OAD member Dougie Hore passed his advanced driving test last year with a F1RST. By profession, he is a mechanical engineer, so is well placed to fix problems with any car he drives. Not satisfied with that, Dougie also likes to rebuild the cars he drives…
I recently completed and sold a nut and bolt restoration of my 1934 Austin 7 – not quite old enough to be a true vintage car, but venerable nevertheless. But that’s a story for another time because with the newly found space in the garage I’ve now become the proud owner of a nearly roadworthy albeit scruffy Westfield SE kit car. The Austin, with around 10 HP and a top speed no more than about 50mph (downhill with a following wind) compared to the Westfield SE, with over 100 HP, weighing around 600kg, and a top speed well over 100mph are clearly two very different vehicles. Acceleration-wise, the Westfield will be significantly quicker than most other road going traffic. Much as I may have continued to enjoy ownership of the Austin, I was keen to get my hands on a hardened sports car with a good level of performance.
So, what is a kit car? Kit cars are project cars assembled from a kit of parts sold by a manufacturer. There are many types to choose from; mine is a Westfield SE, completed in 1992. It’s made from a part kit combined with donor parts taken from various Ford cars, mainly the 1979 Capri, but also bits and pieces from the Ford Cortina, Escort, and Sierra.
The attraction of getting the Westfield was born from sitting in the passenger seat of a similar car owned by a member of my family. I was amazed by the handling characteristics, acceleration and the general good feeling of being in a lightweight, open-top, 2-seater sports car. I immediately knew I had to have one of my own.
Encouraged by a family member, I was offered this Westfield. It had been registered as SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) for over fifteen years, so it was quite a challenge, but also a real bargain.
After collecting the car from Newcastle and bringing it home to Oxfordshire, I started writing a list of all the technical problems with the vehicle that needed fixing. The list grew to cover several sides of A4. The more I looked into the car, the longer the list grew. But it didn’t put me off. I started logically, dealing with the most significant elements first: brakes, steering and suspension. The existing rollover bar, a thin walled hoop of tube, with no real support, had been replaced by an MSA specification rollover bar which is more than suitable for road use. Unfortunately, the trade off for extra head protection is that the ‘convertible’ weather gear no longer fits, so I need to resolve this or I will get rained on. I’m not too worried, though, as this really is a car for sunny days.
I have fitted a new stainless steel petrol tank, extending the range from around 90 miles to a much more sensible 200-250 miles. I’ve newly rewired the car, having chopped out everything electrical and started again. Confusingly, the original builder had used 98% purple wire - 100% rats nest! The new much tidier relay/fuse box in place of the scattered array of components mounted on the bulkhead is a significant improvement, teamed with the remanufacture of many parts of the vehicle which had been bumped, scratched or scraped. During the rebuild, my introduction of a genuine Ford wiper switch for operating the lights, wipers and windscreen washer made it possible to get rid of around six different buttons, switches and knobs on the dashboard. That alone makes it a lot easier to drive.
The restoration has included the replacement of a large number of rusty components with an assortment of new shiny stainless parts and I am most pleased with the removal of an awful silicone/aluminium (mostly silicone) concoction which was intended to form a box round the pedals, sealing the bulkhead. The replacement is a much neater substitute which I developed by making a range of templates from old cereal boxes before cutting any actual metal. Also, the old clogged radiator has gone and been replaced by a more efficient VW Polo radiator to improve the cooling of the engine.
It is fair to say that my day job as a mechanical designer and my general interest in both mechanical and electrical engineering has aided my restoration of this car and helped me to overcome many challenges. For example, I had to work out why, after all my initial tidying up work, the car simply wouldn’t start. This turned out to be the result of a number of cumulative issues both electrical and mechanical left by the previous owner. After some careful fault finding and a meticulously logical approach to problem solving, it was a good day in the workshop when I finally got life into this engine.
The next milestone will be passing the MOT.
Other changes to come in the future include: a replacement stainless steel exhaust silencer – the existing one is functional, but very noisy and very ugly; a new number plate and backing to replace a tired one; new seatbelts to be ordered and fitted at some point – the existing ones are untidy, and reaching the end of their useful life; new tyres as the existing ones are 29 years old - one of the major safety concerns I must address before taking the car on the road.
There’s a number of people who are excited on my behalf for this car to finally be roadworthy: parents, friends and family included. They have all been waiting to see the finished article, vying to be the first to take a ride in the passenger seat. Overall, I have had some lucky cost savings, but incurred some costs I didn’t expect. Nevertheless, I should end up a good few hundred pounds under my worst case scenario budget.
What to do with the Westfield now? I am a regular member of the North Oxfordshire Westfield Sports Car Club so will head to there first to show off my new vehicle. I have plans to do the North Coast 500 run with a family member paired who’ll be driving their Caterham kit car. But generally, I intend to drive around and enjoy the glorious roads around Oxfordshire using it as an opportunity to hone my advanced driving skills even further.