Geoff's Exocet build - Basingstoke

[geoff]

Its been a busy time, getting hot, having a holiday, and getting buried in wires removed from the Exocet



It all went fairly smoothly, removing wires and checking back to ensure dash still lit up and engine turned. I used zip ties on the looms to keep it all kinda tidy, then decided to go for a full start, so checked oil, coolant, turned the key, and could not get it started, turning over was no issue, but not firing up.

I did, however, mange to get it firing if i almost fully chocked the engine. So checked all wiring from MAF....no issue....checked fuel pressure....Zero!, check fulel pressure on top of petrol tank.....Zero! Can hear pump running but no fuel.

Time to strip down....not because of the heat....but to fathom the pump, filter at the bottom was all clogged up, cleaned, put back together and.....Vroom all working, first time running as an Exocet, the last time was when it was a MX5....what a great feeeling!

So now onto tidying up all the wires, routing, taping, wrapping, happy days!

Shame you can't add videos here, so please check out the video on the UK Exocet Owners group on facebook, to see it running.

[phaeton]

Are you sure you can't?

[geoff]

So...Wiring, wiring and wiring, thats all I have been doing for weeks now......

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I used all the stock mounts for the immobiliser and burglar alarm etc and just modified them to make a good fit for the frame, I am a pro at rivnutting now! The most satisfying parts....starting for the first time after the re-route of wires, and that you cannot see it all now! I have some red edge trim on order and will put that around the cover, after I trim it all to fit.

[geoff]

All trimmed and also decided to go all the way across....some peer pressure helped too.


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[geoff]

So I have been busy training a new addition to the home, a 1yr Cockerpoo that had been neglected by their previous owners....poor thing, anyway that is taking up my early mornings in the week, with his walking, so limited to a few hours on the weekend only now.




So moving on to the seats, I used some 20mm angle iron for additional support, and initially had issues attaching the runners, before the Facebook group helped by letting me know to add spacers.....of course!







Now onto the back cover and getting all the wiring tidied up, I added the reversing light and fog lamp first, and also need to sort out the fuel filler pipe, 90degree ordered and arrived...lets see what I can get done this weekend.

[o55ie18]

Looking good mate, progressing well. Keep up the work and it will be finished soon! I pick my kit up soon and can't wait to crack on with the next steps. Your post has just reminded me about my seat runners though, i let mine go with the seats! Best get looking for some universal ones haha

[geoff]

Hi All, The gloomy mornings are definitely here at the moment, walking the dog at 6am in the dark, one more week and the clocks change that will delay this until Dec/Jan...

So the rear cover is almost there, all the wiring is together in a mini loom and connectors all attached. My game plan was to have connectors at the edge to be able to unplug to aid removing of the cover, and this plan extends to the Fuel pipe as well.



I am thinking that I use some leftover foam board, glue that to the inside of the cover and add some zip tie mounts to that to hold the loom in position, probably 2 or 3 strips.

Now the fuel pipe, I spent hours....yes hours, looking through the CBS catalogue, and had a plan for each solution at one point (!!) Aero2, Aero3, Aero 5s...Aero 2..Aston...the lot, but I kept going back to the fact that I have to be able to remove any hardware fixing the cap to the cover and the fuel hose, without removing the cover....so has to be accessible from the outside. Most of the CB solutions are one piece design, cap to hose, that does not allow this. The options that can work involve 2 or three joins that are simply eradicated if you use the stock neck...Mazda thought it was a good idea...so do I!

So am using the stock neck, cut it all the back to the 2" wide neck, to make clearance on the tank and still have enough room to clamp a  2" Ultra Flexi Fuel pipe, CBS were out of stock, but I found another supplier..Viper Performance Hoses Ltd. So just waiting on that to arrive. To mount the neck, I had already drilled a 57mm hole and I masked all around to mark up the holes to attach it, all went well and I used some button bolts to hold in place, and a rubber grommet to cover it up and not sure if to keep that or not...let me know your thoughts:

 

So while I wait for the hose to turn up, I started on mounting the lights on the rear wheel arches, my thinking is that I want to get all the lights connected and tested before I move onto to permanently fixing everything in position. 



So that's where I am at the moment, it's all coming together and I started thinking about exhaust and dash, I am going to try and build the exhaust myself, using the stock exhaust, removing the mid box, because it does fit in the tunnel, and will add a straight pipe there with a hanger I think to support mid way. It will be a new experience for me, but the whole build is...so I figured I've got nothing to lose....watch this space !!  Regarding dash my thinking now is that I will go Acewell 7659, it just looks right for a Kit Car and looks the part whereas, I think, the stock dash looks like it was robbed from another car...but then everything else has been..I know but it just looks right I think.

[geoff]

I forgot to mention something, I have been following everyone else on here and Facebook and I am thinking about IVA rounded edges on everything I do...I even went as far to trim the MEV seats, what do you think....

     

[hutchey]

Oct 25, 2022 6:09:31 GMT geoff said:

I forgot to mention something, I have been following everyone else on here and Facebook and I am thinking about IVA rounded edges on everything I do...I even went as far to trim the MEV seats, what do you think....

     

Yup, definitely needed and others have done the same colour combo so good job

[geoff]

 Fuel filler....flexible hoses are not as straight forward as you may think, I have a route that needs three bends, which the flexible connectors can do, but they fight to go back straight, so with three bends you cannot manipulate the angle, the Flexi pipe will even out the route, and this resulted in it scraping on the rear cover. Also as soon as you release the cover the flex hose pings back into a straight hose, and if the tank is full it may end up with a spillage, although using the one way flap that comes on the stock inlet will stop that. My thoughts went to building and exoskeleton for the hose, holding it to the bends that I require....then I thought why not just go with three ninety degree bends and have a rigid hose....and that has won the day. So clips on order and bends all cut to shape, will post an image when I put it all back together.

So today was the turn of the bonnet, I had previously already mounted the hinges to the frame, so laid the bonnet in place and marked up for drilling the holes. Had to remove the front ARB to allow the bonnet to sit properly, and cut some strips of ally to mount on the inside of the bonnet to secure the hinges and not have too much force on the GRP.

i took the hinges off after marking the bonnet up, and attached them to the bonnet first then laid the bonnet in place and bolted the hinges to the frame...all very straightforward. It scrapes very slightly to the radiator top corners so will have to see if I can make some adjustments there.

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