Exocet Build Advice
 

So, I have decided to build an Exocet and I was just wondering if any of you old dirty goats have any good advice? I have already started gutting the donor and I have been watching videos but I want to make sure I keep everything that I need to keep. Also, act as though you are replying to someone who knows absolutely nothing about this or working on cars.... because i dont haha. First project ;)
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If you know nothing about working on cars and want to take this on as a journey to learn then that's great! Keep in mind that though there is a helpful community of owners / builders, there will be many long hours alone in your garage struggling to figure wiring / ect out yourself. More than a few have given up half way through and resold their project as at a loss.

If you prefer driving to wrenching and learning to build a car from the ground up isn't on your bucket lists, I would just sell your part out for cash and look into buying someone's finished project. I would also stay away from "almost running" projects if you have little experience.

GL !

Look for the Exocet build thread from Garman on this forum. He did it by himself in his garage and can tell you things none of the rest of us would know. His came out well.

Where are you located? I see a California tag.

@Garman

Yeah I am dreading the electrical aspect of the build but as far as building it and wrenching away, I'm not a stranger to that type of work. I fix helicopters and jets for a living so I should be good on that side but wires............ that's a scary subject. I have always bought race ready vehicles from litres bikes to the ZL1 and it's fun, but I want to challenge myself and put something together myself for a different kind of satisfaction and I really want to learn more about cars.

I am in Lemoore. It's about 40 minutes outside of Fresno.

The wiring is not so bad; there are complete chassis diagrams, by year, online, and you just focus on the section you need, like what wire hot's up the fuel pump, etc., find the color, and label it. I was not looking forward to doing it during my LFX swap last Winter, but during the months in advance of the build, I'd look up the various sub-sets of the harness, made a list of what circuits I needed to tap into, and which ones were going to be deleted, and it started to become easier to see. It same together and fired up without any issues. You'v already got the mechanic's methodical approach to tear down and re-build, so you'll pick it up fast, and have also been around lots of first rate wiring technique from your day job to know how to isolate, shrink wrap, etc. Press on!

Two things I wish I would have known before my build...

1) skip the miata engine and go straight to a honda k series or camaro LFX engine. Great swap kits are available for both.
2) screw using a donor car, way more work than it is worth. Just buy what you need used or new as you need very little off of a miata for either of the swaps mentioned above

So I'm glad you brought this up haha. I was wondering if I would eventually want more power and if I should just do this from the beginning! Definitely great advice thanks!

Just do it from the beginning and be done with it. Either of those engines will give you more power than you could ever want.

So say I did go that route, what would be the bare minimum I need to keep off the donor? I would think i could probably get rid of almost everything.

The only oem miata parts left on my car after the lfx swap are below and even then, most of this can be replaced with new or improved aftermarket items.

diff and axles (going away soon though)
rear subframe
gas tank
front control arms
steering rack and column
brake booster and master brake cylinder

Everything else was bought as a new upgraded aftermarket version or just removed.

If you dont mind me asking, how much did you invest in your build?

I think I could recreate my car for about $30k in parts with me doing all the fab and labor. Buy a decent tig welder and do all your own fabrication. It will save you thousands and you'll learn how to weld for free.

$10k - powder coated exocet chassis w/ delivery
$10k - drive train and everything engine related
$10k - everything else

Lucky for me I was a welder for six years on an aircraft carrier. TIG welding skills for days 😎

Well shit, then you have no excuse for not building a bad ass exocet with a crazy engine. :skid:

Your only decision from here should be k-series or LFX. Both are light weight and make way too much power for a 1500lb go-kart, making them perfect.

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Is this all you need TOMREV

If you're a jet mechanic then you're probably 10 steps infront of most garage builders. Can't wait to see what you build. Come join the community on FB.

So I'm debating on whether to buy a new complete wiring harness for piece of mind. Thoughts? I've found a couple damaged wires already and I feel like I can tear apart thing quicker if there are less concerns of saving it.

Not sure if you're already planning on it but when you build the exo/rollcage try to follow the typical FIA design, or something similar, with their rule book on bar placement/bends. I've seen a lot of exocet builds that look like a lot of fun but provide little to no protection.

I don't think you can buy a brand new harness from Mazda, but I have never checked. I can't think it would be cheap. For a new to you but used harness you are going to run into a ton of the same problems. At this point even the newest NB wiring harness is 15 years old. NA's much older then that. So any pulled harness out of a car very may well have issues.