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)