Zeitgeist's Mid-west OH race chassis #170 build

[boileralum]

Mar 18, 2016 12:09:35 GMT einy said:

Where is "Matt L." located? I am aware of a success reg. in Columbus area (of a MEV supplied chassis), but not aware of any successes beyond that. I'd love to reach out to this other fella for insight / tips / etc. !!

He's north of Bloomington near Martinsville or Mooresville, I think.  Matt Leonard is his name.  He is in the facebook owners group, has the red & black car FS with the older FM turbo kit.

[boileralum]

Wow, that's a lot going on at once! Keep up the good work on both fronts!

[einy]

Is this Matt Leonard fellow in Bloomington, OH (tiny little town half way between Cincinnati and Columbus on I-71), or Bloomington, IN ?? If Ohio, I need to figure out how to contact him despite not being a Facebook user ...

[boileralum]

Bloomington, IN

I'm also from IN, I see now that my reply may have led you a bit astray.  I was trying to convey that IN isn't completely easy to register either.

[einy]

Got it ...

[zeitgeist]

Quick update. Finally got back to wrenching on the Exocet today after weeks of house remodeling work. Now comes 3-3.5 week wait for quartz countertops to come in and some detail stuff to finish but back to working on the car feels good.

I got the bolts torqued with locktite and installed the pedals and pedal braces for the throttle and brake pedal assembly but the clutch is well off aligning so I doubt I will get that one in. New clutch master cylinder, full length SS line and slave cylinder all in.

I ran the SS fuel line kit from FM and re bent the factory brake line running to the rear. This was not too bad and allowed me to mount it and the SS fuel line using rubber protected P clips together along the passenger side lower square tube rail. I had already installed 8 rivnuts and I copied the Crossthreaded peeps idea of using a spacer on the bolt to separate the P clips. Nice and neat install that is secure and out of the way in the tunnel. I'm glad I stuck with keeping the entire brake hydraulic system intact during the tear down and build.

Tomorrow I will tackle the steering column. The Exomotive kit does come with nuts and bolts for the steering column bracket correct?

I can't seem to find any in the boxes from Exomotive.

[zeitgeist]

I forgot to add that I found a glass shop that will cut laminated DOT rated safety glass windshield while looking for frosted glass panels for a house door we are having made. The shop guy said they have aluminum extruded moulding the glass could be fitted to or they can mount the windshield in a rubber gasket like Jeeps or school buses then mounted in a flat steel frame. Good for options.

[abc123]

mine did not have bolts for the steering column, also didn't see any listed on the packing list. 

[jon]

I had to source my own bolts for the steering too. I used some I took off the car somewhere in the tear down.

[zeitgeist]

I got the steering column installed today. 3 1/2 hours of work and I got the column in,mounted the ABS pump with all the factory brackets to the chassis and adjusted the brake lines between the ABS pump and the Master cylinder. I also got the last pedal mount brace fitted and everything locktite coated and torqued down. Mounting the ABS pump was a bit tricky and I ended up scratching the passenger side tube in a couple of places. I used two rivnuts and 6mm cap screws. It is secure and mounted in a very similar position to stock.









Here is a couple pictures of the brake line and fuel line mounts copied from Crossthreaded original idea.





I re used the factory brake line clips on the firewall mount area but need to secure them. I also need to clean and paint the hard line for the brake master cylinder booster and install it.



I also installed the throttle cable and painted the radiator mounts to be ready for the rad install tomorrow.

[zeitgeist]

Installed the radiator today. I got a late start after sleeping in,watching F1 China and going grocery shopping so I didn't start until after 1. Spent about 4 hours and painted the swaybar mount brackets and swaybar. I'll add pictures tomorrow. The Supermiata crossflow radiator is a very nice piece. Mirror finish polished aluminum and all the fittings and bracket mounts are top notch. I ended up mounting the radiator as high as I could and still be able to install the top mount bolts. The fan shroud braces barely touched the swaybar so I clearanced them some for added peace of mind. So now the front swaybar and radiator are done. Tomorrow I start the fuel tank mount process. I haven't decided how I am going to secure it since there has been discussion on how strong the mounts are.

[zeitgeist]

I basically got the fuel tank mounted. I removed everything after I checked the fit of the tank and tank fiberglass cover. All looked good and the sump is just off the rear subframe and the rear of the tank is about as high as it can go without compromising the tank cover fitting. Everything is primed and painted waiting for final assembly tomorrow when the paint is dry.





I also used 1/8th inch steel plates on the top and bottom of each frame mount for extra support after hearing about others concerns of strength issues and bending. The plates will sandwich the frame mounts and I used large washers on both sides of the mount and fuel tank.



I also open the holes a touch and am using 1/2 threaded rod for the rear mounts and grade 8 bolts for the front mounts.

Here are some pictures of the radiator mounted from yesterday.









I grabbed a couple pictures of the 12 cell Antigravity battery since there was some recent discussion. Beer bottle and shock top spacers included for scale.

[mawdo81]

Wish my beer bottle was that large relative to my battery...

[einy]

You need to switch to 22oz bomber bottles, that's all !!

[zeitgeist]

Having some issues installing the wiring harness. How did everyone run the wiring to connect the front harness section to the rear harness section? Did you run the wiring in the car (like factory) or under the tunnel? I thought I saw most people have just one bundle of wiring going over the main horizontal tube from wiring tray to engine bay but I have 2 big bundles. Any pictures would be much appreciated and/or the page in a build thread showing or discussing wiring install. Some build threads that come up in the search are 25+ pages. Thanks in advance.