The chassis is ready, but the mechanic wanted to trial fit the wishbones before handing it over. This is quite a professional approach and I'm happy I chose this company to straighten my frame. Meanwhile, my order from Westfield came in with the wishbones, hubs, uprights and the lower column (plus some smaller parts like rod ends a.o.). I assembled one hub plus disc brake plus upright (wheel carrier) to compare it with the old one both in bolt pattern and weight. The saving is quite big with 1.8kg saved per side (9.8kg old vs 8.0kg new). The discs are vented and grooved and 22mm wide, but I will not save weight on this item and kept them. Together with the HiSpec brake calipers, this is a weight saving of 4.8kg per side (unsprung weight). I wonder how much more I will save with the wheels when converting to 13", and I will report!
Left is new and shiny except for the disc:
The wishbones being wide track, they extend the front track by 100mm (50mm per side). Therefore, the rod ends have to be extended as well. Those extensions come with the wide track kit. I'm not very happy with this bolt on solution, but forum members tell me there's no reason for that.
The steering rack brackets being old and a little rotten, I also ordered these nice aluminium brackets. Further examination showed a small crack in the left side knuckle and therefore I will replace the whole rack. Brakes and steering are safety relevant items and I will not save money there!
Two orders on hold now, one at rallydesign for a new steering rack, gear lever extension and gearlever, the other one at Caterham for the nose-cone, bonnet and radiator. Caterham? You thought it was a Westfield? Yes! You're perfectly right... more on this later.
Cheers.
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