KP's Build - Final Assembly

As I finish up a few things on the Exocet for the big Carlisle Kit Car Show next month I took a moment to take a few photos for an update. From a registration perspective, the beat goes on. The police came out last week to inspect the Department of Revenue's serial plate that has been riveted onto the chassis and sign needed paperwork. Playing the waiting game for them to finally issue the title. Almost there.




Ditched the rear half of the OBX dual exhaust since it stuck so far out. I used the rear half of an eBay-sourced "SRS" exhaust system and cut the rear resonator/tip off. Still not "perfect" by any means but much lower profile and it does not stick out more than an inch or so. Also, those black license plate bolts are actually LED license plate lights.


I had ordered two different sets of mirrors but did not really like either of them when they arrived and I saw them in person. I remembered that I had the stock mirrors off my 2005 Ducati Monster S2R so I pulled them out of storage and mounted them to some 1" aluminum clamp mounts I found from PIAA. The mount is clamped around the smaller diameter tubing from the inside.


Side view of the fenders. For the frontmost mount, I ended up installing the new design that bolts up in place of the dust shield. Much more secure and we are now including that on all new US Exocets.

Drilling out the holes in the fenders with a small hole saw was fairly easy. You will not tear up the GRP if you run the hole saw in reverse and use masking tape. PU adhesive worked well to bond the fenders to the mounts.

geoff - Laser alignment/setup is on my list to do within the next few weeks. I was planning on having them get as close to this as a base. (I found these numbers recommended on Miata.net for an aggressively driven street or autocross car.)

Front
Caster: Maximum
Camber: -1.5°
Toe out 1/16" per side

Rear
Caster: (n/a - no adjustment possible)
Camber: -2°
Toe in 1/16" per side

I've been waiting to see this for ages now the finished product looks awesome, well done mate, love the attention to detail in all the small things and those mirrors look well. Ive been searching for the small things and stocking parts up for my build. I actually quite like your rear lights but they need to be straightened up a bit

Do you not need a rear view mirror in the US?

Also where do you plan on fixing the front number plate?

Also pinching your motorbike mirror clamp idea!

geoff - Thanks! I just hope that you can get your registration/taxation woes taken care of and then we can both enjoy many miles of motoring.

h5ngs - Yeah, those rear lights are not optimal. I've got a few other ideas for mounting some round LEDs in the rear tank cover but want to make sure they will be legal first. You are right, they do need to be straightened! After reading up on all the laws in the state of Georgia it does not specifically state that a central rear view mirror is required. However I do have still have the rear view mirror out of the donor with hardware ready to mount it to the hood if needed. Thankfully Georgia is one of 19 states that only require a rear plate so I will not have to mount one to the front of the car.

samuelt - Can't go wrong with black! Those clamps are great for the mirrors and I was thinking that some builders may even want to use them to mount the headlights. They have a small plastic internal ring in them so it should protect the finish on the frame fairly well.

gwnwar - Looking forward to it! I've got a set of darker gray "EXOCET" graphics like the ones on Stuart's demonstrator but I'll likely have a new set made up for Exomotive. I like the ghost/almost black color idea.

What. A. Day.

On Saturday afternoon, the title arrived for the Exocet.

Woke up this morning to find the neighbor backed into my daily driver Miata taking out the door and fender. I stayed calm, knowing that much more important things would happen today as I would be finally able to get the Exocet on the road. First thing this morning I called up my insurance agent with the title details and by early afternoon I was the proud owner of a full year of insurance with $0 deductible for a grand total of $265. NICE!

Jumped in the now crunched up Miata and ventured over to the tag/tax commissioner office with the title, insurance and ID. $120 for the tag and additional taxes. Success! We have a plate! We have a VIN! We have insurance! Let's go for the FIRST drive on the main roads!

I hurry home, give the Exocet a quick detail, set the GoPro to record and fire her up. Only about a gallon of gas in the tank so I figured I would go for a quick fill up before heading to my alignment guy to get it laser aligned. I drive about .3 miles away to the nearest gas station, jump out and swipe my credit card at the pump. As I turn around, I see a Ford Expedition backing into the front right fender. Bent the stays all out of shape and crushed/crack the fender against the tire. It could not be driven as is so I had to rip the front fender off the mount so it could clear the tire on the way home.

I got the incident on video and you can watch it here:
My apologies for the clearly NSFW language/initial rage. If you ever want to hear anguish in someone's voice, back into their freshly finished kit car.

Police came out and filed a report. The guy in the Expedition was apologetic and will be paying for the repairs. I'll fabricate some new fender mounts and fender - hopefully everything can be finished before we head to Carlisle next month.

Moral of the story: our MEVs are low! Keep your head on a swivel. The general driving populous has their heads so far up their <<insert your favorite word for gluteus maximus>> that I'm surprised they can still breathe.

Gutted about it being crashed into on it's first official ride, but all in all still extremely excited that the Exocet is now legal and on the road. To say it turns heads is an understatement. It goes in for the new alignment tomorrow morning and then back to the shop to get fixed.

gwnwar - It is titled and insured as a 2012 Dune Buggy. The company I used is Infinity Classic Collectors based in Alpharetta, GA and the replacement value is $20k. In my eyes, Georgia has 3 ways we can register the Exocet.

"Dune Buggy Way" - The entire process revolves around you turning in the title and physical VIN plate to the Department of Revenue. You supply all bills of sale/parts receipts and additional paperwork. Car is taxed at 7% of what you spend in receipts. On paper the car is turned into a current model year assembled vehicle and titled as a current year "Dune Buggy." This is the way I went about registering this Exocet.

"MSO Way" - If the kit car manufacturer provides a Manufacturers Statement of Origin, which Exomotive now does, you will not need to use the title/physical VIN plate from the Miata to register it. You supply all bills of sale/parts receipts and additional paperwork. Car is taxed at 7% of what you spend in receipts. Car is titled as a current year "EXOCET." This has positive implications for potential resale of the unused Miata shell with a clear title. Also opens up the potential to use a salvage titled car as a donor.

"Miata Way" - YMMV, this may not be legal. Read the laws carefully. Act like it is a heavily modified Miata and keep it registered as such.

In general, I recommend option 1 or 2 for obvious reasons.