Right then, time to catch up on what's been happening.
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.
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Took the Westy to see Russ at Torque Tune the other day, to see what could be done to solve the rich running before the engine hit cam.
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We popped it on the dyno and did a few runs to see what the fuelling was like at the various rev ranges and while it was spot on above 4.5k it was off the scale lower down.
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This I already knew as it was flat and boggy lower down, then shot off like a scalded cat once the cams kicked it.
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After some beard stroking and tinkering it was pretty apparent there wasn't a whole lot that could be done, in terms of adjusting the jets and the needles.
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The needles
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(Dynojet ones, apparently) were at their limits of adjustment, meaning there wasn't any movement left to reduce the flow at lower revs.
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So basically because the cams are the way they are and it's running carbs it's difficult
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(impossible) to get the AFRs right at both low and high revs.
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Frustrating.
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.
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.
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However.
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.
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.
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He did have an idea which involved swapping the springs out for some heavier pieces.
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This would mean there's more resistance to the vacuum of the carbs and the needles wouldn't be wide open so soon.
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Effectively preventing excess fuel from pouring into the engine at lower revs, when it doesn't need it, causing it to bog.
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Springs fitted we ran it on the dyno and while it's still running rich at points it does give a reading and it does make a big difference at lower revs
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We took it for a test drive.
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.
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.
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Massive improvement! Much more responsive at lower revs and a big reduction in the sluggishness
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(yep, it's a word
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) felt before.
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I paid the man, took it home
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(in the hail and rain, ouch!) and it felt like a new car.
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Next up was yesterday's charity track day at Blyton.
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A superb day out and a good opportunity to get the Westy on track and get a feel for what it's capable of.
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The engine ran well and pulled pretty damn hard, feeling the improvements from the tune a couple of days before.
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I got some good information when driving it, in terms of observations about what felt right, what felt wrong and what needed to be done going forward.
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There was a good selection of cars there, including other kit cars, a Cosworth Turbo engined Reliant Kitten!!, Franks
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"Cunning Plan", Ben and Pete's MR2s, Porsche, Rage off-road buggy type things.
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Some of them where bloomin' quick, especially one Hayabusa engined kit car which I was lucky enough to go out in.
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That thing was insanely quick! I was all but ready to hand out money to anyone who could provide me with one right then!
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There was a photographer there who got some good shots of the various cars, which I've
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in Lightroom and are below for your viewing pleasure:
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Pete's Zombie Response Vehicle, which is a great little car
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Black Stig!
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(Nick
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)
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I'll leave Ben and Pete to add their's should they wish to
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A few of the observations from the day, Westy wise, are:
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1.
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The geometry etc is WAY off and is apparent in the skittish behaviour when driving.
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It doesn't feel planted and doesn't inspire confidence when driving.
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It needs to go away for full alignment, corner weighting, ride height adjustment etc, which I'll sort over the next few weeks.
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2.
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The exhaust mani is now blowing, which I'll sort by fully removing the exhaust and sealing.
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3.
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The pedals are too close together, as seen below:
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I'll work out the best way of adjusting them in the coming days.
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I might trim them down too.
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4.
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The driver's seat isn't ideal.
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Basically I had to bring the seat forward
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(it's bolted directly to the chassis) as I was struggling to reach the pedals
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(insert jokes and photos of Short Round here
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).
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The issue with moving the seat was that part of the chassis fouls the ideal location, meaning the seat needed to be slightly further forward then is ideal.
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With the seat forward the pedals are in a better position but it means you're a little too close to the steering wheel and with a helmet on your neck is bent forward, which gets tiring.
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To fix this I had the idea of putting a spacer under the front of the seat, causing it to be tilted further back and hopefully making everything sit nicely.
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Time to have a go and find out.
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.
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.
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This is the seat position as it was.
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After doing some measurements and testing a few seating tilt positions I worked out that the seat needed raising 65mm at the front.
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To act as the spacer I grabbed a piece of the spare timber when Project Decking and took about trimming it down to fit.
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I used this wood as it's light and already weather treated, so won't rot over time if it's exposed to water etc.
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Oh, it was the perfect height too
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I painted the wood to match the interior and to act as an extra layer of protection.
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I also sourced some M8 90mm bolts to hold everything in place.
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Seat bolted back in it now looks like this:
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![Image](http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y504/MuleDesigns/IMG_0945_zpse4c5e594.jpg)
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It's now perfect in terms of arm reach, ease of shifting, pedal distance and also allows for a helmet to be worn without constantly clattering it on the seats.
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Hmm, guess that's all for now.
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I know I'm bored of typing anyway so you're probably bored of reading, or just looking at the pictures
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