Hi, newbie with a Megabird

[garylyford]

Hi,
I bought a Westfield Megabird yesterday.
What a fantastically mad machine, already getting a list of things to add or change and will be looking for info here & elsewhere.

Mr L :-)

[Joao Caldeira]

Congrats!!
The list will never never end... it will be always a WIP...

Cheers,
Joao




________________________________
From: garylyford <garylyford@...>
To: bike-engined-cars@...
Sent: Monday, 28 September, 2009 0:05:13
Subject: [bike-engined-cars] Hi, newbie with a Megabird

 
Hi,
I bought a Westfield Megabird yesterday.
What a fantastically mad machine, already getting a list of things to add or change and will be looking for info here & elsewhere.

Mr L :-)





     

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[JB7]

>What a fantastically mad machine, already getting a list of things to add
or change and will be looking for info here & elsewhere.

Welcome to the dark side - I converted my pre-lit westy to bird-power nearly
10 years ago and havnt looked back since. Anything you want to know just
ask.

Here's a few freebies

1 - Yes the reverse box is always that noisy (keep it topped up with oil as
it spits it out the breater)
2 - If you don't have a dry sump system then stay away from tracks with
sticky tyres
3 - NEVER give it guns from cold
4 - Enjoy every single mile - my first bird engine lasted 70,000 miles and
even then it was only the gearbox that wore out

JR

[garylyford]

Thanks for the welcome guys.
The car was built as a 1700 and is an SE, maybe even pre-lit I think.
It has been converted to the Bird enging over the last few years and I bought it with about 6 miles on the clock.

First 2 things I'd like to sort out are the non working fuel gauge and incorrect speedo readings on the Blackbird clocks.
Any ideas welcomed.

According to a test run with my satnav it seems that the Blackbird speedo is reading such that although the figures are in MPH, if I treat them as KMH then they are within 2 - 3 MPH of the right figure. A bit confusing but I could live with that.
I have no reverse gear fitted and that will be fine as the car is so light and I live on flat ground.
I don't have any build history so it will be a case of trying to work out what has been used as I go along I think.

Cheers,

Gary

[JB7]

Hi Gary, there's pictures on my website if you want to compare
(www.rarity.freeserve.co.uk). Basically if it looks like an old caterham
then it's a pre-lit. If looks more rounded then it's not.

Fuel guages are fickle things in my opinion. I use a mountain bike speedo
computer thingy which does speed and mileage and just reset the trip
everytime I fill up .... 2 birds (excuse the pun) killed with one stone so
to speak :)

jr