Newbie Alert! Building A Striker
lennym1984 - 15/4/19 at 09:13 PM
Hi,
This is my first post on the forum so please go easy on me!
Having caught the track day bug a few years ago, the time has come to embrace the inevitable and build myself a kit car. Having done a reasonable
amount of Google research, it sounds as though a Raw/Sylva Striker would be the ideal car (being 6'2" I do however need to find one to sit
in first).
My plan is to take my time with the build (I have an old Porsche I currently use for track days so am in no great rush) and build up a decent (and
cost effective) car.
I have a decent amount of tools, am fairly competent (and confident) with a set of spanners, and my dad is a retired electronics engineer (always
handy) and so I am trying t o plan which parts to buy from Raw and which to try and source/refurbish myself.
My current thinking is to buy the chassis (I can weld but would prefer not to), fibreglass components, and suspension gear from Raw and then try to
source/fabricate the remaining parts myself. Cost is not a huge constraint but I really hate waste and so would get a lot of satisfaction from reusing
old parts and building bits myself. This will be a car to be driven and so I will also feel more comfortable knowing how/where to find replacements
if/when they get damaged (ie. if I buy them new, I'll be annoyed if they get damaged and I already have other cars to be far too precious
about)
Does this sound like a reasonable plan? If not, which parts are/aren't worth buying new?
Thanks in advance for the help
Lenny
loggyboy - 15/4/19 at 10:56 PM
Im now considering selling my partially started striker... again.
https://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=210138
StrikerChris - 16/4/19 at 03:03 AM
That's basically what I did. I had my 200sx written off,so I just bought the bare chassis (with no mounts for the engine box or diff), wishbones
and rear tub from Raw,and made the rest as there wasn't any manufacturer at the time catering for the Nissan running gear. Its a fantastic
handling car with a surprisingly good ride.
I would recommend sitting in one and seeing how you fit though,they are tiny. I obviously made my pedals etc to suit me (5"9) but i can't
recall off the top of my head how much more room you could get altering them,theres definitely not alot of room down there!
Chris
loggyboy - 16/4/19 at 10:09 AM
Theres plenty of room for a tall person in a striker - its the width thats tight. anything more than 38inch waist will struggle. Im 36" waist and
it snug, but i'm 5'11 and i think there is a good 4 inches of extra leg room in mine, depending on the seat that's fitted.
[Edited on 16-4-19 by loggyboy]
lennym1984 - 16/4/19 at 12:16 PM
I'm lanky so hopefully I should be okay. I was hoping that Raw would be at Stoneleigh but having emailed them, they have said that they no longer
do the show. Maybe a trip to Hereford is in order...
peter030371 - 16/4/19 at 12:36 PM
quote:
Originally posted by lennym1984
I'm lanky so hopefully I should be okay. I was hoping that Raw would be at Stoneleigh but having emailed them, they have said that they no longer
do the show. Maybe a trip to Hereford is in order...
Not sure they do any shows now 
The JPSC will be there with a members parking area and I am sure a Striker or two. If you see the owners they will almost certainly let you have a sit
in them.
I am on my second Striker and love them. Your plan looks spot on to me and is sort of what I did with my second car. I am the same height as you and
fit OK, as others have said its the width that is tight.
bi22le - 16/4/19 at 03:14 PM
Size of feet is another thing.
I'm size 10 and have to wear race boots or I hit other pedals / sides of foot well.
A food for thought.
AB performance took the JP striker and improved it. Massive kit car presence, winning chassis. That's where I would be going if I was you.
peter030371 - 16/4/19 at 03:37 PM
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
Size of feet is another thing.
I'm size 10 and have to wear race boots or I hit other pedals / sides of foot well.
A food for thought.
AB performance took the JP striker and improved it. Massive kit car presence, winning chassis. That's where I would be going if I was you.
I had forgotten about the feet! I am size 9 and most shoes hit two pedals at once, I always use race boots and that works fine on the road and track
Good call about AB, they did say they would release a '7' body but not seen anything about it recently. Certainly well thought out chassis
but I suspect will cost a lot more than a RAW. If you have Facebook then they have lots of pictures of various cars and builds on there Facebook page
yogibear1969 - 18/4/19 at 02:58 PM
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
AB performance took the JP striker and improved it. .
Ermm..no, they didn't! They bought the Cyana Round (or square?) tube pheonix and may have altered it.
It's basically the same chassis as Striker with a body, but the only genuine Striker is from Raw.
However, I am sure there will be a few Strikers at Stoneliegh, come find us, have a cuppa and a chat and will help as much as we can. I have a Striker
but still isn't fixes after Le Mans crash 2 years ago....
Edd.
JPSC Chair.
lennym1984 - 18/4/19 at 04:51 PM
That's great! I'll pop along at Stoneleigh.
I'll be honest and say that I have no idea what to expect of Stoneleigh (having never been before) but hopefully I'll be able to gather all
the info I need.
bi22le - 18/4/19 at 06:23 PM
quote:
Originally posted by yogibear1969
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
AB performance took the JP striker and improved it. .
Ermm..no, they didn't! They bought the Cyana Round (or square?) tube pheonix and may have altered it.
It's basically the same chassis as Striker with a body, but the only genuine Striker is from Raw.
However, I am sure there will be a few Strikers at Stoneliegh, come find us, have a cuppa and a chat and will help as much as we can. I have a Striker
but still isn't fixes after Le Mans crash 2 years ago....
Edd.
JPSC Chair.
Well I'm never going to argue with the chair of JPSC about this sort of detail, but I have a question. . .
Sylva Striker is a genuine Striker, right? So there are 2 genuine Strikers, both very similar.
When I first got into kit cars RAW and Sylva had cars on the RGB grid and it's shame it's not the case anymore. I'm an avid RAW man and
wish there were more of them around, especially being raced.
peter030371 - 19/4/19 at 08:04 AM
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
Sylva Striker is a genuine Striker, right? So there are 2 genuine Strikers, both very similar.
When I first got into kit cars RAW and Sylva had cars on the RGB grid and it's shame it's not the case anymore. I'm an avid RAW man and
wish there were more of them around, especially being raced.
JP designed and built the Striker under his company name Sylva. He produced it for many years alongside some of his other cars and tweaked the design
a few times. He also had a couple of companies that sold and built the kits for him such as Fisher Sporscars down south but that was still branded a
Sylva.
Around about 2002 he sold the design onto the Bulmer brothers who then set up RAW to build and sell the Striker. They have developed it a bit more
with the new scuttle design and the Fulcrum body.
On track many have taken the JP design and developed it much further, such as AP and Cyana, but generally in low volumes specifically for the track. I
think without exception all these cars have full body styles for better areo dynamics.
With the general decline in the kit car industry during this decade interest in kit car racing has also dwindled but you can still see the Striker
chassis DNA in many clubman race cars if you can look under the skin
Bensmith - 20/4/19 at 01:05 PM
There will be at least one very nice striker at stoneleigh to have a look at. A nice green, fully caged example. Belongs to a friend of mine and
definitely worth a look.
Yazza54 - 8/6/19 at 06:52 AM
quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
Sylva Striker is a genuine Striker, right? So there are 2 genuine Strikers, both very similar.
When I first got into kit cars RAW and Sylva had cars on the RGB grid and it's shame it's not the case anymore. I'm an avid RAW man and
wish there were more of them around, especially being raced.
JP designed and built the Striker under his company name Sylva. He produced it for many years alongside some of his other cars and tweaked the design
a few times. He also had a couple of companies that sold and built the kits for him such as Fisher Sporscars down south but that was still branded a
Sylva.
Around about 2002 he sold the design onto the Bulmer brothers who then set up RAW to build and sell the Striker. They have developed it a bit more
with the new scuttle design and the Fulcrum body.
On track many have taken the JP design and developed it much further, such as AP and Cyana, but generally in low volumes specifically for the track. I
think without exception all these cars have full body styles for better areo dynamics.
With the general decline in the kit car industry during this decade interest in kit car racing has also dwindled but you can still see the Striker
chassis DNA in many clubman race cars if you can look under the skin
I know this thread isn't about RGB per se but I'll just respond to this one if anyone's interested in RGB/a place to race their BEC
kit
On that note of front engined RGB cars we are talking around some ideas to get the F cars back out. Classic RGB or something like that. There was
apparently (before my time) a lot of bickering about class F and R cars getting in each other's way. Plus the overall.chpionship could be won by
cleaning up in class F where there was less competition.
The classes were merged so it didn't matter what car someone was in, it's just a straight up race, a sporting cup championship introduced
for top drivers that haven't finished in the top 3 all year and also trophies for top front engined cars per round, but with the front engined
cars not having their own championship they all left, hence why you won't see many cars from RAW, Sylva etc.. we have a few coming back though
and we are trying to come up with a better way of doing it so everyone has something to race for.
If anyone wants to talk RGB fire me a message.