prior to the Le Mans trip last year.  Based on post on the WSCC Forum and Burton Power I decided to fit the new tank to the scuttle.  I fabricated a suitable bracket that bolted to the aluminium panel and the front of the scuttle so it so be pretty robust and not suffer from fatigue.  I them made the connections using silicone hose that is fluoro lined to prevent oil seeping through.

In order to fit the alternator I first removed the throttle bodies to gain better access, I also took the opportunity to check the oil temperature sensor  and tighten it further.  The Denso alternator is a completely different shape to the original one and my plan was to make a completely new set of mounts, however, after playing I eventually worked out a way of reusing the Westfield bracket with a series of shims and a new upper adjustable mount originally designed for a Crossflow. 







The electrical connection need two additional wires, one to the ignition switch and one to the battery both connected to the alternator by a 3 pin connector that also had the dash warning light wire (I connected this even though the DigiDash2 doesn't use it just in case I ever want to go back to analogue instruments. Before fitting the TBs I installed a thermal block gasket that I'd bought a couple of months back to try and reduce the heat transfer from the head to the IAT sensor.  Once everything was reinstalled the alternator was producing 14.1 V at idle with the DRLs on and dropped to 12.7 V when I switched on the heated windscreen, headlights and heater so it looks like the 40A output is enough.

Finally I bought a silvertop cam cover and sprayed it with orange high temp calliper paint before fitting it.  How just need Aerodynamix to reopen for business so I can get a carbon fibre cover made.  Tricia took some convincing that it needed baking, but I agreed to clean the oven afterwards - it need it anyway! I bought a new cam cover gasket set that included the 10x gromments for the mounting inserts before I fitted it.

Isle of Man and Southern 100



Early start, brought to a stand still

Sunday


Getting on the ferry


Very early start and after a short blast across the Levels it was motorway all the way to just short of Kirkham to visit Taff & Allison before meeting up with the rest of the Dorset WSCCers at Owd Nell's on the A6 before heading up to Heysham for the ferry.










The crossing was not the best, too many passengers on too small a ferry made worse by the fact that the bikers and buses had been boarded first and grabbed all the seating coupled with rain preventing use of the outside seats

Waiting for curry at Creg-Ny-Baa

 

After dropping off our kit at the accommodation we headed of to Ramsay an the start of the Mountain Road.  The Isle of Man has unrestricted roads outside built up areas and known accident spots so when you see a national limit sign, the roads clear and it's safe to do so - Hammer Time.........

Stopped for a curry at the Creg-Ny-Baa and also found a Kawasaki Ninja that matched the Westie - even had a Carbon Fibre fetish.......




Monday

After bailing out the car, completed the whole of the TT course and then rain stopped play so sign seeing at the Laxey Wheel followed by - Beer Time...

Tuesday

Northern coast roads and light houses followed by the Motor Museum at Jurby - lots of Humbers - Mountain Road on the way home. I then had a run down to the airport to pick up Martin who'd flown over from Blackpool - Mountain Road on the way home again -  followed by a night out in Laxey.

Wednesday

Noticed an oil leak that I thought was coming from the sump plug so tightened it up, but also though with all the high RPM driving it might have been the lack of an oil catch tank so I lashed in a water bottle and stuffed the hose into it. Driving was on the Southern coast roads and harbours.  We stopped for a walk around Peel Harbour and I spotted oil leaking from under the car - the oil temperature sensor that I'd fitted with the digidash was the culprit so out with the ring spanners.  Martin spotted Guy Martin as we went into a café so got a selfie and wished him well for the Southern 100.  We then headed to Castletown and completed the Billowen Circuit before it closed for the racing.  Watched the evening racing just before the start finish line and Guy Martin won the 1000cc race with Michael Dunlop only 0.09 secs behind.  On way home we heard that the Mountain Road was closed at the Bungalow so we took the opportunity to drive it (multiple times) when there was no Douglas to Ramsay traffic followed by a quick pint at Creg-Ny-Baa.

Thursday

We'd booked a minibus taxi for the trip down to Castletown for the Southern 100.  Lots of excellent racing and after a tip from a local moved to a field just after the pit entrance towards the end of the start-finish straight.

After leading for virtually the whole a race Guy Martin was overtaken on the line by Michael Dunlop who won by 0.09 secs - same as Guy the day before.  Guy Martin then won the main race so a good Southern 100 for him.

At the end of racing we headed into Castletown to the Glue Pot and then to the Tap Room for dinner.

Friday

The plan was to get up early and do the Mountain Road before packing up however, rain and low cloud stopped play again.  By lunchtime the sun was out but by then we were in Douglas picking up T shirts and heading for the ferry. Before boarding the ferry three of the Westfield's were selected by customs for inspection which turned out to be more about them wanting to look at the cars than the contents.  The Liverpool ferry was much better than the Heysham one no buses but still lots of motor bikes so little seating, however, it's a shorter crossing.

May WSCC Dorset Area Meeting

With the weather improving eight Westfields were present at the May meeting with a 450 bhp supercharged Seight and a narrow with an alternative bodywork kit turning up for the 1st time.  Much of the meeting was getting to know the two new attendees, finalising the arrangements for the Isle of Man trip and agreeing accommodation for the Devon Run in August.  The down pour on the way home from Stoneleigh seems to have had an impact on my day running lights with a 1/4 quadrant now not working on both sides so I'll need to investigate further, luckily the dipped and main beam were still working for the dark run home.

Digidash Pt 2

Another busy day - all sensors wired up and no problem routing it all through the tunnel.

Ran the engine to get it up to temperature and test the new oil temperature sensor.

From this




to this

4,600 rpm and the first level of the change lights

High Beam, handbrake WLs

Indicator WL

After dropping off Allanah back to university Tricia and I had a quick half hour boat.

Carbon Fibre Dash Boards and ETB DigiDash 2

Santa gave me a Aerodynamix carbon fibre dash blank for Christmas and I've been holding off installing it because I could decide whether to stick with the old analogue gauges and switches or go modern.

After a lot of deliberation I decided to stick with the rocker switches but replace the gauges with an ETB DigiDash 2.  I selected the DD2 because it had the functionality I wanted and comes with all the sensors so is a bout half the price of the Race Technology Dash 2.  ETB also offered me a discount because I didn't need all the sensors.  Mark Walker emailed me a .pdf copy of the CAD drawing that Westfield use on the factory car that are fitted with the Race Technology Dash 2 and I copied the rocker, indicator, full beam, hazards and horn switch positions from it.  I changed the horn and heated windscreen switches for an orange version of the heated windscreen switch and also changed the toggle switches although I might go back to the originals as the new ones are a little clunky. 

 

Cutting the blank took far longer than I'd planned, I spent most of an afternoon/evening getting the shape right as with Aerodynamix no longer taking orders I didn't want to mess it up.  The actual cut outs were remarkably quick, I masked and marked the dash and the drilled the corners and Dremelled followed with hand filing to finished everything off.  The hardest thing by far was to mark out and drill the mounting holes as I had to work out a way to transfer the scuttle rivnut positions to the dash.  In the end I found that 3mm rivets with the centre cut down fitted the rivnuts and would mark masking tape.

 

For the wiring I didn't want to cut the chassis loom so I made up adapters to connect the two DD2 cables to it.  I just need to sort out how to protect the unused connectors.  The final decision is how to route the new and additional sensor cables, I'd like to put them in conduit and route them through the tunnel but access might be a problem so I might route them through the pedal box cover as an interim until I next have the engine and gearbox out, but that's tomorrow's job.

 

After reconnecting everything I powered up the dash and connected a laptop to go through the setup routine; so far everything that's connected is working!

 

Connector 1 - Red	Wire Colour		Chassis Loom
Speedo Sensor	Grey Cable	New Sensor		New loom from engine bay
Lap Trigger	Grey Cable	New Sensor	Not Used	tied back
Tacho	Yellow		WB106
Switched 12V	Red		Green
Earth	Black		Black
PC Connector	Multi	New		Stored under scuttle
Neutral	Light Brown	New	Not Used
Connector 2 - Yellow
Coolant Temp	Black		GU104	New loom from engine bay
Oil Temp	Blue	New Sensor
Oil Pressure	Orange		WN103
Low Oil Pressure	White	New Sensor		New loom from engine bay
Fuel Level	Pink		GB119
Main Beam Warning Light	Grey		UW73
Rear Fog Warning Light	Purple			Used for heated screen indicator
Indicator Light	White		GR85
	Red		GW79
Brake Fail/Hand	Dark Brown		BW111
Ignition Warning Light			NY105	not used - DD2 measures battery voltage so need to set warning below the alternator charge voltage

 

2015 Service and Blat

Looks like I booked the right week off over Easter, it's been dry for the whole week and the last couple of days have been sunny. Tricia was off work today so we went out for a blat, only about an hour but very enjoyable and a lot warmer than earlier in the week.

When we got back I serviced and cleaned the car.  The service was fairly straight forward, oil and filter change, air filter cleaned and oiled, brakes cleaned and checked, checked out all the suspension, steering etc and greased the prop shaft.

I could smell petrol and at first thought that it might be just that I'd filled the tank at the end of the blat.  When I had the NSR wheel off I noticed some residue on the side of the tank and found that the vent hose had perished and split. I replaced it, not the easiest of places to get into with my fat fingers.  Will also look at the fuel lines when I'm doing the rear wishbone refurbishment.






Mechanically everything was fine but all the wishbones have bad surface corrosion at the outboard ends as are the cycle wing mounts.






I don't want to disturb the geo-alignment so I did a trial refurbishment in place, first used a rotary wire brush to remove the worst then a flexi sanding block to feather out the edge of the powder coating.  Although it was very clean I treated the area with derust gel and then hand painted with two coats of hammerite smooth black.  I only did the front top wishbones to see how well it would work and I was reasonable happy with the results, so will repeat with the rest as time allows.  I'll eventually remove the wishbones an get them blasted and repainted with POR15.

 

Fitted the carbon fibre mirror covers from Julian at Aerodynamix, very straight forward, cleaned and keyed the mirrors, trial fit to choose the best way around and then glued them in place with quick set epoxy.







When cleaning the car I noticed that the sides were scratched from where the sidescreens have been rubbing against them so I ordered some 3M clear paint protection film and will polish out the scratches and fit it to see if it will help.

First Run out for 2015

The car went in the garage at the end of the summer and hasn't been out since, every time the sun came out over the winter the roads had been heavily salted.  Still grinning ad I got back 6 hours ago, forgot just how quick it is and how well it goes around corners - hopefully a lot more to follow for 2015.

Santa bought a carbon fibre dash and mirror covers from Aerodynamix just before Julian stopped taking new orders so I now need to decide whether to refit the existing gauges or go digital but it won't be fitted before the Southern 100 at the start of Jul.