Introduction

Introduction

Pre IVA Apr 2013

Please view also: http://westfieldbusa.blogspot.co.uk/

Contents

Date	Title	Key words
27/01/12	Introduction	Sylva J15, Sigma Engine, Sitech Racing
28/01/12	Revisit the engine tuners	Engine strip, Ford TIS, Tuning
04/02/12	Wiring the ECU	Separating out engine wiring harness, ECU pin-out, Circuit diagram, PATS
10/03/12	Collecting the kit	Tank Design, Bryn Jones, MK Engineering GRP Seat try out, Steering column position
15/03/12	The view from the cockpit	Instrument positions, speedo, rev counter
18/03/12	Summary to date	Fuel tank, chassis changes, GRP seats, steering column, engine
22/03/13	The rack and pinion steering	Steering position, Rack and pinion, Spline manufacture
10/04/12	Trial engine fit, header tank	Modification offside engine mount, belt pulleys, initial exhaust fit
19/04/12	Header tank	Ford Focus ST header tank mounting
19/04/12	Revisit the steering coupling	Coupling too high fouls suspension
01/05/12	Gear stick, ancillary harness, serial plate	Puma gear stick mods, wiring construction, welded serial plate
05/05/12	Chassis welded and ready for painting	Chassis mod summary,fuel tank, wiring production
11/06/12	Suspension bushes and brakes	Identify rear brakes , press in suspension bushes
28/07/12	Solving the fuel gauge	Use of a single chip computer to linearise the fuel gauge
15/08/12	Front brakes	Converting the front brakes to Willwood vented
26/08/12	Chassis progress	Making a build jig
29/09/12	The wiring and dashboard design	Install wiring loom , cut out dashboard for gauges and switches
02/10/12	Dashboard final fit	Brackets and glue, Playskool dash
10/10/12	Handbrake	Design thru the floor parts
14/10/12	The tunnel	Fitting pipes/wiring down the tunnel
16/11/10	The internal panels and floor	Carbon effect vinyl
22/11/12	Front suspension and brake assembly	Willwood calipers, brake pipes, Euroquip flexible hoses, custom pipe attachments
28/11/12	Rear suspension and brakes	Caliper, brake pipe routing issue.
12/12/12	Engine fit and cooling system	Running engine, cooling pipes
23/12/12	The gear change linkage	Adding UJ coupling to gear linkage
01/01/13	The drive shafts and rolling chassis test	Modifying the drive shafts, testing the rolling chassis
02/01/13	Front wheel hub spigot rings	Front brakes concentric spigot rings
06/01/13	Handbrake cable routing	Problems with adequate cable routing
10/0113	Fuel filler cap	Fuel filler lead free valve
08/01/13	Heater	Essential Scottish owners heater
26/01/13	Foot brake final assembly	Balance bar, warning label etc
24/02/13	GRP body panel fitting	Corner closure plates, Alignment pins, lights, wheels, removable access panels
06/03/13	Catches and trim panels	Aero catches, access panels
16/03/13	Mirrors, exhaust and wheels	Motorbike mirrors, heat shield, Verona wheels
19/03/13	Bonnet stays, fog and reverse lights	CBS bonet stay and horse box brake away cables
31/03/13	Trim	Grill, seats, wheel centres, central tub trim
09/05/13	Revisit rear brake banjo clearance	Rear brakes, flexible hoses, banjo bolts
11/06/13	MoT before IVA	MoT failures fixes etc
14/06/13	The dreaded IVA	Lambda ratio, IVA
03/07/13	Chasing Lambda Failure	Leaks, tools, gaskets, testing
12/07/13	Road trials	Idle Control Valve, Vibration, Road Holding
25/07/13	Running Lights	LED Running Lights
16/08/13	ECU Remapping	ECU Remapping
15/12/13	Towing Points	MSA Towing points, TRS, brackets
16/12/13	Fuel System Modifications	Revist fuel system, Mocal valve, overflow, Aero filler
19/12/13	Tonneau design	Tonneau cover weather proofing
31/12/13	Custom Steering Boss	Custom Steering Boss
06/01/14	Headlight Covers	Plexiglas headlight covers, fixings
17/04/14	Re-visit dynamometer	Re-visit Sitech Dynamometer and find lost horses
28/04/14	Helmet-loop	Adding more protection with a helmet loop
17/06/14	Bike Rack	Bike rack for the summer
02/10/14	Throttle response	Improving the throttle response
09/10/14	Engine Mount re-design	Redesign of near engine mount
19/10/14	Brake Bite	Improvements to the foot brake effectiveness
22/10/14	Fuel Overflow Management.html	Improvements to the overflow problem
22/11/14	Anti Roll Bars - ARB	Improvements to the handling
11/12/14	Year two summary	Year two summary
27/02/15	Yet another steering wheel	Yet another steering wheel
02/03/15	More running lights	More daylight running lights
17/04/15	Damaged rear tub	Slight accident with VW Kombi Van, grp/gel coat repairs
11/05/15	Corner weights	Corner weight setting
21/05/15	O-60 time and bhp calculation	Measuring bhp without rolling road
08/09/15	Oil cooler	Adding an oil cooler to the rear mounted engine
06/10/15	Uprated wishbones	Uprating the wishbones for sprints
.

The purpose of the blog is to inform and entertain like minded individual car builders who are tempted to build one of these. It is a kit with a Riot/J15 construction guide but no specific build manual with diagrams etc but there is a good set of images linked to the text. Infrequent emails to the designer may be required. As I have a lot of experience around cars and an extensive workshop experience then I guess I should have lots of fun.

The Sylva J15 (*1) is a kit car designed by Jeremy Philips (*4).  It is a mid engined retro classic design and is the fifteenth in a series of successful kits. I have chosen to use a Ford Sigma 1.7L engine (*3) as it was designed by Yahama for Ford as a light weight economical unit for small engined cars. The actual engine is donored from a 1997 Ford Puma (*2).

 The kit is due for delivery early March 2012. The first job was to evaluate the donor engine and choose a reliable performance path. The donor car was bought for £500, is the basic 16V SE model  and has 72,000 miles on the clock and originally delivered 126bhp. The car drove very well on the test drive and the Ford Puma handling was exceptional. If my kit drives as well I will be well pleased. Obviously taking a Sigma engine and dropping it in a package weighing 500kg in total will reap certain performance advantages.

 I decided I wanted to upgrade the 1.7L engine to Racing Puma spec: 155 PS (114 kW; 153 hp)@7000, 162 N·m (119 lb·ft)@4500. This requires:

1) A sound engine (head and block)
2) High lift cam option for the head
3) Porting to improve gas flow
4) ECU upgrade
5) Inlet manifold upgrade
6) Exhaust manifold upgrade
7) Lightened flywheel and cluch

I decided  to have it evaluated by engine tuner Simon Smail of Sitech Racing (*5). Simon told me the basic engine was sound but the oil pump and big end shells were woren otherwise was in reasonably sound condition. The engine is now with Sitech for the full list of upgrades. I could have built the car without touching the engine but the performance and reliability may have been impacted. I want the car to be reliable enough for long journeys around Scotland and occasional trips around Knockhill racing circuit in spirited format.

References:

(*1)Sylva J15: http://www.sylva.co.uk/j15.html
(*2) Ford Puma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Puma#Technical_details
(*3) Ford Sigma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Sigma_engine
(*4) Jeremy Philips designed cars: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylva_Autokits
(*5) Sitec Racing: http://sitechracing.co.uk/