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Post by greg on Jun 9, 2015 2:39:16 GMT
thanks man! I'm really excited! Really hoping it pans out. I forgot the other piece of good news. My body work shipped last week! Greg, I happen to like the Staes, fancy a business partner? Right now I'm looking for investors more so than anything. There's some other big news I'm still working on which involves purchasing a shop and doing this stuff professionally.  Hey Greg, I have a trip to the Poconos (Lake Wallenpaupack) planned for late this month. I'm curious: 1. Could I come check out your masterpiece? 2. If #1 is yes, then how far are you away? Absolutely! Bring your camera. My zip code is 19311 and I'm about 3 hours away I think. Greg, What is the best way to repair, cover up scratches in powder coat? I am asking for something I can do myself at home. You can try a polishing compound but honestly, there's not much you can do. Powder coat is so tough that it doesn't sand smooth like paint. What did you scratch? Is it something I can recital for you? |
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Post by ashneyder on Jun 9, 2015 3:53:51 GMT
While messing with a bracket I was planning to use for the headlight, I made a deep gash in the main tube right behind front shock mount point. The best way going forwards might be just to stick to this location and cover it with a new bracket.
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Post by ashneyder on Jun 9, 2015 4:10:46 GMT
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Post by mawdo81 on Jun 9, 2015 7:25:24 GMT
My Powder coater provided powder & thinners to mix and paint on...
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Post by greg on Jun 11, 2015 2:42:19 GMT
Wats in teh bocks?  Lets get to work! First hang up... I mounted the radiator too low.  Begrudgingly I decided to remove the lower radiator mounts. I will drill another hole 1" higher then chop off the unused section so it won't interfere with the bumper. ( I need to update my radiator mounting post earlier in the thread. For the upper mounts I will make a spacer.) Moved on to bumper mounts. Seems like no one uses these...  The lower mounts sit flush with the bottom square tube. I used a quik-grip to hold it in place to cut one hole, then use one rivet to help hold in place while drilling the other two holes.    Upper mounts are 5.75" from the bottom. Relieved that my intercooler doesn't need to be raised. I might have to do some trimming to get it the bumper to fit all the way in though.  |
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Post by steadfast on Jun 11, 2015 4:05:31 GMT
Awesome, congrats. Can't wait to see it finished!
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Post by einy on Jun 11, 2015 10:47:37 GMT
Greg - if you measure from the bottom surface of the lower frame main tube to the bottom of your radiator, what does that measurement need to be to have the front bodywork clear the bottom of the rad? Based on what you're showing above, I'm worried I'm going to be in the same situation you are.
Thanks,
John
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Post by thestig on Jun 11, 2015 18:52:06 GMT
Zoom out so we can see the whole car please |
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Post by greg on Jun 12, 2015 2:37:30 GMT
Got the rear tank cover mounted tonight. Followed the directions from the Exomotive build guide. I removed the gas tank to make things easier. Start off by laying down some painters tape on the 1.75" rear thingy pit tube and set the tank cover into place. Then draw a line on the tape to match the body line. This will give you an idea of how to orient the front mounting tabs.   Cutting the holes for the rivets was quite a challenge because you can't drill straight in. The roll bar is in the way. So I started off with a small bit and worked incrementally to the 3/16s bit.  I'm using 1/4x20 riv nuts and bolts to hold the cover on.  These mounts were easy. The tops line up with the radius of the strut tower the side lines up with the vertical.  For drilling the front holes I made a mark with tape, then transferred that mark to the cover.   For the back mounts I made a 1/4 spacer with washers, then reached up with a paint pen and marked where to drill the holes.  Found some grommets for the holes and these 1" long 1/4x20 "body bolts" at the hardware store. They have this black coating on them. Hope they don't rust.    Started marking out where all the lights are going to be on the rear but got interrupted so this is as far as I made it.    Should be able to finish up tomorrow. |
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eastbaymatt
Junior
Exocet Race - Honda K engine
Posts: 26 
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Post by eastbaymatt on Jun 13, 2015 23:22:06 GMT
Greg,
It's tommorow and I am impatiently waiting for pics with bodywork on! ;-). Matt
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Post by greg on Jun 16, 2015 2:07:26 GMT
Not really a great day today... First off the 4.5" hole saw I borrowed from work was messed up. It wouldn't cut straight and was cutting a messed up hole. $38 trip to Lowes for a new one...  Turn signal, back up light and license plate holes cut. This is the Marine purge vent that JDiesel used in his build. Picked it up for $51 shipped on eBay.      Looks great except I failed to measure clearance for it above the tank... It needs to go about 4" towards the front of the car. Looks like ill be ordering a nice 2.5" grommet to cover the extra hole...  Started on the wiring too but was so frustrated over the vent hole I decided to call it quits.  |
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Post by greg on Jun 17, 2015 1:13:14 GMT
Only about an hour worth of progress tonight. Started with this:  Figured out a temp fix for the other hole. I will glue the cut out back in a s cover it with a sticker for now.  Made more progress with the wiring except I ran out of hear shrink tubes and butt connectors... Here you can see the ground. I'm using one of the extra Mazda 8 pin connectors for all the lights. Each tail light has its own connector so to remove the tank cover its 3 wire connectors, the fuel filler, the purge hose and 4 bolts. Easy! Put the lights in temporarily for this picture.  Here you can see the turn signals, tail lights, back up lights and the holes for the LED lights which double as the mounts for the license plate. For the fuel filer, I hacked up the stock piece and will be using a 90 deg hose. I still need to take more off.  That's it for today. |
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Post by greg on Jul 14, 2015 1:37:43 GMT
So.... It's been a month since I made any progress with the car. Lots of stuff going on in my personal life some of it good, some of it bad. The Exocet was a huge headache with seemingly nothing going right so I decided to take a break. The biggest headache was coming to terms with missing all the events I had planned for the car this summer.... Here's where I left off. This is the completed rear harness.  ....well that's what I originally thought. Turns out I screwed up the ground wiring so the fuel pump wouldn't turn on. Easy fix now. A month ago I was stressing about it. See that connector mounted on the fuel tank itself? It's an 8 pin connector I pulled out of the wire harness box. Can't remember any more where in the stock Miata it came from. Want to say it was in the engine bay... Anyway, the reverse, turn signal lights and the license plate lights are now wired to this connector. This will make removing the rear cover easier.  These guys are handy.   This was another issue that forced me to take a break.  Don't order LED lights from china. They're all 24/26 gauge wiring. It's so small I had to order a special cutter, butt connector and shrink tubing for it. Not easily found on eBay either... I'm sure this wiring will break in short time so what I'm doing is cutting the wiring out of the LED and soldering in some nice 20/22 gauge like the rest of the car has. Another detail finished up here too and that's the fuel filler.   Just hacked up the stock piece then picked up a fuel resistant hose from Autozone. To get an accurate measurement of lengths I first mounted the cover, then cut the hole for the filler, then bolted it to the cover. Peaking thru the large hole for the tail light I was able to measure how long to cut the hose. Piece of cake. The insurance appraiser also came by today so I gave him a ride. I've been approved for full coverage insurance (30k, 50k, 30k like normal car insurance) and the car is valued at $40,000. Nationwide is my provider and the coverage is $240 a year unlimited milage.    The final stresser was the shop I took the body work to.... They had everything for a month to get painted (picked out a metallic charcoal grey to match the Kingsport grey), fix my extra hole in the rear cover and fiberglass in some 1/4" steel plates in the front bumper to mount my headlights. 4 weeks and they did nothing! Tomorrow I'm going to pick them back up and re-evaluate a plan. |
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Post by USStu on Jul 17, 2015 4:16:21 GMT
Coming to terms with missing events with the car has been a huge frustration point of mine as well. It sucks, but I'm sure it will all melt away once it's all done.
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Post by greg on Jul 17, 2015 12:40:47 GMT
More progress over the last couple days. Got the rear of the car finished Wednesday but my cell phone battery was dead so no pics. Yesterday I begrudgingly cut out the rivits holding the radiator mounts and raised them as high as they would fit. This brought up the radiator about 1 3/4".   With the radiator mounted this high, the fans now had plenty of clearance from the sway bar which meant I could space them out farther and get rid of my ugly sway bar spacer. With that task done, I was hoping the nose/hood would slide right on. Well...  The hood is resting on the throttle body so it needs to come up some. So does the radiator. Unfortunately I can't move the mounts any higher. Looks like I gotta fab up my own or cut the body work. I'm hoping mounting the nose higher will space down the hood on the windshield side of the engine bay. It's a bit taller than 1/4" right now.  I also realized my IC pipes will need to be shortened to fit in the limited space. They will also be a bit squished if I don't cut the nose.   Probably going to raise the intercooler another inch or two to get it more in direct airflow. Right now the bottom 1/3 is covered by the lower nose. |
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