Morgans Exocet build thread

[themorgster]

Finally got round to barbecuing the bushes... fortunately I have a lot of propane!

[themorgster]

I hit the wire wheel pretty hard today and cleaned up nearly all of the suspension & hubs... very dirty business! - made a real mess of the shower... oops! One of the rear lowers has a hole in it so the mig welder will be getting another outing at some point soon.

[themorgster]

First coat of POR 15 (semi-gloss Black) went on well.

[themorgster]

All control arms, anti-roll bars, prop shaft, shocks and painted in POR15. Springs were painted with enamel engine paint. I plan on changing the shocks and springs within a year of completion anyway so it doesn’t matter so much if the paint flakes... we’ll see...


Front & rear sub frames wire brushed and ready for degrease, rust treatment & paint. Minor welding needed to the rear sub.




Once they are all painted I can start putting the suspension back together.

[garman]

Man, you've put some serious elbow grease into those suspension bits but it'll be worth it once you're done. Nice work!

[themorgster]

I could have saved myself a shed load of work by getting it all media blasted, but I really want to see how far I get without any 3rd party assistance ( note: all forum help gratefully accepted!).

[themorgster]

Finished the welding and painting on the subframes, built the coil overs up and started fitting the PU bushes to the wishbones. I’m using an M6 tap (5mm drill) to fit grease nipples as I go...

[themorgster]

Diff de-bushes, drained, cleaned and painted. Drive shafts also cleaned and painted. I’m replacing the drive shaft seals on either side of the diff, mainly because they are cheap.

[themorgster]

Finally cleared the garage out so I can start the process of bolting it all back together! The “to do” list is still long... I haven’t touched the engine or gearbox yet. The rack, column and pedals need some work too.

[themorgster]

Front and rear subs built up and brakes bolted on (mainly to get them out of the way). I’ve ordered new cam and crank seals (front and back) as the front seal was shot. The good news is: the oil leak was the front crank seal, the head gasket looks ok. Bad news: I’ll have to replace the valve stem seals in situ, which means another £40 on tools for the valve work.

[themorgster]

Just about getting started on the engine: valve stem seals, crank seals, timing belt, water pump, plugs & leads ... picking the kit up tomorrow!

[jason82]

Making good progress, well done. I have gone through my engine the same as you, I bought the timing belt kit from Mx5 heaven, my cas seal was leaking badly, & as I removed the rocker cover, it was smelling a fair bit, so I thought I would do the valve seals at the same time. The only trouble is, once you remove the head, you start thinking, maybe I should just do the rings etc etc, then what went from being a standard timing belt change, quickly turns into a full on engine rebuild !

[themorgster]

I’ll be changing my valve stem seals with the head on by pumping compressed air into each cylinder which pushes the valves closed while the keepers are off (the head service tool I have includes an air hose which screws into the spark plug hole). I was considering doing a full head off, piston rings etc rebuild, but where does it end!!! I could easily be £400+ deep into an engine worth less than £100. I just need it (original block) running ok for the IVA, after that, if it’s that bad, I’ll strip it down (water pump, alternator etc) & swap it out.

[themorgster]

Nice easy trip to MEV and back.


Got the floor in ok. Had to wait for a lazy tong riveter to arrive, my standard hand riveter wasn’t up to the job. Went for the 3D carbon wrap and Tiger PU adhesive (like many others).

[roger32849]

You've done a LOT in a short time. You are truly highlighting that building a kit car isn't simply an assembly process, or just a swap out of car parts. It's a lot of hard work!! I enjoyed the fact you were brutally honest about the condition of the donor MX-5. From the photos of the rust on the brake calipers and associated hardware I held little hope of them being usable, but they cleaned up quite well, the empty WD-40 cans in the rubbish tells the whole story.

The entire chassis was something of a diamond in the rough, but in the end you have the pieces looking like they just rolled off the assembly line at the Mazda plant. All the new RED bushings, springs and the addition of the grease fittings are vast improvements over and above what Mazda installed as OEM. Your MEV Ecocet will be like the Phoenix, raising from the ashes of the Miata.

CONGRATULATIONS on your progress so far. You make it look easy.

Roger
Worcester, Massachusetts