Gary's Tampa Build Exocet #304

[garman]

Hello Everyone,

I am nearing the date of picking up my Chassis (#304) and thought I should share my progress with this awesome community.

I started my build with a wrecked 1999 NB. Frame was bent in the front but it was still driveable so nothing got into the engine or the suspension. I had originally bought a 2003 for my donor but I saw the wrecked car on Craigslist and went a different direction. My 2003 went up on Craigslist two days ago so I'm a little sad I won't have anything fun to drive around until I get the Exocet up and running. 

Pics of the '99:

[garman]

Once I got the car home it was tear down time. Interior first:

[garman]

Next was the engine wiring and disconnecting all of the brake and fuel lines. I'll be honest, I'm seriously hoping I can remember where all of the vacuum and fuel lines go once I start putting this thing back together. I took lots of pictures so I'm hoping that and the service manual get me through it.

[garman]

The big day finally arrived to separate the body from the PPF. I made several mistakes here because I was too damn excited to think straight. I should have gotten a better and lower attachment point for my straps. A chain would have been way better. I barely cleared the PPF and at one point thought I ripped my stick shift clean out of the car. Everything went without too much drama though until I got the body clear of the PPF. I was trying to position it off to the side of driveway when one of the straps slipped out of the hoist hook. Down came the car along with some of my wife's forearm. Nothing serious that Vodka couldn't heal but it was a little scary. Looking back on it I was lucky it didn't fall while we were lifting it over the PPF. 










Here I am in the engine bay with my neighbor nervously wondering what he got himself into:

[garman]

And success:

[garman]

Next up, engine out:

[garman]

Now that the engine is out, I've started to disassemble the suspension. I was fully expecting to have to powdercoat the control arms and everything but all of the components are in incredible shape for a 19 year old car. I couldn't believe how clean everything is. So, I may still powdercoat the calipers but I'm leaving the rest alone. I also picked up some Megan Coilovers. Not the best but apparently not the worst either. Dougamor was (is?) running them and I didn't see him bash them too much. I'm saving up for the Xida's, though.

[garman]

I'm going turbo so I'll be tearing the engine apart next. I have new forged pistons, rods, bearings, studs, etc. I found a Flyin' Miata manifold and downpipe for cheap and I'll be starting out with a T25 Garrett from an SR20 with an MS2 Megasquirt. I picked up a massive XSpeed Intercooler because it was dirt cheap on Craigslist but I'm doubting it will fit under the bodywork without major modifications so we'll see. I've never built a turbo system before so this will be new to me. I've had turbo cars but never had to know exactly how they work and all of the systems and components needed to support them. I'm learning as I go. Hopefully, I'll get some help from you guys when I start to put this together.

Long term, I also just picked up an LS 4.8 V8 that I'll be starting on once I get the Exocet up and running reliably. I'm out of money to go down that road right now so I'm sticking with the 4 cyl. but I have larger displacement aspirations.

So now I'm caught up to my present place in the build. I'm cracking the engine apart this weekend and taking a look at how everything looks. The engine has 155k miles so it'll probably need some love from the machining house. 

My chassis is slated to be done at the end of March so I'll be headed to Atlanta to pick it up from the factory. I'm hoping to have everything ready to drop the chassis on when I get back but I have a feeling that I might need some additional time to get the motor and turbo sorted out. I read somewhere that it's easier to have the turbo on the engine before you assemble the chassis so I'm going to try to go that route.

[garman]

Last night I cleaned up the front suspension pieces. I'm still amazed at how clean they came out. All I did was spray them down with degreaser and polish them up with some Turtle Wax. It's hard to believe the car had 155k miles on it. All of the bushings seem perfectly fine so I'll be leaving them alone.

[garman]

I've decided to hold off on building the engine with forged internals and adding the turbo. I have all of the parts but I'm worried that I might be biting off a little more than I can chew. My reasoning is that I want to get the car up and running with as little drama as possible. Adding a turbo and doing engine work just adds to the possibility of something going wrong. Once I get the car completely sorted out and running good I can plan on the turbo upgrade later. I have plenty of obstacles in front of me so adding more just doesn't seem like the smart move. 

[garman]

I started the rear end disassembly this weekend and found out that I do not have a Torsen like the previous owner said when I purchased the car. Bummer.

[garman]

I did get the rear suspension torn apart and shined up. The bushings look good back here too so I'm not replacing anything. 

[garman]

I picked up some Cooper RS3-R tires from a Sebring series ran a couple of months ago. They only have one heat cycle on them so they should be fun to play around with. I plan on purchasing the 949 racing 6UL's made specifically for the Exocet though and these tires are 16" which will fit on my stock set of wheels but not the 6UL's. The guy I bought them from has an endless supply for super cheap so I'm going to try these out first and see how they perform. 

[garman]

I'm also cleaning up the transmission while it's out. I bought some POR15 aluminum color to paint the engine and transmission but I'm thinking I might just leave the transmission alone. It's coming pretty clean with just some degreaser, elbow grease and scotch brite pads. 


Before: 


Crappy picture after:

[jwagner]

Mar 20, 2018 13:47:45 GMT garman said:

I've decided to hold off on building the engine with forged internals and adding the turbo. ...

I think that's a smart move.  The car is a hoot to drive even with the stock drivetrain, even more so if you tweak the normally aspirated motor a bit.  It's also much easier to work on the motor in an Exocet since there's a lot more room around it so you should be able to change things later without too much drama.

The suspension bits look great, if I had to do it over again I'd start with a better roller skate.  Taking it all apart, sandblasting, painting and reassembling everything was a pain.