Post by tellec on Jan 9, 2023 2:48:52 GMT
Hello everyone - seeing how incredibly useful this forum has been as I've been getting underway with my rescue of a half-finished Exocet build, I figured an introduction was in order.
Long story short, a college buddy (and fellow SCCA autocrosser) started a Sport build in 2018, and managed to get the donor disassembled and mated the chassis to the PPF before life got in the way. In the meantime, I'd also purchased and started autocrossing a '99 Miata that I converted into a Sport Hard-S - the dear of the SCCA E Street Solo class - that gave me a new respect for just how good the NA/NB Miata platform can be. Partially because I missed flying to Maine to autocross on a retired SAC airbase, and partially because what are friends for, I started to gave him a hard time about his lack of progress towards a running car. Somewhat strategically, he seemed to take the approach that the best defense is a good offense. Thus, he observed that with further mods to my own Miata limited by class rules, and having finished the restoration of a classic BMW airhead earlier this summer, my own poor garage was suffering from a dearth of half-finished projects. This simply would not do.
As Heath Ledger's Joker reminded Batman in The Dark Knight, "Madness is like gravity, all it needs is a little push." I rarely require even that much help, so I promptly flew from the SF Bay Area to southern Maine for a weekend of furious wrenching to get the roller steerable & stoppable, not to mention packing up the (many) associated piles, boxes, and miscellaneous spares for transport:
Several weeks later, chassis #358 arrived at our house on a big ol' trailer, and the work to complete this project began!
The holidays weren't as quiet as they could be, so most of the past month has been rearranging the garage and setting up a better workspace, picking up some fab tools I'll need, and tackling a few of the minor build items - removing & restoring the pedals/brackets, cleaning up & re-installing the steering column, and getting the transmission cover installed (along with dropping in a MiataRoadster short shift kit I had kicking around).
The donor was also a '99, but the previous owner had Flyin' Miata install their Stage II turbo kit. Thus, my next big ticket item will be mounting the radiator, intercooler, and associated plumbing. Then onto the wiring tray & wiring, installing seats & harnesses, working out some clearance issues with the turbo exhaust and sorting the muffler, fabbing bodywork mounts and getting that squared away, then the long road of tuning and California's delightful SB100 process to get the vehicle street legal.
I'll be posting updates as I make progress here, but you can also follow along on my IG (@cbtlive) for general auto & moto chicanery.
Q: Has anyone had issues getting responses from Exomotive lately? There are a few minor pieces that have gone missing from my Sport Mounts kit, and I need help getting an updated Certificate of Origin in my name for the CA DMV, but they haven't responded to any emails/voicemails I've left. I thought things might be quiet over the holidays, but figured I'd ask the group here as well to see if it's a known issue.