Oops. I spelled your screen name with an i.

No biggie. I wished I picked a cooler screen name anyway. Mine is boring, it's just my first three and three, GARy MANdile.

It's much more important that it's distinct and recognizable, and yours is. Too many here are a year and the word Miata and they all blend together. Or letter/number combos that mean nothing to the rest of us.

Don't forget about that set of oil squirter plugs. The last set has your name on them.

I'm not going anywhere and I don't think you are either. We'll catch up soon.

Darn it. Can't believe that I was in Tampa until May, and I missed the thread and your assembly!

I just drove an Exocet here in Boulder, oh was that a blast, and it wasn't even turbo yet!

COngrats on the great work, I'll PM you when I'm back in Tampa to see it in person.

There wasn't much to see back in May besides parts crammed in every corner of my garage. Next time you're around I should have something better to look at. Good ol' Colorado. I lived in Aurora for a couple years out of high school. LOVED IT. I miss skiing for sure. Don't miss the cold weather though. I'm right where I need to be in Tampa. Look me up when you're in town.

It didn't happened overnight... But trail running and mountain biking in the winter sure help to get used to it. Which was your skiing place? Mary Jane is my fave along with Copper Mountain. When Steamboat Springs gets a lot of snow, is boss, but when they get average snowfall, is awful!

For sure, I'll PM you when I'm back in the 813!

Arapahoe Basin was my normal hangout. Loved it there. The Pallavacini Run is brutal but a blast.

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.

I'm sure there have been many write ups on how to make a double flare with a cheapo flare kit but here's my experience:

Start by making sure there is a nice chamfered edge on the outside and inside of the tube
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I took the jaws out of my vise for the clamping tool to rest nice and tight in the jaws
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Insert the correct flaring tool into the tube
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Screw the anvil holder onto the clamp until it is snug. No need to over tighten this at all.
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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.
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Remove the flaring tool and you'll end up with a nice bubble flare something like this
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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
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There will be some clamp marks around the tube but it's not a problem
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Every flare has been consistent and centered for me and it's a relatively easy process.
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Hope this helps anybody considering doing this yourself.

For 15x10's, exomotive now sells wheels with the proper offsets so no spacers are needed.

Exomotive - US Manufacturer of Exocars & Kit Cars | Japan Racing JR19 Wheels

Any plans on going turbo? I have an exocet 1.8 FMII turbo setup with low miles (~4k) I'll be parting with soon since I'm going LFX. Has a custom enthuzacar exhaust as well. Put down 250+ to the wheels and it is nuts. Hit me up if you are interested. Would like to see the setup go to another exocet since some of the parts are exocet specific.

Edit: nvm, saw you already had the turbo parts.

months and months of waiting and you return with a post about how to make a pipe?>

gtfo....give us what we want!

HAHAHAHA!

Nothing really new except some new shoes.

I have a new set of 15x9 0 offset MST MT11's on 225/45 Hankook RS3's
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and a almost new set of 15x8 +25 offset Konig Dial In's on another set of 225/45 RS3's
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I think I like the Konigs better but I have to run a 25mm spacer in the rear because Exocet.

This weekend I got most of the intake back together and bolted on. Fuel lines are ran. I'm waiting on an EGR gasket to come in the mail along with some vacuum lines. Alternator and starter also hooked up. I purchased a coolant reroute from Curly so I'm hoping that gets here soon. Brake lines ordered from HEL were made wrong and needed to be remade. They should be shipping tomorrow. I've got the engine wiring harness almost completely wired in and the main harness ready to go in this weekend. I'm seriously hoping to turn the key by this Sunday but it'll probably be the following weekend. So close......

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

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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.

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

25mm seems excessive. 949 has the Exocet 15x8 at +23mm, what am I missing?

I've got about .750" gap between the tire and my frame without the spacer. I'm contemplating running without the spacer as long as tire deflection doesn't rub the frame. I don't need a spacer that big but it's what I have laying around.

Spacer:

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Without spacer:

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With spacer:

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Thanks for clarifying and providing pics. Good to know a small spacer, 5mm, is probably more than enough to add some wiggle room.

Finished up my coolant reroute using the SKOU reroute block I picked up from Curly.

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I drilled two 1/8" holes in the thermostat to keep coolant flowing over the top since I blocked off the feed line on my "mixing bowl".

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I found a tip from other Exocet owners that you can tap the port with a 3/4" NPT and then block it off. I'll be blocking off for now but I'll use it later for my turbo coolant line.

i love the 3/4" tap idea!

i ende dup doing something so horrible i am embarrased to share what i did, but it works...and i actually needed that hole to flow some water....

we'll see if it lasts

Yeah, i'm glad I found that trick. I went ahead and added an AN fitting now so I don't have to mess with it later.

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My Exocet will be up and running this weekend, we should get together soon

Hell yeah. I'm turning the key on mine for the first time on Saturday. Not sure how long after that it will take to get it on the road though.

i hate that this board doens't auto-rezise pictures.....can't watch this on my phone

I dropped off the donor and frame 3 weeks ago. I'm working on being able to drive it home next week

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.

Even though I didn't get the engine running I did get the drivers seat mounted. Three bolts go directly into the frame and I used a bar of A2 tool steel for the cross member for the fourth bolt. It keeps the seat nice and low with the side mount so I can pass the broom stick test for racing. I'm using sliders because my wife really wants to attempt to drive the thing when it's done. We'll see.

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The Crank sensor came in last night and didn't do a damn thing to help with my issue. I've read that the CEL should be lit when I turn the key but it's out. Main relay bad? I hooked up my MSPNP and still no CEL so I'm assuming my ECU is not the reason for the CEL light to be unlit. I'm picking up a new main relay today to test.

Shit just got real....

Congrats! Gorgeous exocet!

That's so great, Gary! Congrats on the milestone. I can't wait to go for a ride along one day.

Maybe you will let me ride along at a track event one day.

For sure. I’ll let you drive the damn thing.

I’m trying to button up the brakes and get the wiring situated so I can do the break in of the motor. First drive might be tomorrow.

It’s been almost a year since I started this project. I really feel like I might get this on the road soon.

Ive only started it twice. And it sounds great. No stumbling or anything. Settled into a nice idle. I was too excited to check the rpms.

The shitty (but pretty) Chinese cam gears were my problem. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I wasn’t getting spark. Finally, I decided to check timing. Everything looked good but I decided to go ahead and put the OEM gears back on just to be sure. Sure as shit, fired right up.

Ive got about 7 other fail videos that are pretty depressing. My wife was getting sick of coming out to the garage to video everytime I wanted to try something new.

I’m literally on cloud nine. I was worried about my rebuild of the engine but initial signs are good. Once I get it up to speed and accel and decel without any issues I can really celebrate.

Mmmm, Chinese cam gears. How many hours did they cost you between machining, figuring for machining, attempting to start, troubleshooting, and replacing with the stock gears? Let others beware.

I really feel bad for you for all the extra effort you have put in.

Yeah, that set me back by at least a week and a half. Plus, I had family in town for the Super Bowl and wanted them to witness the first start. Bummer.

I was in Ohio for a small (and very cold) vacation last weekend so no progress but I'll have some time this weekend to get back to work. I need to check my valve clearances because I have an annoying valve tick that needs resolved. Seems like it is coming from the rear of the engine. See video. I should have done it when it was out of the car but I just replaced the springs and seals, ported the head, lapped the valves and ran it. Apparently, it's better to check the valve clearances after bolting the head to the block anyway so more lessons learned.

So valve clearances are perfectly fine. The weird ticking sound came from the open EGR port on my exhaust manifold that I did not plug prior to starting it up. It's running like a top.

Took my son as my copilot to record my first drive. A screaming 10 mph around my cul-de-sac.

You Tube

are you running stock ECU or aftermarket...?

Stock ECU right now but I have a MS2PNP that I want to play with before I install the turbo.

install turbo then play with the MS...why make it so hard.
also, install the MSPNP and remove EGR.

I've heard it's a good idea to get used to tuning MS without the turbo if possible. I have no idea what I'm doing with the MS so I need to read up.

you can still do the learning, you can still blow the engine even wihtout a turbo...
i say cut to the chase, boost it and learn to tune...watch videos, read read read...and practice...i've been using MS for 5 years and feel conformtable tuning with it...never was i scared.

i don't mean to tell you what to do...it just seems silly to me if you are building from teh ground up to do things twice.
that advise is good for smeone with a running NA stock to learn...

Megasquirt then turbo is the right way.

i won't argue you.
i could be wrong.

Got the taillights installed this weekend.

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I also got a chance to break in the motor. Man, this thing is fun to drive. I should be street legal with tags by sometime next week.

Those are crazy looking tail lights, man! Where did you find those?

I searched Google and Amazon for days. Finally settled in on these.

Very nice lights. Any chance they are DOT legal?

Looking good!

DOT molded/stamped on the lenses. I’m assuming that’s enough to get me through inspection.

you live in Florida...what inspection?

In order to register the car it has to pass inspection by the state. Some people just slap the VIN from the donor Miata on it and run it but these attract a lot of attention from the police and I don't want to deal with their bullshit if/when I get pulled over. It's better for me just to play by the rules (pay the taxes) and get it inspected as a kit car than risk it being impounded by some overzealous cop that wants to be a prick.

It's pretty painless from what I hear. This guy just had his registered last week about a half hour away from me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLzt...Qq8JXfQWomVfeA

ahhhh fuck...yea, that makes total sense.

Over the weekend I noticed a very small amount of coolant that had collected inside the fins of my Koyo radiator. In the middle of the radiator on the left. Not enough to leave a puddle on the floor but enough that I saw it when working on my nose cone. I decided to run the car for a while tonight to see what's going on and sure enough it's leaking. Looks like a core leak. Dammit. Got it off Craigslist from a guy that races a couple spec racing Miatas around the south circuit. Bad luck maybe. I'd hate to think that he sold me junk on purpose. I've got a new Ebay radiator sitting on the shelf but that would require a teardown with new mounts fabricated and new fans because it's thicker than the Koyo. I'm trying to get this thing registered this week. Should I just bite the bullet and replace the damn thing or try some stopleak solution to get me through inspection? Brand new rebuilt engine so I'm hesitant to add anything to it's pristine innards. Not sure if there's a rebuild or repair option on these things either.

Stop leak screws up everything so don't.

It likely won't be a problem for inspection. You will need to fix it eventually so figure out what you want to do

ixnay on the stopleak.

Remove and carry it to a radiator shop to be repaired. That's what those shops do.

So, I found a deal on a new one and I went ahead and pulled the trigger. It won't be here until next week sometime.

I should find out today when I need to show up for inspection. Either way, the leak is so slow it shouldn't :x: prevent me from getting to the DMV and then replace the radiator when it shows up.

As expected, Tampa DMV can't figure out how to register a Kit Car even though one breezed through the county below me.. They apparently need more time to "research" the kit and replica verbiage. I'm patient, though, and will see where this goes. As luck would have it, the normal guy who does this is out sick. I told them I will wait until he gets back but they seem to want to do this on the fly so maybe i can do this as a Lotus replica and skip inspection. Doubtful though.

I have an appointment set up for Tuesday this week for inspection. I finally got through to the right guy. He says it will be easy so that's a relief.

My wiring tray is a disaster but when it's covered up no one is the wiser. I still need to mount the two outside panels but you get the idea. Eventually, I'll tackle the harness but right now I just want to drive it!

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