Discussion
Over the winter I intend to strip down, clean up and rebuild the 1600 Ford X-Flow engine I have in my westfield SE!
To get rid of the fuel which is in there we went out for a little journey! To my dissapointment all my little westi could muster was 70mph! My landy does that, it's pathetic! The it came to me, I only havea 4 speed box (RS2000)!
While the engine is out, amongst other things (FiA/RAC Roll bar, steering wheel, seats and cycle wings) I thought about changing the current box for a second hand 5 speed box to up the top speed!
Can anyone give me any advice or anything I need to know about this!
Cheers
Graham
P.S. As I said I intend to change to cycle wings, but I notice that they turn with the wheels, whereas the ones I have on at the moment (pictured below - I don't know proper name for them) are static! How to I go about changing this so the cycle wings will turn when the wheels do!
P.P.S. My engine seems to be running hot and I have to constantly have the fan on otherwise water comes spewing from the underneath!
Is this a common problem and how do I combat it?!?
To get rid of the fuel which is in there we went out for a little journey! To my dissapointment all my little westi could muster was 70mph! My landy does that, it's pathetic! The it came to me, I only havea 4 speed box (RS2000)!
While the engine is out, amongst other things (FiA/RAC Roll bar, steering wheel, seats and cycle wings) I thought about changing the current box for a second hand 5 speed box to up the top speed!
Can anyone give me any advice or anything I need to know about this!
Cheers
Graham
P.S. As I said I intend to change to cycle wings, but I notice that they turn with the wheels, whereas the ones I have on at the moment (pictured below - I don't know proper name for them) are static! How to I go about changing this so the cycle wings will turn when the wheels do!
P.P.S. My engine seems to be running hot and I have to constantly have the fan on otherwise water comes spewing from the underneath!
Is this a common problem and how do I combat it?!?
Okay I'll try my best but I'm sure some Westi owners may correct me.
The 5 speed gearbox is a rover SDI (R380) which should fit straight into the chassis you have.
I believe Cycle wings can be retro fitted on a westi. The wings themselves bolt onto the front axle hubs (the bit the brake calipers are attached to
) I'm not sure if the hubs you have got on already have mountings holes or not. You will get holes in the body work where the wings are mounted but these can be easily filled. Westfield can certainly advise you on this procedure.
No idea about the temperature bit, but I hope the other bits have helped you.
The 5 speed gearbox is a rover SDI (R380) which should fit straight into the chassis you have.
I believe Cycle wings can be retro fitted on a westi. The wings themselves bolt onto the front axle hubs (the bit the brake calipers are attached to
) I'm not sure if the hubs you have got on already have mountings holes or not. You will get holes in the body work where the wings are mounted but these can be easily filled. Westfield can certainly advise you on this procedure. No idea about the temperature bit, but I hope the other bits have helped you.
Sounds like you have a mismatch between gearbox and diff, upgrading to a 5 speed wouldn't be a bad thing but is unlikelly to unleash the kind of additional top speed you are expecting unless you pick one that matches your diff.
As a point an RS2000 will achieve over 100mph (with enough power) and my Ultima has 4 speeds but has a diff that will allow 212mph in 4th.
Do you know what diff is in your car?
As a point an RS2000 will achieve over 100mph (with enough power) and my Ultima has 4 speeds but has a diff that will allow 212mph in 4th.
Do you know what diff is in your car?
A Rover box is not what you want. You need to know whether you've got a Ford Type9 box on there or not (easy ways to tell: reverse is to the left of 1st and there is no drain plug on the casing). If that is the case there are a few options to consider.
You could go straight cut/close ratio and get some Quaife internals for it if you're planing to track it. Or maybe get some different ratios from BGH (helical) if it's a road car.
A cheaper alternative, would be to swap it with a 5 speed type9. But there may be a bit of work required to make it fit as it is a bit bigger.
However, it's most likely that the problem is the ratio of the CWP at the back (certainly if you're only managing 70 in top). It all depends on what you're after. A higher ratio will give greater accelleration and lower top speed, a lower ratio will give higher top speed but it will be harder for the engine to get it there (I hope I got that the right way around).
HTH.
You could go straight cut/close ratio and get some Quaife internals for it if you're planing to track it. Or maybe get some different ratios from BGH (helical) if it's a road car.
A cheaper alternative, would be to swap it with a 5 speed type9. But there may be a bit of work required to make it fit as it is a bit bigger.
However, it's most likely that the problem is the ratio of the CWP at the back (certainly if you're only managing 70 in top). It all depends on what you're after. A higher ratio will give greater accelleration and lower top speed, a lower ratio will give higher top speed but it will be harder for the engine to get it there (I hope I got that the right way around).
HTH.
If it's a Westie then contact the factory... VERY helpful bunch of guys down there and are quite happy to give advice. Also worth checking out their prices as they are sometimes cheaper than you might think!
Mate of mine changed from a 4 to a 5 speeder, and his options were a Sierra 5sp, or an RS2000 'box...
Mate of mine changed from a 4 to a 5 speeder, and his options were a Sierra 5sp, or an RS2000 'box...
You currently have swept wings. Removing them should just be a case of unbolting them though this will leave holes. As for cycle wings all you need are a set of brackets and the wings themself. Talk to Westfield.
Overheating X-Flow - Dunno. Maybe go for a bigger rad... The Westfield one I have on my Cosworth has no trouble in keeping it cool and the fan only ever kicks in in traffic jams.
Overheating X-Flow - Dunno. Maybe go for a bigger rad... The Westfield one I have on my Cosworth has no trouble in keeping it cool and the fan only ever kicks in in traffic jams.
Check you don't have a leak in the header bottle.
I had overheating problems and it turned out my header tank had a crack in it that got bigger when it was hot.
It also lowers the efficiency of the system as they are designed to work under a set pressure.
Another thing to look out for is a head gasket leak which can over pressurise the system and cause leaks, check the water doesn't contain any contaminants (alien looking colours in the header tank). This could explain your lack of top speed if it was the engine running out of puff!
I had overheating problems and it turned out my header tank had a crack in it that got bigger when it was hot.
It also lowers the efficiency of the system as they are designed to work under a set pressure.
Another thing to look out for is a head gasket leak which can over pressurise the system and cause leaks, check the water doesn't contain any contaminants (alien looking colours in the header tank). This could explain your lack of top speed if it was the engine running out of puff!
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