Westfield motor and gearbox choice

[WaldronR]

9
Posted 20 minutes ago (edited)



Hi all I am just about to start looking for a Westfield wide body. I have a budget of around £13,500 ish ☺️. I have been advised when looking try and get the main parts of the car you want and the other can be added to your spec in time. I have decided the wider body with possibly lowered floor pan would be right for me. I have driven a wide body and ridden in a standard size car. As i planned to do some touring and hopefully take the wife ,that little more space makes things a little less claustrophobic. Obviously the next is what motor there are so many different variants. This is where i ask for some opinions of you guys. Is it 1.6 or 2L I go for. I am an exe biker from last week 😞 so i do want something that will definitely make me grin with some wow factor. I am a volunteer motorsport Marshal so there is a possibility i might have a go and take it up on a hill climb or a sprint. I have seen some cars advertised with the Ford Pinto motor ? I know these are getting on a bit now and a fairly heavy motor should i steer away or am I totally wrong on this. Which gear box I haven’t a clue ☺️. Carbs or throttle bodies. I had a MGB for a few years and when the carbs were properly tuned it was a joy to drive. Technology moves on with fuel injection and that now takes some beating. So should i now look for injection. So many options available, as a total novice with Westfields i thought i would ask the ones that might know.
Many thanks
Rob
Its a pity we cant take notes over a 🍺

[Wacky Racer]

Yes, the Pinto is a very old motor, but they are cheap, tuneable and bulletproof.

I have done over 250,000 miles over the years in Pinto engined cars, Sierras, three Capris, two Granadas, a Westfield, and a Tiger Supersix, without a single problem.

Just make sure the oil and filter is changed every 6,000 miles as the spraybar can get blocked resulting in camshaft wear, but this is a cheap easy fix.

Edited by Wacky Racer on Sunday 18th September 18:48

[WaldronR]

👍 thanks

[Xcore]

Chevy Ls or k24 with a turbo

[tivver500]

I had a wide body westy (many years ago....) which ended up with a normally aspirated 2.1ltr cosworth on 45 dellortos. It also had a sierra 5-speed box.
Developing around 200bhp it was 'entertaining' to drive. Did one trip to Le Mans, camping, and I would say that the luggae capacity is probably less than you'd have on a touring bike.....

Currently running a TVR Griffith 500 which is WAY better for touring (several trips to Le Mans and Germany) with a large boot and parcel shelf which will take about 40 litres of wine in boxes

Having said that I am now in my 70s..... so enjoy one while you can!!!

[Equus]

Xcore said:

Chevy Ls or k24 with a turbo

Know many Westfields for sale at £13.5K with Chevy LS or turbo'd K24's do you?

At that budget level, OP, I'd be looking for a Duratec engined car if you can find one (bearing in mind that asking prices and selling prices are two different things, for kit cars), otherwise a Zetec or Vauxhall 16V.

I wouldn't pay nore than half your budget for a Pinto engined car, no matter how well-specced the rest of it was.

Honda S2000 engined (f20c) cars (even naturally aspirated) will likely be outside your budget.

Personally, I'd avoid bike engines for anything that's going to be used mainly on the road (never mind for touring), 'cos they all have stupidly low gearing so that they're screaming their heads off at A-road cruising speeds, which gets on my tits.

Other commonly found option is the Crossflow (better than the Pinto - at least it's relatively light - but still a museum piece), and you might come across the occasional Sigma (nice, but limited tuning potential), Rover K-series (nice) or Lancia/Fiat Twin Cam (nice if you're into a more 'classic' engine on carbs - certainly a different league from the Pinto - but getting old and supply of tuning parts not what it was).

A slightly more leftfield choice is the Rover V8, of which there are plenty (albeit a high-spec. one is likely to be outside your price range), which would actually be quite nice for touring, but the torque overwhelms the chassis a bit if you're looking for a precision instrument for competition use.

Edited by Equus on Sunday 18th September 17:39

[keeling54]

If you get one with a later chassis you'll have a choice of engines to fit. Also check the gearbox mount location as that varies depending on the engine / gearbox selection when ordered.
The early chassis had a single diagonal brace across the engine bay, right to left for pinto, left to right for cross flow, this limits the engine choice, the later ones had smaller braces on each corner of the engine bay and made it a better option.
The gear box mount was only a single plate across the base of the chassis so not a biggy if you have to welded in a new one.

[Turn7]

Equus, I disagree RE Sigma tuning potential.

Speak to Stuart Cresswell at Premier Power, loads of options, albeit none of them terribly cheap.

[Equus]

Turn7 said:

Equus, I disagree RE Sigma tuning potential.

I'm speaking relatively, of course: but realistically the limit is about 200bhp from a Sigma, whereas even the old K-series is capable of a good bit more than that, and if you're after high power outputs (and better torque), the Duratec is the clear and obvious choice over the Sigma... you'd pick a Sigma for its low weight, and I don't think that the wide-body Westfield rolling chassis is light enough and small enough to justify that decision (if we were talking about a Caterham or Sylva, I'd be arguing the opposite, though).

But yes, it's still a different league to the old Pinto, Crossflow and Fiat Twin Cam.

I should probably add that I currently own a Sylva J15 (a significantly lighter, smaller car than the Westy) with a 1.7 litre (ex-Puma) Sigma engine in it, so I'm by no means anti-Sigma.

Edited by Equus on Monday 19th September 13:27

[Turn7]

Equus said:

Turn7 said:

Equus, I disagree RE Sigma tuning potential.

I'm speaking relatively, of course: but realistically the limit is about 200bhp from a Sigma, whereas even the old K-series is capable of a good bit more than that, and if you're after high power outputs (and better torque), the Duratec is the clear and obvious choice over the Sigma... you'd pick a Sigma for its low weight, and I don't think that the wide-body Westfield rolling chassis is light enough and small enough to justify that decision (if we were talking about a Caterham or Sylva, I'd be arguing the opposite, though).

But yes, it's still a different league to the old Pinto, Crossflow and Fiat Twin Cam.

I should probably add that I currently own a Sylva J15 (a significantly lighter, smaller car than the Westy) with a 1.7 litre (ex-Puma) Sigma engine in it, so I'm be no means anti-Sigma.

J15 was his last design IIRC ?

i built a BEC Fury, so know how good Jeremy Phillips cars can be.....

I dislike the DTec in a lightweight application, mainly because I think the Sig better suits these type of cars.

[Equus]

Turn7 said:

J15 was his last design IIRC?

More or less... he did the 'Vectis', which was basically similar but a 'single donor' approach using the subframes from an MGF.... cheaper to build, but a slight step backwards in design, I think.

I've had a Striker Mk.IV Clubmans/Phoenix in the past, which was the predecessor to the Fury, so yes, I'm a certified fan of JP designs.

Yes, I agree that the Duratec is a biggish lump for a properly lightweight car (though nowhere near as much of a boat anchor as the Pinto), but I don't rate the Wide Body Westfield as quite that focused... I've owned a couple of narrow-body Westifelds, too, and the SEiW's I've driven are a bit bus-like in comparison - I felt as though I was rattling around in them, and I'm by no means diminutive in either girth or stature - so for the Westfield I'd rather have the extra torque and tuning potential of the Duratec than worry about the extra ~15kg., but each to their own.

[Belle427]

I find the market a bit strange for these cars.
I tried to help a good friend sell his 7000 mile Rover V8 engined car, good spec and recently rebuilt engine and gearbox.
No takers at £13k so he decided to keep it a while longer.
Similar stuff I’ve seen priced at £20k.
Tremendous noise but in my opinion not the right engine for the car.

[Turn7]

Belle427 said:

I find the market a bit strange for these cars.
I tried to help a good friend sell his 7000 mile Rover V8 engined car, good spec and recently rebuilt engine and gearbox.
No takers at £13k so he decided to keep it a while longer.
Similar stuff I’ve seen priced at £20k.
Tremendous noise but in my opinion not the right engine for the car.

Another example of not being the right kind of engine is my feeling. I know a V8 sounds great, but its not the engine for any 7.

[sociopath]

My last westy was a wide bodied lowered floor with an injected 2.0 zetec and personally, I thought the engine suited the car perfectly, and was eminently modifiable.

To the OP, the cars may be beyond your budget, but a trip to Toybox in ashby-de-la-zouch would allow you to see a fair number of cars all in one place.

[Belle427]

I think an Mx5 1.8 would suit the car well, not sure if you can get a chassis suitable for them.

[Equus]

Belle427 said:

I think an Mx5 1.8 would suit the car well, not sure if you can get a chassis suitable for them.

Westfield did the Mazda SDV (Single Donor Vehicle) for MX5 components, but they're not common on the second-hand market (which suggests they weren't terribly popular when new).

[Belle427]

Equus said:

Belle427 said:

I think an Mx5 1.8 would suit the car well, not sure if you can get a chassis suitable for them.

Westfield did the Mazda SDV (Single Donor Vehicle) for MX5 components, but they're not common on the second-hand market (which suggests they weren't terribly popular when new).

Surprises me as parts are cheap as chips and they pretty good too.