Turbo Westfield Track Build

I've gone back this evening and started again. Definitely could do better but lessons learned for the passenger side..... The hole itself could be neater although it's not terrible and the flange will be cut on both sides more as you see how close I came to going through the gel coat, the light is shining through! Once finished I'll put some more fibreglass over that bit.

progressing great just read the whole thread i have just sold my mx5 turbo westfield. was a blast to drive keep up the good work

unfortunatly my build thread lost all its pictures when photbucket went bannans. but if you need anything else just give me a shout

Finally, I've had my first drive!



Everything seems to be ok, although I forgot to check the speedo. No knocks or bangs and it goes well. Not much self centering (as in there's none) and I had one brake light that refused to worked. Turns out the pin was the wrong way round in the connector and wasn't locking.

So..... I am now the proud owner on an IVA certificate!

I took the car to Leighton Buzzard yesterday full of nerves, but feeling ready for someone to validate 2 years of work.

It all started very well, the car was ready and I was happy I'd completed all required tasks. Here's how it stood at 6.30am ready for the drive. At this point it had done only 0.3 (trouble free) miles.



I had decided to wear my motorbike gear as it was cold but it didn't stop my hands being freezing. I could only find my summer gloves.

This next photo was taken at 7.45am, just quarter of an hour before the test was due to begin.



The car was hunting quite a lot and was stalling when coming to a stop. I solved the idle by whipping out the laptop and changing the tune slightly, but I couldn't solve the stalling. Luckily the examiner, Richard, had already been over to introduce himself and said that wouldn't be an issue as long as it would restart every time.

Moving on to the test, it started a little late as there was a discrepancy between my paperwork and the V5. My donor car was privately imported from Japan in 1999 but manufactured in 1990. The V5 only stated 1999 so there was some phone calls to double check which emissions test that would be required. Luckily the 1990 test was decided upon. This was my first test and I scraped through. I knew it would be tight with my base map. 3.5% CO2 was the limit and I averaged 3.16%, not good but a pass is a pass.

Next the car had a good looking over on the ground and it went on the ramps to check underneath. I was quizzed on a lot of the build but was able to answer all the questions easily. One of them being whether the covers for the mirrors we're provided by Westfield. I said I'd made them myself and no more was asked about them. I was asked to remove a wheel nut to check engagement and to remove one of the carbon covers at the back. All passed the test and Richard repeatedly said he'd not found a single loose nut or bolt yet and he always finds one. Good for me I suppose!



Before it went on the lift it had already been mentioned that my handbrake didn't have enough reserve travel and this would be a fail if I couldn't solve it, so that had me a little bit nervous. On to the brake test Richard went through the procedure and noted the braking effort down but mentioned that he wouldn't know if it was a pass or fail until he'd put them into his spreadsheet to calculate the efficiency which he'd do at the end. 

My speedo test was initially a fail but I was allowed to reconfigure the dash and have it retested. 5 mins later it was a pass.

The mirrors was an easy pass, I can see the whole world in that 14 inch mirror. The brakes locked up as expected and then on to my personal dread, the self centering steering. I'd been adjusting this literally minutes before the test as the journey to the test centre confirmed I had none. I wasn't able to test it out but I'd put enough toe out on the car and it did give the required effort.

Richard may have hit a puddle on his drive around the test centre though.



Up to this point everything apart from the handbrake was a pass but Richard had to check the brake efficiency. This gave my 15 mins to adjust the handbrake. Luckily I didn't need that long and had the tools there at the ready. Richard was happy with the travel but the brake efficiency was a fail. He said he would take the car for a drive and get them warm, then redo the test. He did this and the handbrake test at the same time. It came out as a pass! Next time I'll remember to not use track pads for a cold test!

With that I had a certificate on the way and I had the world's most smug look on my face for the next few hours. 

All said and done Richard was extremely nice and helpful. It was clear he wasn't going to let anything slide, but he was very fair and happy to let me adjust things to make it a pass. Couldn't have asked for more, I even got a nice cup of tea from them.

Finally, if anyone tells you a Mazda SDV doesn't need a shortened sump I had this when I arrived



I'm working with someone to machine a new one after welding one has failed several times as the casting seems very porous.

Awesome effort, well done Sam!