Fuel filler cap
References
Rally Design filler cap
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Fuel filler cap
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Heater
Heater
It is essential in Scotland, even with an open topped car to have a heater keeping your legs warm. I have had some great winter journeys in my Westfield and I was so grateful it had a heater.I found a heater that is just the business for the Sylva, at a reasonable cost too, Deamon Tweeks.
All I have to do now is plumb it in, the air ducts will go down the sill void.
References
Demon Tweeks:http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/cockpit-ventilation/demon-tweeks-lightweight-heater
Contents http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Handbrake cable routing
Handbrake cable routing
The rear uprights on my Sylva J15 are a fabricated part by Jeremy making reuse of the Ford donor drive shafts. Apparently it takes either a VW Passat or Hydra OEM calliper from Rally Design. The main problem with this arrangement is getting an adequate routing where the handbrake cable neither fouls the AVO shocks or more importantly the boot for the outer CV joint. The completed assembly must give a relatively friction free performance for the VOSA/IVA man.I have thought long and hard about this problem and I have come to the conclusion there is no perfect solution with that Passat calliper. I may have to resort to trying out a hydraulic handbrake calliper if I cannot find a solution soon.
I did measure the outer dimension of the handbrake cable which was 9.5mm (including plastic covering). I also discovered that B&Q supply a piece of 12mm alloy tubing with a 10mm inner hole diameter EAN 3232630508756. I also have a plumbers bending jig for 15 and 22mm pipe. Putting all this together my approach for IVA is to clad the last 400mm of handbrake cable in this alloy tubing and then bend the whole lot to the exact shape to avoid the aforementioned obstacles.
I have now done this and as said before it is far from being an ideal solution but will it be good enough to get me through the test? Your comments are welcome. I can think of various potential pitfalls, like lack of cable flexibility resulting in a fatigue failure of the mechanism. I have jumped up and down on the chassis and it appears to be a good solution.
P.S. I also discovered there is very little clearance between the hydraulic connection and the outer CV boot. See image 2.
References
Contents http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
Front wheel hub spigot rings
Front wheel hub spigot rings
The front hubs as supplied in my kit are an alloy assembly originally intended for a Caterham (formerly a Triumph Spitfire upright). They do not have Ford 108PCD spigot rings despite the correct Ford 108 stud pattern. Now some readers at this point may not know what I am banging on about.Here is a quote from AUTO Inparts.com
"What are Spigot Rings and why do I need them?
Spigot Rings (Centre Rings) are used to ensure that an alloy wheel is correctly centred on to the hub of the vehicle. If an alloy wheel is fitted without spigot rings it will probably cause the wheel to vibrate, make it almost impossible to balance, increase uneven tyre wear and in time will work the fixings loose. So, fitting wheels without spigot rings can be very dangerous."
The hubs do have a ring that is 2.6mm high and 58.5mm in diameter. The Ford 108PCD spigot ring is 63mm in diameter and approx 10mm high. I therefore decided to make an alloy adaptor made out of a concentric wheel spacer similar to a DemonTweeks part see reference below.
I managed to get a pair from ebay second hand 10mm thick. These spacers assume there is a spigot ring in place already on your wheel hub and you are placing the spacer on top of the existing ring maintaining concentricity. By turning off 5mm from the inside of the spacer I effectively made a 5mm spacer without the starting camphor provided. I then turned a ring out of 63mm bar that matched the 58mm ring on the inside and the 63mm hole in the wheel spacer. I now have concentric spigot rings on both front hubs. I also have 5mm x 2 extra wheel width at the front. It appears the studs have plenty capacity for the 5mm spacer.
Excessive attention to detail, I don't think so. What do you think?
References
AUTO Inparts.com:http://www.autoinparts.com/Wheel_nuts,_bolts,_locks,_spacers_and_accessories-Spigot_rings_for_O.E_and_Aftermarket_Alloy_Wheels/c628_897/index.html
Concentric wheel spacer example:
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/performance/wheel-spacers/demon-tweeks-hubcentric-wheel-spacer
Contents http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
The drive shafts and rolling chassis test
The drive shafts and rolling chassis test
I found the process of preparing to send them away quite stressful, I was told by Paul to cut and shut them by tack welding after removing a bit in the middle of each shaft and then trying them on the car. Even if I got it wrong he said, as long as long as I told him the error from what I was sending him +/- mm. I devised a method of measuring the amount (30mm and 40mm) to initially remove the middle sections (see image). I then made up two mild steel sleeves and tack welded the whole lot together again. After I tried them in the car I appended a note to indicate there was no error.
The modified shafts were done within a week including transport, the finished shafts are now in the car and you cannot tell where they have been welded. A test drive of the rolling chassis was now in order. Before doing that I had to connect the clutch hydraulics, another stressful episode as the flexible hose leaked of course. I also had the slave cylinder, flywheel and lightweight clutch assembly replaced earlier in the year so was not 100% confident the cluch actually worked.
Anyway the test drive was a great success despite the only brakes I had was the handbrake.
The engine appeared to run too hot but that was a red herring as the temperature gauge is totally inaccurate for some reason. I checked it with a Laser/IR external device and the temperature is fine 80deg and steady.
Many thanks to my friend Angus for helping with the clutch bleeding and video record.
References
Video http://youtu.be/gv1rk9z7mhQContents http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html
Sunday, 23 December 2012
The gear change linkage
The gear change linkage
Today recovering from man flu I could not resist opening some of the packets of deliveries accumulated over the week. I found the bits I needed to connect up the gear selector so I spent an hour in the freezing workshop but the effort was worthwhile.I find the build notes are a bit confusing on this issue, Jeremy supplies some of the bits preassembled (if you want them) take my advice buy them/ add them to the order. Unfortunately you are still on your own to devise a solution from the tunnel UJ to the gearbox selector rod and linear bearing. This bracket and linear bearing effectively reverses the gear linkage for the Sigma engine and points it forward. All you have to do is find an adequate additional universal joint (UJ), attach it to the rod from the gearbox and then attach the other end to the UJ sticking out the tunnel.
I think Jeremy suggests using the UJ out of the donor car and some 15mm bar and welding the whole thing up. This was not an option for me as this UJ from my donor Puma was f....d. I did however find extra UJ steering joint in my parts box I had inadvertently ordered extra from RallyDesign RD820F - Group 4 coupling forged steel. RD also supply a splined shaft RD849 which is a 400mm shaft with splines to match the coupling. When the aforementioned bit arrived and after careful measurement, I parted off about 50mm off one end and knurled the first 20mm of the same end so the coupling coming out the transmission tunnel so the UJ could get a grip. I then bored one end of the new UJ with a Mag Drill of 16mm dia to match the rod from the gearbox. All I had to do was file a flat in rod from the gearbox so a 8mm bolt can be fitted and locking the UJ in place. The only adjustment left now is the UJ coupling at the tunnel. I put all this together in short order and to my amazement the whole thing worked a treat. Perhaps not a Lowcost solution at £18 +VAT but a very robust one I assure you. The positive feel is better than my Westfield with the selector sticking straight ot of the MT75.
References
Contents http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.htmlSaturday, 15 December 2012
Engine fit and cooling system
Engine fit and cooling system
The engine, Ford Sigma/Puma 1.7 vvti, was refreshed by Sitek in Rosyth earlier in the year. The engine wiring loom and and ECU was removed from the donor Puma. So a lot of uncertainty was in my mind at this point in the build. A chap called Steve from the Westfield Sports Car club gave me a hand to do the install. The fuel system and tank are my own design which just added to the pile of things that could go wrong.
The install of the engine went smoothly enough, mainly as I did a trial install before having the chassis painted. Proceeded to connected up the fuel system and ECU, could not find the Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) anywhere but decided we would proceed anyway. Connected up the battery, to my amazement the PAT's LED started flashing, I was so excited I did not even decode what it was telling me, my only defence was it looked very like the code my Ford Connect gives when the key is inserted.
Moving rapidly on, I put fuel in the tank and turned the key. The fuel pump ran and one of the fuel filter connectors at the rear started pissing fuel all over the floor. The leaking connector was one I made up quickly the previous day so I could retain the original Ford quick connect engine bay fuel pipes. Adding some PTFE tape to the 1/4NPT union did the business and the engine started, wow!
As the cooling system did not exist I thought it best to switch off the engine, the only problem was the engine remained on despite my efforts with the ignition key. Quick thinking, Steve pulled the connector off the coil pack, obviously he had done this before as I was very slow to react. I was thinking of pulling the battery terminal but I suspect that was probably the wrong thing to do. As it was 9:30 PM and we had been at it all day (at least 12 hours) it was time to call it a day.
The list of problems at this point:
* Needs cooling system.
* Needs oil pressure light and gauge connected.
* Fault in the wiring keeping the engine on, power hold relay cct suspected in the Battery Fuse Box.
* No Alternator warning light on dash (never came on).
* Needs throttle linkage
cooling system
6 x 32mm x 90deg
3 x 32mm x 45deg
1 x 1m x 32mm
1 x 32 x 32 x 25mm T piece Silicone
1 x 1m x 22mm
1 x 1m x 10mm
1 x 1m x 16mm
1 x 3m length of 32mm x 16gauge alloy tubing
1 x 3m Length 16mm alloy tubing
1 10" high power fan
That lot came to well over £200 mostly from Rally design but I have not thrown away any parts and the system is fully connected.
I fabricated the Polo radiator mounting very like the suggestion from Jeremy except the Fan I mounted on a removable alloy plate with lots of hoses in it. The radiator is easily removed also with 6 x ss machine screws.
Oil pressure switch and gauge
The oil pressure gauge came with a sensor but I rapidly discovered I needed an 2 way oil adaptor to make both the switch and oil pres gauge work at the same time. All the standard adaptors gave no room for both the switch and sensor when connected at the back of the Sigma engine. I did find a site offering a flexible hose + 2 connection points for 1/8NPT devices but it also assumed an 1/8NPT hole in the engine. I made up an adaptor using a 1/4 NPT brass F-F and silver soldered the 1/8NPT bit on the end after turning the thread off the 1/8NPT part. I used a 1/8NPT pressure switch instead of the original Ford one.Wiring faults
It is not surprising I had a fault, in fact of all the scenarios I could envisage the engine running on fault was not that difficult I hoped. It took about 4 hours in the end to track down. I separated the engine wiring loom from the original Puma wiring and rewired the Battery Junction box throwing away all the unwanted wiring connection crap that you etc on a modern car. I could bore you with the details but two solder joints and a couple of bits of heat shrink solved all. The trick was to trace all the wires from the ignition RUN cct to the power hold relay. The mistake was somewhat obvious but not at the time of course. The Alternator light had the wrong supply on one end.Remaining problems
The engine has now run successively for about half an hour with no major problems* Engine temperature sensor falls off readily, needs new connector.
* No Vehicle Speed Sensor (don't know what impact this has yet)
* Extra throttle return spring required, will not return rapidly to tickover.
* Temp gauge sensor needs changed to the one matching the gauge.
Drive shafts
The next problem is to send the drive shafts away and get them friction welded. The nearside shaft is 40mm too long and the offside shaft 40mm too long. I have boxed them up and sent them off to a chap called Paul Sowersby at Driveshaft Solutions in Gateshead.Rolling chassis
The next stage is to get to the rolling chassis with brakes.
References
Contents http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sylva-j15-is-kit-car-designed-by-jeremy.html
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