Mat's black on black Turbo Exocet

[h5ngs]

Good work with the build stick up some new pictures when you get chance

[welshy1]

Sounds the same as mine im hoping to get mine iva after xmas should be 2 exocets on the road in wales should meet up when they are on the road. Allthough mine is far from being taken for the first drive.

[mathew]

Update time!

All the lights are now finally sorted. After 3 different layouts on the rear i ended up settling for the original lighting layout, pics of the completed rear to follow in the next few days.

I decided to fibraglass into position the fog light and revers light. Used the nuts and screws to get the 90degree angle, However the fog light has set about 5degrees out so might end up re doing that one.

ready to be fibreglassed...


...fibregalssed! (excuse the quality, was my first ever attempt!)



Finished product including number plate light...



To keep things neat i replaced the light raising button with the rear fog light switch. Was pretty straight forward. Still yet to make a mount for this but i have an idea of how its gona look like......i have some left over carbon fibre vinyl, theres the clue!



I didnt like the look of the standard cowl cover nor the mev supplied version as i felt both look quite bulky so came up with my own. One sheet of ali, some bending & cutting, throw in some carbon fibre vinyl and edge trim and hey presto! I'll let the pics do the talking.....









All the wingstays are on which was much easier and less hassle than i was expecting although one did rub a little but was soon sorted. I used tigerseal which is very very good, highly recommended.

[gwnwar]

Nice job on the cluster cover..

[mathew]

Time for another update....

After some fiddling i finally got the nosecone to sit right. Also decided on a location for the front indicators (inspiration taken from Edwinl's trike build).
My indicators were flashing far to fast but now i have them all wired up they have slowed down so thats one less problem to deal with.

A sneaky front shot


After changing my mind about a hundred times i also decided on where and how i want the switches. They ended up on the transmission tunnel (silver-horn, other two -hazrad+rear fog light). Rubber caps fixed to the rocker switches as the edge is below the 2.5mm radius. Ive got some labels to go next to them but wont put them on until the very end.

A rubbish quality shot of the switches



Ive also got around to changing all the oils - gearbox, shifter turret, diff and engine. The gear changes are much much better now, so they should be considering there was no oil in the shifter turret when i first checked!

All thats left is to finalise the fixing of the dash console, edging and caps on everything, final fix all interior panels and general snags and tightening of nuts

[gnc]

Great work Mat!

The car looks great, and rather menacing all in black. Really liking the carbon details, especially the cowl. Looks like a high spec part. May need to borrow this idea when we get round to doing the interior, hope you dont mind.

[mathew]

Thanks,feel free to use any ideas ive posted. I was going to wait until everything was completed before posting pics but this forum has been such a help during the build that i was more than happy to share ideas which may help others along the way.

[mathew]

Another day another job out of the way. Today's job was to sort out something for the battery. I found that everything you could buy off the shelf was either too expensive or too bland so decided to chop up some perspex and get out the good ol' carbon wrap. I decided on leaving the front clear as i wanted the front of the battery and carbon detailed holding down strap on show as it looks pretty neat.

Here's the box...




I dont know whether its early signs of OCD or just too much time on my hands but i even carbon wrapped the brackets



Hopefully i should have a pic of the completed car some time next week, weather depending.

[tom]

OCD or not it looks well worth the effort!

[gwnwar]

Nice job.. make sure battery and box is vented..use a battery tray under the battery with a drain hose..

[mathew]

Had a good weekend on the Exocet and its now 99% complete!

Finally got around to fitting the instrument cluster. After reading through many build threads,noting all the different ways of fitting and trying various ways i eventually came up with one that i was happy with. Its pretty simple yet very sturdy.

First off i fitted 2 bits of ali angle and marked out where i wanted the cluster to sit. Then drilled to fixing holes.


Next up was to fit a rear brace, again a bit of ali angle, to get the cluster at an angle that i was happy with. This brace also acts as a wedge which takes away any 'rocking' of the cluster.



Then it was onto bolting the small L brackets on the instrument cluster tabs.



Once these are on all that is required is to line the brackets up with the previously drilled holes and bolt up. Happy days.



The overall result is a very neat one with the ali angle well hidden although keeping with the theme of things i carbon wrapped them ;D


Got the battery box fitted, nice and snug. You cant see in the pic but there's about a 25mm vertical gap at the back of the box (the top panel over hangs the box to hide this) to give a little bit of ventilation.




Im in the process of making a rear diffuser and will post up complete pics of the car once this is done and fitted but until then this is how it pretty much looks like right now.



I need to knock up a little cover for the back of the instrument cluster as well as a few tweaks here and there with various things but as for overall build, im almost there.........


.......that was until i went to start the thing! nothing! not even a click! Checked all the fuses and they are fine and i havent altered any of the electrics since saturday (when i last had it running) so im hoping its just a dead battery. Im amazed the battery still works though as a couple of months ago i stupidly connected the wrong terminals but the local auto electrician somehow managed to bring it back to life (i didnt tell him why the battery was dead due to embarrassment ). So im going to try a different battery in it tomorrow and hope it solves the problem.

[gnc]

Those finishing touches are looking excellent, you really are creating a great looking car. Hope you get the electrics sorted, its the part I'm expecting the most trouble with for sure.

Have you considered re-routing the exhaust gases, creating a double blown diffuser, add a three element front and rear wing and taking part in qualifying for next summers British GP?

These things all seem well within your capabilities.

[mathew]

Haha believe it or not F1 cars have been the main influence on the way the diffuser will look.

It wont be functional though, just purely for aesthetics.....i dont even know if i'll be happy with the finished item but the back is definitely needing something to even up the overall look of the Exocet.

I thought i had uploaded shots of the exhaust but it looks like i havent so here's a shot of the custom exhaust set up ive gone for. The pics show it before it was final fixed, also it doesnt stick out as far as the pics make it seem.






This exhaust was done on a budget with the total cost coming to £45. A cheap back box off ebay, a couple of flexi connectors, a few clamps and a friend that can weld

[mathew]

The no power issue was as expected, the battery. A new one turned up today so hopefully tomorrow (if it stops raining for one bloody minute!) i will get some complete shots of the car. Until then here's a few more updates.....

The side panels had taken a battering over the last year and i was either going to order replacement ones or carbon wrap them but then spotted a can of matt black primer sat in the garage so put that to good use. Sanded the panels down to get rid of any scratches and gave them a few coats and theyve come up really well.The matt black really compliments the gloss black bodywork and the carbon details



Next on the list was to sort the rear diffuser as i felt the rear was really missing something. After numerous design ideas and a lot of trial and error i settled on the following...



The nuts and bolts are only temporary and will be changed for more aesthetically pleasing, shorter black ones. I will be taking it off for the IVA and then refitting afterwards. This is how it looks fitted.....



Pretty happy with it.


The list is getting shorter and shorter with the only things left to do is double check all the nuts and bolts then on a capping and edging trim mission. Hopefully get it booked in for a mock MOT within the next few weeks to check the braking, light levels, emissions etc then it will be onto booking the IVA

[welshy1]

Looking nice like the exhaust and diffuser can't wait to see it making me want to get back on to mine and finish it.