Jason Exocet type G build thread

[kiwicanfly]

Jun 28, 2018 18:20:37 GMT jason82 said:

There are no torque specs for this, so I went with cave man tight. The bolts I used have an 8 on the head per the iva manual.

If you get hold of a set of torque charts (for bolts not the vehicle) all the torque settings you need will be there, just ensure you select the correct bolt rating and you are sorted.

[jason82]

Thank you for that, it's really appreciated.

[jason82]

I now have my kit ! . So my kit is a black 2018 G type chassis with the additional harness bar fitted, with g type side skirts in black, black g type wheel aches, white g type front & rear panels, Mev radiator brackets, with the individual fly screens. The reason for white front & rear panels were because they were discounted panels, they will be vinyl wrapped in black with the Batman logo on anyway for my charity work.

I am really impressed with the quality of the bodywork, its really heavy & feels all there. I do have a few marks etc in my panels, but luckily they are kind of out of sight. The chassis itself is well put together & surprisingly light ! It is heavier at the back than the front, I had the back & my 12 year old daughter grabbed the front & we moved it with no issues. Go really careful with the powder coating, it scratches really easily. I sat the bonnet on when I got home with no wrap on the edges & it put some scratches in the powder coating that would not come out. I was being really gentle at the time as well, so be warned. Because of this, I am going to travis perkins today when I have time to pick up some pipe lagging to cover the chassis. I will update the thread when I have prices, lengths used & the size of the lagging required.

So, you have spent your dosh, what is in the box of a standard kit ?

Un painted Chassis

Steering column plate

Aluminium front bulk head

2 rear chassis end caps

Pvc rear bulk head (behind seats, but under rear bodywork)

Edge trim

4.8mm x 12mm rivets x 90

Bolts, nuts & washers

Self tappers x 30

Grp bonnet & rear panel

Pvc side skirts

Aluminium sheet (for floor)

Aluminium gearbox tunnel

Bannana x2

Standard narrow cycle wings

Wing mounts x 4

brake pipe 3/16

brake pipe clips (plastic) x 16

My extras were

Type g bodywork (optional extra)

Radiator mounts ( optional extra)

Fly screens  (optional extra)

powder coating ( optional extra)

That's it for now, lighting kits etc will be purchased at a later date. Its worth mentioning that you don't get much of the edging trim & brake pipe etc, so you will / may require more depending on what you do with it. There were no instructions in the kit to explain which bolts go where, so I sent an email to Stuart & got the following reply, so hopefully this will help others as it was not in the build manual (latest revision).

" You have 12mm bolts. 6 short for the front sub frame & 4 long for the back, then 2 medium for just in front of the front bulk head. You will need washers between the rear sub frame & chassis, as well as under each nut".

A few problems which are immediately evident, the fly screens will need a tiny notch cutting out of the corners as they foul slightly on the bonnet & the main one is the aluminium gearbox tunnel. As you can see in the picture below, its nowhere near. When holding it in the car, it appears to be way too narrow & is not close enough to the chassis rails to fix it down.

I also emailed Stuart about this & he said " the tunnel is made on a jig, but the folds are only a starting point. It will need pulling & pushing to get a good fit". To be honest, I don't think that there is enough material in my tunnel to make it fit properly. If you widen the top to get it to meet the steel gearbox section, 1) you will have a bad crease from the factory fold which you are eliminating, & 2) as it sits its pretty much at the correct height, so if you widen the top section, you will obviously reduce the height of the side panels, making it too small. I honestly think that I will need to make another one from scratch. I have been really lucky that I have a sheet of aluminium left over from my Haynes roadster project. Out of the extra sheet I will make a new gearbox tunnel, wiring trays & wiring tray lids.

 One addition which would be nice to be added to the basic kit pack would be Tiger seal or another Pvc adhesive equivalent, as the floors & body panels require this for fitting. If you don't use tiger seal or equivalent when fitting the floors they can leak & rattle as you are driving along.

 

[kiwicanfly]

Before you buy lagging pop into a cycle shop and see if they have any frame protection foam tubing.

I got a huge bin bag of it for free

[jason82]

Thank you for that, it never crossed my mind.

[jason82]

I have just found the radiator mount plans & if you click on the link it should work.
mevowners.proboards.com/attachment/download/892

[hammy3601]

Time to 'Get 'er done Jason' :-)

Good luck mate, you'll love it and PM me any questions

[jason82]

Update time. If you have not been following my build thread, I have been building my Exocet on an open gravel driveway. The chassis was just sat on top of the mx5 ppf for ease of storage, covered in blankets to protect the powder coating, then a heavy duty tarp over the top.  Un fortunately my powder coating is very easily scratched, so as previously stated I needed to buy some pipe lagging to protect everything a bit better. Just for the record, this stuff gets really expensive, especially if you buy it from Travis perkins etc. So after a bit of shopping around, I found 10 x 1 m lengths of 22mm inside bore, climaflex for £11.29 on Amazon inc. delivery. I know that this is not big enough for the roll bar & main hoops etc, but it has a slit down the middle which allows it to open up & wrap around the chassis. The correct sized lagging is stupidly expensive, so if you are on a budget like me, buy this, it does a good solid job. Leave the opening of the lagging facing down as its less prone to damaging the powder coat.

To be honest I could have done with another 10m pack of lagging, but as its going to get thrown away when I have finished my build, I will make do.

  Next up was cutting the floors. I flipped the chassis upside down and started marking up the one side before cutting it. The build manual suggests using a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade & a load of wd40 to keep the blade clog free, another option was to use an angle grinder with a wafer thin disc, but I don't like this as the disc can grip the aluminium at times if you cant secure it fully, but I decided to go with an old tried and tested method. Back when I built my Haynes Roadster chassis, it was recommended to use a jigsaw with a wood cutting bit. This was brilliant as it was really fast, no clogging & flew through the aluminium no issues at all.

   Now its worth mentioning at this point that I almost dropped a nut at this point. In a moment of wisdom, I flipped my freshly cut floor over, using it as a template to mark out the second floor piece, just as I was about to start cutting, I realised that they are completely different sizes, I am glad that I figured it out in time.

Once I was happy with my floor panels I gave the edges a bit of a file down as they are really sharp. I drilled all of the way around the outside of the floors using a 5mm hss drill bit ready for the pop rivets. I am not fitting my floors quite yet as I want to get the top side vinyl wrapped to eliminate the sun glaring back off the panels while I am driving, another reason is that my aluminium panels were also scratched when I collected them from MEV. I have not drilled the centre beam where the seats bolt to, because I don't want the seat runner bolts being too close to the rivet. I don't have seats yet, so I cant trial fit them.

  Next on the agenda was to cut the rear panel that goes behind the seats. This panel is made of a really weird material, its kind of a mixture of cardboard & acrylic. This is a panel that I wanted to get as tight a fit as possible, so I made a cardboard template and made sure that it was as tight as possible around the gearbox tunnel etc as it needs to be made water tight. Reading a few threads on here people have used a Stanley knife to cut the panel, but I have found this to be a little tough going, so I used the jigsaw with a wood bit in it to do the cutting, then I used the Stanley knife to tidy the cuts up.

I was really happy with the fit, so I have just clamped the panel in place at the moment. I don't want to fit it yet because I will need access for the fuel lines & brake pipes. When I fit the floors and rear panels, I plan on running a bead of tiger seal down each side of the steel gearbox tunnel as this is welded intermittently leaving gaps where you can see through the panel to the floor. (My tiger seal is black, so it hides nicely against the chassis).

  My last project of the day was to build my wiring tray. Once again, out came the trusty cardboard to make the template. After reading a few build threads I have decided to go with a 110mm deep tray. The long edge at the back in my car is 32 1/4", front to back is 10 1/4", then the long front straight edge was a reduced 30 3/4" due to the outside hoop cutting in. 

  When you unfold the box & trace it over onto aluminium, remember to include the small tabs which will be used to secure the sides. I made my tray out of aluminium (2mm), it was an absolute cow to bend, I don't have an aluminium sheet folder, so I used a length of  timber, then used a soft rubber mallet to bend the aluminium over. I am really happy with my effort, it could have been so much more professional with a steel bender / folder, but hey, I have long arms and short pockets !

Once I was happy with the fit into the chassis, I drilled & used a few pop rivets to secure the sides of the tray. As before, I am not fitting this just yet because I am getting it wrapped the same as the interior panels. I have also made a lid to go on the top, which will get secured with self tappers.

I will upload more pictures later, my laptop has decided to delete them .

[jason82]

So I have lots of projects in the air at one time, waiting for bits and bobs to get delivered to complete them.  I have never made my own brake pipes before, its always been a job that I have been intimidated about to be honest, I have had the kit for a few years gathering dust, so I decided to get some copper pipe 3/16 and start practicing ! I love Sealey tools, so I purchased the  AK506 a while back, to go with the rest of my Sealey collection.

 

I am really impressed with the kit, go careful with the mandrels (little black bits). The instructions were absolutely useless in the kit, I had to watch a generic youtube video to figure out how to use it, so I am sharing how I done it with you all.

   Firstly get your 3/16 copper tube ( same process for other size of copper pipe flaring), & make sure that the ends are completely de burred & make sure that the 3/16 black mandrel slides inside the copper pipe ok. Put your chosen fitting on the pipe before making the flare !!!!!!!! Then get the long clamping tool with the measurements on it (writing must face up), push your copper pipe into the correct slot size, then you want to slide a little extra through. To know exactly how much pipe needs to be pushed beyond the clamp tool, sit the black mandrel on top of the clamp tool, & the pipe should be level with the first ridge on the mandrel (red arrow pointing to the relating ridge).

 

Clamp the pipe down evenly, making sure that the clamp tool is completely level. Then place the 3/16 mandrel inside the copper pipe.

 

Put the vice around the clamp, with the point of the vice going inside the back of the mandrel like so ........

 

Then hold it all tight, & do the vice up as tightly as possible without using any tools. as soon as you feel the vice bottom out, undo the vice. This will leave you with a really nice single flare.

 

Most of the fuel & brake lines on my Mazda are double flare. So to produce the double flare, as soon as you have undone the vice from producing the single flare, remove the mandrel, put the vice back over the top of the copper pipe, & this time wind the vice straight down onto the original single flare (mandrel removed). Tighten the vice as tight as you can get it without using a tool, once you cant tighten it anymore, back the vice off........

  

Leaving you with a nice double flare.

 

Its worth noting that when you cut the copper pipe, make sure that you de bur the copper pipe sufficiently enough to make sure that it is smooth & that the mandrel can easily slide into the pipe. My copper pipe cutter in my kit has a de bur blade on the back. The youtube video I watched used a Stanley knife to de bur the work.

  I am not an expert, this is my first attempt at making flares, and it is a lot easier than I thought that it would be. It goes to show that a little confidence goes a long way ! I am sorry if you all already know how to do this, this was a guide to people like myself that have never done the job before.   

    They sell pipes made up on ebay already, but where is the fun in that ? Make sure that you have the correct fitting slid over the copper pipe before you start your flare, otherwise you will need to start again ! The only thing that I am unsure about is whether the mk1 MX5 uses metric or imperial unions on the brake pipe, I am struggling to get a definite answer, but I will update you all when I get this confirmed.

[snowbird1]

[jason82]

Lol, I love it ! That's why I put the warning in. You focus so much on the flare you forget the union. I bet I do it despite my warnings !

[hammy3601]

Looking good mate, should've reminded me and I'd have sent the card templates for the bulkheads mate

[bigdave1]

Hi,I have to post because I can't message you. Have you made any progress on your build ? I have enjoyed your detailed posts & pictures & have not seen an update in a while ? Don't tell me that you are one of these where your thread starts really promising, you have a long absence, then we see a picture of the car ? 🤬

[jason82]

Hi mate, you have found me out ! Lol. I am quite a bit further on, I have sent you a message with my email address, send me an email letting me know what thread you want & I will send it to you. Same for anyone else struggling on here. I have just started a blog on Facebook with my build, it's not current, but I am working really hard to get it there. I have done a real good one on the pedal box fitment & column installation, which should be on my blog today / tomorrow.

Regards

Jas.

[jason82]

After having a few messages on my blog regarding the steering & pedal assembly installation, I have decided to put the info on here. The build manual is incredibly vague regarding this, please don't cut your steering column arms to get it to fit, 2 people that I have talked to have done it, I was about to do it, then I figured it out. Here we go !

With the steering bracket attached to the chassis using M8 bolts, I then offered up the steering column to where the bracket should bolt to the steering bracket & it was immediately evident that the spacers had to come off the back of the brake pedal & get fitted onto the servo side of the bulk head (I knew this because when the steering column and bracket were parallel, the column needed to go in towards the bulk head). No problem, I used one of the 1mm mild steel cutting discs in a 4.5 inch grinder, I then put them between the servo & the bulk head & that made things better, but created another problem. I have switched from an abs master cylinder, to a non abs master cylinder. The abs master cylinder fits perfect, but the non abs master cylinder contacts the diagonal chassis frame rail.

The problem is caused because the pipework on the abs master cylinder runs under the it, where as the non abs internal pipework runs over the top, striking the chassis. I made a new pipe from 3/16 copper & I used 2 standard M10 x 1mm brake pipe unions, & double flared the pipe.  You need to make a real tight 90 degree bend where the pipe goes into the side of the master cylinder, but because of the short brake length required to miss the chassis, you need to slide the union onto the pipe, then double flare the pipe, then very very carefully bend a 90 degree bend by hand. This is the only way that I could do this due to the width of my pipe bender & the thickness of the flaring tool.

 

With that bit all buttoned up, I drilled a 9mm hole in the top mounting bracket which bolts to the top of the brake pedal assembly ready for an M8 bolt. This created an issue which I was not happy with as the chassis mount for the brake pedal is too far forward by 20mm (actual measurement), resulting in the bolt not coming through into the correct location in the pedal assembly.

As you can see, its nowhere near secure ! To rectify this, I got a bit of 3mm mild steel plate, 26mm wide x 90mm long to sit inside the top of the brake pedal mount, which effectively acts as a massive washer which touches every edge of the roof of the brake pedal, obviously with a 9mm hole drilled into it to take the M8 bolt.

I have used the same method for mounting the top of the clutch pedal. Please excuse the paint job on the pedal assembly, they are going out to powder coat, but I needed them installed to finish my 1 piece bulk head mock up (I love my home made  1 piece bulkhead, its so much cleaner than the 3 piece jigsaw).

 With the clutch master cylinder mounted & the clutch pedal kind of fitted, it was obvious that the left steering leg was way too short & the top of the clutch pedal mount was nowhere near the top locating tab !

As you can see, its the only right hand drive car steered from the passenger seat ! lol. Basically its caused by a few things, firstly the bulk head is dead straight, where the MX5 one bends a bit & secondly the left arm of the steering column is too short to contact the face of the clutch pedal assembly. So tackling this one job at a time, I decided to use washers as packers to line up the clutch master cylinder, clutch pedal assembly & top mounting bracket.

1 M8 washer goes between the top clutch pedal bolt hole & bulk head ....

& 3 M8 washers go on the bottom clutch master cylinder bolt, between the bulk head & clutch master cylinder.

It then became obvious that the top clutch master cylinder bolt is not long enough to secure it all together, so I screwed 2 M8 bolts onto the thread, & wound the stud out of the master cylinder.

I then fitted a longer M8 bolt which fitted perfectly (the thread is in the master cylinder, so no need to tap it).

On final assembly, I will put Loctite on this thread.

  Now to address the final clutch pedal / short steering arm issue. The bolt for the left steering arm is way too short, so what you need to do is cut this bolt out of the clutch pedal assembly & fit a longer M8 bolt, then you need to install a crush tube over this bolt for the left steering arm to be securely bolted to. I had some 3mm walled tubing handy which I cut to 18mm in length to act as the crush tube. This solved the problem perfectly.

Everything ligned up perfectly ! not bad for an electrician hey ?

 Last up was the throttle cable. I used a set square which slid perfectly into the throttle cable opening in the throttle pedal, and where the sguare edge touches the bulk head I made a mark (bulk head area where cable went through had masking tape on it to see my marks).

After measuring the square connector on the throttle cable (pedal side), it become evident that I needed to make an hole 13mm wide by 18mm high, obviously your mark from the set square will be in the middle of this rectangle. To do this I drew the rectangle on top of my masking tape, & as I had no other tools available, I used a drill to punch loads of holes around the inside of the rectangle, then used one of the electric finger files to finish the rectangle off perfectly. I am glad to say that I was well chuffed with my attempt.



I then stripped it all back apart to fit my one piece bulk head & get my pedals powder coated. I hope that this helps you all !