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Post by chris142386 on Sept 7, 2019 10:50:27 GMT
I think I am nearly at the point of removing the shell from the PPF now, which is quite exciting.
I've got a couple of big problems ahead, the biggest one is that I am moving house in a few months, and I need to move this thing. Having spoken to a few people they seem to think it will be fine on the back of a car moving truck as long as the wooden suspension stays are steady, which is good.
Is there anyone near the Colchester area who has experience removing the shell from the PPF? I'm quite concerned about doing something wrong while under the car and the PPF dropping on me....It's been a big enough concern that I've put it off for a long while. If there is someone around who is willing to help for a day and we get the PPF off I'd happily buy them a present for their car.
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Post by jleigh5 on Sept 7, 2019 11:56:53 GMT
Hi Chris,
I've sent you a PM, I'm from Colchester nearing the end of my build (IVA in 1 month) and am able to help!
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Post by chris142386 on Sept 9, 2019 13:04:13 GMT
After speaking jleigh5 it looks like we are meeting up on Friday which is great. It's brilliant to hear there are people nearby who have made an exocet! Right now I'm trying to get everything ready so Friday goes without too many hiccups. Unfortunately this has left me with a wall of questions. 1. I see need to remove the handbrake cable as it is attached to both the subframe and shell, I don’t really see how to remove it though, is it done at the wheel or at the bit pictured? 2. I’ve detached all of the fuel line and brake line connections (pictured below) from the shell, that should be fine right? I do see others have removed them completely. I think it will be easier for me to understand how everything works if I keep it as complete as possible though. 3. The rubber holding the exhaust up in the middle of the car seems to be attached to the subframe, not the shell, I assume I can leave that one attached? 4. I’m not entirely sure of the best way to remove this tube. It is a brake line coming from the ABS. It looks a bit of an odd one though, do I just unscrew the top and then it releases from the mount? 5. I’ve detached the steering column from the rack……unfortunately I can not get the column out of the bulkhead. I figure now it is loose I should be able to lift the shell off and just sort of keep the column out of the way, and then remove it from the bulkhead when the shell is off, does that seem reasonable? 6. The brake vacuum booster thing and the ABS (I’m probably going to leave the ABS on the car if I can, friends will be driving the car on occasion so a few safety features would be good) are but are not attached the shell but are still attached to the pipes etc. I plan to lift the shell around these and sort of manoeuvre them through the engine bay when the shell is lifted, does that seem possible? 7. I’ve unscrewed the fuel tank from underneath (As far as I can see!), and I’ve removed the fuel filling pipe that goes to the tank, will the fuel tank now stay with the PPF when the shell is lifted? 8. Before I get rid of the chassis, I know I need to keep the VIN plate, are there any other easy to forget little bits on the car to be aware of? 9. Can I get any recommendations for which straps to get to lift the car using an engine hoist? Preferably with amazon prime. Should these be okay? www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01G7HYK8C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AS78DY8N8J1FL&psc=110. I’ve got the car in the garage at the moment on axle stands. There is no room in the garage for the engine hoist. I’m planning on having the car on the drive, lifting up the shell, then rolling the skate from underneath back into the garage. That seems sensible right? 11. Before getting the car off the axle stands should I loosen the subframe bolts, or do it once it is securely on the ground? Thanks for any help!
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Post by jleigh5 on Sept 9, 2019 20:34:21 GMT
1. Easiest to undo the handbrake cable from the bit you photographed (as long as they are the same as the mk2), you'll need to bend the cables round about 135 degrees to get the little bead thing out of the bracket (a bit like the accelerator cable into the Throttle control body IIRC).
2. As long as the fuel lines are disconnected at both the top of the fuel tank and the two flexi fuel hoses in the engine bay (one feed one return) (near starter motor, as long as mk2.5 and mk2 are the same layout for this), then it should be fine to lift.
3. The exhaust should be a part of the PPF once you remove the shell, so if the rubber and bracket are just on the PPF and not the shell, that should be fine.
4. I believe so. If you are getting new flexi hoses all round (most people do) then it doesn't matter what you do!
5. There was (on mk2 at least) a bolt that kept the bottom of the steering shaft in the correct spline location on the rack. Even if the bolt is done right up, it still feels quite loose, could be that.
6. My donor didn't have ABS, but if none are attached to the shell, should be fine to leave on, at least for now!
7. The Fuel tank will stay with PPF rather than the shell.
8. You should also keep the v5 for when it comes to IVA so there's no risk of you getting a 'Q' reg, sometimes the scrapyards 'need' this, I can't quite remember which scrapyard mine went to but they collected it for free and left me with the V5.
9. They should be fine - I didn't actually use a lift or straps, just one guy in each corner!
10. Sounds like a great plan! Need to remember to put some wood to keep the skate to replace the suspension!
11. Loosening them and then nipping them back up now will be easier, you may need some spray to help!
Hope this helps! See you Friday
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Post by chris142386 on Sept 11, 2019 8:45:42 GMT
Awesome, thanks Jamie, I will get on with this today!
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Post by chris142386 on Sept 13, 2019 17:02:36 GMT
Massive day in the garage today. The PPF is finally released from the shell!
First things first, jleigh5 was an absolute godsend this week, he helped out massively today and I think it would have been a much bigger struggle without his help. So, thanks again!
The were some hiccups along the way today and some other things that went really well. Firstly, the hiccups then -
-Some of the subframe bolts were tight, as in insanely tight. A breaker bar was essential as the impact driver could not get close to undoing the bolts/nuts. One nut in particular, attached to a bolt with an unnecessarily long thread, took the best part of an hour to undo. Some of them were easier to undo a bit and then cut off with an angle grinder.
-The shell got quite stuck around some bent subframe bolts when lifting it off, the angle grinder was the only way to solve that problem.
-The engine hoist I bought is massive. I probably should have rented one as space is not easy to come by in the garage...
The things that went really well -
-The engine hoist and the straps made the job quite easy on the lifting front. 2 straps were used, using holes around the seat area for balance. The balance point was about right making the shell easy to manoeuvre in the air.
-Pretty much all fuel and brake lines were left connected. The shell was lifted off and they remained neatly in place. Whilst they won't be used in the final car, they do give me a good idea of where things connect. The ABS and brake cylinder were the same, they were sort of folded over the engine and the shell lifted around them! Success!
-The underbody isn't looking too bad rust wise! This was exciting news. most of the bushings look quite okay as well.
Overall, I'm incredibly pleased with how today went and I can't wait for the next stages of the build!
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Post by Stewart on Sept 24, 2019 14:05:24 GMT
Great work. Getting the body off is a good milestone in the build. You can finally see what you're working with and with a bit of imagination (and one eye closed) you can start to visualise what the end result is going to look like
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Post by chris142386 on May 28, 2020 19:04:18 GMT
Hi all! Got some time to carry on working in the garage which is lovely. I am fitting the suspension to the chassis but the front suspension bolts don't line up, do I just force them into place? Or disassemble the coilovers and adjust the mount? If so, a spring compressor will be required, right? Also the front anti-roll bar is too long, do people buy mk1 anti roll bars if they had a mk2.5 donor? Or I coukd just leave it off entirely? Thanks
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Post by mprmurray on May 28, 2020 22:17:24 GMT
You need to cut the mx5 chassis wher it hits the spring, pretty much back to where the Exocet frame joins. I have a 2.5 donor and had the same issue with the springs but the roll bar was fine . Very tight but no adjustment needed.
Looks like you had a bit of a break keep at it,
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Post by chris142386 on May 29, 2020 12:53:36 GMT
Thanks, I see what you mean about cutting back to the Exocet frame, time to get out the angle grinder!
Turns out I used the wrong word when I said anti-roll bar, I meant the chassis brace that goes from the top of one suspension mount, over the engine and then to the other suspension mount. Turns out people just leave that out so it is okay afterall. =)
Not so much a break as just taking a long time between each day in the garage. My garage is terrible to work in at night as it is dark and cramped, during the day I can keep the big door open and it is a much nicer place to be. That just means I end up with say 1 day every week or two where I work on the car. Slow progress is still progress though =)
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Post by hutchey on May 29, 2020 16:44:13 GMT
Hi all! Got some time to carry on working in the garage which is lovely. I am fitting the suspension to the chassis but the front suspension bolts don't line up, do I just force them into place? Or disassemble the coilovers and adjust the mount? If so, a spring compressor will be required, right? Also the front anti-roll bar is too long, do people buy mk1 anti roll bars if they had a mk2.5 donor? Or I coukd just leave it off entirely? Thanks I think I forgot to actually post my comment earlier. You could use the standard mx5 suspension but I'd advise not to. It's way too stiff for the Exocet. It makes it pretty harsh to say the least. Get a set of coilovers - don't have to be expensive ones but you definitely need to get less stiff springs. So not a straight mx5 swap either or you'll still have the same problem. Also - if you do change - don't get lowering ones, the Exocet is low enough anyway and you'll only get about 10-13cm clearance from the road to the floor panel and the exhaust sticks down lower and so do the chassis bolts.
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Post by chris142386 on May 29, 2020 20:17:11 GMT
Thanks for advice there Hutchey, the plan is to use original ones until the IVA is done, then to start upgrading parts a section at a time once the money is available to do so. Changing the suspension is probably the first upgrade I'll do I expect. I might change all the wishbones at the same time as I'm slightly concerned about the integrity of the rear left wishbone where the vehicle had a collision in it's former life.
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Post by chris142386 on Jun 8, 2020 11:37:54 GMT
Hi All, got the pedals in and the car is starting to look like a driveable car! However, I am now having a lot of trouble getting the steering column in position. As you can see in the following picture the column itself doesn't seem very straight. Also, I can't get the clutch bolt to line up with the hole, if it lines up the bolts where it mounts near the steering wheel don't line up at all. I removed the spacers from the back of the brakes hoping that would help as it mentions in the manual but it still seems I'm doing something wrong. Has anyone got any advice? mk2.5 donor btw. Thanks for any help
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Post by hutchey on Jun 9, 2020 9:06:52 GMT
Hi All, got the pedals in and the car is starting to look like a driveable car! However, I am now having a lot of trouble getting the steering column in position. As you can see in the following picture the column itself doesn't seem very straight. Also, I can't get the clutch bolt to line up with the hole, if it lines up the bolts where it mounts near the steering wheel don't line up at all. I removed the spacers from the back of the brakes hoping that would help as it mentions in the manual but it still seems I'm doing something wrong. Has anyone got any advice? mk2.5 donor btw. Thanks for any help Hi, 1) The steering column doesn't sit straight - you could cut another hole and see if that works but it's something that all of us apart from Phil Kloss, are stuck with. It's actually ok when you get a seat in and drive it. 2) Did you cut the bits off the back of the pedal assembly and put them on the engine side or have you left as it was? Mine are as was and I'm ok but lots of others followed the Mev build guide here. 3) That clutch one, you need to drill a new hole and use a long bolt and pack with washers - read the build manual first (print it off and keep it in garage with you to)
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Post by chris142386 on Jun 9, 2020 16:11:37 GMT
Thanks! You've solved my issue here, the problem was that I took the build guide too literally, it says 'When bolting the steering column in the bolt in the clutch pedal for the column needs replacing with a longer one and a stack of washers', and I took 'replacing' to mean drilling out the old bolt and putting a new one in!
Thanks again! Can't wait to the column in, somehow adding a steering wheel makes the car feel so much more complete =D
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