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Post by exninja on Mar 8, 2018 19:06:51 GMT
New member of the community from AZ, USA.
I'm a mechanical engineer by trade. This is the first kit car I've tried building. I ordered an Exocet Sport two weeks ago. I've got 3 months to part out the donor and shed the shell.
Plans are to also get rid of the 1.6L and put in an LE5 Ecotec engine. Mild tuning should net around 200hp and I'll be happy with that for a long time. My DD and current all-around fun car is a 2.0L turbocharged Cobalt SS, so I'm pretty familiar with the mill. I'm not as familiar with custom wiring, standalone ECU setups, etc. so I'll be researching a lot in the coming weeks. I also need to find a good engine donor. I plan to get the ecotecmiata racer kit to mate the engine to the chassis and Miata 5 speed.
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Post by exninja on Apr 24, 2018 19:24:04 GMT
Body is gone. I also have an engine.
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Post by exninja on May 22, 2018 15:28:38 GMT
The engine checks out. Good compression all around. Just finished replacing the timing chain. Started going at it with a wire brush wheel. The exocet is scheduled to arrive sometime next week. Saturday's plans are to clean up the roller skate a bit and assess any need for paint, etc. This car, to my knowledge, had been in Arizona its whole life so the rust is minimal. There are some spots on the subframe where the paint is flaking off so I'll prob do a fresh coat regardless. I built a couple of stands to put the frame on over the roller skate. The reason for it is below. I got my boy to do a proof load on it: I'm still waiting on the kit from EcotecMiata to mate the "new" engine. The company isn't very good about keeping track of their lead times. They originally said 6 weeks to get the kit (that was 7 weeks ago). I called 3 weeks ago, and they had said "2 weeks out" at that time. People who ordered the full kit (with hoses and such that I don't need) in February are just now getting theirs. So the take-away is don't order if you're in a time crunch, you'll be disappointed. I've got plenty to do in the meantime so I'm not worried, but it would have been nice to put the drivetrain together before the Exo showed up. Oh well, my fault for delaying the purchase of the swap kit.
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Post by exninja on Sept 19, 2018 18:02:45 GMT
Progress is good. I document it fairly well in my normal forum here: www.cobaltss.net/forums/all-cars-caf%C3%A9-195/exninjas-kit-car-build-thread-325770/I justified keeping a thread there because the exo has an Ecotec in it Basically, I've got the frame down on the subframes. Cleaned and painted the subframes. Engine is in. Just put the steering column in two days ago. I'm going to finish the pedals hopefully tomorrow night (I need to make some standoffs for the DBW pedal I welded to the Miata assembly. I'm going to pick up some sheet metal to kludge a wiring tray a la Exomotive style but cheaper. I have a rivnut tool arriving today so I'll be using those in some places rather than rivets or self-tapping screws for longevity. I'll then begin the difficult process of combining the Miata and Ecotec wire harnesses. Luckily the Ecotec engine harness is basically done (just need to redo the loom). Then I'll get rid of almost all of the Miata harness, then make wires for lights and battery, etc. Hopefully I can finish that in a few months. My goal is to get this finished before next summer so that I can drive it before it gets too hot again. It's an ambitious goal considering I can work about 8 hours/ week on it, but it's a goal nonetheless.
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Post by kevinm on Sept 26, 2018 4:37:14 GMT
Great progress! I am mostly amazed how you did so much in this weather. I got my frame a few weeks ago and only got a few morning hours of work done in the garage.
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Post by exninja on Oct 23, 2018 15:29:04 GMT
Thanks! Sorry I don't frequent this forum as much as I should so I just saw your reply. I just powered through the hot weather. Had a big fan and pretty much only worked nights twice a week for 2-3 hours each time. Then take a lukewarm shower (that's as "cold" as the water gets here) and go to bed. I've actually slowed down a little recently, due to a vacation a couple weeks ago (which has zapped my discretionary fund) and I'm kinda at a point where I haven't clearly defined what the next step is. I'm trying to do only what's necessary before stripping again to paint. On Saturday I welded a bar to mount the driver's seat and the radiator mounts. I need to use a slider on the driver's seat so that my wife can drive as well. I'm going to finish my seat mounts tonight most likely. Then I'm not exactly sure. The two things I see left to do (before paint) are exhaust and wiring. Exhaust so I can weld hangers, and wiring I will weld some cable tie holders in strategic locations. I also need to figure out where and how to mount the ECU. Once that is done, that should be all of the welding so I can strip the frame again and paint it. Oh, maybe the bodywork mounts as well.
I'm thinking of transferring my build log over here because that other forum is full of dingleberries.
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