Love It Or Hate It - Another Exocet Build in Tampa
 

Current pic:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b7149e82d.jpeg


The time has come.

I've debated whether to start a build thread here or not. But my inner desire for attention (and help) has ruled the day so here we go:

I'm currently smack dab in the middle of my Exocet build. I've stripped the car down to basically pieces at the moment. I pick up my chassis (sport #304) on Friday, May 4th. I've got the engine completely tore down ready for new valve springs, forged internals and a Garrett 2560 Turbo. I have learned a tremendous amount about Miata's and turbos thanks to this site.

I started out with a Silver 2003 as my donor car for the build but a week before I was going to tear it apart I found a wrecked 1999 that was dirt cheap and perfect for my needs.

Here's the 2003. I sold it last weekend. It was fun to drive on weekends but I need the money to fund more go fast parts.
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Here's the 1999 I used for my build.Attachment 229250
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Once I got the car home I immediately started tearing apart the interior.
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Off with the dash
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All done with tear down and removing the wiring harnesses
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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.

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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 the driveway when one of the straps slipped out of the hoist hook. Down came the car along with some of the skin 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.

I wheeled it out of the garage to give me some room.
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I'm in the engine bay trying loosen the final bolt while my neighbor wonders what the hell he got himself into.
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And success

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I will say it was a pretty good feeling to get that far in the build. It took about 2 weeks of nights and weekends to get the body removed from the skateboard. I started on removing the engine next.

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Now that the engine was out, I 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. There's a local guy with a couple of Exocet's that's running them and I didn't see him bash them too much. Once I see how the car handles and get some seat time I'll have a better idea what to upgrade to.

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The PO said that the car had a Torson but I found out that was not the case

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I got the rear suspension torn apart also. All of the bushings are in really good shape so I'm leaving them alone. I picked up some new axles and I'll be replacing the hubs while I'm at it. I plan on tracking this thing so I don't need any surprises like this from Keith.


Scary stuff right there.

Here's the rear suspension shined up.

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So, here's where things get interesting. I initially decided to hold off on the turbo build and just keep everything stock until I get everything put back together and get the Exocet titled so I can drive the damn thing. But with the engine sitting on a stand in the garage and staring at me everyday as I walk by I just couldn't resist the urge to start the rebuild with the upgraded internals. I shined up the transmission first. I purchased some POR15 aluminum color paint for the engine and transmission but the transmission shine right up without having to use the paint.

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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.

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I could not for the life of me get the crankshaft lock bolt to come off with the engine on the stand. I do not have the fancy Crankshaft Lock Tool SST# 49 D011102. I tried an impact driver and doused it with PB blaster but it's not budging.

Since that defeated me I moved on to disassembling my brakes so they can be powder coated.

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I made my own tool at work to crack the crankshaft bolt. It came right off with the right tool.

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Our cat pretending to carry a 1.8 on it's shoulders

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The head is now on my bench ready for new Supertech Dual Springs to be installed this weekend.

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The pistons looked pretty gnarly but the cylinder walls were nice and smooth.

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I'm trying to be very organized so I don't screw this up somehow.

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I will have touched every nut, bolt and connector on this car once it's done. My garage is just a repository of parts at the moment.

Speaking of parts here's my goody basket for the engine build minus the Supertech springs. They get delivered today.

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I got this picture from Kevin at Exomotive at the end of last week. The frame is going out for powdercoating. It's probably out and painted by now.

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Here's a helpful tip:

Once you get the head and oil pan off the block and and are ready to flip the engine over, be prepared for the coolant left in the block to pour all over your garage floor.

I wasn't.

Question for the Tampa local or anyone I guess, does anyone have an 84mm tapered piston ring compressor sitting in their tool box that they would like to share or rent? Everything online is backordered or costs $65. I'm trying to save every penny I can on this build so I can think of many other things I'd like to spend that money on. I'm sure it's a long shot but before I order one online I figured I'd ask. Thanks!

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/w...8400/overview/

--Ferdi

Have you ordered seats yet?

We work with Exo a great deal and have a lot of experience knowing what fits if you need a hand.

No seats purchased yet. I'm leaning towards the Sparco Sprints.

how tall are you? Also, pants size helps.

6.0' 32/32

looking for something waterproof? or are you going to use a car cover?

I'll have a car cover.

Car is now out of the paint booth. I went with Prismatic Powders Chameleon Sapphire Teal. I can't wait to pick it up Friday!

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yep for your body size, a sprint will work, Kirkey 71 too. I would like to see if a Sparco rev would fit as well. contact kevin @ exo for ordering and pricing.

Cool, thanks for the help!

that color is amazing on tubes. btw

Looks badass! What color bodywork?

Thanks! I went with Jet Black body panels. I didn't want to take away from the color of the chassis.

Mother of god that paint is sexy.

Good call, that is gonna be super clean.

Picked up the chassis on Friday! Here's some more pics of the paint. The color shifts like crazy.

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Nice!

I believe they did a video on yours the other day. Very cool!!

The colour is stunning!

No shit! I haven't seen that.

Kevin was super cool and showed us around the shop. It was a great trip up to Atlanta. Kevin said he took some video but I had no idea he posted it up.

Now that I have the chassis there is no excuses for not getting my engine ready for installation. I spent most of the weekend working on the cylinder head.

I removed the valve springs with a cheapo Amazon tool kit and it worked perfectly. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.


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that video makes me want to grow a mustache.

One thing that I had trouble with was removing the valve seals. I initially mangled the first few trying to get at them with some needle nose pliers. Shit was breaking off everywhere. I then tried to pry up one side of the seal to get a better grip and that worked way better.

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The intake side of the head is caked in carbon.

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I'm in the process of doing a stage 1 port and polish to help things flow better. I'm following this guide:

While working on the cyl. head I noticed this number on the casting. It's at the rear on top of the coolant inlet. It's totally irrelevant but now I'm curious if anybody else has the same numbers on theirs and what does it mean?

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One last chance for a parts collection money shot before parts start going into the engine this weekend.

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check that clutch PP before install....make sure the tangs are all uniform.

Thanks, I'll definitely check. Is that a thing with FM clutches?

Is that an FM stage 1 or 2 clutch? My stage one is slipping after 4k miles with 255whp. Wishing I had gone stage 2.

I went with the level 2 and the 10.3 lightweight flywheel. I say "went with" loosely since I found it on Craigslist and the guy had never installed it.

Nice! You should be fine then.

One cylinder head bowl clean, three more to go.

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I realize that this is just cosmetic and it will get filthy again in 200 miles but it's just the way I do things. I'll be lapping the valves and a simple/basic port and polish so that will be where there should be some minimal gains made. If I don't screw it up.

Did you get your block and crank cleaned by a machine shop, or are you just sending it? If the latter, go to Autozone and rent a Cylinder Ridge Reamer - you use it to clear all the carbon at the top of the cylinders so you don't mess up your new rings and pistons.

And welcome to the Exocet family! (I have chassis #160)

Thanks. That's a good call. I was just going to clean everything up really good and go. I didn't even know about a ridge reamer. I'm pretty new to engine building so it's these tips that really help.

How do you like your Exocet? I'm getting nervous because I've seen a bunch for sale lately. I don't get it.

I finished cleaning the remaining combustion chambers and also cleaning out the ports. There's a ton of casting flash that needs removed to help this thing flow better.

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I also found some time to work on removing the front of my valve cover. I have some purty adjustable cam gears that need to be seen. I think it came out okay. Now the cover, intake manifold and brake calipers can go out to powdercoating.

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RIP to my 15 year old Dremel. It finally gave up the ghost right in the middle of cutting the cover. Luckily I had a spare.

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