Ireland

Myles was going on tour with the Ivel Barbarians RFC U15s, staying just outside Cork and about 20 miles away from Tricia's home town the week before Easter.  Tricia and I decided that we'd travel out in parallel with the tour so we could watch the games but visit family and friends. The final weather forecast for the weekend was cloudy but dry so the car decision (Westfield v Tin Top) was made and the Westfield packed.

Checking the final travel details I realised that we we're travelling from Fishguard, not Pembroke as I'd though, and we'd be on the same ferry as the tour.  Myles was dropped at the club at 08:30 and I was back home by 09:00 with Tricia and I departing half an hour later and having 4 hrs to get to Fishguard ~200 miles away. 

We caught up with the coach at the Severn Crossing, then met them again at the services near Cardiff as we stopped for coffee and a refuel.  After a final refuel just outside Fishguard and we boarded the ferry on schedule.








Boarding the ferry - no problems with grounding as I took the ramps slowly.

Getting out of docks at Rosslare was interesting due to the over application of oversize speed bumps but once on the roads they were reasonably clear for a Friday night.
















The final 30 miles or so were on the N72 from Dungarvan to Fermoy - very enjoyable with lots of linked curves and even a hairpin bend. It was just getting dark as we arrived at Fermoy and with the roof off it was getting a tad chilly.  The car was unpacked and the cover put on for the night.





Parked up at Garryvoe just before a cream tea in the hotel - half hood on because it had just rained.  Note to self - keep to the main-ish roads as some of the tarmac on the back roads is a little uneven/pot holed.......

As for the rugby - the U15s won both tournaments - Myles with the trophies, the medal from day two and his godfather Ronan.

The return to the UK was a reverse of the outbound journey with the adult tourists not being quite so enthusiastic at the bar.  We eventually got home having covered over 750 miles with 5 fuel stops and averaging ~150 mpt (miles per tank).

  

 
 

Headlight Reburbishment and Rear Brakes

I have the week off before the long weekend in Ireland and top of the to-do list was to service the Westfield and refurbish the headlights.

The car service was minus an oil change as it was done when we fitted the flywheel and was going fairly straight forward until I go to the rear brakes.  From the outside of the car they looked slightly under used with a poorly defined rust band rather than a clear line where the pads bite into the disc.

On the inside the discs were almost completely rusty.  I removed the callipers and discs to give them a better inspection. The slide pins and pads were very difficult to remove and might be part of the problem. Once the pads were removed I pressed on the pedal and the pistons both moved out so no obvious problem with them although the inside piston did move slightly less than the outside. So unless it was the pads sticking on the sliders it must be down to the fact that the rear brakes as used so little or that the brakes need to be more biased to the rear.  I ordered some Mintex 1144 pads (from Hi-Spec as they are non-standard and have to be modified from MGB535M1144, although I now believe that standard MGB533M1144 pads will fit) and new discs for both sides - Escort mk4 solid fronts.

BEFORE

With the car now on axle stands at the rear I decided it was time to look at the Headlights.  I still think the Venoms are a good looking set of light and particularly like the DRLs and integrated indicators but the lacquer and chrome were now flaking off very badly.  I removed the bezel, slowly scrapped off all of the chrome and then sanded it lightly.


AFTER

The bezel was made of fairly flexible plastic so off I went to Halfords to find some suitable paint.  Eventually I selected black plastic bumper paint and also bought the preparation cleaner. The plastic lens both pushed out of the bezels, I masked off the LED ring to protect the chrome, applied the preparation fluid and then sprayed them.   Not quite as black as I wanted but substantially better than before.

Sports Turbo Rear Anti Roll Bar

Having fitted the front ARB before going for the full geometric setup, whilst at NMS Chris advised that I should fit a rear ARB to keep the car balanced.  I'd planned to fit the LSD and Rear ARB over the winter but in the end focused on the light weight flywheel and associated clutch and release bearing changes.

Looking at the WSCC forums I saw a very neat rear ARB fitted to a Mega S2000 on a blog (Andy Bray's in the Middle East) that looked as if it could be fitted without removing the fuel tank and rear bodywork.  After a conversation with the Russ in Westfield Parts I discovered that it was the ARB that had been developed for the Sports Turbo and, most importantly, my chassis and lower rear wishbones already had the brackets ready for it to be fitted.  The slight disadvantage is that due to the requirements of Type Approval, the ST ARB has minimal  adjustment but then Westfield had spent a lot of development £s on the ST and Mega S2000 to make sure that it was as good as possible straight out of the box.  Mark Walker confirmed that fitment on an FW only required removal of the boot box so I ordered one.  A couple of days later a package arrived from WF and I set about fitting it.

Step 1 - Remove the powder coat from the thickened section of the ARB where it fits to the aluminium mounting brackets - used a Stanley knife blade and emery cloth and it took quite a while.

Step 2 - Remove the FW boot lid and liner

Step 3 - Trial fit of the ARB then grease it up with copper slip and install on the aluminium mounts.

Step 4 - Assemble the male/female rose joints to form the drop links and fit to the lower wishbone - needed the car to be lifted on to axle stands for access.






Step 5 - Drop car back on to a level surface and then ballast with James, adjust the drop links, fit the final bolts and spacers into the ARB with thread lock and then tighten up the drop link lock nuts.

Step 6 - Refit the boot liner and boot lid.



Job only took 2 hours of labour, 1 of which was cleaning off the powder coat, but the elapsed time was 5 days waiting for longer cap head bolts to arrive to allow the spacers to be fitted at step 5 above.

Noticed that the rear wishbones have been affected by road rock salt so will need to address this over next winter if not before.

Summer's Coming Up fast.

I haven't posted for a while as I've only had limited use of the car over the winter due to the upgrades, work, weather etc.

I took the car to the March Dorset WSCC meeting and broke though 5,000 miles, not the best of drives due to it being dark and dodging the flooding that has affected the SW badly this year.  It was a good night with plenty planned for 2014 with track days and weekends away at car related events with the highlight being the trip to the Le Mans Classic at the beginning of July.

Tricia and I got out for a 70 mile run today down to Dorchester, across to Bridport then back to Yeovil through the Beaminster tunnel.  The digital display in the odometer was being corrupted during the drive and the other gauges misted up (recurring issue) so when I parked the car in the garage I put on the cover and placed the dehumidifier in the drivers foot well, I'll look in the morning to see how much water it's extracted.

I spotted a rear ARB on an Mega S2000 build blog that doesn't need to upper wishbone mounts removing as it fits to chassis brackets below the Diff.  I called Westfield this week and confirmed that my chassis and lower rear wishbones haves the brackets required and it will fit to an SEIW with FW bodywork so I've ordered one and will post my experience of fitting it in the next couple of weeks if it can be fitted without removing the body work.  If the bodywork needs to be removed it will have to wait until Tricia and I get back from the Co Cork, Ireland trip at Easter and I'll fit the LSD Diff at the same time.

I've kept in touch with Paul and Joe Bromley and Rene who were building their cars at the same time as me and we all met up at Stoneleigh in 2013. Paul and Joe have decided to sell their car as they decided there's not enough opportunity for them to really enjoy it on the Isle of Man, it's a really excellent car build to a high spec and standard.

There's been a lot of debate on various forums about liability on track days following a driver being taken to court last year and to be honest it's making me very cautious however, given that use on track days was a significant factor in buying a Westfield I'm still planning to book a couple over the summer.

First Blat of 2014

James and I got out to the garage early on, fitted the front ARB drop links and exhaust, went around the engine bay torqueing up everything that had been disturbed as part of the engine removal/refit, refitted the front grill and the car is now ready for the road.

With no rain forecast and the roads largely dry we set off for the first blat of 2014 as a reward for our efforts over Christmas.  An uneventful drive that was limited due to the remaining flooding in the area.  When we got back we spent a few minutes checking the engine bay to make sure there were no leaks and then Tricia and I went out for another quick blat including a refuel so the car is now back in the garage with a full tank ready for the next good weather.

James and I booked the trip to the Le Mans Classic in Jul with the Dorset WSCC Group.  Ferry from Poole on the Thursday and camping on the Club Valan site which includes all meals http://motorsport-tours.com/detail.asp?TourID=MST100013 then back to England on Monday, fingers crossed for sunshine.

Upgrade Progress - final post of 2013

So the upgrades are taking their time but the weather hasn't been too good so no significant loss of drive time.

First of all the clutch - fundamentally 2 primary options for most Ford engine/gearbox combinations 220mm and 240m both with a 23 spline.  The original blacktop had a 240mm and the TTV light weight flywheel needs a 220mm, I could have returned the flywheel as there is a 2.0L blacktop version which would allow retention of the 240mm clutch but it's heavier than the 1.8L one I've got so I decided to keep it.  £80 bought a 220mm clutch but I could only get one for a MT75 gearbox which meant that I needed to get a new Release Bearing.  Basically needed a CCT132 rather than the CCT133 that was originally fitted to give an extra ~10mm of clearance unfortunately modern auto factors struggle with part numbers so it took a couple of goes (and ~£20) to get the right one - so now have the original CCT133,  a CCT134 as fitted to an Escort Mk1 (right offset but too small inner diameter), an MT75 one and the CCT132 (RS2000) that is now fitted to the car.  Still on the positive side I now know a lot more about clutches and how to measure offsets and have a clutch capable of supporting 220+ bhp so more than I reasonably expect to get out of the engine.

Christmas turned out too busy to allow any progress on returning the engine to the car but the Dorset WSCC Christmas Dinner was a real success with all who attended seeming to enjoy themselves - many thanks to Malcolm for all his efforts.

Myles and I fitted the flywheel (using ARP bolts) and clutch to the engine the release bearing to the gearbox just before Christmas but the garage was too cold and we had too much to do to make any really progress with the engine refit.

Weighed new flywheel at 3.7kgs versus 9.7kgs of the original Ford item.

With Christmas over and constant rain keeping temperatures in double figures James and I ventured into the garage.  First task was to replace the sump gasket, fairly straight forward and we did an oil change while we were at it.  Next we removed the engine mounts and made the finally preparation for reinstalling the engine. The actual installation was straight forward but we needed to jack up the gearbox bell housing as the gearbox mount is well forward and the only thing that holds up the bell housing is the engine.  Once the engine and gearbox were mated and bolted together and the engine mounts refitted the rest of the installation was a repeat of the original built with the only minor difference was significantly less access as the bodywork was now fitted especially for reconnecting the throttle cable - luckily Myles has long skinny fingers.







Fitting the new radiator presented a small problem with the temperature switch being in a slightly different place. James marked and cut out the fan mount to provide the clearance and we fitted the radiator.

Finally we fitted the new carbon fibre exhaust but will need to manufacture a rear bracket for it as the one from the original exhaust isn't suitable and I need to keep it for MOTs.

Once we'd checked everything was connected we started the engine and bled the cooling system - no leaks so far!

Just need to refit the front ARB, do the final torque checks and then wait for some decent weather in 2014.

Upgraditis Strikes Again

Thursday night was Dorset WSCC night with only Colin braving the winter night in his Westfield. Chris' car is half way through an engine transplant replacing the silver top zetec with a blacktop and transferring over all the Raceline/TTV goodies.  Not many have SORN'd and we discussed a blat call up list if there's good weather over the coming weekends.

The WSCC night spurred me into action so when I got home from work on Friday I prep'd the car for engine removal with only the Alternator and fuel connects left to removed before the lift.  The plan is to:

• Replace the sump gasket to stop the slight oil weep post ARP con rod bolt installation.
• Fit the TTV light weight fly wheel inc ARP bolts
• Fit the Radtec Alloy Radiator
• Fit the Carbon Fibre Exhaust
• Adjust the ARB to it's softest setting and investigate/replace the bent drop link rose joints
• Refit front Mintex M1144 disc pads with ceratec grease in an attempt to cut down squeal.

Plus carry out an oils change and full service

I've decided not to fit the LSD yet as if I'm removing all the rear body work I also want to fit a rear ARB and nylon bushes that I've just ordered from Westfield.  Overall I want to drive the car next year, with plenty of track days to really get to know it before spending anymore money on it (possibly wishful thinking!)


James and I went out to the garage and he disconnected the alternator and fuel lines, removed the radiator and checked to make sure everything was ready to remove the engine.  We discussed the clearance from the ARB at the front of the engine and agreed that there was enough (wrong!).  After a quick clean up we setup the engine hoist and connected the leveller.  The lift initially went well with the engine and gearbox separating but then the flywheel and clutch were bigger than the gap between the front of the engine and ARB so the ARB had to be removed with the engine suspended on the hoist.  Once the ARB was out the engine lift was completed and the engine set down on a work table.

With the engine out we decided to replace the flywheel first.  James removed the 6 bolts holding on the clutch and after a slight tussle with a sticking dowel the flywheel was exposed.  The first attempt to remove the flywheel bolts failed as we could get enough leverage between the front main crankshaft and the flywheel bolt.  After a quick rethink James placed an allen key through one of the gearbox mounting bolt holes and braced a large flat bladed screwdriver in the starter motor drive ring and it worked very well.







Disaster - original clutch was too big for the new flywheel.  After an exchange of texts with Malcolm I had two options - 1) swap the flywheel 2) buy a pinto 220mm clutch.  unfortunately ECP didn't have a pinto clutch in stock but will have one on Monday so a tidy up of the garage and the end of work for the weekend.