TheStig's Exocet Build, Portland OR

[thestig]

I guess it is about time to start my build thread. I don't plan to spend a ton of time posting each step of the build but will add pictures as I can. I am new to Miata's and this is my first car build. 

I picked up my donor miata from an insurance auto auction:
1995 Miata with Torsen diff ($1100) total with fee's


after removal of the body I found a few damaged parts, most were going to be replaced anyways, except the thermostat outlet.

Pictures of the tear down:




AHH, I am going to relabel them soon, as well as clean things up a bit.

The rollerskate:



I have been debating on tearing it all down to powderdcoat vs painting. The chassis once degreased fully looks almost perfect with a tad bit of surface rust on top of the rear subframe. Impressive for a 1995. My plan is to turbo/Supercharge at some point so I will be adding a fM clutch as well as normal maintenance items such as timing belt and waterpump. Also a coolant reroute and new radiator. Suspension will most likely by a VMAXX coilover kit from flyin miata. My kit is chassis #102. It will be a sport kit that will be powder coated shocker yellow/superchrome. Body work will be black. I hope to have this thing completed this coming spring. I will have the powder coating done locally as I want to notch the transmission tunnel to allow for wider seats.

[thestig]

Reserved

[steadfast]

Seems like you got a great deal on the donor!!! Keep us updated and post often!

[thestig]

Small update:

I have torn down the ppf completely and spent a few hours today removing bushings, what a PITA. I'm glad that part is done with. I do have a question for those of you that have had your parts powder coated. Do I completely have to degrease and clean the parts or is that part of their process? I really lucked out on the donor, everything that was broke wasn't needed for the exocet build. I have probably 400 in parts left to sell and I still need to get the scrap metal/shell out of my garage. I will post up some pictures later tonight. My garage looks like a bomb went off in it. I also changed my order to a race kit but now I am second guessing that as I don't think I will be tracking it very often. It will mostly be street use and auto x.

[mazdaracer]

Portland, it rains there! And if I remember, you have big bugs there too! Get the race kit and a windshield!

[montgom]

Nice donor!

[montgom]

Nice donor! How many miles???

[thestig]

my donor had 140K. I just got rid of the wrecked miata shell today. it was such a pain, I hate dealing with craiglist people and I do not own a trailer yet. I just listed it for free as scrap and received about 50 calls/text today. Everyone wanted to cut it up in my driveway. That was not going to happen. I finally had a guy with a trailer call me and I told him to head this way. I had to laugh when he pulled up with a tiny trailer. Thank god for the engine hoist I purchased to remove the body in the first place. Sorry for the bad picture, it was a quick shot with my cellphone. Didn't feel like getting the SLR out for that.

[gwnwar]

With my scraped miata body tubs I just call a local metal recyclers they come with a flat bed truck and send me a check in 2 days..

[thestig]

I didn't think to ask if they would pick it up. I'm just glad its gone to be honest. that thing was ugly and was taking up precious space in my garage.

I just dropped off my parts at the powdercoaters. they asked if I wanted two coats or one. He said it wouldn't be as smooth with just one coat so I went with two. He also quoted me between 700-1000 for my race frame with a 2-3 coat job. I ended up not powdercoating my spindles as I am running out of time and budget and don't plan on replacing the wheel bearings just yet. There is no play and it was one of those things where I had to decide where I wanted to spend my money and where could wait.

I am about to order my engine gaskets and timing belt,waterpump etc. Where is the best place to order this stuff online? I'm looking to save a few bucks where I can. So much for a budget build. I am also debating suspension options. It is one area where I don't necessarily want to skimp. I can't seem to find many options for coilovers with springs that are in the range that would be needed for such a light exocet.

[JIDiesel]

Try one of these companies. I have ordered from both and they are great to deal with. They also have used parts for sale.

treasurecoastmiata.com/

www.planet-miata.com/

[JIDiesel]

Here is one more to consider. This is the guy that makes all of the you tube videos for Miata repair.

www.miatamecca.com/index.html

[mazdaracer]

If you autocross your car two times a year or more, you can join Mazdamotorsports.

Just make sure you list it in the results as a Mazda MX5 Exocet.

www.mazdamotorsports.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/MazdaStaticView?pageInfo=PartsProgram&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&ss=2&sb=display

They also give you a year to build the car!

[montgom]

Great posts!

[montgom]

Nov 25, 2014 6:13:02 GMT gwnwar said:

With my scraped miata body tubs I just call a local metal recyclers they come with a flat bed truck and send me a check in 2 days..

I will do the same.
Robert