Don & Gary's Exocet build

[donboy1983]

Good day today, started bolting the subframes back together and got some other odd jobs done that needed doing.

Painted and re fitted the engine mounts.

Finished painting the inlet manifold

Removed the dust guards from the rear hubs, easier that I thought and I just used a junior hacksaw to cut the thin part of the gaurd.

All the Hyperflex Bushes are now fitted apart from the ones in the diff and and the rear uprights as I still need to remove the old ones.

Stripped down and painted the fuel rail.

Fitted all the new camber adjustment bolts.

Fitted new oil filter.

Fitted new bottom ball joints to the front lower arms.

Cleaned and re greased the upper ball joints and fitted new boots, unfortunately when fitting one of the new ones with a 30mm socket as instructed it caused a small split in the rubber :-(

Just home and placed the order with MX5 parts for the new boot and also the inlet and exhaust gaskets and new alternator belt.

All in it was a good day and was happy to see some progress being made.

[donboy1983]

So last night I got the engine all put back together and replaced the inlet manifold gaskets,, remounted the inlet, replaced the oil filter and filled it up with 4 ltrs of Castrol oil.

I then set about trying to mate up the engine and gear box after about 30 minutes of me swearing and sweating like crazy I decided I would come on here and ask for some pointers.

I used a socket with tape around it to hold the clutch plate in place whilst I tightened the outer plate, all looks central but I could not get the gear box to sit flush with the engine,

Might try again tomorrow with more man power to make things easier.

Also how do I know when the clutch plate needs replaced?

[R2S]

Ok answers in reverse
Clutch plate is at the end of its life when the grooves radiating out are worn away (as per the outer edge in the photo (strange wear pattern as I'd expect the amount of wear to be even across the plate.

In the past I recall greasing the end of the shaft (to aid it it sliding through the clutch plate and into the end of the crank) made a difference, and you will need to 'wiggle' the box as you push forward to get the shaft to slide home.

As for your improv alignment tool; Ive used same in past and it works fine.

Oh one final point whilst we are talking clutch, make sure you don't put the clutch plate in back to front, I have seen it done.

[donboy1983]

Well it's amazing what a difference another pair of hands make, tonight it took all of 2 minutes to attach the gear box to the engine, it was all good up to the point where one of the holes in the engine block was cross threaded (think I damaged it on when removing from the engine stand ) any way only a small hiccup and I just re threaded it and all was ok.

One thing I did notice is how stiff the lever is for the release bearing, is this normal? Should you be able to compress by hand?

Second hiccup was with the front upper ball joint, did not notice before but I must have bent it slightly when using the ball joint removal tool, only the slightest bend at the top but enough to stop the castle nut going on, I then decided to attack it with my hack saw and I cut the it where the split pin holes where as this is where the thread was ok. I then checked the nut fitted ok, tightened it up and drilled a hole through the nut and balljoint thread. Problem solved and still able to secure with a pin.

Next job is to replace the surround for the gear stick as it's all split.

I did not change the clutch plate as it felt ok in the car before I stripped it and my long term plan is to fit a turbo so I will upgrade at that point.

[gwnwar]

The bearing arm will slide till you hit the pressure plate then stop. Don't forget to fill the trans turret with gear oil before installing the shifter.. check for a good plastic bushing on lower end of shifter..Looks like both boots for the shifter are gone..

[mattapo]

Turbo and clutch upgrade, I said the same then ended up doing it before I had it running......
Looking good

[donboy1983]

Well tonight was frustrating and spent most of it trying to remove the diff bushes (see other thread)

I did get the engine mounted back on the subframe and what is starting to look like a from end of a car put a smile back on my face. :-)

[donboy1983]

Hello all, I have hit another stumbling block, I have started the process of de powering the rack, all is going good but I can't pull the main shaft out, any ideas on how to get it out?


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[clintavo]

A different rack than yours, likely, but they used a press:
www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/1709/PageID/2464/Project-Miatabusa-Part-5--De-Powering-the-Steering-Rack.aspx

Mine pulled without much force.

[donboy1983]

I took the rack to a friends garage and pushed it out with a press :-)

[R2S]

donboy1983 when you had the powder coating done did you have to replace the front upper wishbone captive ball joints? I would have expected the heat process in powder coating to destroy the rubber and 'melt out' the grease.

[donboy1983]

Oct 17, 2014 6:24:10 GMT R2S said:

donboy1983 when you had the powder coating done did you have to replace the front upper wishbone captive ball joints? I would have expected the heat process in powder coating to destroy the rubber and 'melt out' the grease.

Hi R2S,

I did not think you could replace the upper arm ball joints, you are correct that the Powder coating damaged the boots.

I bought replacement boots and repacked them with new grease once I had them back from the coaters.

Be careful when fitting the new boots as you have to tap them on with a 32mm socket, I done this a little to hard and split the new boot. Not a major problem as they are only £8 each

[donboy1983]

well not nothing has been done on the car since October as I have been working away from home for the last 5 weeks :-(

I did manage to find a bargain yesterday though so treated myself to some new seats. I know they are not waterproof but they are so cheap that I could not say no, I may have them re done in vinyl at a later date.

I only paid £255 inc delivery for the 2 seats including sliding seat mounts as part of a group buy from another forum.

does anyone else have these?


www.corbeau-seats.com/cs

[donboy1983]

So it's been a year since I joined the forum and my journey begun, I spent last Xmas day at my Inlaws with my iPad on my lap reading everyone's build diary's and I was then hooked and had made my mind up that I was going to build an Exocet.

I'm now a year down the line and not as far as I had hoped with my build but still enjoying it and looking forward to it all coming together.

Thanks for your help so far and I wish you all a merry Christmas :-)

[donboy1983]

Hello all, 

its been a while while due to work commitments but I got a few nights on the car last week and now have a rolling PPF :-)





Next plans are to refurb the calipers and refit, fit the steering rack(de powered) and then run full flexi brake lines and fuel lines along the PPF. 

Hope ps to start making some good progress now.