Zeitgeist's Mid-west OH race chassis #170 build

[zeitgeist]

My journey begins for real now. I just placed my order and deposit for a race chassis this afternoon. I picked up my 99 donor earlier in the summer but this seems like the real first step to Exocetdom. I don't think I will be doing anything different than what has already been shown here already but I can't wait to get started.

I have to decide where and how to do a build thread for ease of updating and posting pictures. I have already picked up a lot of good advice and ideas here so I want to share what I can and I'm sure I will have a ton of questions for the brain trust.

I'm looking to do just a straight forward build with good seats and steering wheel, as well as harness. For the build I plan to do the flywheel,clutch and bearings as well as seals and anything that likely will need freshening on a 194k donor but keep things mostly stock to start. It just had the timing belt service done with receipt so hopefully just an inspection of that will save some time and money. The car has ABS brakes and I plan on keeping the system so I hope I can keep all or some of the brake lines or I'll be learning line bending and flaring.

The car will be primarily for trackday use but I want to make it street legal with title,plates and insurance so it can be used on nice days and for ease of simple jobs or filling up with gas etc...

I'm always open to suggestions and advice to make the build and final product better.

I'm located in mid west OH between Lima and Findlay. We just moved in to the house so the garage needs some work to turn it into a workshop instead of a 2 car box. It's a blank slate I just wish I had a blank check to do it.

[jwagner]

Sounds like you're in a pretty similar situation as we were - the garage didn't have a workbench or lighting, the donor needed a bunch of refreshing, and the car is mostly for track/autocross. Once you get it running, the Exocet is a blast to drive - helps make up for the occasional obstacles you will encounter in the build. Have fun with the build. It will probably take longer and cost more than you figure, but enjoying the build process will keep you on it.

If you're on a budget start planning the big stuff now and looking for deals and used stuff - seats/harnesses/suspension/etc. If you haven't already, join Mazda Motorsports so you have access to OEM parts at a discount, and setup an account with your donor car at Rock Auto so they send you e-mails with closeout specials for that model/year car.

Enjoy -

[zeitgeist]

Thanks for the tips on Mazda Motorsports and I didn't even think of the Rock auto discounts even though I use them often enough for other cars. The build is a retirement present I have been bugging the wife with for so long she may be happier than me that it is finally here. I retire in Jan thus the Feb delivery. I sat out last year and this years trackday seasons and the itch is getting hard to bear.

I would love to go all out non stop until its finished but the new (to us) house needs HVAC,paint and freshening everywhere plus kitchen remodel and lots of detail work and we are going to Germany and Israel for a month in the spring so time is precious for the build.

[einy]

Welcome!

I'm down near Cincinnati if you want to take a look at a ~ 95% finished car some weekend. Drop me a PM if interested.

John

[zeitgeist]

Sept 25, 2015 15:12:38 GMT einy said:

Welcome!

I'm down near Cincinnati if you want to take a look at a ~ 95% finished car some weekend. Drop me a PM if interested.

John

I'll definitely take you up on the offer once I'm down in OH for good. I live part time in MI for my job and will be moving permanently to OH where my wife works late this year. School and work have been a challenge for us to live like normal people. I would love to check out what you've done especially after you get it registered. How close are you to going through the inspection?

By the way is there anyone else in OH with an Exocet? Is there a registry of Exocet owners for the US and UK anywhere? It would be neat to see a map of owners.

[mawdo81]

Sticky post on the general board ?

[zeitgeist]

Update 10/06 and 10/07/15 I started the tear down on my 99 donor yesterday. I initially planned to just gut the trunk area and start labeling electrical connections but got carried away and jumped in with both feet. Yesterday I worked for 6-1/2 hours and got the hood,trunk-lid,both front fenders,both doors, front and rear bumper covers off and gutted the trunk fully as well as labeled all connections. I took around 40-50 pictures. It was late so I just put the parts away and went in to clean up and get some rest.

Today I started late(2pm)due to house obligations. I moved to the interior tear down and again took plenty of pictures. I ended up getting the top off, all the carpet,seats,seat-belts,console,column cover,windshield mirror and trim plus seal off. I got the pass airbag out,glove-box,radio surround trim and all dash switches out plus everything labeled.
I am using several colors of duct tape to label each electrical connection. I use red tape for the trunk, yellow for interior, green for engine compartment and white for under car connections. I use a black Sharpie permanent marker to write on the tape and fold the tape around the wire just behind the connection onto itself to have a flag type look to make it easier to read and remove later while sticking well.

Huge mistake/tragedy occurred this evening when I came in after clean up and went to download the pictures from the camera to the computer and the cloud. NO PICTURES! I can't believe it. It appears the card was full but still continued to flash and take pictures from the start. I lost a lot of details and some for re-assembly purposes. Totally my screw up for not checking that it was saving the pictures. I have all the parts and can lay them out one by one and take pictures for sales and documenting purposes but it was devastating to lose the process of the tear down step by step due to a dumb mistake. That won't happen again. If you are starting or haven't checked your camera lately don't do what I did and assume it is working and saving pictures.

On a different note how does the radio and HVAC controls come out from the center stack in the dash?

I was able to pull the trim bezel from around the center stack and the Passenger airbag shut off switch as well as the cigarette lighter plugs. I also removed the bolts/nuts from the dash sides,under the glovebox and from under the rectangular covers on the side of the center stack/console area. I removed the cnter of the dash bolt near the bottom of the windshield and the dash is fairly loose as a unit but the radio and HVAC controls are still in place with no visible fasteners.

Also are there any tricks or techniques for removing the instrument cluster without scratching or damaging it? That is the next step after the re-taking of lots of pictures with a working camera.

So far just about 11 1/2 hours and I only cracked one interior trim piece with no blood loss,stripped or broken fasteners or challenges I found frustrating. Not a bad start thanks to all those build threads everyone has shared. I'm back to work in MI for a week so no work will be done on the tear down until I come back.

[gwnwar]

A couple of screws and radio will pull out then disconnect harness and ground wire.. you will have to disconnect the control cables from the HVAC large white unit under dash center.. these are only snap on clips then slide cable end off.. HVAC control unit will come out with dash.. To pull gauge cluster remove clam shell behind steering wheel and the screws holding the lower side of the cluster hood then pull straight back to remove hood.. cluster is held in with 4 screws and a couple of connectors.. You will have to disconnect a few connectors behind glove box and drivers side and around ignition switch under dash before removing dash. If you remove the bolts holding the steering up to dash will give you a little more room to remove dash.. To remove steering wheel remove air bag screws on back of wheel..then orange and blue connector for bag and horn.. orange first.. loosen nut holding wheel on till it is even with top of threads.. wiggle and pull to you it may come lose.. If not put the ball of a ball peen hammer on the center of the on nut with the handle under the wheel so you can pull up on it then hit the flat of the hammer with another hammer as you pull up wheel press up with knees too. should pop up.. remove nut remove wheel.

[einy]

FYI - received my 'inspection date' for Ohio - Monday, Nov. 2nd. Hope it is not raining that day, as lead time seems to be ~ 4 weeks to schedule a "self assembled vehicle" inspection !!

I'll post complete details at that time about how this process goes, regardless of the results for any other Ohio builders.

[zeitgeist]

Thanks Gwnwar for the info on removal of parts. That should help.

Best of luck Einy. I hope it goes smoothly and with good weather. The car is looking good from the pictures you posted.

[einy]

Thanks !!

[zeitgeist]

Testing photo posting. First image of 99 Donor when I got it home.



Interior shot



Interior shot 10/07



Exterior 10/07



Tagging

[zeitgeist]

The photos are working for me. Please let me know if they are not working for you.

[einy]

Photos working for me.

Super clean looking donor ... makes the donor I had really look like the POS it used to be!

[greg]

Wow that was a really nice donor. How much did you get it for?