David's Exocet Build Shoebox builders unite..

[davidc]

 Hi all, sorry I have not introduced myself before, my name is David, I am from Berkshire and I picked up my kit from the MEV factory nearly four weeks ago. 

 The donor I used was a '04 Euphoric 1.8 with 60k on it which I drove back from Newcastle after arranging the purchase online with the owner. I have to say it was a fantastic drive back, I had never driven an MX 5 before and was thoroughly entertained.


 In the 6 weeks before picking up the kit I managed to dismantle and strip the donor in my single garage, unable to roll it out as there is a severe slope up to my garage which meant it had to literally stay inside the whole time. To remove the body I cut the front off and had several lads lift it up and out avoiding all the engine hoists, jacks and other various garage paraphernalia. As you can imagine it was hilarious.

 After that I had all the wishbones and subs refurbished (swapped for old ones), replaced bushes,  purchased shocks, disks, calipers and was pretty much ready to put everything back together. Pretty much everything apart from engine, gearbox and diff has been replaced or refurbed.

 This is the first time I have ever attempted anything like this, I am not a mechanic, in fact I admit I would normally not do general maintenance on my normal car. So how have I got on? .. 

 So far so good.. Floorpan fitted, all four corners built back up, chassis bolted to subframes, seats fitted to runners (modifications required to fit), rubber matting fitted to floor, engine well on its way to being polished (thanks to my good friend Andy) and I am pretty much ready to start figuring out how the hell the wiring goes back in (its all labelled and there are good videos on you tube that explain all the important bits if you do get confused) and fitting the pedals. I will leave the brake and fuel lines until last as these are bits I might well bring in an expert for, so to speak, I have a few friends able to help in that respect.

 Now though I have hit a few problems and also a possible huge mistake with regards to the VIN plates from donor.. I was under the inpression we have our own vin plates made up for the exocet but I have read tonight about the cutting out of the donor of the old VIN plates.. I did not do this. I only took photos of the old one in the dash section.. Thats all I thought I needed and after reading the "Build Guide" yet again it doesnt mention taking the old ones.. Have I made a huge mistake?

 I am hoping not as otherwise the rest may well be redundant questions.

 Other issues I am having include fitting the exhaust back, it seems to not go enough to the left to fit in the tunnel correctly, I have even took a notch from the alloy ppf support to help the rear box (after cat) fit but it still wont line up with hangers or seal properly at the gasket join between cat and 2nd box.
 I am fitting a new piece of the original pipe into one of the MEV stainless steel exhausts and have cut the end from the OEM piece, just before the curve and I was sure it was the right way of doing things.. 

 I will put up some pictures shortly of the build so far, I just wanted to  get this up now as its urgent

 Any help would be very much appreciated

 

[gwnwar]

Nice work so far inside your shoe box.. check out this and use 2005 for wiring questions that might come up.and other services..
www.mellens.net/mazda/
Look at my Red White Blue to add a signature line for your posts put in info on your donor and were you are located it helps in helping to answer questions..

[mikeeyboy]

Hi, I can't say anything about the VIN plate because I still have mine.

With the exhaust I also found that the original does not fit down the tunnel because of the standard resonator box.

Eurospares do a replacement resonator that is slightly smaller but I have not seen one fitted to know whether it will clear fully.

[ancsportscars]

Did you give up the V5c when you disposed of the body - i.e. has the donor now been declared officially scrapped by whoever took it away? If not, then you should be O.K - otherwise you will be looking at a 'Q' plate when it comes to IVA/registration time as you'll be unable to determine the origin of parts etc.

if you still have the V5c and it hasn't been registered as scrapped - so that its still in your ownership, then simply register the donor as SORNed with the DVLA until such time as you've passed IVA and are ready to get  registration etc.

You will then be able to apply for  an age-related plate.

[Stiggy]

So you have no "issues, problems and fabrications" as per your title apart from the exhaust. This makes the title somewhat misleading. Please edit your title.

A VIN is stamped to a welded plate on your Exocet chassis.
In addition you will need what is known as a "manufacturers plate", most people get these engraved and contain the VIN and MEV LTD on a separate line, this is then secured with screws or rivets anywhere under the bonnet.

The removal of the donor VIN is to stop your car being put back on the road whilst you are building your Exocet, BUT that is not going to happen to an old MX5 worth less than a grand.

The seat runners we use are from MK1 but as you have discovered you can use MK11's with slight mods. If you use the MEV rad brackets these are for a MK1 rad.

Exhausts vary enormously as most 20 year old cars have after market ones fitted. Generally though the MK1 exhaust fits but the rear expansion box on a MK11 is a clumsy great thing and should be removed as they are heavy and not needed to pass IVA noise test.

Good to hear you are getting on well and enjoying the build.

[davidc]

Thanks for all the great replies so quickly..

Phew, yes I kept the log book, the scrap guy just put it through as scrap metal so that's all good, not a problem then.. That's kind of what I thought, just happy to have the confirmation. ( I can take the dynamite back out of the garage now and calm down )


Yes the title doesn't suit, good point MEV, I was half panicking though last night re VIN plates! I will think of a more relevant title today, probably something along the lines of "Don't buy a donor that used to live in Scotland if you dont like rust.." 

Clumsy is an understatement, Im sure they could make it smaller these days. So I could just cut the resonator box off and fit a flexi hose? Then would just be a case of finding a bracket to hang the end of the pipe off I guess?

I hope this week to start looking at the wiring, at the moment it is laying on a carpet underneath, so thanks Gwnwar for the link. I didnt undo the wiring from the rear and through back down the ppf as seemed pointless, I just cut a hole in rear quarter of donor and wound it back through. There are trays you can buy for the wiring in the States, has anyone used these? I wont cut any wires out as I am not in any way qualified to fix issues that may arise and hope to hide the wires away in cunning places..

[mikeeyboy]

Oct 22, 2017 10:20:21 GMT Stiggy said:

So you have no "issues, problems and fabrications" as per your title apart from the exhaust. This makes the title somewhat misleading. Please edit your title.

A VIN is stamped to a welded plate on your Exocet chassis.
In addition you will need what is known as a "manufacturers plate", most people get these engraved and contain the VIN and MEV LTD on a separate line, this is then secured with screws or rivets anywhere under the bonnet.

The removal of the donor VIN is to stop your car being put back on the road whilst you are building your Exocet, BUT that is not going to happen to an old MX5 worth less than a grand.

The seat runners we use are from MK1 but as you have discovered you can use MK11's with slight mods. If you use the MEV rad brackets these are for a MK1 rad.

Exhausts vary enormously as most 20 year old cars have after market ones fitted. Generally though the MK1 exhaust fits but the rear expansion box on a MK11 is a clumsy great thing and should be removed as they are heavy and not needed to pass IVA noise test.

Good to hear you are getting on well and enjoying the build.

Hi Stuart, regarding the MK2 resonator box that doesn't fit in the tunnel are you saying the car should meet IVA noise levels with only the MEV back box fitted? If so that's great as I have stook a temporary straight pipe in mine and will leave it as is.

Cheers

[Stiggy]

Let's look at the 3 versions.
MK1.

With de CAT pipe, how rude!




image of a safe

Round CAT's are slightly smaller and easier to gain clearance, but the oval version can have some trimmed off the, well err, can, if required.





MK2.

The CAT is part of the mid silencer, we note the tail is a different shape and will not be as straight forward to use the MEV back box as using a MK1 exhaust setup.




MK2.5.

This has a separate CAT but again is designed for MK2 type back box.






Noise emitted from the average MX5 with OE exhaust will be around 85 dB. We are allowed 99 for IVA. Most systems will therefore be IVAable (made up word) but note that for track days they often ask us to be quieter than on the way home for some crazy reason, probably the "not in my back yarders" who just moved in next door.

[mikeeyboy]

Thanks Stuart, I will test mine without the resonator fitted then. It would be a big bonus if it does meet without as I can weld the straight pipe I currently have fitted in.

And yes, mounting hte MEV exhaust on the MK2 setup was a little challenging but got there in the end.

[davidc]

I had to fabricate a tab to hang the mev backbox as I only had the one hanger on the left side of rear sub. I am not sure what model subframe I am using though as I swapped for a refurbed one. I will do that myself next time too.

[davidc]

Hi again guys,

So, the last week has been mainly about waiting for parts I gave away when the subframes went for refurb.. d brackets and brake hoses mainly but also I was awaiting my steering rack, another thing I gave away foolishly because the donor was just way too rusty for my liking. You allow for big parts but forget about the little nuts/bolts and d brackets.. Ah well, I know for next time
I wanted to run a few things past you guys, before I jump in and possibly waste my time..

The fuel tank.. Its fitted but are we all making a bracket and cutting a hole into the rear cover for the filler pipe? and if so are we able to be inventive in this respect? The guide shows a cut off oem from cover into rubber pipe supported by some homemade(?) bracket but is that the only way?
Underneath the fuel tank.. I am thinking to box this off with a pie ce of sheeting (underneath rear tabs for fuel tank) so to stop errant moisture being kicked up into and underneath the rear cover? is this a waste of time/energy?

D

[miket]

There've been lots of different approaches to fuel filler - all involve cutting a hole, but be as inventive as you want. Plenty of folk turn the tank around to give different filler options.

An ally sheet will also meet the sporadically-required-by-IVA need for a means of avoiding fuel dripping on to hot exhaust / heat-shield ref IVA 03A Fuel Tanks

[davidc]

Ok thanks, thats very helpful.

Are there any good threads or does anyone have any links regarding fitting the pedals and steering column? Cant make sense of it at all, it seems everything needs a trim or parts cut off..

D

[davidc]

Now I have done it I realise what a stupid question my last post was.. 

Here's the project so far.. Will maybe start on the wiring soon, I keep putting it off.. 

 Do you think the steering wheel will be a little high? And I am not sure whats going on with the nice shiny cluster cover I got from MEV, maybe something's different with my model(?) but I cannot make it fit. I have shaved off bits from the cluster but to no avail. Didn't really want to use the old one but not sure what to do for now, I'm not even sure if its in the right place!

D
 

[davidc]

Wiring is in place, not all permanently, just getting a taste of how to fit the dash area ..