Advice, thoughts or concerns - Westfield SEIW

[Rexholme]

It’s national help a newbie week! who knew?!

I would be really grateful for some experience please. You guys provided great advice on the MK advert I posted a while back - advice I will re-use.

But what do you guys make of this based on your experiences?

https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/132498-westfield-seiw/

Westfield’s seem to attract a pricing premium - but more £££ does always equal better *cough iPhone cough*. Just trying to understand what the extra buys you, so to speak.

I’m guessing it’s reputation thing as even non-kit aficionados like me have heard of them.

Any advice, concerns and thoughts welcome.

Thanks

Mike

[Nash]

Hi Mike, the car has some nice bits! Cage, seats, ecu and 2x wheels and tyres are bits I'd want to see on a car.

181 ish out of a 1.8 zetec is about right with cams and head work.

10500 miles in 10 years isn't over taxing so it's down to how straight it is? Check the v5 is correct. Find out if there is a build file with it and Bill's for all that work.

Price isn't too ott for a westie but others on here know better then I on westie values and chassis etiquette.

Why after only 12 months of ownership and 1000 miles does he want to get rid?

Work a look I would say.

Good hunting.

....... Neil

[Rexholme]

Why after only 12 months of ownership and 1000 miles does he want to get rid?

Thanks Neil, much appreciated. I was wondering that too...

As an aside, just looked at MOT history online. Only one advisory for “Nearside Play in steering rack inner joint(s)” dated 11th Dec which seems ok. It failed on 4th Dec though for excessive brake binding but advisories also mentioned the following which didn’t appear in the 11th Dec.

- Aluminium floorpan at drivers seat damaged - not affecting seat security

Are floorpans simple fixes?

Mike

[Nash]

Binding brakes may be a symptom of the few miles it does?

Alu floor isn't a simple job in that it involves sealant and lots of rivets if you have to replace the whole floor. You can patch it safely and successfully. If it isn't a safety issue then a low priority

[nelmo]

Car looks fine from pics, although that's not saying much - and why no photo of the interior? But worth going to have a look...

I don't know about price but £12k seems high - I would prefer either of these myself:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GBS-Zero-Rac ... rk:16:pf:0

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GBS-ZERO-Kit ... rk:17:pf:0

I reckon the guy is a serial car-buyer (note Porsche under the cover in the background) and he's not a kit car fan (he's only joined that forum to sell the car - 5 posts). Probably bought it thinking it would be cool, then the reality of no screen, roof or doors, a rock-hard ride and leaking oil took it's toll

[Tony B]

I don't know about price but £12k seems high - I would prefer either of these myself:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GBS-Zero-Rac ... rk:16:pf:0

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GBS-ZERO-Kit ... rk:17:pf:0

that first car belong(ed) to Lawrence, a car builder at GBS - the car has been round the Alps with us for a few years so its tried and tested - mind you I haven't seen him since 2015!

My GBS was rock solid and I still say the chassis on those are fantastic, its the panelling that lets them down, I really don't know why they haven't invested in fibreglass shells. My Westy in comparison though is an all round better finished product, and if the budget allows it I would stick with the brand - you'll get your money back if you don't like it!

speaking of which, whats your budget?, I happen to know someone who has an immaculate very low mileage Duratec 200hp Westy that's just about to go on the market for a bit more than that Westy you have posted !

[greenwoo]

@ Mike, the one you referenced looks 'ok', but think i'd want a bit more info...slightly unusual to have the battery cut outs etc on most road cars, so wondering if at some stage in the past this may have had a 'racey' life? not a bad thing, as long as it was looked after.
bonnet looks a mess....seems like a quick fix, let's cut a huge hole....same with the aero that looks 'interesting'.
i'd reckon it was worth a look and its close to you isn't it?

saw you'd pm'd the other one on their forum....i may have scanned that ad too quickly but don't think it said how old it was?
condition wise looks bang on.....

[kenton]

If I were you I'd seriously consider the yellow Westy that's on the WSCC forum, looks fantastic condition.

[Rexholme]

Crikey. Nothing gets past you guys Firstly thanks for the replies.

So yellow westie. Yep, PM’d about that and waiting to hear back. But I did a MOT check on it whilst on the train. It’s a ‘00 plate with 30k+ on the clock - that’s more miles than I originally had in mind.

@Mark, yea funny you mentioned that bonnet, don’t like it either! So did some research into smaller ITB trumpets / horns to convert it back + new bonnet. My research suggested that longer horns / trumpets help with low down torque [is that true?] which got me thinking it might be a former hill climb / sprint car if you consider the cage and cut off switches etc. But as you say, it’s local so maybe worth a look.

@Tony B. Your mate’s Westie isn’t the bright green one that’s up on faceache at the mo? Looks race prepped?

My budgets are all over the shop in my head. Originally I was thinking up to £10k, based on a couple of Zetec R6s I saw on Tigers’ historic Faceache posts. Earlier this year they had a great looking orange R6 and stunning silver one - both were £9k. That said, I was prepared to go to £12k for something more ‘special’ based on another ad for a bright green Duratec R6 at £11k... and yes, I like R6s.

But then I did some research on what it means to convert to EFI throttle bodies etc because those zetec R6’s were carb’d - in short circa £4-5.5K parts, labour and mapped. That made me think that ITB cars under £14k might be worth considering - cheaper to buy than build. However that’s significantly more than my original budget and I don’t want to take the piss with my good lady.

Geeeez I dunno?!

[Tony B]

Mike, no this car isn’t advertised yet - I’ll email you the details