Build diary of a Westfield SEiW from mid June 2003 a year on
This is basically a break-down of all the days I worked on the car. During February to May 2004 I was at it almost daily, so those updates are more a summary of what went on from the last update.
While you're looking at the pics, read the commentary and you'll get a better feeling for what I had to go through ;)
Rants and commentary during the build
2003-07-18 - Arrival of the starter kit
2003-07-19 - Cleaning up the garage and clearing away the bodywork to make workspace
2003-07-20 & 21 - Painting chassis, renewing rear brake calipers
2003-08-04 - Some stuff has arrived, engine and some brake system components
2003-08-05 - Finished mounting the lifting system to the ceiling, and taking delivery of the engine
2003-08-06 & 07 - Making mounts for master cylinders and getting bushings in, as well as having a look at the oil sump from Yukspeed
2003-08-08, 09 & 10 - Clearcoating some parts, getting the body pannelling started and starting on the brake lines
2003-08-16 & 17 - Finishing brake pipe work, mounting the rear diff and the whole suspension package at all corners
2003-09-21 - 10hrs of work to finish the plug for glassfibre seats, sourcing a gearbox (not always easy), springs and dampers and beginning to look at getting the engine into the car and finishing getting the driveline into place
2003-09-27 & 29 - Docked engine to transmission and made first attempts at fitting engine into engine bay - and it fits with the stock intake manifold (Woohaaa!)
2003-09-30 - Got the engine mounts and spacers in, lots of clearance for intake manifold and have to get creative on the rear gearbox mount
2003-10-04 & 05 - Rear driveshafts mounted and fuel lines mounted and space for clutch for is found to be small so conversion to hydraulic clutch is a must
2003-10-12 & 15 - Mounted clutch master cylinder and adapted the clutch pedal to work with it. Also took out the engine of the chassis and the transmission to measure the size of an adapter that will go between the clutch slave cylinder and the transmission housing
2003-10-28 - Mould for making seat is almost complete. Just one more hour of sanding. Mounted front brakes and handbrake lever. Purchased stainless braided hose for hydraulic clutch system but can't mount it all because I'm missing a gearbox input axle seal
2003-12-07 - Gearbox mount, propshaft and propshaft loop
2003-12-09 - Made two new propshaft loops to replace what I did two days ago as it was pure crap. Trial fitted a wheel also to see what it looks like and if it fits - which it does
2003-12-29 - Straps for fuel fuel tank, welded on prop shaft loops, made first mock-up of fuel catch-tank and put in the transmission tunnel wiring sleeve
2004-01-12 - Christmas and new year's absence from work hasn't meant I've covered lots of ground on the car...quite the opposite, only fastened two panels...
2004-01-13 - Fitted rear bulkhead aluminium panel and played around with scuttle, boot box and found a hydraulic brake light switch I'll put in...
2004-01-17 & 18 - An experienced fabricator came home and modified an exhaust manifold to fit, did the aluminium side panels and fabricated battery mount as well as mounts for fuel pumps, filters etc. Then put the body on and started testing it for fit. Ran out of washers for mounting rear arches so had to stop.
2004-01-19 - Attached the main body tub to the car and wiring up the rear lights.
2004-02-01 - 08 - Finished attaching body parts, did all the vehicle's electrics and wired up steering wheel.
2004-02-08 & 09 - Hole for exhaust system, aligning it all and having finishing rear mounting bracket.
2004-02-10 - 29 - Water and oil coolant system completed and in place.
2004-02-10 - 29 #2 - While the engine was out, I took care of the holes in the gearbox from unused stuff like speedo. Also changed the prop shafts U-joints for new units. Have tightened all suspension bolts ready for first test drive. Mounted scuttle and some stuff to it and made torque strap for the engine. Also fabricated a throttle wire. Basically, the car is now almost almost ready for first test drive!!
2004-03-14 - Carbon fibre dash being made. Intake tube being fabricated.
2004-03-17 - Intake tubing taking shape and fitting of aero-screen wind deflector
2004-03-21 - Mounted cycle wings and wrapped exhaust manifold and put on the very shiny stainless steel exhaust heat shield.
2004-04-04 - Made one of two seats. Started checking for fit and mounted the dash panel.
2004-04-14 - Have gotten some small stuff done: headlights and wiring them up. Mounted seat and made gearknob. Some small tweaks here and there not worth taking a pic of also. Testdrive is verrrry soon I hope.
2004-04-15 - FIRST TEST DRIVE!!!
2004-04-17 - Compared steering racks: 2.7turns vs 2.2 turns. And went for a test drive :)
2004-04-22 - Spotwelded the roll bar in place.
2004-04-27 - Intake sound deadening box.
2004-05-02 - Rollbar in place, drivers seat finalised and LCD instrumentation installed.
2004-05-16 - Last pre-registration test and inspection by appointed tester (he gets to drive the car).
2004-05-26 - Noise emissions testing today. Am not allowed to drive so I had to trailer it about an hours drive to get to the tester.
2004-06-14 - The day before registration inspections. Took pics of all the "special" modifications I had to do just to pass registration.
2004-06-17 - I passed registration! Now the teardown beings where I remove all the "registration specials" and mount my new seats!!
2004-06-20 - Finished off the last remaining items to "restore" after registration and took it for a first street-legal test drive now that registration plates arrived two days ago!