And it's out :-)

Engine out, and no real dramas.
Spent all morning with the gunk trying to get it too look respectable, having now cleaned it down I will also paint it.

Obviously the picture shows it fully stripped down. The power steering pump has been binned and I need to get an aux belt from a 1.25 zetec fiesta (some of which did not have power steering). I need to get the engine ready for install before the rest of the kit comes, then I can forget about it. On problem I have identified is the throttle body alignment. The pumas convoluted alloy manifold is cleverly designed to bend around the alternator. This means throttle bodies have to do the same thing. Not a big problem, just means the inlet manifold will take a bit more fabricating.

Anyway, while the engine is out, I will change the cambelt, but will resist removing the had. Of course, the cam cover will be painted too.

I've now started removing the loom from the puma....this is another job that is probably more difficult than I first thought...It's routed under lights and trim, so most of it needs removing. Oh well, gives me an excuse to put the bits I remove on ebay....I'm now on a mission to try and sell enough bits to recoup my £250 for the puma...this will mean that many of the parts I will use on the kit will effectively be 'FREE' :-)

Finally, what self confessed petrol head could remove an engine with out having a look under the cam cover :-) here are some pics, and all seems well, lobes are in great condition. The variable valve system is interesting, and an a friend who has a Westfield (and also conveniently has worked with ford mapping engines) is looking into the control.

Once Im done with the engine, I'll make a start on the gearbox (just needs a clean).

Gear Linkage

Gear linkage - Although it sounds dull, this is an important part of the build. The puma / Zetec SE engine uses the IB5 gearbox, and if the linkage is good, you can replicate the rather wonderful change from the donor car. The later vairients of the fiesta / focus used a cable operated gear change which, in a road car, is fine but looses it's mechanical connection in a kit car and feels a little 'vague'.

There are a few bits of the way the linkage works that I don't understand, and probably wont understand until I have the chassis in front of me. Meanwhile, the actual lever needs preparing. This is done by 'hacking off' the plastic housing it sits in in the donor car until you are left with the round section that holds the leaver joint (see photo).

In addition, the Puma gear knob is a wonderful example of a car manufacturer actually taking a bit of time with the touchy feely bits :-) and as such it will transfer nicely onto the Sylva. The shaft will need a few inches taken from it though.

Hubs - The strip down continues.

The kit comes with fabricated rear uprights. This means the only part required from the donor car are the actual front hubs that take the driveshaft spline. Problem.....Once hub is removed the wheels can no longer be attached. Therefore, the donor car will be close to impossible to move around on the drive, and even more difficult to get to the scrap yard once I've finished with it.

So, I ended up calling on good old ebay for some hubs. Unfortunately, no one was selling the hubs without the uprights, so I ended up buying the lot - £30 delivered which wasn't too bad considering the weight (that's for NS and OS).

After I received them, I needed to get the hub out. This involved a 30mm socket and a sledge hammer....Job done.......Almost!. The bottom race from the bearing decided it was going to give easily, and remained attached to the hub. A cold chisel and a lump hammer were my friends when removing this.

 Although I know It won't last, I simply could not stand the thought of putting a rusty old hub on a new car (the bearings will all be new). So an hour with a wire brush and Hammerite got them look acceptable.

Throttle bodies.

I was umming and arrring about whether to use the puma inlet manifold and plenum. But I just can't do it. I just know the engine will respond well to ITB's and a decent exhaust.....ITB's it is then
Throttle bodies arrive (ebay) - they were very dirty, but a hour in the garage with the gunk got them looking almost like new.

I've gone for the GSXR750 TB's as they were about the right size with a 50mm inlet tapering down to 40mm.

 This time around (I did this with the Westfield) I'm going to try to effectively make them direct to head. This will involve welding them to an inlet manifold that I will design, but will will need to get the fabrication and machining work done elsewhere (que a call to my father who has a small workshop with a lathe and a milling machine).

Engine...not out!

I was hoping to get the engine out of the donor car today, but alas, the British weather had other ideas!. Pretty much everything is unconnected, but the Haynes manual says remove from the bottom, and this really does not make sense, so I will probably ignore Mr Haynes.

Another issue are the hubs...my dilemma Is if I use them the wheels will not go back on the donor car and thus moving it around will not be easy. I'm keen to get it off the drive as soon as poss to keep the 'our drive looks like a scrapyard' comments from the wife to a minimum, so I may end up up leaving them on.

A couple of observations about the puma:

A). It was bloody good fun to drive home, and I can't believe how cheap they are for how cool they are. I can only assume they are expensive to insure for the young'uns.
B). The exhaust manifold is so appallingly designed, it must be zapping 30bhp!.
C). In contrast to the exhaust, the inlet manifold is a work of cast alloy art. Shame it won't be used!.
D). The gear change on the shaft driven linkages in the puma is seriously good. I just hope this transfers to final build.
E). The gear knob is machined from a solid piece of alloy, and will suit the j15, that's another £30 saved.

I would like to know how the Puma variable valve timing works if any one has a link or can explain it would be much appreciated.

Right, Monday tomorrow...back to work, probably not allot going happen during the week.

Donor car

I picked up my donor car yesterday. A 2001 ford puma with 85k miles and a full ford service history. It was advertised as the clutch was slipping and the owner could not bothered to get it fixed......how much did I pay for it?.........a frankly ridiculous £250. So, that's engine, gearbox, and whole load of other parts for 250!. It was useful being able to give the car a good run driving back from Horsham engine and gearbox felt fine. I will no doubt replace the clutch with an updated one.

Now begins the job of dismantling it.

Had a good shot at the dismantling the car..........gear linkage removed, loom labeled up and disconnected, drive shafts pulled. Am hoping to remove the engine and gearbox tomorrow.

It starts!.

Hi and welcome to my Sylva J15 build blog. I will try my hardest to keep this updated with progress and photos of my new project.

About me: I've been interested in cars for as long as I can remember. My dad restored a few when I was younger, and I'm guessing this mught have ignited my interest at an early age.

7 years ago I purchased my first kit car, a westfield SEiW. Over the 7 preiod until now, I have upgraded it in every possible way to a very quick track car, but reached a point where there was not much else to do on it. I decided that towards the end of 2012 I would sell the Westfield to start a new project. Enter the Sylva J15

I clocked the J15 in an early addition of a kit car mag, and really liked it, but never really thought of building one. Then on a track day in July 2012 I was able to get a good close look at one and decided there and then It was the kit for me.

The Westfield sold early September and my deposit on the kit was placed. at the time of writing this I have a 7wk wait for the kit to arrive.

The Plan:

I want to end up with a car that is track oriented, sub 500kgs, and has around 150bhp giving around 300bhp/ton. No doubt later on I will want more power, but 150bhp seems reasonable from the engine I plan to install.

The engine: I looked into a new 1.6 Zetec se, but found they were expensive new and the only Mk4 fiestas seem high milage and actually quite expensive. The Puma on the otherhad appeared to be much cheaper, and also, the engine is a 1.7 capable of 150bhp with throttle bodies and a decent exhaust system (

running an aftermarket ECU. On top of this, the following parts can be used from a donor car:

• Engine
• Gearbox
• Gear linkage
• Horn
• Steering column
• Front hubs
• Drive shafts
• Gear leaver and mechanism
• Wiring loom
• ECU
• Wheels (for the build)
• Steering wheel to get car through IVA test (must have a crash pad)