The Blue Westy

[David H]

As some of you know I have had a new project recenty.

Just as my wedding was coming up, I decided to rebuild a car. My target was to finish it before my wedding. I had 7 weeks.

I'm an idiot.

My extremely understanding wife has been fantastic, I hope she continues to be as understanding now we are married. I'm clearly a lucky man.

With LOADS of help from a few members of this club, we managed to get the car on the road before my wedding which was Sept 4th. I owe a massive thankyou to the following people for helping me make this happen;

Phil. Your a legend. No joke. Phil lived with me in the garage for the whole experience. We went slightly nuts in there but we were calmed by Jack FM on a daily basis. Phil, thank you again. We did laugh a lot, I wont forget it those weeks mate.

Roger. Thanks mate, I wouldn't have been able to take the time to paint my gearstick lever and other completely unnecessary jobs without your help on the important stuff.

Rob P. thanks for coming round and installing my roll bar, considering the time you dont have spare, i was very grateful.

Adam M. Without your superior electrical and mapping knowledge, I would have broken the car or spent another year figuring it out. Thank you for coming over for the seriously late sessions to join Phil and make sense out of the wires.

My Dad. For drinking Phil's wine.

Speedy J. For letting me steal your husband.

I haven't got loads of time right now to do a full write up f but i thought I would show a few piccies of the rebuild. She's not finished yet, there's a few things left to do as always but the bulk is done.

A mole in the hole.


Stripped, welded and repainted after dummy fitting everything


Some of the wiring





Thats me

Would you trust these men?



The professional at work





Shaping up


Hot Rod


MOT, it passed!!


Rolling road


Yahooooo!


Going to Combe on Monday to shake it down properly. I'm not expecting too much as its early days but I'm very much looking forward to it.

['The Gaffer']

7 weeks to build a car from a rolling chassis, I think we should be proud mate!!

Quite a few hours spent in the garage - sometimes till 2am in the morning This was a great environment for Dave H and I to get to know each other really well. - - - Not 'that' well before you ask

Lots of fun though and a few heartaches when things didnt go quite to plan, we eventually managed to shrug them off and just get on with it. Minor setbacks like a grinding disc though a fingerbone didnt stop Dave's relentless enthusiasm nor did a wellington boot full of stagnant water when our pit flooded.

Glad I was on hand to provide moral support when things got really tough I also realise what a kit car widow is now. The missus's were very understanding.

We did have some great fun on the way though, dont think I've laughed so much in years, stopped the maddness from setting in i think Dont anybody post pics of my very first attempts a welding  And dont think you cant get sunburnt from welding if you dont cover up... you can!!!

It was great to see a few people coming over and helping out too

Hers a few more pics..

Dave H with new bracket making skills


In and out with the engine for mount measure up


New engine mounts welded in place


Engine - a work of art


First rolling out


A very proud Dave H


Ready for a shakedown in our new cars. That westy is fast!!




As Dave says, still a few jobs to do but a great achievement in such a short time.

And would I do it again? Damn right I would

[David H]

Nobody said i needed suncream to weld.

[YZFMINI]

Looks good...
So what was the out put from the rolling road setup.

Colin

[David H]

The same as the other. Almost identical. Once it handles how it should I'm gonna put it on a diet. And myself.

[Quarrycars]

Superb job guys  Congratulations to all involved