Gary's Tampa Build Exocet #304

[garman]

In the process of depowering my steering rack.



Also, got my pedals, steering column and NRG quick release installed.






I need to drill and tap my brakes for the fender brackets. That has delayed their installation.

[garman]

One of my two Sparco Sprints showed up yesterday. Now I can sit in the car and make Vroom Vroom sounds.





The other seat is due this week. Looks like I need to step up my seat mount search. Not sure about the adjustable sliders yet. Anybody have any suggestions or wisdom to share?

[garman]

I can't believe it's been three months since I've updated on here but work, family, and the holidays all conspired to keep me from doing much work on the Exocet.

I finally gave in and bought the fuel line kit from Exomotive to make my life easier. I now have the fuel lines ran and hooked up. I kind of wish I had waited because now that I'm doing the brake lines I'm realizing I could have saved a lot of money and just ran hard lines for everything. I was nervous about making my own lines from everything I've read. I bought a flare kit off Amazon and I have to say it's a lot easier than I was led to believe.

Here's an example of a double flare made with the kit:

Start by making sure there is a nice chamfered edge on the outside and inside of the tube


I took the jaws out of my vise for the clamping tool to rest nice and tight in the jaws


Insert the correct flaring tool into the tube


Screw the anvil holder onto the clamp until it is snug. No need to over tighten this at all.


Now screw the anvil down until it bottoms out. You'll feel the resistance once the anvil reaches the bottom. Again, no need to wrench on this extremely hard.


Remove the flaring tool and you'll end up with a nice bubble flare something like this


Remove the flaring tool from the center of the tube and reinstall the anvil. You need to screw down the anvil one more time to create the double flare. Screw the anvil down until there is heavy resistance. If you screw too tight the out side of the flare will be thin. If you screw too loose it will not give you the proper depth of angle for the double flare. It's a matter of feel but it's really not that difficult. Remove the anvil and you should have something like this


There will be some clamp marks around the tube but it's not a problem


Every flare has been consistent and centered for me and it's a relatively easy process.


Hope this helps anybody considering doing this yourself.

[garman]

I've also picked up some new wheels over the holidays.

I have a new set of 15x9 0 offset MST MT11's on 225/45 Hankook RS3's


and a almost new set of 15x8 +25 offset Konig Dial In's on another set of 225/45 RS3's


The MST's stretch the RS3's just a tad but not too bad. The Konigs fit perfect. I think I like the look of the Konigs a little better.

[blacksweeper]

Gary, your car is looking excellent, great progress. Thanks for sharing the info on the wheels + tires. I am researching what wheels to buy. I hope you don’t mind a couple of questions; are you happy with the clearance between the tires and the chassis in the rear with the 25 offset wheels especially considering lateral deflection under turning loads? What is the clearance? The zero offset wheels increase the cars track by 2 inches, how does that look? Does it look more stable?

Thanks Jerry

[garman]

Hey Jerry,

I'm currently running a 25mm. spacer in the rear for the +25 offset wheels.




Here's some pics of the wheels sans spacer and with:

Konigs with no spacer:




Konigs with spacer:




MST without spacer:




MST with spacer:




There's a lot of talk about running a spacer only in the rear and how it messes up the factory suspension geometry. I'm not a suspension expert so I'll leave that to people more experienced than myself. When I track the car I will probably run the MST's without the spacer but for around town I like the look of the Konigs with the spacer. Hope this helps.

[garman]

Oh, also mentioned the stretch of the tires on the 15x9 vs. the 15x8. Here's some pics.






It's not crazy but it is noticeable.

[garman]

Made these little guys at work today. EGR delete can now commence.

[garman]

Mounted up my Koyorad radiator this weekend. Had to fab up some additional brackets to use the Exomotive supplied mounts but it wasn't too big of a deal.



Here's the brackets I made to fit inside the side rails



I used this little press brake/shear I picked up years ago to bend my brackets. I subsequently broke the main gear making my very last bracket. Bummer

[garman]

I finished my coolant reroute using a spacer made by SKOU I found on MiataTurbo.com.



I also tapped my "mixing bowl" with a 3/4" NPT to block it off until go turbo. I found this idea on the Exocet Facebook page.

[hammy3601]

Loving that frame powdercoat mate, looks awesome! :-)

[garman]

Jan 29, 2019 16:54:53 GMT hammy3601 said:

Loving that frame powdercoat mate, looks awesome! :-)

Thanks! I'm realizing that there won't be much ability to do touch up work when the dings and scrapes begin. I'll have to take a bunch of pics to remember how it looks when new. I'm thinking of using clear 3M wrap to protect the main contact surfaces. Not sure if that will help but it's worth a shot.

[garman]

I also added an AN fitting now to my mixing bowl so I don't have to mess with it later when I use it for my turbo coolant line.

[garman]

My first attempt at starting the car late Saturday night was thwarted by a dead fuel pump. I replaced that Sunday before the Super Bowl but now have no spark. My tach isn't moving while cranking so signs point to my CAS but I'm still not convinced that's the problem. I've got one coming in the mail just to eliminate that as an issue. I've checked all my grounds and they seem to be in order.

Looks like I'll be doing some troubleshooting this coming weekend.

[hammy3601]

WOW just WOW! This looks absolutely AMAZING mate!