Post by badluck on Jan 25, 2015 21:55:44 GMT
Hello everyone, Jason from Atlanta here. I'm the proud owner of chassis #87 and figured I should probably post a build thread as I've found the other threads on here very helpful in terms of getting ideas and troubleshooting. I have been posting updates on my local Miata forum, but I think this may be the more appropriate venue.
First a little background, I've been wrenching on cars or motorcycles as a hobby for most of my life and started HPDE events a few years ago. Most of my time behind the wheel on track was in a 1999 Miata I built (2003 bottom end, 1999 head, full exhaust, Boss Frogg Clearview roll bar, Xida clubsport coilovers, etc). I found out about the Exocet through the internet (initially through Kevin's infamous SUV backs into his car at the gas station video) and word of mouth from fellow participants at track days. As I researched more and more I decided I wanted to build an Exocet and called Kevin to see if it would be possible to get a ride in one. He was able to do me one better, and set up a 10+ lap ride for me in a customer's turbo Exocet around Atlanta Motorsports Park. I placed my order for a race chassis immediately after that ride and started searching for donor cars.
I purchased a 2001 LS in Jacksonville that was in pretty poor cosmetic shape, but ran good and was a rust free FL car. I was all set to start tearing that car down when a 2001 SE (with the 6 speed and 3.9 torsen) popped up on craigslist for a price that was too good to pass up. I went to look at the car, and it had a poorly installed (but new) top that leaked, because of this, the interior was a little musty, but cosmetically and mechanically the car seemed great. After a brief negotiation and payment, I hopped in, fired the car up and drove her 50+ miles home, enjoying the fully functioning air conditioning and cruise control along. Here is the donor parked outside my house awaiting teardown:
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Waiting for the Exocet to be finished was difficult to say the least, but I was very excited when Kevin called me and let me know the chassis was ready to be picked up!
Here she is on 10/29 loaded up and ready for the journey home:
Unfortunately I had not made much progress on the donor car and it still looked like this when I took delivery:
I finally started making significant progress on the donor car the weekend after I picked up the Exocet, I was able to:
-Remove the wiring harness
-Strip the interior
-Remove the intake, radiator, AC parts, etc. from under the hood
-Remove the exhaust
-Remove all chassis bracing
-Drain all fluids
-Remove steering column
-Remove pedal assemblies, brake booster, clutch and brake master cylinders
-Drain brake system
-Split the chassis from the roller skate (I did this by myself with only an engine lift to help, I would recommend waiting for help, but I was too excited)!!
Some pictures of the disassembly process:
The next weekend I started into the subframes, control arms, engine and transmission. I used a harbor freight ball joint service tool to remove all the rubber bushings (http://www.harborfreight.com/ball-joint-service-kit-for-2wd-and-4wd-vehicles-60827.html). I highly recommend this tool to anyone trying to tackle this job, I had all the bushing out in less than 2 hours and it was my first time ever removing bushings. Conveniently enough, the harbor freight tool also came with an adapter that was the exact diameter needed to hammer out the differential bushings as well:
I split the engine and transmission to facilitate maintenance and the installation of a new clutch:
After that, I cleaned the garage to prepare for reassembly:
I sold the donor chassis and unneeded parts to someone locally, thankfully the clean body is not going to waste, it is being built into a Spec Miata race car and will live on!
My daughter and I also went seat shopping. I ended up getting a pair of OMP RS-PT fiberglass seats; clearly she approves:
Next I de-powered the steering rack and had the input shaft welded to eliminate any slop:
Then I started into a timing belt/waterpump/seals/etc for the donor engine and unfortunately, that's when my bad luck hit...
I found that the PO or his mechanic did not know what a torque wrench is and ruined the crankshaft keyway and had used Loctite to "fix" the issue. There was no way I was going to try to break through all that Loctite to replace the leaky front main seal and reassemble this engine with even more Loctite for use in a dedicated track car, so it was off to plan B:
Thankfully, a few years ago, when I had my 1999 track Miata I had come across a craigslist ad for a free Miata engine and transmission and figured what the hell, I'll send the guy and email and see if the ad was legit. So long as I didn't end up dead, at the least the engine and transmission would be good for spare parts and scrap metal. After a few emails back and forth, the guy seemed decent enough and said he was just getting rid of all his Miata stuff because he wanted to buy a 350Z. Once I arrived at his house, I knew I had hit the jackpot. He rolled out the cleanest looking engine I had ever seen. The story behind the deal was that he had ordered the engine and transmission from a salvage yard because it had the 6 speed transmission and he wanted to swap a 6 speed into his Miata. After performing the transmission swap, he put the engine onto a dolly and it sat in his garage for years along with his old 5 speed. When he sold his Miata he had no use for the spare parts and a friend told him to list them on craigslist. After a week or so of no-shows and typically craigslist scams, he decided it wasn't worth the headache and decided that if he gave them away for free, a person would actually show up and get them out of his garage and he wouldn't have to deal with all the BS. Turns out he was right and that person was me. As we were loading everything up into my truck, he said wait here a second, I think I have some paperwork from when I bought the engine. After fishing around in a couple drawers in his garage, he pulled out the paperwork from the salvage yard. The engine was out of a 2005 Miata with only 7K miles on it from new!!!! It was also complete with intake, exhaust manifold, injectors, throttle body, sensors, etc. Long story longer, I was hoping to keep this engine as a backup for the track car, but after the crank issue I decided I'd drop this one in the Exocet. Here she is with the valve cover off, just as clean as you'd expect for a 7,000 mile engine:
That obstacle overcome, I next turned to cleaning and painting the subframes and control arms. My donor car had 113K on it and had spent its entire life in FL or GA so there was not a spot of rust on anything. I simply washed everything down, and hit the lot with a coat of VHT "Chassis Black." I debated powder coating, but couldn't justify the cost for parts that were already so clean. After painting, I installed poly bushings with zerk fittings and reassembled the control arms:
Next I decided I'd mount the seats in the car; I used 1/4" plate and grade 8 3/8" hardware to mount everything. I'm very happy with how everything turned out:
I then finished up the maintenance on the new engine, installed the clutch and joined the two together:
Then it was back to the chassis to install the panels, pedals, master cylinders and harnesses for the seats.
After that I reassembled the "miata-skate":
While I was waiting on help to marry the chassis to the "miata-skate" I installed some grip tape on the floorboards of the car and pressed in some ARP studs:
Finally, my brother and father were able to come by and help me lift the chassis onto the skate and I had a roller (using some ghetto wheels I had lying around from a project Miata I had flipped a few years earlier)!!!! The car is using Xida clubsports with the Exomotive spacers. The control arm angles look good and I expect this to be a nice setup for the track!
I then turned my attention to the hydraulic systems and ran new brake lines (with rear proportioning valve) and installed a "straight-shot" clutch line from MiataRoadster (does not interfere with the Exocet chassis):
Next I installed the fuel tank and related plumbing using injection rated 5/16 hose and fittings. I fabricated some brackets to mount the fuel filter and pressure sensor stuff above the tank and ran the vent tube under the car. I also rigged up a fuel filler to use until my bodywork is ready. I'm currently using the perko vented cap, but will probably switch to a sealed unit once I verify the vent system is working as necessary.
After that I installed the steering column and radiator (new NA OEM Koyo radiator off Amazon) and began to look at the electrical system:
I started from the front and worked my way backward connecting everything that had a place. While I was working on the electrical, Jason from Enthuza called to tell me my dual exhaust was ready for pickup. Excellent! I highly recommend Enthuza for all you exhaust needs, this system is a work of art and fits perfectly. It also comes with everything you need to install it!
After installing the exhaust (took all of 30 minutes), I finished up the electrical connections and this happened:
Its alive!!!!
Here is a clip of the exhaust note in case anyone is interested in the sound... I personally love it:
After confirming that it runs, I went back and rerouted some of the electrical system, including extending the fuel pump lines and the fuel pressure sensor lines. I haven't began to cut the harness down as I want to wait until I have the body work installed with working headlights & tail lights, but I'll get to that eventually. I fabricated a mount using aluminum stock for my "Braille" 14115 battery. I put Braille in quotes as the B14115 that Braille sells for $178.49 is the exact same battery as the DEKA EXT14 that you can buy online for $75 shipped. They are both manufactured by the same company (East Penn) and are identical in every way. The nice thing about this battery is that is only weighs 11.5lbs (vs 25lb stock), has plenty of cranking power for a Miata and it is tiny (5.8" wide, 5.8" tall and only 3.4" deep). Here is a picture of the bracket I fabricated and the battery mounted in the car:
When I go back and clean up the wiring harness, I'll probably run just the battery cables through the rear bulkhead panel, but for now it works and is very secure. Then mounted the transmission tunnel and cut out the hole for the shifter with a hole saw. I still need to mount the upper insulator boot, but I have to borrow a rivnut tool before I can do that. I mounted the steering wheel and quick release as well, but they will have to come off again to rig up the horn button.
Here are a couple shots of the car sitting on the street after it's first test drive.
Wait, did I say test drive? Yes, I did!!! Here is a clip of its first trip around my neighborhood. I'll get a proper video up soon enough where the camera is mounted to the cage, but probably after I get the car properly aligned in the next week or so.
Thats all for now... Did I set a record for longest first post?
First a little background, I've been wrenching on cars or motorcycles as a hobby for most of my life and started HPDE events a few years ago. Most of my time behind the wheel on track was in a 1999 Miata I built (2003 bottom end, 1999 head, full exhaust, Boss Frogg Clearview roll bar, Xida clubsport coilovers, etc). I found out about the Exocet through the internet (initially through Kevin's infamous SUV backs into his car at the gas station video) and word of mouth from fellow participants at track days. As I researched more and more I decided I wanted to build an Exocet and called Kevin to see if it would be possible to get a ride in one. He was able to do me one better, and set up a 10+ lap ride for me in a customer's turbo Exocet around Atlanta Motorsports Park. I placed my order for a race chassis immediately after that ride and started searching for donor cars.
I purchased a 2001 LS in Jacksonville that was in pretty poor cosmetic shape, but ran good and was a rust free FL car. I was all set to start tearing that car down when a 2001 SE (with the 6 speed and 3.9 torsen) popped up on craigslist for a price that was too good to pass up. I went to look at the car, and it had a poorly installed (but new) top that leaked, because of this, the interior was a little musty, but cosmetically and mechanically the car seemed great. After a brief negotiation and payment, I hopped in, fired the car up and drove her 50+ miles home, enjoying the fully functioning air conditioning and cruise control along. Here is the donor parked outside my house awaiting teardown:
Waiting for the Exocet to be finished was difficult to say the least, but I was very excited when Kevin called me and let me know the chassis was ready to be picked up!
Here she is on 10/29 loaded up and ready for the journey home:
Unfortunately I had not made much progress on the donor car and it still looked like this when I took delivery:
I finally started making significant progress on the donor car the weekend after I picked up the Exocet, I was able to:
-Remove the wiring harness
-Strip the interior
-Remove the intake, radiator, AC parts, etc. from under the hood
-Remove the exhaust
-Remove all chassis bracing
-Drain all fluids
-Remove steering column
-Remove pedal assemblies, brake booster, clutch and brake master cylinders
-Drain brake system
-Split the chassis from the roller skate (I did this by myself with only an engine lift to help, I would recommend waiting for help, but I was too excited)!!
Some pictures of the disassembly process:
The next weekend I started into the subframes, control arms, engine and transmission. I used a harbor freight ball joint service tool to remove all the rubber bushings (http://www.harborfreight.com/ball-joint-service-kit-for-2wd-and-4wd-vehicles-60827.html). I highly recommend this tool to anyone trying to tackle this job, I had all the bushing out in less than 2 hours and it was my first time ever removing bushings. Conveniently enough, the harbor freight tool also came with an adapter that was the exact diameter needed to hammer out the differential bushings as well:
I split the engine and transmission to facilitate maintenance and the installation of a new clutch:
After that, I cleaned the garage to prepare for reassembly:
I sold the donor chassis and unneeded parts to someone locally, thankfully the clean body is not going to waste, it is being built into a Spec Miata race car and will live on!
My daughter and I also went seat shopping. I ended up getting a pair of OMP RS-PT fiberglass seats; clearly she approves:
Next I de-powered the steering rack and had the input shaft welded to eliminate any slop:
Then I started into a timing belt/waterpump/seals/etc for the donor engine and unfortunately, that's when my bad luck hit...
I found that the PO or his mechanic did not know what a torque wrench is and ruined the crankshaft keyway and had used Loctite to "fix" the issue. There was no way I was going to try to break through all that Loctite to replace the leaky front main seal and reassemble this engine with even more Loctite for use in a dedicated track car, so it was off to plan B:
Thankfully, a few years ago, when I had my 1999 track Miata I had come across a craigslist ad for a free Miata engine and transmission and figured what the hell, I'll send the guy and email and see if the ad was legit. So long as I didn't end up dead, at the least the engine and transmission would be good for spare parts and scrap metal. After a few emails back and forth, the guy seemed decent enough and said he was just getting rid of all his Miata stuff because he wanted to buy a 350Z. Once I arrived at his house, I knew I had hit the jackpot. He rolled out the cleanest looking engine I had ever seen. The story behind the deal was that he had ordered the engine and transmission from a salvage yard because it had the 6 speed transmission and he wanted to swap a 6 speed into his Miata. After performing the transmission swap, he put the engine onto a dolly and it sat in his garage for years along with his old 5 speed. When he sold his Miata he had no use for the spare parts and a friend told him to list them on craigslist. After a week or so of no-shows and typically craigslist scams, he decided it wasn't worth the headache and decided that if he gave them away for free, a person would actually show up and get them out of his garage and he wouldn't have to deal with all the BS. Turns out he was right and that person was me. As we were loading everything up into my truck, he said wait here a second, I think I have some paperwork from when I bought the engine. After fishing around in a couple drawers in his garage, he pulled out the paperwork from the salvage yard. The engine was out of a 2005 Miata with only 7K miles on it from new!!!! It was also complete with intake, exhaust manifold, injectors, throttle body, sensors, etc. Long story longer, I was hoping to keep this engine as a backup for the track car, but after the crank issue I decided I'd drop this one in the Exocet. Here she is with the valve cover off, just as clean as you'd expect for a 7,000 mile engine:
That obstacle overcome, I next turned to cleaning and painting the subframes and control arms. My donor car had 113K on it and had spent its entire life in FL or GA so there was not a spot of rust on anything. I simply washed everything down, and hit the lot with a coat of VHT "Chassis Black." I debated powder coating, but couldn't justify the cost for parts that were already so clean. After painting, I installed poly bushings with zerk fittings and reassembled the control arms:
Next I decided I'd mount the seats in the car; I used 1/4" plate and grade 8 3/8" hardware to mount everything. I'm very happy with how everything turned out:
I then finished up the maintenance on the new engine, installed the clutch and joined the two together:
Then it was back to the chassis to install the panels, pedals, master cylinders and harnesses for the seats.
After that I reassembled the "miata-skate":
While I was waiting on help to marry the chassis to the "miata-skate" I installed some grip tape on the floorboards of the car and pressed in some ARP studs:
Finally, my brother and father were able to come by and help me lift the chassis onto the skate and I had a roller (using some ghetto wheels I had lying around from a project Miata I had flipped a few years earlier)!!!! The car is using Xida clubsports with the Exomotive spacers. The control arm angles look good and I expect this to be a nice setup for the track!
I then turned my attention to the hydraulic systems and ran new brake lines (with rear proportioning valve) and installed a "straight-shot" clutch line from MiataRoadster (does not interfere with the Exocet chassis):
Next I installed the fuel tank and related plumbing using injection rated 5/16 hose and fittings. I fabricated some brackets to mount the fuel filter and pressure sensor stuff above the tank and ran the vent tube under the car. I also rigged up a fuel filler to use until my bodywork is ready. I'm currently using the perko vented cap, but will probably switch to a sealed unit once I verify the vent system is working as necessary.
After that I installed the steering column and radiator (new NA OEM Koyo radiator off Amazon) and began to look at the electrical system:
I started from the front and worked my way backward connecting everything that had a place. While I was working on the electrical, Jason from Enthuza called to tell me my dual exhaust was ready for pickup. Excellent! I highly recommend Enthuza for all you exhaust needs, this system is a work of art and fits perfectly. It also comes with everything you need to install it!
After installing the exhaust (took all of 30 minutes), I finished up the electrical connections and this happened:
Its alive!!!!
Here is a clip of the exhaust note in case anyone is interested in the sound... I personally love it:
After confirming that it runs, I went back and rerouted some of the electrical system, including extending the fuel pump lines and the fuel pressure sensor lines. I haven't began to cut the harness down as I want to wait until I have the body work installed with working headlights & tail lights, but I'll get to that eventually. I fabricated a mount using aluminum stock for my "Braille" 14115 battery. I put Braille in quotes as the B14115 that Braille sells for $178.49 is the exact same battery as the DEKA EXT14 that you can buy online for $75 shipped. They are both manufactured by the same company (East Penn) and are identical in every way. The nice thing about this battery is that is only weighs 11.5lbs (vs 25lb stock), has plenty of cranking power for a Miata and it is tiny (5.8" wide, 5.8" tall and only 3.4" deep). Here is a picture of the bracket I fabricated and the battery mounted in the car:
When I go back and clean up the wiring harness, I'll probably run just the battery cables through the rear bulkhead panel, but for now it works and is very secure. Then mounted the transmission tunnel and cut out the hole for the shifter with a hole saw. I still need to mount the upper insulator boot, but I have to borrow a rivnut tool before I can do that. I mounted the steering wheel and quick release as well, but they will have to come off again to rig up the horn button.
Here are a couple shots of the car sitting on the street after it's first test drive.
Wait, did I say test drive? Yes, I did!!! Here is a clip of its first trip around my neighborhood. I'll get a proper video up soon enough where the camera is mounted to the cage, but probably after I get the car properly aligned in the next week or so.
Thats all for now... Did I set a record for longest first post?
Looks like the stock manifold 
