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Post by buildercg on Jun 29, 2018 14:41:14 GMT
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Post by chopperjim on Aug 1, 2020 12:26:17 GMT
do you still have the exo in MA? and where abouts if you dont mind me asking
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Post by chopperjim on Aug 1, 2020 12:27:36 GMT
ive been lurking the site for a while and reading your build post, as well as the registering/insuring issues you ran into. i spoke to my local inspector who said why not register it was a miata? can we do that?
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Post by buildercg on Aug 1, 2020 19:10:58 GMT
Hi ChopperJim, Yes, I still have my car. It's awesome!
None of the "standard" insurance companies in MA will insure the car. I found Grundy's/Philadelphia Insurance. With them it was easy (and cheap) but there are restrictions on use with the insurance.
In MA the car will almost certainly be classified as a "Specially Constructed Vehicle". It took 1-2 months to get the right designation. The year is based on when you purchased your frame. If you are starting with a donor car then DO NOT CHANGE THE ENGINE (turbo/supercharge) and ensure you have ALL the emissions requirements (O2 sensors, MAF, charcoal canister, cat) based the donor vehicle. I had to replace "with new" for everything (parts stripped from the donor were not accepted by the state). A lot of my delay was due to the state changing the State Inspection process back in 2017. They didn't address how to inspect "kit" cars for nearly 9 months making it impossible to get a registration or inspection. This is fixed now but the process is still quite involved. If you ever done a salvage inspection then you have a head-start on the knowledge I had. A "normal" inspector likely doesn't know the full process. There are three inspections required: state police (ensure the parts aren't stolen; you must have documentation for ownership transfer of donor vehicle VIN, engine VIN, and transmission VIN [note the Exocet must be "complete" and drivable at this point even though it is illegal to drive on public roads; Exocet must be towed to the inspection site]), salvage (the car is "safe" and meets MA emissions law), and normal state inspection ("kick the tires"). Note the donor must be officially scrapped in MA. You should take lots of pictures of the scrapping process and have an official receipt which includes the donor VIN from a junkyard/scrapyard proving the donor frame is trashed. If you sell the body privately you will be SOL. The first two inspections are by-appointment-only. The final "standard" inspection can be done by any inspector but I strongly encourage you to find one who knows a salvage inspector. Your annual inspection will trigger an alert every year with the state which requires the inspector to talk to the central RMV office. It takes about 45 minutes to go through my inspection each year (vs. about 15-20 for my "normal" car).
I'm north of Boston about 15 minutes from Salem, NH and 25-30 minutes from Boston. Happy to meet someday for coffee in the north-of-Boston 93/128/495 area. PM me if you want to meet.
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Post by chopperjim on Aug 2, 2020 13:01:59 GMT
well thank you for the info! as im a newbie on the forums it doesnt appear to let me PM you? unless i just dont know how to do that. what are the chances of just registering/insuring it as a miata? my normal inspector didnt think it should be an issue as its just the body being changed with the original drivetrain/subframes. Thoughts? And what are the stipulations for driving your car? Id really like to be able to drive it whenever i wanted without limitations, unless the limitations that are set really arent bad to adhere to. thank you for the reply!
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Post by buildercg on Aug 2, 2020 15:31:30 GMT
In MA? You may want to consider finding a different inspector because yours is giving you bad advise. Sounds like you have an "old school" guy which can be helpful but can also get you in a lot of trouble with this kind of project.
I would say that your chances of registering an Exocet as a Miata are zero as you won't have a VIN (it is illegal to use the VIN from the Miata body) unless the law has completely changed in the past 3 years and you get some amazing magical luck at the RMV. You also will not be able to insure it. Even if you miraculously get the final inspection, the whole inspection is recorded on video. There's a good chance that the video from the regular safety inspection will be run through a computer program to match the vehicle. You will get caught then.
If you try to use the Miata VIN and get caught the consequences are severe. You will definitely lose your car. You will definitely get fined. You will probably go to jail. Again not a lawyer, but I talked to the State Trooper who did my initial inspection [this is when the MA VIN is granted] and while the guy was nice to me he made it clear that messing up the procedure would not be good.
Regardless of your stance regarding the police, the process, and/or the RMV it pays to be NICE and respectful to the people involved in the process. They literally control your destiny. Being rude (even when you're rightfully pissed at the system) can crush your chances of getting through the process. MA is one of the toughest states for this kind of project but it is possible.
On the insurance side, Grundy's allows unlimited mileage but you're not allowed to drive the car to work and not supposed to use it for errands, "normal" every-day use. It's a "show-car"/"lazy Sunday-drive" type-insurance policy. The car also has to be stored in a locked garage. You are allowed to race the car, but the car will not be insured during racing (you're insured to drive the car to the track and back, but not on the track). I have not found an insurer in MA that allows "normal" driving of an Exocet; most don't have a way to handle kit car VINs in their system and don't have a mechanism for assigning a value to the car. Geico might be an option, but as soon as I mentioned racing they terminated the discussion and they won't talk to me (as an aside, all the Geico ads I had been receiving stopped about a month after my talk with them, so they keep track).
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Post by chopperjim on Aug 2, 2020 17:15:41 GMT
ehhh that kind of bums me out about the insurance, as id mainly want the car to run around town, stuff like that/ the garage isnt an issue. As far as registering and insuring it, going through the RMV doesnt bother me too much. you were very helpful in your post as far as what needs to be done, so im glad you did it before me, haha. have you done anymore changes to your car that wasnt listed in your previous posts? and how is the windshield holding up?
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Post by buildercg on Aug 3, 2020 4:05:51 GMT
Yeah, the insurance isn't what I'd like either but at least I get to drive the car.
I have cut way back on the changes to the car since getting it legal. I have done more work on the front and rear lights to clean up the wiring which makes it much easier to deal with and I've changed the original front turn signals so they no longer overhang the front fenders. I designed and 3d printed new fixtures for some 2" LEDs which now serve as turn signals and marker lights. I really don't like my fenders and I bought material to make new stays, but I haven't done anything with it since buying it more than a year ago. I also have aspirations to make a new dash as I screwed up the cut on the pod. But again, I've lived with it.
The windshield is working great. Just a custom piece of DOT school-bus window from a glass shop. The wiper works too (thank goodness, because the inspector actually triggered it a few days ago and I had an "oh shEEt moment" when I thought maybe it wouldn't move, but it was perfect).
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Post by chopperjim on Aug 3, 2020 11:33:00 GMT
hahd do you have washer squirters as well?or just the wiper blades? and i have a weird work schedule, i work thurs-sat and every other sunday, so if i couldnt drive on regular weekdays, it would be a major turn off. I guess i would have to contact grundys to get the exact details and go from there.
As far as the inspection goes, the existing parts werent good enough? you needed proof pf purchase from a parts store or a shop? and it has to say designed for mazda miata?
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Post by buildercg on Aug 3, 2020 18:58:44 GMT
No, I don't have a washer tank or piping for one. I don't even know where I could put one. Nobody has told me it's needed and I've gone three inspections without it. A wiper is required. I originally installed two electric motors (for a boat) but I couldn't keep the electric motors in sync so I use one 24" (?) blade and nobody has batted an eye.
With Grundy's you can drive the car during the week just not as a commuter car. I take my car out in the evenings when I'm not too tired.
For the emissions parts: you must buy brand-new OEM parts. You must have a receipt proving the parts are from Mazda; e.g. you must purchase from a dealer. The receipt for each emissions-related part is critical for the 2nd inspection. I had to both email the receipts to the inspector and show them to him when the car was inspected. Find out who the inspector is as soon as you can and try talking to that person (I wouldn't do this unless you're close to the car being ready). The RMV can help you find out who the inspector is for your area. If you live along 93 north of Boston, the inspector in Tewksbury is (or was a few years ago) quite reasonable as long as you follow the rules. I think it helped a lot that he was interested in the project and I was happy to answer all his questions. I met a guy who didn't follow the rules and he's $100G into a custom truck that he's never going to be able to drive legally in MA because he doesn't have a good relationship with the inspector.
In my case, the catalytic converter was no longer manufactured or available even from the dealer so I got lucky and was able to use a Magnaflow which I had already purchased and installed from the local parts store. DO NOT install the parts without taking TONS of pictures. I had pictures of me removing the old O2 sensor (boy was that not fun!) and pictures of me putting in the new one. You must properly plumb in the charcoal canister. I had pictures proving all the connections were there (fuel tank all the way to canister)... the '91 is pretty easy.
Another thing: you need the hood diagrams (fluids and vacuum) for the model year of your engine. I didn't have the right stickers since my donor car had an engine replacement but I was able to take pictures of the stickers from a specialty used-Miata shop (there's one a few miles off 93N exit 3 in New Hampshire), print and laminate the diagrams, and attach them to the lid of my electric tray. The inspector accepted the diagrams. He did NOT accept the stickers from my donor, which was for a 1.6L '93 motor.
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