Sylva Fury Rebuild

The Easter Weekend…

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:24:09 +0000

I needed some help with quite a few jobs on KC and Pants kindly offered to come down and give me a hand. Pants arrived at 7.45pm on Thursday and we got straight on and started on the wiring that evening.

Below are some of the photos taken during the weekend.

Jobs done -

Wiring loom removed for modification
Brake lines formed, shaped, flared and p-clipped.
Front scuttle removed from main tub
Front scuttle drilled and rivetted.
Ally strip added to front scuttle for strength
Dash cut and drilled for Savage switches.
RS Alloys prepped and painted.(Ford Graphite Metallic Grey)
Roll bar ground down, primed and painted (Ford Graphite Metallic Grey)
Dash support moved and extended.
Side pod modified to clear exhaust
Steering column ugly support “modified”
Pin created for steering column
Steering boss slug welded onto column and pin.
Column rewelded and strengthened.
Westfield seat base modified.
Westfield seat (Driver) fitted.
Rear tub drilled for rear lights.
Brackets made for rear lights.
Fuel pump relocated to rear.
Shocks and springs removed (and refitted!)
Ally brackets fabricated for scuttle/main tub.
Ally brackets fabricated for tub rear.
Brackets rivnutted on to boot floor.
Brackets bonded (Tiger seal) to underneath of rear tub.
Boot floor rivnutted onto chassis (M5 rivnuts)
Bonnet grille cut out.
Headlight holes cut in bonnet.
Bonnet fitted.
Hinges screwed onto bonnet.
Headlights fitted into bonnet.
Savage switches fitted into dash.

I know I’ve left out some of the jobs Pants and I did, but the list is a start!

I’m so grateful for Pants’s time and skills that have allowed this massive list to be completed in less than four days.

And the pictures….

Bodywork mods

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:03:21 +0000

I cut the hole for the steering column this weekend. Painted and trial fitted the column. Hole needed to be enlarged slightly as the column caused the body to raise slightly. Modified it and job’s a good’un.

Not a very good weekend for achieving much. That was about it!!

Sorry - updates on way

admin — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:08:20 +0000

Have spent the weekend doing marking so not worked on KC for ages. Will post updates soon….

Slight setback

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:51:30 +0000

I toolk my steering column to my local mechanic (spitting distance from the house) and asked him if he could weld the column to the boss. He wasn’t keen, not keen at all.

I’ll have to look into other possibilities. Sending to Joe is still a good option but even he might not be so keen when he sees it!

Gulp…

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:47:07 +0000

One hell of an outlay but I hope it’ll be worth it.

DD2 Lite is now on order and should be with me within the week.

Time to sell a kidney or two…

Oh so much money but....

Petrol tank supports

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:44:18 +0000

I removed the old petrol tank mounts. Took a number of hard hammer hits before one end came off. Both other ends needed cutting off, so the weld can’t have been that bad!

I got some angle iron (£5 for two metres) and cut this down to size with the grinder and the cutting wheel. Cut the metal oversized to allow a lip on be welded onto the chassis. This will give so much more strength and means the weight of the full tank is no longer a concern!

I still need to drill the brackets for holes and paint the new metalwork.

Really happy with the results. So much better than it was. Cost me less than a £5 too. Cha ching.

Removal of steering column

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:06:40 +0000

Removed the steering column yesterday too. I think (and Pants does too) that the column may need chopping to get the removable steering boss welded back on.

Hope to ask Joe to weld the two together!

Dash mockup…

admin — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:07:21 +0000

Once I’d taken off the steering column I thought I’d offer up the carbon dash. Looks plenty long enough to go right into the wings.

Thanks Pants - will look fantastic!

Removal of old loom

admin — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:47:24 +0000

Spent a few hours today removing the old loom. My loom is in two clear parts, a car based loom and the bike OEM loom that’s been stitched (badly) into the car loom.

I removed both today so that I can wire the car from scratch. It’s not strictly needed but it’ll look neater, look more OEM and will probably (I hope) be far more logical!!

The new Honda Fireblade loom I have isn’t an exact match, it’s from a year newer bike (1998 not 1997) and has an immobiliser built in (additional pink wire from ECU) I hope to bypass this and still use the loom anyway. My original loom and 1997 UK Bikes don’t have an immobiliser.

There’s one burnt out spade terminal in one connector. I intend to remove this from the block and replace it with a connection from my old loom.

Photos of loom completely removed from car.

Fuel tank mounted

admin — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:12:33 +0000

Really pleased with these efforts - it’s been a busy and tiring day.

I cut out the current tank mounts. Sadly the new tank is slightly wider than the old one and the mounts need to move.

I then offered up the tank to get it central to the chassis. Held it in place with bungees and the good old little chair. It’s been invaluable in the build so far!

I used masking tape to indicate where the tank would sink and where the new mounts would need to be.

Dropped the tank again and plucked up the courage to use my welder.

I’ve not welded for about 10 years and I was ship at it then. My father gave me this welder after he had little use for it. It’s a fantastic little machine and in excellent condition too - Very grateful to him for it. Thought I’d need gas - but no! Still plenty of life in it.

Welded in the old mount into its new position - it’s about 30mm over from what it was on each side.

First weld was perfect - so so pleased and proud of it! Next few welds weren’t so great but tested each for strength and when the second weld repeatedly came off under pressure I took a break and started again in 10 mins.

All welds were done - need to grind back one or two to neaten and then paint.

Drilled and mounted the tank onto its new brackets - Spot on in the centre and looks really good. Really happy - a damn good day of work! :)

Cleaned the garage up and light off and rest at 10.30pm!