Team Pipe-Car - jmills' Chicago Build

[thestig]

I had the same issue, I shortened the bolts and somehow managed to get them in for mockup. I am not happy that I have to do it all over again on final assembly.

[Trenon]

Do you have any picks of your inter cooler from the front without the hood on? It would help a ton.

[jmills]

Trenon, I'll take some next time I'm at the car. I'm overdue to take and share some pics of that setup with a few people. Right now I'm seeing more of a bend than I would like from the tubing between the turbo and intercooler so I may lower the intercooler a bit to relieve some of the bend.

[greg]

Oct 21, 2015 1:23:14 GMT jmills said:

Last thought, the bolts that hold the side panels in next to the front roll cage member are near impossible to access. I'm seriously struggling to get those two in. I may have shortened the bolts a little too much, making the job that much harder. If anyone has a secret to getting these in, please share.

ugh... I remember fighting those. I held them in place with an open end wrench and fought for 10min trying to thread the bolt in by hand only to have to undo it again to fit a black washer to space it out.

[knolly]

I just read through this whole build thread and love it!  Really thinking of building an Exocet myself in the near future.  I live a bit North of Chicago at the moment, is there any chance I could talk you into letting me see this beauty in person sometime?

Oct 7, 2015 1:14:33 GMT jmills said:

Thanks Guys! Jim, the car needs a few more things before I can take it on track. I'm also trailer-less, so I need to get it registered before I can bring it out. I'll be out this weekend in the Vette or possibly Jetta if the Vette sells Friday. I'll definitely have to come say hi.

My original goal was to get this built and registered in time to do a full season, life and work happened an put an end ot those plans. Next season it will be fully sorted to race the full series.

One other local event I found that looks awesome is the ALM Enduro series. It is a 3.5, 5.5 and 12 hour race at Autobahn. Entry fees are shockingly low for 2 days of practice plus a long race. Probably the cheapest track time I've ever seen. I may do that series in the next year or two as well. Looks like you're having a blast on track in yours!

All three circuits of Autobahn are awesome in different ways.  It looks like the one coming up is on the full track, in which case that'd be an excellent way to really put it through its paces (I tend to prefer North myself, for bikes at least).

[jmills]

PM sent!

[jmills]

Starting to mount the rear body work, how high has everyone had to mount it off the shock towers? I'm close to a half inch on either side to clear a 95 tank that is effectively resting on the sub-frame. Is this normal? Per the manual it should be 1/4", but curious what others have observed. I also have an old 91 tank that I could swap in but would like to keep the extra capacity of the 95.

Thanks!

[jwagner]

I did a trial fit last weekend and it's over an inch on the left side. I have the back of the tank raised up a bit to try to avoid the fuel starvation issues others have mentioned. Starting to think about a fuel cell for both fit and possible starvation problems if I can find a setup for reasonable money.

[BTD]

Nov 2, 2015 3:03:56 GMT jmills said:

Starting to mount the rear body work, how high has everyone had to mount it off the shock towers? I'm close to a half inch on either side to clear a 95 tank that is effectively resting on the sub-frame. Is this normal? Per the manual it should be 1/4", but curious what others have observed. I also have an old 91 tank that I could swap in but would like to keep the extra capacity of the 95.

Thanks!

I'm having the same issue with the '94 tank. I think there may be some difference with the '94-9??? tank that causes the issues.  I can't lower my tank any further and the bodywork isn't really close to the frame in the rear. 

[dlemire]

I would love more details on your ABS installation. I have a 1999 donor, just took the whole system apart today and I felt like it added to much complexity to be worth it for a canyon car which is where I will mostly use mine. But you are the first build I found where you have actually kept the ABS and you seem quite sold on it. Any details, pictures, advice helps.

Also what did you do about power steering? Keep or get rid of it, that's another system I was thinking of getting rid of. Lastly, how did the relocation of the charcoal canister go? I think I will attempt to keep mine stock looking since I want to register this car for the road.

Thanks!

[jmills]

dlemire,

The ABS was pretty straightforward to transplant. I used a few 1 3/4" clamps and a few 1" clamps to attach the main unit to the frame in a similar location to where it was on the Miata. Running the lines was a little more effort than if I had eliminated it but knowing how crucial ABS is on a wet surface with summer tires I am banking on it being worth the effort.

I haven't driven the car in anger yet to get to a point of activating ABS (that I'm aware of) I also haven't locked up the tires, so maybe I have...

For power steering I would say it depends what you're using the car for. I removed it for weight savings and steering feel, but it makes low speed turns a pain. If you have a lot of low speed navigation, e.g., in your garage or will be using around town a lot it may be worth keeping, otherwise if it is purely an adventure car you can ditch it. It is easy enough to remove that you could leave it in, see how you like it, and always remove it later if you don't want it.

I did not keep the charcoal canister. I may build a small one to attach on the vent hose line, but haven't heard of any reg issues regarding this. May depend state to state. My car already had an megasquirt on it, so all the vent solenoids were dead weight or even disconnected so I pulled all of it.

Once I get the car regd this winter I'll share how the ABS works. I'm honestly a bit eager to get it to cycle to bleed the unit.

[jmills]

I'll leave this here until I have time to write an update. At this point, all that is missing is the plate! Have time blocked out Friday morning to go submit reg paperwork.

[zeitgeist]

Looking real nice. I like the Subaru WRC paint scheme with wheels. What size tires and wheels are those? They look big.

[jmills]

Thanks Zeitgeist. The wheels are 15x8.25 with Falken Azenis RT615K tires in 205 50 15. I just picked up a set of 225 Hoosier scrubs that I'll mount either to these wheels or the 6ULs I have if I start the season without fenders. If I do run fenders I'll have to swap out the 6ULs for another zero offset 8" wheel.

[Rosaki]

Clean Build, and im loving the color scheme! Also congrats on getting ABS setup! Im working on doing the same currently. Do you by any chance have any photos of how you mounted it? It sounds like im going to go along the same path as you on my build.

Thanks in advance!