Ben's second-car thread - MR2s and Westfields inside...

[pistol pete]

Defiantly
You know me I hate being passenger..
Going round Blyton I just looked out the side rather than at the corner...

[JD]

Just properly read the big post - very exciting. Peach of an engine by all accounts - I haven't read a great deal of Magicphil's thread about it but it looks like a silly amount of fun.

[Magic Beans]

That was a good read The comment about Alix's forehead made me laugh as it was the first thing I spotted

[gavsdavs]

Much as I liked the SC Mk1, that westfield is simply gorgeous.
Car porn indeed.

[Ben]

Thanks chaps

It's a bit of a departure from the norm for me but I'm glad I did it - it's just such a raw, uncompromising driving experience. Everyone should drive one of these, if only to appreciate how much work normal cars do without us ever realising!

[gavsdavs]

Everyone should drive one of these, if only to appreciate how much work normal cars do without us ever realising!

Sounds like an offer to me....accepted !

[Ben]

Everyone should drive one of these, if only to appreciate how much work normal cars do without us ever realising!

Sounds like an offer to me....accepted !

You're welcome to have a go, but having seen a couple of my mates try I reckon you're about a foot to tall

[Magic Beans]

Everyone should drive one of these, if only to appreciate how much work normal cars do without us ever realising!

Sounds like an offer to me....accepted !

You're welcome to have a go, but having seen a couple of my mates try I reckon you're about a foot to tall

Nick fit in it, just.. I had plenty of room though for some reason

[craig]

Sounds like an offer to me....accepted !

You're welcome to have a go, but having seen a couple of my mates try I reckon you're about a foot to tall

I had plenty of room though for some reason

Hardly surprising, given that you're 5ft tall and weigh 6 stone.

[Magic Beans]

Hardly surprising, given that you're 5ft tall and weigh 6 stone.

Says the giant...

[pistol pete]

I'll fit don't worry

[Ben]

I'll fit don't worry

Ah, good. Panic over

[Magic Beans]

So when are we having a plastic and Mk2 trackday then?

[Ben]

Good question! It'll have to be a weekend, I've used up far too much of my holiday this year

[Magic Beans]

How about Saturday 17th August?

[Ben]

Possibly, depends where though. I'd rather have something South of Mansfield if I'm honest

ETA: actually, can't do the 16th. Seems to be wedding season!

[Magic Beans]

How about this Saturday?

[Ben]

Will FB you

[Ben]

So, what's new? Not a lot in all honesty, turns out moving house takes up a lot of spare time!

Still, a bit of progress has been made with the little westie...

First off, the entirely useless mirrors have been replaced with some lightly convex units:

Before:


After:


It's hard to show through photos, but if you compare how big the rear wing is in each pic it should give you an idea as to how much more you can see with the new mirrors


Couple more engine bay pics, just because:





Other than that, I've just been driving it and compiling a list of what needs attention. The main issue is that it has clearly been set up for track use - the suspension is too low and too hard for road use, so I've got it booked into Northampton Motorsport in a couple of weeks time for full suspension setup, corner weighting and alignment which should make it far better behaved on the road.

I've given myself the job this weekend of fitting the seat in a position that's comfortable for me - so it'll need raising slightly and moving forward slightly to accommodate my 'compact' frame

I'm also getting a bit of sticking brakes which I think is the pedal mechanism - I'll investigate tomorrow as well.

Other than that, the electrics will need looking at. The digidash in particular is in complete fantasy land (either that or my coolant temp really does fluctuate between 80 and 149 C on a seemingly random basis! Not to mention tho oil pressure shooting up when I turn the lights/fan/indicators on...) and I'm starting to think I need to fit an indicator/full-beam stalk in place of the current dash buttons which are pretty hard to find in the daytime, let alone when it's dark. Still, didn't stop me enjoying a nice evening blat earlier on

[Ben]

Little update from today:

Shower cap purchased!



And, thanks to the British summer, tested:



All dry inside!

Today's achievements also include refitting the seat in such a way as I can actually reach the pedals. No more pillow/cushion combo for me! No pics of the during I'm afraid, was too busy swearing at it, but here's an 'after' shot:



I now have some storage space! Hooray for being short!





Also managed to sort out the sticking brake mechanism. It turned out the bias adjuster was too biased towards the rears, and the position of the mechanism meant it was twisted slightly and thus not moving freely. A quick adjustment (once I'd worked out what did what!) and I now have freely moving brakes again. And, now the bias is roughly where it should be, bloody fantastic brakes as well! Seriously, the first time I used them in anger was like hitting a wall