Westfield Miata

Chatter :: RE: SEiGHT components?

Author: Jo3sh
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:49 am (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 5

Just an update on this - it looks so far like the bits to get a SEiGHT together will be a bit harder to get here in the US than I might like. I had a very productive email conversation with Tom over at Manik, and I have a much better idea of what I am getting myself into now. I still do have a few more people to talk to - a British motors specialist near my home, for one - but at the moment, it looks like the hope for a SEiGHT are waning.

Thanks to Tom and to those who replied here.

My build :: RE: Yet another belgian Westfield

Author: f_devocht
Subject: had the sump done
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:50 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 49

Well, the sump is as good as ready. I had it milled down to the level of the tranny and a 5mm alu plate welded on. They cut / filed the bottom plate so it fit completely inside the hole for the stongest possible weld. The welding wasn't very easy (so I was told by the 3 guys that worked on it ). I believe they preheated the sump in an oven to minimise the risk of something cracking or so. They also welded in a new drain plug and shortened the oil pickup tube to clear the bottom of the sump. All this took the better part of a day to do they told me ... Anyway, I'm very pleased with the result.
I'm also having the stock Y baffle removed and replaced by a somewhat longer Y, so it 'wraps' a bit further around the pickup tube filter. Since the sump is about 2cm shallower, the oil will find it more easy to move to the front under hard breaking. I figure a longer baffle will help prevent this better.
Last item still to be done is welding on a plate for the turbo return line. I'm using the stock MSM hard line which bolts directly to the sump. I figured now that it's off, I might as make a trouble free the oil return line.
_________________
my Westfield
my Miata

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: thebutler
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:08 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Then I guess there's no cheap way If you like I'll swap you my dash for your supercharger
_________________
"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit"

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: Big Cheese Dog
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:02 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Yes, if you cut the scuttle to fit the mx5 dash, it can't be used with a flat dash. I now have two scuttles, one for aeroscreen with AIM, one for windscreen with mx5.

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: thebutler
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:00 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Thanks for the positive comments guys, much appreciated

Gaiter surrounds from:

https://www.europaspares.com/

Not super cheap, but the only carbon effect ones I could find anywhere (personally I'm not a big fan of chrome)

Does the scuttle cut as perscribed by Westfield go under where the windscreen sits? If not going a different route may not require a whole new scuttle...Just thinking.....

Steve
_________________
"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit"

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: hbooster
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:33 am (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

After making the first tilt mechanism, a much simpler approach occurred to me, so I tack that in place temporarily last night. I discovered that if I put the steering wheel too low, my elbows hit the side of the chassis. It looks like at the end of the day I'll pick a height and just leave it there.

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: f_devocht
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:10 am (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Wesfield should have made the dashboard like you did Steve.
It's the route I was thinking of going as well, but like Howard pointed out, that's too late now. Had I known in advance what a pain the stock instrument cluster is, I'd never have gone that route. I even payed 150$ to have the odo reset to zero .
I'm looking in to replacing the entire internals of the cluster with instruments a la Digidash. Or maybe move the dials more to the bottom / center of the cluster. Still, Digidash seems more easy, functional and prettier ...

On a sidenote, where did you source the gaiter rings from?
_________________
my Westfield
my Miata

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: hbooster
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:13 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

That's a beautiful car Steve. Thanks for sharing the pictures of the Digidash. I may go that way at some point, but since I've cut the scuttle for the Miata cluster, I'm committed for the moment.

My sense is that Westfield simply hasn't worked through all the issues with the left-hand drive, Miata-based model yet. With their new four-piece steering column arrangement it looks like there is plenty of flexibility to snake around most any obstruction.

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: thebutler
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:12 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Hi all,

This may or may not be helpful but here goes anyway...

My Westie's RHD and thinking using the Mazda's dash would be less than perfect I decided to go with a standard flat dash, and a Digidash2 instrument thingy. The wheel is a Momo Team 280mm

The column is mounted on the standard tabs mounted on the dash hoop, and as can be seen in the pics all lines up OK.

I would say the steering wheel is a couple of cm too high, but after a while you get used to it, this could be attributed to the lowered floor.

As can be seen from the pics from the driver's perspective everything is perfectly visible.

Total cost for going this route was around �500, so not too bad considering all the extra functionality it provides.

Cheers

Steve
_________________
"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit"

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: JohnCh
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:00 am (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

hbooster wrote:

Just not enough hours in the day for all the things I want to do.

Sounds like you need to drink more coffee

-John

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: hbooster
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:55 am (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Great approach, Frank. There are lots of different ways to solve the problem. I already have another way to get the tilt feature that is much, much simpler and can be made with hand tools, but before I invest time in that I want to see if the tilt feature really has any value or not. Just not enough hours in the day for all the things I want to do.

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: f_devocht
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 6:01 am (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Howard, I only moved the mounting tabs, other than that, I didn't do any modifications. The most easy way would have been to just move the mounting tabs on the hoop. Unfortunately I have no welder at home, so I took my column to work and welded a piece to the tabs so I could drill 2 new holes, half an inch off center.

The tail of the column is pointed as far to the right as possible, so that the bolt just barely clears the brake pedal.

I also shortened the indicator levers because I'm not sure if they'll clear the doors with the steering wheel moved to the left.
_________________
my Westfield
my Miata

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: hbooster
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:33 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Hey Frank, thanks for the picture. Looks like you got it dead on. That is not possible on mine in the stock arrangement because there isn't enough room to move the tail of the upper column to the right. It runs into the brake pedal.

Scot, the problem is that the mounting tabs on the dash hoop are in the wrong place. You can fix the problem by moving them over a half inch or so. If you look carefully at the picture, you can see a black line on the hoop. That is where the center of the column needs to be. You also nee to move the tail of the column as far to the right as you can.

By coincidence, I'll be in Corvallis this weekend.

I just finished maching the parts for the tilt mechanism this evening. John is probably right that it is overkill, but it will allow me to easily play around with different wheel positions under real driving conditions.

For those looking at the Flickr site, once you start the slide show, click on the link at the top of the screen that says, "Info On" and you will see the descriptions of the pictures.

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: ScotO
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:29 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

I've been following your build here and on your Flickr site. I'm having a hard time understanding the horizontal steering misalignment. For example seen in your pic here:

It seems quite a bit off, and there isn't much room to move the column between the brake and the clutch, correct? What's causing this?

--hopefully putting in an order for a Miata based Westfield soon.

My build :: RE: Howard's Build

Author: JohnCh
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:11 pm (GMT -7)
Topic Replies: 84

Joe Mac wrote:

On the first blue car at the Westfield factory, when I've bought my kit, the steering wheel was about one inch lower, but they discovered that it makes the exit of the car difficult, and the steering was to low.

I didn�t realize they changed this aspect in the Miata version.

Sounds like this is something for people to consider when building their cars. Although sourcing gauges certainly adds to the cost, it gives more flexibility. With my setup, and I�m sure the same is true with Bill�s AIM, there is no blockage with a 270mm wheel. I have a driver's perspective picture of my car somewhere that I can post if people want to see it.

-John