I replaced the upper bushing in the Westfield’s steering column today. 
Posts on WSCC indicate that you can simply drive the new bushing in from the top and displace the old one a little further down the column. After doing that and taking the car for a test drive, I discovered that the steering was much stiffer than before and it would no longer self center.  Not good.

I then pulled out the column, thinking that I might have to remove the new bushing and mill it down a bit.  After feeling around for a burr, and finding none, I decided to try reinstall the column and try it one more time before pulling the bushing.  Much to my surprise the steering had freed up considerably.  Weird.  I reassembled everything and took the car for another drive, and all was back to normal…or so I thought.  After getting the car back in the garage I discovered that the steering lock is acting up.  It works fine if the key isn’t in the ignition, but it won’t lock if the key is in the ignition – even if the key is not turned.   Not sure what is going on, but something ain’t right.  My best guess is that I dislodged/broke something when I was pounding in the bushing.  More research is required.

I finally got around to finishing the transmission tunnel cover.  Rather than
stick to the original plan and upholster the sides of the tunnel down to the
floor, I opted to just do a simple cap.  Although fully upholstering the tunnel
would have resulted in a more finished appearance, that isn’t really the look I am after, so I kept things (relatively) simple.

Overall I am pleased with the results, but there are a lot of wrinkles that will hopefully come out with a heat gun (looks worse in the photos).  I was also a bit disappointed to discover that more subtle grain in the new vinyl means it is more revealing of flaws in stitch quality.  Since I don’t know how to sew, that means the quality isn’t great.  Oh well…

Finally took some photos of the transmission tunnel progress.These show the before and after, seperated by a shot of the pieces off the car.  The
transformation doesn’t look that profound in the photos, but in the flesh the
radiused edges make a huge difference to the appearance.Hopefully that
improvement will remain once the upholstery is done.  As you can see, the new pieces raise the top about 3/4” and there are large cutouts around the gear lever and handbrake that will allow the gaiters to sink below the surface.  I added some 3/4” u-channel behind the handbrake (visible in the before photo) to shore up that area so I can continue to use it for a hand plant when sitting/exiting the seat.  This weekend I break out the sewing
machine. 

I recently upgraded my floor jack and stands.The 993 works better with flat
top stands, and I wanted something that would enable me to raise the cars a little higher than my old set up, so I went with the ESCO from Ultimate Garage.  It is a copy of the NLA AC Hydraulic stands, and shares the beefy construction, useful 13”-21” range, and build quality with the original.  They also share the price, but thanks to a group buy on Rennlist, I saved $13/corner.  For a floor jack, I picked up a very nice piece from Griot’s Garage at their annual garage sale – only $85 rather than the normal $400 price tag.
 
Last weekend I used the setup for the first time and was blown away by the
difference in stability.I’ve never had a pair of ratchet type stands that lock
at exactly the same lift height.  This doesn’t seem to make a difference in a
real car where the vehicle weight is sufficient that modest chassis flex keeps
all the jacking points in contact with the stands.  With the Westfield, however, the car is so light, that it would only rest on three stands at any given time.  With the ESCOs the Westfield was rock solid.  Very comforting.
  
Unfortunately I discovered that my bargain floor jack is broken.  After lifting
the car a few inches I noticed a puddle of hydraulic fluid forming under the
piston.  Not good.  A quick call to Griot’s and they told me to bring it by for
a look.  If it is repairable then they’ll take care of it, otherwise they will
simply exchange the jack – even though it was bought at the garage sale which is an all-sales-final affair.  They may not offer the lowest prices, but their customer service is outstanding.

I know that last time I promised pictures of the new transmission tunnel caps, but I unfortunately didn’t get around to it.  The caps are installed and are completed except for minor trimming, so the next step is to cut out the pattern for the cover, pull out the sewing machine and relearn how to use it - and take pictures.  Hopefully I'll complete everything this weekend.

Added a piece to the Westfield's Upgrades page about the car's custom
wind wings (aka wind deflectors).

The new vinyl for the Westfield's transmission tunnel and dashboard redo has arrived and looks great - a lot more like leather than the current vinyl.  Now that the nutcerts are on the way from Pegasus, and I’ve nearly finished the new aluminum tunnel caps (just need some minor trimming), I hope to make headway this weekend on the transmission tunnel project.  I’ll post photos then, but for now here is some background on what I'm attempting. I never cared for the aesthetics of the stock transmission tunnel trimming, which uses the (cheap looking) floor carpet on the tunnel top and sides.  Since I am running sans carpet, I needed another option for the tunnel top, so I initially opted for a simple vinyl cap.  It looked okay, but not great.  Next I molded side trim out of L-section plastic that handle the transition between the tunnel top and sides.  A French seam ran down the foot of the L (see photos) and Velcro held the trim in place.  Although the Velcro enabled me to install the trim pieces without drilling holes in the chassis tubes that form the top of the tunnel’s sides, it wasn't a very secure method and was frequenlty knocked off by passengers.  Had I been able to locate wider L-extrusion, then I would have had the flexibility to use nutcerts beneath the chassis tubes and secured the trim to the tunnel skin with button head screws.  But since I couldn't, I am now on attempt #3.

My plan is to create a new tunnel cap substructure with radius sides out of
aluminum sheet and then cover the entire tunnel down to the floor with vinyl.  I mad simple bucks out of scrap wood edged with ¾” radius ¼ round molding and then bent the sheet aluminum to shape.  The caps extend down the sides of the tunnel far enough that holes for the nutcerts can be drilled below the top chassis tube and avoid the use of velcro in that area.  In an attempt to keep interior heat down, I plan to also cover the sides of the tunnel with bubble insulation, and then add some visual interest to the vinyl covering by placing a seam on either side of the tunnel top at the point where the cap begins to turn downward.  Not sure yet if I will go through the trouble of doing French seams again, or just do a simple single stitch.  I’m hoping that I can use the carpet snaps already on the bottom of the tunnel to secure the vinyl covering, but I may have to add a little Velcro as well.

When a person sees the Westfield with its unpadded carbon fiber seats, they
usually make a remark about driving comfort – or more specifically, the lack
thereof.  My response that we’ve done over 600 miles in a day in the car and 4,000 miles in just 2 weeks without complaint, is typically met with skepticism or shock.However, even I was surprised to recently discover that the seats are actually therapeutic.  Yes, that’s right, they make you feel better!  I have a recently diagnosed degenerative back issue that hosed my summer and still has me in physical therapy for a few more weeks.  Now that my back is finally on the road to recovery, I’ve discovered that unlike the seats in the 993 and 951 which still result in increased pain if I sit in them for more than 5 minutes, the Mogs actually make me feel better!  Further, because there is no door opening to navigate in the Westfield, getting out of the car doesn’t cause further discomfort.  Now if I could just convince my doctor to write a prescription for the car, so I can score a tax break…

After years of threatening to update my website, I have finally done it.  My initial intention was to use a real HTML editor to create an attractive, easy to update website, but after looking into it, and remembering how long it took me to build the original version in FrontPage, I  decided I simply didn’t have the time to relearn enough to do it right.  So instead I decided to take the easy route and use Microsoft Office Live Small Business.  It is a free web hosting solution that includes tools to quickly and easily build a professional looking website.  As the name implies, the service is aimed at small businesses and includes a host of additional features such as a private site built on SharePoint that I don’t need, but hey…it’s free!  I hope to keep this blog reasonably up to date and will use it to cover all the cars, however, the Westfield will likely be the most common subject.  It is after all, the never ending project.