My Westfield adventure

At last, the registration is completed

2009-05-11T19:49:00.002+02:00

Since the end of last week I have my Belgian license plates and paperwork. Finally I can start driving my Westfield.

2009-03-09T10:32:00.003+01:00

Again I'm 1 step closer to getting my Belgian license plate. On Friday my Westfield passed the Belgian technical control. The Paperwork is on its way to Brussels and I should know something more by the end of the week.

Back home

2009-02-08T21:45:00.003+01:00

My Westie is back home.
The trip to Westfield started at 3AM at home, and 11PM I was back :-)
The weather gods must like me because the last days it was total chaos in the UK because of heavy snowfall. Roads where clear on the day I was there.
Picture before and after a good cleaning. I would not recommend an open trailer for this trip.

2009-02-02T23:29:00.002+01:00

A picture you have to see... One almost finished westfield, and a new westfield chassis that has to become a racer at the same time in my garage.

2009-02-02T14:14:00.003+01:00

Some news about my westie...
Saturday the 7th of February I'm going to Westfield to pick up my westie. They have finished the UK registration for me. Now I only have to get through the Belgian registration and I'm on the road. It took a lot more time than I planned (hoped) to get the car Road legal in Belgium, but I hope we will get a nice summer, than all will be forgotten soon.

Also the second Westfield I've build (for Louis) has passed all the needed tests and paper work in de the UK. This car will also be on the road this summer.

Because I had some free space in my garage, I've started the 3th build of a westfield. Again a SEiW SDV MX5 but this time the destination is not a road legal car, but a race car for the circuit.

Pictures will follow soon.

Future Planning

2008-10-09T10:35:00.003+02:00

After some really bad news about my SVA we (I and the Belgian importer) decided to try it through another way that should work. This will take some months again ,.... But as it's almost winter I don't care. My westfield will become a 2009 on paper. And I have some other projects to keep me busy.

I'm finishing another SDV westfield for Louis. He does not have the place or the skills to build the car himself. So I'm building and Louis is helping and learning about his car. This project should be finished by the end of november.

After that I'm going to build a Circuit version of the Westfield SDV MX5. It's already ordered and should arrive in 6 to 8 weeks. This car will start as a standard 1.6 that I'm going to race in the new 2009 roadstercup. (7 races on Belgian circuits) The plan is to upgrade the car between each race. Testing each new upgrade step by step. So that I know what works and what doesn't. Ultimate dream is to bold on a turbo but I will have to check my bank and sponsors for that.

This one westfield adventure is growing to be a massive hobby that eating up all my spare time. (but I like it)

First REAL testdrive

2008-08-26T11:59:00.002+02:00

Saterday the 22th I went to the track day at Coix-en-ternois, organised by the 7RCB (7 and Roadsterclub Belgium)
Not the best solution to test drive a car on a circuit the first time, but I really wanted to drive a few km's this summer.
Real fun and not a single technical problem with the car.

2008-08-12T10:25:00.002+02:00

Mid august now and still no SVA...
To be able to drive the car at least one day this summer I've registered myself for a trackday in Croix, the 23th of august. Not the best way to test a newly build car but at this time I don't see any other options to drive it this year.

Also in I've ordered some new wheels. I've gone for the Borbet new LV4 wheels. I'll post some pictures of them on the car later this week.

The second westfield I'm building is getting together nice. I still hope to finish it by the end of september but as I'm waiting for parts this could hold me from reaching this date.

Bye Bye Summer

2008-07-18T10:11:00.002+02:00

I'm posting this mesage even if almost nobody can read itat this time.
Why is my blog closed, you will hear about that later.
Whats been going on: My westfield is just collecting dust, still no news about registration or SVA. And there is a long waiting list for SVA so it will not be ok for this summer. Lucky its not a really good summer this year.

I'm also working on a second westfield. Louis, someone I've encountered at the belgian 7 & Roadsterclub had a westfield that was build by someone else. For various reasons they asked me to finish the car. The plan is to finish that by the end of september.

test drive

2008-06-16T15:46:00.002+02:00

On saterday Joel Maclot, an other Westfield builder from Belgium, came over to look at my car. He was also very kind to let me have a test drive in his westfield. The things I've already noticed on my car during my little test drive where also noticeable on his car. I think the MX5 gearbox feels better than the Ford one, and the engine is much more rev happy.
To bad it was only a short visit because on saterday it was also the annual "7 & Roadsterclub belgium" tour and BBQ. I didn't want to mis this event, even without my Westfield (still no registration) it was a fun day as passenger in a Tiger super 6

2008-06-03T21:20:00.002+02:00

There's still no information ...
If there are other builders who read this, I would like to hear your story about the SVA...

2008-05-22T16:45:00.001+02:00

Still playing the waiting game :-(

2008-04-28T19:24:00.002+02:00

Not been able to drive my car because it did not go to the SVA yet I was only to take it out for some pictures in front of the house.

Its ready

2008-04-23T17:40:00.002+02:00

The final "build" entry of this blog. Because the build is done. An new entries will be about me driving it (or building an other one)

2008-04-11T19:24:00.003+02:00

It's been a while so here's a large update.
What has been done:

-Made the hole for the feul filler cap.
-Test fitted the seats, and found out that the fixed bold at the rear of the seat is welded into the wrong hole.
-Installed the bonnet locks.
-Installed the front window.
-test fitted the roof frame.
-fixed the rear lights.
-I did the final installation of the windscreen wipers(only to see the they are in the wrong possition. I will have to remove the windscreen motor again to change the resting possition again. and bend the wiper arms.
-and closed the holes that are not needed. (ford place for the handbrake, and holes for the normal seatbelts.

This weekend I will try to fix the front fenders and install the interieur. And that should finish my westfield...

2008-04-02T15:39:00.002+02:00

The last parts of the build take longer than expected... I've been fixing all the electrical wires to chassis, mounting rear lights(pain in the "bleep" to get them possitioned correctly), mounting the front lights, the bonnet locks(another pain in the "bleep").

Still have to mount the front window, interior, fog and backup lights, dash, weather gear, doors, and probaly a few other things I'm not thinking of at this time.

My goal is to get the car finished by the end of this month.

After the test drive

2008-03-22T21:32:00.003+01:00

I've been neglecting my blog for some time now. But here's an update of the build.
At this time I'm nearly finished, only some finishing touches to do.

The steering bushes from westfield where to small so I've had my steering column axle reduced by a few 10's of a milimeter.
The complete body is fixed and I've already made a little test drive. For some unknown reason I forgot to take pictures or film this happy moment. Really feels good to drive your own creation the first time. Before I could test drive the car I had to fix 2 problems, one was an electrical ground problem, and the other was a problem with the clutch. But both where found and solved rather easy.

part 2 of the build

2008-03-09T23:22:00.004+01:00

After some delay I shifted in a higher gear today and started again. I've fitted the steering column
and the body. Last week I've added a light to the NB cluster for the heated window (took the one from the NA cluster)

New cluster

2008-02-20T22:18:00.003+01:00

I've picked up a NB type cluster to make it possible to remove the speedo cable. Someone thold me it will brake after just a few kilometers when I leave it mounted like it is now. And I don't want to make a hole in the tunnel.
(and yes I'm still waiting for my parts...)

news from westfield

2008-02-12T18:00:00.000+01:00

I did not get the full story why my (2 very small) missing parts take so long to get. But I've got an apology from westfield and the parts should be on their way to belgium now.

2008-02-03T20:36:00.000+01:00

Keeping myself busy for just a few hours to avoid the feeling of a lost weekend I've fitted the dash to the scuttle yesterday. The westie begins to look more and more like a real car.

2008-01-31T16:08:00.000+01:00

After the last weekend I was able to continue on the westie, I was missing 2 small parts again.
I called Westfield and they promised to send them to me asap. Now almost 2 weeks later, still no parts.... and another weekend coming that I will not be able to work on the westie.
My intention was to finish the Kit at the end of this month, but because of all the delays with missing parts this will not be possible anymore. My new deadline is end of March.

2008-01-20T21:49:00.000+01:00

I was finally able to retrieve the missing parts on thursday evening so I could continue the work on my steering colum.

On friday I've finished the steering column. Fitted the drive shaft. Put the westie on its wheels for the first time to tork all the bolds in the suspension. And mounted the rear fenders.
Also did some small jobs like mounting the washer bottle, added connectors for the headlights to the loom, fixed some wires of the rear loom to the chassis, mounted the feul tank, changed the oil in the diff and gearbox, mounted the gear lever,...

I was fun to be able to work a full day on friday and some hours the rest of the weekend. Finally some progress again.

2008-01-11T14:55:00.000+01:00

I've been able to contact Westfield. And they thold me that they have a big problem with there telephone center. This weekend I should receive all the missing parts...

All is quiet now

2008-01-08T20:49:00.000+01:00

A few days now, almost weeks I'm running on a low gear. Mainly because I'm missing parts and it takes a lot of time and patience to get a response from Westfield or Oracle.
There are some parts that I'm missing from before christmas. To bad for all the spare time I had between the holidays but they did not get the missing parts to me before the holidays and I'm still waiting....
To bad because I wanted to get my westie finished before march. To achieve that I'm working each friday for a full day together with my dad since delivery of the kit. But I already had to call him the last 2 fridays that we could not work on friday because there's not that much todo without parts and this friday will be no different.

Driver position

2007-12-30T23:45:00.000+01:00

Installed the driver seat, dashbord, and steering wheel (not connected to the wheels yet) to test the driver position.
This also gave me a change to test the brake and clutch pedals. I don't think the clutch needs to modified as flyin miata describes at this time. Mayby when I drive it I change my mind.

My other helper

2007-12-30T23:40:00.000+01:00

I forgot to mention him before. Not only my dad is helping me :-)

Fitting the body

2007-12-28T21:42:00.000+01:00

Because I did not receive the missing parts of the steering column on time before the holiday of Westfield I test fitting the body, and adapting the shape where needed.
I will have to remove the body again to fit the steering column and some other small parts.

It's Alive

2007-12-22T19:11:00.000+01:00

Tested the engine today.
You can see the engine running for the first time on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyWZT7izip0

Also all the electricals are tested and working, the brakes are bleeded and the handbrake is working. Just some little jobs left before starting on the body.

2007-12-17T19:19:00.000+01:00

A very small piece is missing in the kit. In order to be able to connect the clutch a little fixed line of 25cm is needed.

2007-12-15T11:36:00.001+01:00

The front brakes are done.
The rear axles are installed.

I hope to get the engine started and tested before the end of this year.
I could not test the egine yesterday because I'm missing a gasket that got broken. And our local Mazda dealer did not have it in stock.

More rebuild parts

2007-12-14T00:47:00.001+01:00

For the rear axles I asked a mechanic from our Funcup team to rebuild them because he has the correct tools.
And look how I got the axles back. Don't they look new to you, they do to me? Many thanks to Tom for this excellent job.

another weekend, another update...

2007-12-02T19:59:00.000+01:00

What has been done:
Wiring is almost done. So I've starten mounting fuseboxes to the chassis.
Installed new bearing in the rear uprights.
Installed new balljoints in the front suspension.
Installed new Horns.
And finally I've installed the fuel pump.

Santa Claus came to early this year :-)

2007-11-28T23:31:00.000+01:00

And he know just what I needed. I must have been a good boy this year. Complete new brakes, rear wheel bearings, horns, fuel and oil filter, ...

Find the difference

2007-11-27T23:05:00.000+01:00

This wiring stuff is going far.. maybe to far. But we'll see about that when I start testing the wiring. Only than it will be clear if I know what I was doing or if I was just a nut with a wire cutter.

Wiring....

2007-11-25T19:40:00.001+01:00

The wiring part of the build is taking a lot of time. And you don't see a lot of progress.

But its fun.

I've removed the wires for headlight retractor, headlight cleaner system, headlight leveling system, power antenna and power windows.

Still thinking how I'm going to remove the rear window defroster and heater cables because a part of it has to be used for the headed windscreen.

Also changed the rear loom to fit the westfield chape. I do not want to tape-in unneeded or to long wires.

cleaned the garage (again)

2007-11-25T19:33:00.000+01:00

This time I've gone tru all the parts that are left of the donor. Parts that I still need are cleaned and parts that are not needed are stored in boxes in the garden house. I will sell whats left after the build is done. (before the build started I already sold a lot of unneeded parts) Now I don't have the time to do it. Ebay here I come.

More wiring ...

2007-11-18T23:01:00.001+01:00

After the rear loom a few days ago, I started working on the Main loom today. First task is to strip the complete loom of all old tape and unneeded plastic stuff.
Now I have to find out wich wires to cut and wich to keep. The wires that where used in the MX5 are easy because they are labeled. But as in all cars not all the wires where connected.

2007-11-16T21:41:00.000+01:00

Another succesfull day...

Today we installed the engine, the airbox, the radiator and the hand brake.
For the handbrake I've bought some flat head bolds so that there are no bumps in the carpet later on.

So far so good and no severe trouble to report.

Wiring

2007-11-14T23:22:00.000+01:00

Time for an update on my build story.

I've redone all the bolds in the suspension where I forgot to use copper grease.

Started stripping the rear wiring loom of all the wires that are not needed for the werstfield application. Wires for power antenne, rear window heating, door sensors, etc... are all gone now, save's a lot of weight.

2007-11-03T14:58:00.000+01:00

A lot of work done the last days so its time for some more pictures.
I've installed the differential after some trouble with 2 missing bold. And if you go to al local shop here in belgium to buy them there more expensive than gold (27 euro for 4 bold). So I've swiched some bolds that I can access later to replace the missing bold because they can not be reaced anymore once's the diff is assembled.

I cleaned the engine. As I'm not going to dismatle the engine I was frightened that I would not be able get the engine clean. But after a few hours of rubbing and scrubbing I think the end result can be seen.

Also the gearbox and engine are re-united and will be lifted in the car in 2 weeks because next week I'm away for the last FunCup race of this season.

2007-10-27T20:15:00.000+02:00

And here are the pictures. The panels are in place. The fuel and brake lines are done. And we started work on front and rear suspension.
Work is going so fast that I'm behind on the cleaning of the donor parts. On the last picture you can see that I've installed the old ball joints in the front suspension, but these are just as a test fit. I'm going to install new ball joints.

2007-10-25T23:33:00.000+02:00

Because I don't have a digital camera anymore at this time, you will have to wait for more pictures.
Tomorrow I'm going to install the fuel and brake lines and start the installation of the front suspension.

Start...

2007-10-19T00:10:00.000+02:00

First step in the build:
Sort out all the panels.
Tomorrow I will rivet them to the chassis.
The plan is to do this in one day with 2 persons.

Where to store the parts

2007-10-19T00:05:00.000+02:00

All the parts that are not needed in the next are stored in the guest bedroom. The more I look al the seats, the more I like my choice. Color combination come's out really nice.

Kit Arrived :-)

2007-10-15T22:40:00.001+02:00

Tip of the day

2007-09-24T10:56:00.000+02:00

How to avoid paint in your screw thread?

Use regular (cheap) ear plugs to fill the holes. Works perfect.

Some before and after pictures

2007-09-24T10:40:00.001+02:00

On these pictures you can see what many years of belgian roads can do to a Mazda MX5. To erase all the years of use I'm sandblasting almost all parts of the suspention that have to be reused.
Add some primer and to finish, 3 layers of black paint.

Delivery date announced

2007-09-04T10:39:00.000+02:00

I just received the delivery date for my kit.
My kit will be ready on 10 October for pick up at westfield. Most likely 12 or 13 October the belgium importer ( Oracle Cars ) will pick up the car for me and deliver it to my home.

My other hobby

2007-09-03T10:02:00.000+02:00

An other hobby of me is FunCup racing. This weekend our team managed to run a nice 2de place in a race on the historic street circuit of Chimay (http://www.circuit.be/)
With this second place we make or 3th place in the championship stronger with only one race to go this year.

My job in the team is the pitwall infrastructure (timing pc and software) and managing the pitwall tactics during the race so that the cars get in and out the pit in time and don't run out of fuel.

New sandblasting cabine

2007-08-29T22:48:00.000+02:00

Just finished painting the first parts that are cleaned with my new sandblasting cabine.
It's easier to clean small parts this way.

Installing the workplace

2007-08-20T21:23:00.001+02:00

To assist in the build I've installed an old laptop in my garage. Now I always have the Mitchell repair manual and the internet at hand.

Cleaning Parts

2007-08-20T21:18:00.000+02:00

Has I don't have the Kit yet I'm using my time by cleaning the donor parts. Still a lot of work but its nice to see some progress
Before:

After : (not 100% yet)

What's already done part 3

2007-08-08T17:32:00.000+02:00

In July and August I've dismantled the donor.

Started at the front of the car to remove the engine and front suspension.
Then the interior came out to finish with the drive train and rear suspension.

The garage is already cleaned. I still have some weeks before my kit is ready. This give's me enough time to clean all the needed donor parts.

What's already done part 2

2007-08-08T17:27:00.000+02:00

Begining of July I ordered the Westfield SDV MX5 Kit.
Choosen a black color. Something like this :
(But without the crome headlights and window frame)

What's already done part 1

2007-08-08T16:10:00.000+02:00

Before ordering the westfield I looked around to find a decent donor car.

After some time I've found one for a reasonable price.

The dent in the from does not look so bad but the complete front of the car is bent, but nothing of the mechanical parts that I need are damaged to a perfect donor. Also some nice options that I will try to sell. (spoiler, interior, softtop,...)

Start of ...

2007-08-08T16:03:00.000+02:00

Start of a new blog...

Not having the time anymore to build a complete website myself I'm going to keep a blog about the build of my Westfield.

To start the story some time ago I decided to build me a Westfield based on a Mazda MX5 to use as a cool car to cruise around during the weekends, but also as a track day car.