SO ABOUT THAT NOISE

[Westfield 129]

So Captain Clancy and I were having a nice drive down the freeway, demonstrating the Westfield's excellent stability and power, cruising along at about 70mph or so when there came a strange noise. Sounded as though it was coming from the rear, but I am functionally deaf, so... I am never really sure...Sort of screeching, but not that much screech, maybe a like a loose belt, but maybe something else that I had never heard before. We got off the freeway, and it disappeared, hen appeared again. We had a nice drive back home, about 15 or so miles, with no re occurrence of the noise The car worked perfectly well, otherwise. Note that oil pressure and temperature didn't indicate anything.

There were no puddles, dribbles or other incontinence apparent.

So, what did I feel as the driver? NOTHING! No vibration, no hard shifting, no brake problem, and it wasn't tied to the engine RPM. So, WTF is it?

I need to use the car, so today, being about 42C outside, seemed to be a good day to look for the problem.
I checked all the obvious stuff. Wheel bearings, trans lube level, the crank damper bolt, belt tension, searched for loose components, the drive shaft bolts at the diff, the diff... No leaks from the axle seals (amazing...) and the brakes were tight, too.

So, what to do next? Drive the thing. 20 miles, up and down hills, cruise the freeway, get it hot (well hot is a relative term, as now with the new chinese cheap but apparently well made radiator, the temp doesn't hit 80C, and the SPAL fan switches on and off just fine. The car feels just as it always has, and doesn't make any untoward sounds (for a race car, anyway). So....

Off to pick up my daughter at school. Oh, and don't believe all that stuff about kids not being interested in cars or driving. There will be a crowd when I pick her up.

I will entertain any guesses as to where the strange noise came from.

[Westfield 129]

During my inspection of the 11, I checked the fan belt tension and found it a little bit loose. Also, the adjuster, a turnbuckle with a pair of LH and RH rod ends, was dirty with black belt residue.

I also checked the drive plates on my two piece race axles (the end plates for the axles are splined and bolted to the axle) to catch any looseness that might have happened. Everything was tight. There was nothing else to check.

After dinner, I tightened the belt. That might have been it, as it was that sort of noise. The belt is now tight and there will be no slippage. Maybe no more noise. I will be taking a drive tomorrow of around 50 miles round trip. It will also be hot. Freeway all the way, 70~80 mph. Well, I want to get there... And it will be early enough that traffic won't be a problem.

The small Kubota forklift alternator, a Chinese copy of a Hitachi, appears to be in fine condition after about 10 years of use (outlasting, by my estimate another 6 ~ 8 or so Lucas rebuilds). The water pump also appears to be fine, and the belt alignment is perfect.

I need to install a volt meter so I don't have to rely on that little red ignition light (as i have for the last 15 years), but I don't want to drill another hole. I do have a fresh Smiths dual gauge with water temp and oil pressure, so maybe it's time to install that. Easy enough.

Today, doing my drive testing and picking up my daughter, the only thing that was overheated was my iPhone. It was a hot day.
I am thinking that the "Lotish" "11ish" is back to normal. Now, I need to get ito better shape to get in and out.