Graham Powell’s Exocet G-Type Build

[grahammalta]

Hi All,

My name is Graham and I am British but have been living in Malta the last 10 years.
I ordered the kit from Stuart at MeV on 5/11/17 and hope to have the kit in Malta before end of January 2018 :-)

I bought a the car on eBay for £800-00; 1998 Mazda MX5 MKII (NB) 1.8i without ABS and 100k miles on the clock.

On 14/11/17 I drove the car back to Malta over 3 days taking the ferry from Genoa in North Italy to Palermo in Sicily.

Plan is much like everyone else to strip the body, bead/grit blast, paint and rebuild with new bushes, coil overs. I plan to do just the timing belt, water pump, radiator and other main service items only apart from some cosmetic bits.

Today I have cleaned the garage a bit and will start removing the body :-)

Hope for some help and pointers as sure will come across a few challenges!?

[grahammalta]

I made the mistake of thinking it would be quick and easy to strip the body off the donor vehicle.
Nothing was impossible, but some very challenging moments doing an MX5 for the first time as all the guys that have already done a build make it sound so easy 😂
Maybe because the vehicle was 19 years old added to the challenge as the bolts holding the subframes to the body were very rusty/stuck in most cases.
After struggling removing bolts the first two bolts and taking the grinder to it, I can tell you afterwards with experience gained the best way is:

Wire brush
Penetrating oil
Heat nut with oxyacetylene
Hit it with a decent impact >1250nm version not cheaper 400nm ones!
What everyone says about 6 sided sockets, they are the absolute necessity as well!

I got caught out struggling to get the body to separate from the skate only to find two (2) missed bolts still in place hidden holding the front subframe firmly in place!

It has been great fun though!

The impact was €295 and the oxyacetylene set worked out around €600 owning the oxygen cylinder but acetylene was only possible to rent.

My only worry is that one day my wife could sell my tools for what I told her I paid for them 😂

Tomorrow I must tidy the garage again and try work out how to get rid of the body to scrap.

[grahammalta]

Good news is that Stuart confirmed kit was ready early, so arranging a transport company that I have used before in Malta to collect it after he reopens around 3rd January. It should be in Malta < 7 days later :-)

[hammy3601]

Hi mate, hows the build going. Did the kit make it there OK?

[jim]

Hi Graham, good luck mate, your doing great so far and must be desperate to see the kit arrive. I couldn't think of anything nicer than driving an Exocet about in the beautiful landscape and wonderful weather of Malta.

[jim]

Hi Graham,
You seem to be ahead of the game so far, well done. I couldn't think of anything better than driving an Exocet around the beautiful landscape and wonderful weather of Malta. Good luck.