Trim

Trim

Grill

Uneventful, decided to use 7mm high gloss alloy mesh from ebay. Applied a rubber edging trim to the rough grp bonnet edges and then hold the mesh on with small cable ties.

Seats

The driver seat was temporarily installed for some time now however with the looming IVA application I needed to do something about the seat belts apertures as they needed to come through the MK engineering seats at a different location. I am not going to bore you with detail but the apertures have now been moved. This was the last really difficult problem to solve in the build.

Wheel centres

The wheels are from a Ford Mondeo Verona and the wheel centres have an indent for an oval Ford badge which thanks to Keyfactors on line provided me with a SYLVA badge with the same dimensions. Keyfactors was chosen as they accepted my jpg artwork as I wanted to keep the lettering font consistent with the bonnet badge.

GRP central tub

This area has been a problem for some time as you have to cut the central tub to allow space for the roll bar. It is not easy to finish off so I cut some small grp filler panels and sealed it all with flame red Silicone. I also found some piping from a Dax Cobra supplier on ebay that supplied the trim for the outer perimeter sharp edge.

Cockpit panels

On all the alloy panels I used cbs 4.5 x 25mm piping, glued it to one half and then either riveted/rivnut the panel to the frame. It gives a pleasing finish to a difficult but necessary area of the build.

Harnesses

I purchased the harnesses from Prima Motor Sport, they are a very helpful company and market the FIA compliant harnesses under the Titon label. Unfortunately the J15 central tub is smaller than a 7 style car and this makes the belts smaller. I have the same seats in my Westfield and I did not come across this problem. I had 2-3" removed from the straps and I had to get anchor plates instead of compact hooks. The chap at Prima was really helpful and quick at making the changes. These harnesses are also IVA compliant and a good statement to this effect on their web page.

To-do

There is still a large snagging sheet, IVA application has gone in no date yet. I am doing a dummy run at the MoT station next week.

References

Keyfactors badges and emblems: www.keyfactors.co.uk
Prima Motorsport: http://www.primamotorsport.com/prima_motorsport_products/kit_car/kit_car_harness.html
Dax trim:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/djsportscardax?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

Contents: http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html

Test run: http://youtu.be/ZkWvduzM8zE

Wheel centre trim

 

Grill

 

GRP seat fitting

 

Black piping

 

Centre tub trim panel

Bonnet stays, fog and reverse lights

Bonnet stay, fog and reverse lights

Front bonnet stay

I purchased a CBS bonnet stay 300 - 530mm on the grounds that one of the build pictures featured on on the Sylva demo car had it fitted. After investigating this arrangement I decided that the suggested method of mounting (one of the build pics)  was far too complicated. Instead I opted to place the brackets adjacent to the petrol tank. It was surprisingly easy to mount it here for something I have been avoiding for months. I subsequently found a hazard in that a gust of wind can collapse the bonnet by triggering the latch on successive gusts. I have modified the stay to include a fail safe latch part to the latch.

Rear bonnet stay

I have used a horse box towing tether to stop the rear tub touching the ground. I have two lengths of stay a short and a long say. The short one needs no adjustment to the exhaust and allows access to check the oil and water. The longer stay needs the exhaust tail rotated but gives mush better access to the engine bay.

Fog and reverse lights

The mounting of the rear fog and reverse light mountings as the suggested location is remarkably close to my exhaust hot bits. I decided to make up some ss heat deflectors that hide some of the exhaust plumbing. I then attached the LED light units to the deflectors.

Exhaust

Decided to try out the exhaust for the first time fully welded up. Some shots of the car in my workshop. It was snowing outside:http://youtu.be/2A36uziawaM

100%

 References

* CBS Bonnet & Boot Lid Stay Large Ref. Code: BNSTY 300mm- 530mm
* Contents list: http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html

 Exhaust finally welded up
 Bonnet stay anchor
 Bonnet stay attachment
 Bonnet stay retracted and unattached	 Rear bonnet stay

Mirrors, exhaust and wheels

Mirrors, exhaust and wheels

Mirrors

The mirrors recommended by the manufacturer are from a Yamaha YZFR1 motor bike. The trouble is, the after market ones I bought off flea-bay, had no compliance markings and a troublesome 2 hole fixing. They did have a good antiknock feature. It was obvious to me this fixing method although adequate would take a minor miracle to get them drilled in the right position first time. The adjustment range was minimal once in place.  Most motorbike mirrors have a single M10 x 1.25mm fixing thread giving lots of angular adjustment that can be locked off with a special nut and plastic shroud for the IVA man.

PaulAS from the Locost forum started a thread which highlights all the problems with wing mirrors and the J15. All I can say is thanks,  without that thread I would have gone down the same rat hole as everyone else. Paul came up with some compliant mirrors with the correct markings that are also very cheap from the Furore parts supplier. The key issue is the correct position of the mirror although less critical than with the other mirrors it needs to be in line with the ridge in the GRP moulding and 160mm back from the bulkhead (exactly). If you don't put it there it restricts your ability to access it easily and will not give an ideal field of view in other positions.

I decided to cut away the GRP mirror mounting position with a 22mm hole saw. A bold step I realise but I wanted more resilience from the GRP panel. I turned a stepped and threaded aluminium section that filled the hole again and provided a reinforcement to the GRP panel where the mirrors are mounted (with the addition of PU adhesive of course). The purpose of this is to provide a location strong enough to survive a small knock. You will have to view all the pictures of all this before it all makes sense and I strongly advise looking at the PaulAS thread on the Locost forum. In future I may add a break-away spring for the odd knock from everyday use. I still like the Yahama mirrors but they would have to fit in with my reinforced GRP turning, perhaps they can be modified post IVA.

Exhaust

I decided to tack weld the tail section myself. I will decide at a later date if I am brave enough to weld it up (obviously to to the same standard as Graden of Stainless creations). The reason for the two stage approach is I could not work out earlier where I wanted the tail section to exit and I wanted to test fire the engine before fitting the GRP panels. The choice of a Westfield 5" can from my SEIW was in fact a good choice (and no longer temporary) as it has a built in CAT.

When I ran the engine for the first time with the boot/rear GRP moulding in place (I could only do this for the first time with the exhaust tail section tacked in place) I found the GRP moulding getting too hot, over 40degC and climbing. I managed to source an extra large  500mm x 500mm reflector and insulating panel for a Motorbike fairing supplier on eBay  which cured the problem.

Wheels

The wheel choice was made earlier but I have only just had them back from the refurbishers painted in mat black of course. They are off a Mondeo Verona and now they are on the car for the first time they look great (many thanks to Angus who found them on eBay). I was struggling with the wheels choice they now suit the car (no compromise) in my opinion. They could do with a little Sylva motif, later! The wheel are 6J x 15 x 40 the tyres are 185 x 55 x 15 Yokohama AD08's

Other activities

I have also been doing a lot of small and not so small tidying up jobs like the fuel system cover panel, tank one way up-side-down valve, steering wheel extension, sharp edge avoidance trim etc When the weather perks up a bit I plan to test the brakes, Video to follow!

References

Furore mirrors:http://furoreproducts.co.uk/85-e-marked-mirrors-iva-ok.html
Locost forum:http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/26/viewthread.php?tid=178579
Alloy Finihings:http://beta.glasgowwestendextra.co.uk/findit?action=showPlace&placeid=2234140
Road and Race:http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Road-and-Race-Online?_trksid=p2047675.l2563
Contents:http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html



I still have a way to go:-

* Weld exhaust up finaly
* Fit seat belts (find bolts first - scrap yard)
* Finish interior trim panels
* Fog and reverse lights
* Front grill
* Seat trim and mods for seat belts
* Brake test and balance bar lock off
* Bonnet stays
* Final wiring tidy
* Upper GRP tub edging trim
* Engine air filter
* Throttle cable fixings
* MoT verification test

Verona wheels

Mirror location 160mm from bulkhead + fixing unattached

Fixing attached

Shroud lowered

Haet shield on rear tub

Exhaust tacked up

Catches and trim panels

Catches and trim panels

The Sylva has some very large tubs front and back, one to enclose the front suspension and the other to enclose the engine. Much trouble was taken to fit these as the dimensions like most GRP mouldings is not perfect so some fettling was necessary. I found some Triumph TR2 bonnet cone rubbers on ebay that helped align the tubs when closing. I used Aero catches to secure the tubs. I think the Aero catches are a well designed product in terms of IVA compliance even if they are lacking a bit of robustness.

I set aside a day for fitting the catches and even that overran, the precision required demands lots of time. A significant amount of time was spent deciding exactly where to put the attachment brackets below the catches. You need about 75mm of free space although 60 mm (I think) is the minimum if you chop down the rubber part.

I also made up most of the internal panel work, two cover pates at elbow level and two closing plates behind the seats. I also put two inspection panels in there to provide some storage on a long run.

Also changed the bezzel colour of the gauges to silver from black.

Protective film removed	Offside trim panels
Front Aero catches	Rear Areo catches
Front Areo catch bracket	Rear Aero catch bracket

All I need now is the exhaust fitted properly so I can test the brakes.

References:

Contents http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html