Rob's Exocet Build

[robbrown91]

Hello I'm Rob, and this is going to be my build update thread. My donor car is a 2005 '05' MX5 Icon 1.8 SVT. I found it online on a salvage auction through Synetiq, although it was based at a local salvage yard 6 miles away in Winsford. I don't know exactly what happened to it, although I theorize that something fell onto it.





Otherwise its not in bad shape at all, I can't see an body rust, and the same can be said for the underside. It has Pilot sport 3's all round and the wheels have virtually no kerbing. It has done 100k miles, lovely condition interior, with the heated leather and red/orange contrast stitching, however being a salvage car it unfortunately didn't come with any service history. Although something I did notice was that someone has already deleted the EGR... unusual...

So my first steps are going to be giving it a full service, so its prepped for a few months slumber, and I have started to label all of the connections ready for when i start stripping it down.

My aim is to have the strip down done within a month or so, so that whilst the kit is on order, I can be refreshing bushes and investigating a possible turbo conversion.... but that's not a certainty yet. With a completion by the end of October ready for an IVA.

Cheers for reading

Rob

[craig1]

Looks like a good starter car Rob, just starting my tear down myself so will follow your build along

[Stewart]

Welcome Rob! Looks like a decent donor, you’re throwing the bent bits away anyway!
Did you decide on a colour yet?

[robbrown91]

So I've probably spent about 6 hours on it so far, over a couple of days, I'm trying to limit what comes off, to the things that i have sold, and things that stop it being water tight to the interior, as my garage has a small leak, I'm yet to get fixed. So its not been the fastest, but I think I'm going to have it ready for body off within 6-8 weeks, slightly longer than originally thought, but I go back to work on Monday, so we will see how it goes. So this is where we are at the moment.










So the drivers seat and wheel are only in to make it easier to drive in and out of the garage. I've got some axle stands arriving soon, so I can do the oil change on it. so far everything has gone as planned and hasn't fought back too much, which is good, I've owned MX5's in the past that I couldn't say the same for. 

Good to have you along Craig, what donor did you start with?

So colour wise, I'm still not fully decided. But I quite like an orange frame, with a black body, as black's an easy colour to hammerite or similar the subframes and wishbones etc, and I prefer a bright frame. I know this ones an exomotive but for the colour scheme at least:





Rob

[hutchey]

Welcome Rob, looking forward to reading some more updates as you go

[craig1]

Hey Rob looking good, i have got a 1.8 mk2.5 which i have started taking apart with my son but not as far as yourself and doing mine outside

[robbrown91]

Hi Everyone

Another update. I jacked it up at the rear this morning, and spun the rear wheels, and lo and behold they both spun in the same direction! As it turns out one of the previous owners put an LSD on it. (The Mk2.5 Icon didn't come with one from the factory)



I couldn't upload the video here, so I uploaded it to my youtube channel and have linked it above.

Turns out it embedded it above...

something else you might spot in that video, which I hadn't noticed until I got under it is, it has a stainless cat back on it. It appears to be the stuff from MX5Parts.net.

I have made some progress this morning, I have removed the boot lid and rear bumper, the drivers seat, the hood and rear carpeted areas, the upper A posts and the front roof trim:














I'm not sure if the Dynamat stuff is standard, I wouldn't have thought so, but I could be wrong. But so far its all going to plan, only one incident where I hit my finger with a hammer trying to remove a door pin, but it was merely a flesh wound   , and one other oddity, I have had to remove the RHF brake pads, as they were binding, and preventing me from pushing the car in and out of the garage, which is now fine, no issues... not sure what caused it, but I'll sort it when I renew the discs and pads all round, as even in that video you will hear the rear discs scratching, but that will probably be close the end of the build. So a fair way away yet . Which brings me to where it is now:












A long way still to go I know, I wanted to do some research on how to remove the dash before I started, so I will be doing that today, and probably taking it out one afternoon after work this week. I'm confident that I will be on target for taking the body off time wise, but given the state of the world, I am not able to do overtime at work, so I might be delayed financially, but we will see, even if it takes a little longer, I'll get there.

[robbrown91]

Another update 

I didn't end up doing anything to her during last week, but I did spend the entire day on bank holiday monday working on her, and I made some great progress. So I started by having a bash at the dash, labeling as I went.







When it was all said and done, took me just under an hour from pulling it out of the garage, to heaving the dash onto the floor, not too bad 

So I could drain fluids (and make use of my latest purchase ) I raised her up onto axle stands.





Once I had drained the coolant, I could remove the radiator and fan etc, the heater core and then the carpet, an easy win, but a visually pleasing one progress wise.



It looks like there may have been a small leak at some point, as when I removed the carpet in the passenger side footwell, the insulation under the carpet was damp. There didn't appear to be any undue corrosion. So it might have happened whilst in storage at the salvage yard, maybe a window left down or similar. Not that it would be a problem for this project, but just interesting to note.

What I did find under that carpet though was some particularly confusing fixings.





Smooth and convex, they are on the ECU covering plate so I assume they are there as a security measure, against what I don't know, as its fairly simple to...



Just bend it out of the way, especially since I won't be needing it again 

I found this on my travels 



Lambda sensor connection, actually a great place for it (being directly above where the sensor is fitted), there is even a hole in the carpet to access it... well done Mazda 

Next on my list was to start removing the wiring loom, so I started with the LH engine bay (it just happened to be where I was standing when I was making the decision). I removed the airbox etc, everything else had already been removed earlier in the strip down, only issue I had, was a my car specific one: Because of the location of the damage, the fender had been pushed down, and pinched the wiring loom. Using a metal trim clip removal tool I just convinced it not to be in the way 







Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of my removing the otherside, I was so focused at the time, I didn't stop to think about taking a picture, but it did give in, and was defeated.



next on the list was pedals, brake and throttle were fairly simple couple of brake lines and bolts, a retaining clip and an end stop.



Clutch turned out to be less of a hassle than I thought, after I realised that it unbolted from the engine bay, and I didn't have to remove the nut on the actuator, like the retaining clip on the brake pedal. 

Other than that I pushed the Engine ECU loom through into the engine bay as I didn't fancy removing the entire engine loom, I will if its required, but ONLY if its required 


Which finally brings me to where she is now:



The PAS is drained, just have brake lines and the fuel lines/tank to do... I think... but I could be wrong. Then it will be body off, followed by some restoration to the skate, wire brushing and hammerite-ing etc.

Might be a few weeks before my next major update, as I have taken it pretty much as far as I can right now, needing to get an engine crane to lift the body etc.

I hope you have all been well, and keeping busy during these difficult times. Stay Safe 

[hutchey]

Somebody definitely spent some time doing the after market fit of the dynamite. Lord knows why they covered everything like that. Almost doubled the weight and cost of the car

Anyway - good work going on there.

[robbrown91]

Someone clearly cared about this car, and spent a lot of money on it making it how they wanted it to be. It had a full Alpine radio and amplified speaker system, including 6x9's in the front doors.. which totalled at RRP would have cost over £700, they fitted the LSD, the stainless cat back, the front strut brace, and with the excessive use of Dynomat, combined the little things like Pilot sport 3 tyres all round, and that during my strip down I didn't find a clip broken or a fixing missing... and the almost mint condition leather interior. Also given that the body is completely rust free, and there was barely a mark on it, before the incident. I have also spent some time looking at the underside, and I've seen 2-3 year old cars that have a lot more rust than this does. I am amazed, @ £600 for the donor, with 10 months mot on, I'm not sure I could have done better :-)

[craig1]

Great progress mate, looks like a good donor with plenty of nice bits on it, finally got my body off so we are fairly close in stage. Just like yourself I am undecided in colour scheme 😂

[hutchey]

You can have any colour you want EXCEPT Green
Too many green ones out there - mine included