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Post by SeanW on Mar 7, 2019 14:52:56 GMT
Don't you have to fit wipers & washers with a windscreen that high? Steering wheel's on the wrong side, which means no IVA, and I'll stick my neck out... pretty much no regulations of any kind? Sweet for builders! Oh no, there are regulations and inspections that must be followed for registration. They differ by State, however. California requires that the vehicle be inspected by a referee, that you have brake and light inspections performed at state licensed inspection stations, and that specially constructed vehicles comply with portions of the Federal Vehicle Safety Standards rules. |
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Post by SeanW on Mar 11, 2019 4:23:34 GMT
Not necessarily happy with the bare look of the extractor hole I cut in my Exocet's hood, I spent a bit of time with Fusion3D to draw up vent grill for it. I couldn't find anything off-the-shelf that I liked or was quite the correct dimensions for my extractor project leaving me little choice but to design and fabricate our own. Since I'm no strange to CAD or 3D printing, that seemed the best path to take on this project. (Though I suppose that I could have drawn up a design to have laser/water cut out of 1/8th aluminum.) My printer is fairly large but but not huge, the build area is only 220mm x 220mm x 250mm. ( 8.7" x 8.7" x 9.8", ) I had to spit the model into two parts to print it, then glue it together in post-print processing/cleanup.   For now, I've fit the the grill in place with 3M mounting, primarily to check for fitment and figure out any changes to the design that need to be made. So far I’m very pleased with how it’s turning out. There are a few small changes that I will make before I print the final part(s) out of a more durable plastic than the PLA I usually use for printing prototype/fitment check parts. Some of the changes I plan on making are to replace the aluminum angle at the front of the vent, integrating that into the printed vent grill and adding some rivet holes in the printed part for a more permanent, heat resistant mounting solution than 3M tape. (Though, in truth, 3M tape is pretty robust stuff!)   The final product will be printed in PETG or nylon, not sure if it will be black or green. I'm leaning toward green for the "HotWheels car" effect it imparts. It's also nice seeing car parts that aren't menacingly black all the time. |
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Post by SeanW on Mar 11, 2019 14:57:23 GMT
For those of you who are curious, I usually post all of my 3D designs under Creative Commons license on Thingiverse.com . You can find this particular extractor vent design here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:3484657 |
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Post by SeanW on Mar 27, 2019 19:17:37 GMT
Haven’t done much on the car directly, mostly working on other projects and hobbies. In the slack space in my schedule I’ve been working on a few more printed parts. The first is a button box house a few switches. This will will get slapped to the side of the gauge pod with some double-sided 3M mounting tape. That will put them in a place I can press them while strapped into the diver’s seat.  I’ve also been refactoring my ideas for mounting my tablet in the car. This is getting close to the final version.   |
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Post by SeanW on Apr 1, 2019 20:09:48 GMT
Delayed update on printed parts. I’ve been through a few iterations on the button box and mount, finally printing out the PETG versions with black filament. PETG is a bit of a pain in the butt to print with but I’m happy enough with the results so far. The button box...   Tablet mount replaced... Before:  After:    |
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Post by garman on Apr 2, 2019 12:42:26 GMT
That's pretty slick! I want to do something similar once I install my Megasquirt. It's been said before but an Exocet is never really "finished".
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Post by SeanW on Apr 6, 2019 15:45:32 GMT
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Post by SeanW on Jul 7, 2019 5:39:20 GMT
It’s been a while. My car has spent more time in the garage and on jack-stands than I would like. Tons of business travel and maintenance issues have been getting in the way of really spending a lot of time driving the car. Recently the turbo oil seals started going bad so I took the car off the road to rebuild the CHRA. (It’s pretty easy to do, all things considered.). While the turbo is off the car and broken down I attacked the turbine housing with die-grinder and carbide burr set.  Hogged out around two and half ounces of cast iron from the turbine inlet and wastegate port which should help tame the last of the boost creeping issues I had with the car. Might even help the snail spool a little faster. Subaru TD04s are notorious for boost creep unless they’re ported. |
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Post by SeanW on Jul 7, 2019 5:45:26 GMT
One of the bigger annoyances that I have while driving my Exocet is wind noise and not being able to communicate with my passenger when we’re at speed. A year and some change ago I experimented with a cheap intercom solution that worked in a pinch but was less than ideal. The other day I installed a Terratrip rally intercom in the car. Seems to work but haven’t gotten to really test it because the car is current down and out waiting for some turbo parts to ship in from Oregon. Bought it two practice headsets and one in-helmet headset. I’ll make a few adapters so that friends with other comm standards in their headsets can plug into the Terratrip in my car. (I didn’t spring for the Peltor compatible version, in retrospect I probably should have.  I designed up and printed a neat little mount to place it in the within the reach of both driver and passenger while snugly belted into the seats.   |
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Post by SeanW on Jul 7, 2019 5:54:29 GMT
Some number of weeks ago, while out on a fun run with a bunch of other local Exocet owners, one of the front fender mounts provided by Exomotive cracked. Not surprising, the mounts are provided by Exomotive really aren’t all that robust and I’m running fairly heavy aluminum fenders (for the time being, may change to fiberglass again at some point.  Basically, the flat part of the mount that bolts to the front upright cracked from fatigue/work.  The repair wasn’t too hard, just needed to grind the crack a bit and fill weld from both side, then grind it back flat again. To help keep it from happening again I then beefed up the flat mount by welding a .5” wide steel strap along the edge of the mount that should help to distribute the forces that caused the crack in the first place. (Also replicated the work on the other side of the car.  |
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Post by SeanW on Jul 7, 2019 6:07:27 GMT
Last Monday I drove out to a wrecker yard in Sacramento to pick up a low mileage, previously used Ford 2.5L Duratec pulled out of a Ford Fusion. This will get converted from it’s current front-wheel-drive configuration to a rear-wheel-drive setup by mating it up with a 5-speed NC MX-5 transmission. It will also get a few other tweaks like individual throttle bodies, a lowering sump, etc...  It’s not going into my Exocet. It’s going in one of these...  While I was in England in May I had the great fortune to stop past the Great British Sports Cars workshops for a visit. The result of which is the a lovely conversation with their engineer, directors, and owner as well as grin inducing romp in their 2.5L development/engineering car. (Pictured above.) A Seven is my ultimate dream-car and GBS’ interpretation of what a Seven could/should be flips all of my switches for a next project car. However that also means that, for now, any further work on my Exocet is coming a close as I wrap up the last few bits and pieces that I feel I need to complete before I sell it on it’s next owner and begin building my GBS Zero. |
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Post by Stewart on Jul 8, 2019 13:49:17 GMT
You didn’t consider the Exocet Mk3 then?  |
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Post by SeanW on Jul 14, 2019 14:45:16 GMT
I lied a little. Needed to rebuild the turbo. Upgraded to a Volvo compressor cover and fabbed a custom mount for the waste gate actuator. The new cover has a built in diverter valve which should clean up plumbing a bit.   |
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