Dan's Exocet Build

[gwnwar]

Sounds like it is well rusted to the moveable tapered sleeve.. If it woun't come with a 3' pipe on the breaker leave it..
Clean and paint it.. Just make sure you have a clean metal spot and threads were the ground cable from battery attaches to
the rear of the PPF..

[bewgy]

Thanks guys, that puts my mind at rest. Although it does feel like I have been defeated by one bolt 


I will clean it as best as possible and paint it up even though no one will see it mikeeboy I will know 

I spoke to Julie from MEV today and ordered the kit, funny enough she mentioned that she doesn't understand why people remove the PPF, ha ha. I didn't want to mention my problems with bolts!

After much deliberating, weighing up the cost of new bushings and the work involved in removing the old ones I have decided not to replace the bushes and clean up and paint the suspension arms myself. I was originally drawn to this kit because of the lower cost and I cannot justify £700 on bushes and powder coating. This said however I will send the front and rear base frames (not sure what the technical term is) for blasting and powder coating so some concession. 

Thanks again for all the advice I will try to keep y'all upto date.

[tojeiro]

Should probably have said earlier but a helpful tip is to invest in PB Blaster rather than WD40 the difference is like night and day.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01BNUED3U/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507840258&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=pb+blaster&dpPl=1&dpID=51N0HFMuJ1L&ref=plSrch

It’s more expensive but one tin probably do as it works on a capillary action (bit like the candle wax but better).

[gwnwar]

If you are getting the sub frames blasted have them blast the control arms also leave the bushings in then paint them with POR-15..
The time and parts you will use to clean them is worth the cost to have them done right.. Make sure you use safety glasses around rust grinding and cleaning..

[bewgy]

It has been a while since my last post. I have been able to get a couple of hours work completed in the evening and a few half days at the week end, although nothing last week because of work commitments. Just finished in a couple of hours this evening and feel like progress has been made!

The front and rear end are dismantled and the gearbox removed, leaving only the engine mounted to the bottom plate. The plan is to get the engine on a stand, then take inventory (parts and tools are everywhere!) and clean up the garage. Then a few broken studs to remove and I can start the clean up and painting. 




Struggles with the front sway bay, allen key stripped the inside of the bolt so I utilized the trusty hacksaw on both sides. another problem to deal with later.











I have taken a quick look inside the bell housing and their is oil coating the inside, without any obvious leak from the gearbox.



I have not removed the clutch plate, but I looks like the is oil on the housing behind the plate. Is the a main drive oil seal behind the plate? Could be leaking or is this normal? I plan on taking the clutch out once the engine is on the stand.

What are the obvious signs of a wearing clutch? Probably best to replace the clutch anyway?

[gwnwar]

You are going to get the control arms blasted right not clean them yourself.. If you are going to replace the bushing save the outer sleeve for each you may need them depending on which replacement you buy..
How are the ball joints up front If they move around freely replace them..
When you go to refill the trans don't forget to fill the shift turret with lube 90cc if a 5 speed box..Check lower bushing on shifter and clean out pieces if broken..
The oil in the bell housing could be from the rear main seal behind flywheel, cam cover gasket if you remove or replace the gasket under it put a dab is sealant at the corners of the cam towers 6 places, also replace the seal back of the head under the plate at the rear of the exhaust cam.. Looks like rust on the nose of the input shaft from a dry pilot bearing replace bearing and light lube on nose of shaft..
To check clutch.. chatter marks on flywheel,heat cracks on wheel resurface, thickness on disc or cracks replace,fingers on the pressure plate worn heat marks on face replace. You can reuse it all for awhile if you want to.. I would change it all.. Kits have plate,disc, T O bearing and Pilot bearing and an alignment tool.. The make and type of kit depends on what you will be doing with the car when finished..

[bewgy]

Thanks as always for the guidance Gnwwar,

All of the ball joints are ok, but the boots need replacing so I will replace the boots only.

I still have not made my mind up about replacing the bushings/keeping the bushings/powder coating or painting. There is a small paint shop very close to me and I will get a price from them for blasting and paining all the parts. If they come up with a good price I may go for that rather than replacing the bushings and power coating.........

I think the rear main seal is leaking so will plan on replacing that and see what the clutch looks like. I am not racing the car its for fun on summer days and something for me to tinker with in the winter, so cost is always in my mind.

[p2tav]

hi Dan,





The floflex bushes are a good fit I paid about £80 for the full set as they were on offer. I read mixed reviews but as I'm not planning on using mine on the track or doing 50,000 miles I think they will be fine. They were really easy to fit as they are split so they just push in from both sides, I just use pipe fittings to push the old ones out with a vice and a piece of pipe to extend the vice bar. It was quite easy to do as I did not have access to a press. 





your build is looking good it looks like your coming on nicely where in the country are you?



gwnwar is a star and he knows his onions so any advice will probably be right

have fun  

[bewgy]

Thanks Paul

I am going to replace the bushings and powder coat I can justify it if I use the flo flex bushing so will do that finally decision made 😅

[bewgy]

I am in Colchester, Essex any other builds in Essex?

[bewgy]

Took the flywheel of tonight and noticed that there was oil on the back of the bolts. Make me suspicious that it is a rear main seal leak. But when I removed the flywheel oil was there but not a lot of it and the seal looked clean. Any thoughts where the oil is coming from?

[gwnwar]

The rear crank seal seat face unit sealing to the pan looks like it is leaking 3>6 o'clock in pic.
Other places to check..
Cam cover, cover plate on rear of head at rear of exhaust cam, If you have a CAS on head it could be the "O" ring seal,
check intake side of block for leak around filter, oil pressure sending unit, large rubber cap on block around the alternator,
front/cam seals running to back of engine..

[bewgy]

Quick update, bushes are being removed by blow torch #verysatisfying

Some rust at the front of the wishbone, used a file and dremel tool to smooth it out. Hoping to get everything ready and sent to the powder coaters by the end of the week. Then I will tackle the oil pan and try to resolve the leak on the engine.

[bewgy]

All of the bushes are out. In the end it was quite a messy job and I had to be very careful because the Mrs found lots of burnt rubber which I had traipsed though the house. With hind sight the disposable bbq method may have been less messy. All of the parts have been gunked and jet washed and now ready to go for blasting and powder coating. In the meantime I will start on cleaning up the drive shafts, PPF/diff and the brakes ready for assembly when the parts come back from the shop.




I am still amazed that I have got this far without and major disasters!

Once everything is cleaned I will clear up the garage and start a clean rebuild, which is when the real fun begins.  The plan is to get everything ready for when the kit is ready in January.

[bewgy]

Its been while since my last post, whilst I have been making progress I am still cleaning and painting. The sub frame has gone to the powder coaters. It took me a while to decide upon the powder coating option, however after cleaning and painting some of the small parts I am glad I did. Considering the time and effort it is money well spent. I am hoping the sub frame will be ready for collection in a couple of weeks. I still have a lot of thing to do so there is no rush.









Working through all of the other parts, used POR on the diff and hammerite on everything else. I know you will not see most of these parts and they really do not need painting but the they look nice!