V8 Exomotive Exocet

[YokotaS13]

So here is the plan.

1. Strip miata
2. install exocet chassis
3. go fast

Basically this is a direct replacement for thet miata body, onto all the running gear. You can see more info at the website HERE. It drops a third of the weight, with minimal fabrication making it one hell of a gocart. Couple that with my 300hp from the built(ish) 302 and it is a fucking trip. It isnt the norm build here, but still can be of entertainment for you guys. This whole build will take place over the next two-2.5 weeks. I am going to pick up the chassis Saturday, bring it back and do some modifications

the plans are for this weekend/monday:
modify the firewall to accept the larger bellhousing of the 302, and for ease of install, removal.
Fab up the floor pans; Normally they are riveted on aluminum, but i am using 16ga steel, and welding to the frame itself for rigidity and strength.
Weld in mounts for switch panel, get fuel lines, and buy some brake line

Next thursday i take the trip up to south carolina to do the actual build (i am in florida right now) saturday ill start the stripping of my miata (some of it is sold already, hopefuilly most of hte extra parts will be by that week) and plan to have the shell ready to be removed sunday afternoon and progress from there. Plan is to be totally done by the following weekend and get the roll cage built to tie into the frame itself instead of how the race version is bolted to parts.

anyways, less talking, more pictures.
Miata as it sits:

Miata front.jpg by Flsimages, on Flickr

miatafrontside.jpg by Flsimages, on Flickr

miata top down.jpg by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_1880.jpg by Flsimages, on Flickr

Then the conversion you see here:
(from a shoot i did last weekend)

IMG_2413 by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_2378 by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_2374 by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_2370 by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_2369 by Flsimages, on Flickr

www.exomotive.com/exocet

got the rear panels on, the tranny tunnel patch panel sucked to make.
pics from saturday AND tonight


IMG_2426 by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_2430 by Flsimages, on Flickr
welds are perfect, but im still relatively new to welding large amounts, so it is improving alot

IMG_2438 by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_2443 by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_2534 by Flsimages, on Flickr

IMG_2535 by Flsimages, on Flickr
flash makes it look a little worse than it looks on the backside

im at a stopping point. need to mock up the engine/tranny combo to build out the trans tunnel and then skin everything. I will be welding in everything except the top of the trans tunnel (going to make a frame from the same 1" bar that the frame itself is made out of) and then i will be bolting hte top in (with nutserts under) to facilitate about a 15 minute engine/tranny removal process.

[Drummerboy]

awesome build so far! Welds look great, but it's hard to mess up with a MIG.

[YokotaS13]

nah, its pretty easy. i have some ugly parts to prove it

[mixed_body]

I seen this on S|W im 244brick on there.. But i'm watching this closely

[David88vert]

I would love to have an Exocet.

[YokotaS13]

do it! they are relatively cheap

[David88vert]

All money goes to wife, kids, and house - keeps me from projects like this.

[YokotaS13]

then y on a car forum?
shouldnt you be on a have no fun with autos forum?

[Drummerboy]

then y on a car forum?
shouldnt you be on a have no fun with autos forum?

Yeah the guys over on domesticatedatlanta.com are a breed of their own.

[.blank cd]

I've been waiting to see someone do a v8 swap with one of these.

For the price of the shell, I don't know why I haven't done is yet. This is so cool!

[David88vert]

then y on a car forum?
shouldnt you be on a have no fun with autos forum?

I still have toys, and have had them since before most on here could even drive. I have cars still now, not just domestics.
I'll build more toys in the future, just not this year.

[David88vert]

Yeah the guys over on domesticatedatlanta.com are a breed of their own.

I've been on IA since close to the beginning, and was building imports before you got behind the wheel.

[YokotaS13]

:golf clap:

[David88vert]

YokotaS13, I'm pretty sure that you are familiar with the FF Type65. That's my long term goal for my Mustang. My next step is a new built bottom end, upgrade the fuel supply (again), and upgrade the supercharger. I'm staying with a 8.2 deck build, just need a forged Dart/FRPP block.

You should add a supercharger on your 302. A Si-trim could get you to 450-500rwhp with your stock block, without pushing it too much. That should have you beat most cars that you will find on the road.

[YokotaS13]

with 1550-1600 lbs. i will already beat most cars on the road except highly modified ones.
Ferarris wont be a problem from a roll (from a dig due to traction i wont obviously), Most corvettes with mild mods. etc .

I want to put a roots SC on it, but i want to stay Carbed as well, unless there is an easy way to do EFI with my harness. if i can make 350tq to the wheels, id be elated. but it needs to still spin to 7.5k like mine does. (Forged internals, balanced crank and rotating assy, stock compression, ported heads, titanium valve seats and retainers, oversized valves from a diff head, double valve springs, shaved heads, edelbrock cam, holly IM, edelbrock carb, 6al, street blaster coil, msd distro)

Im more worried about a good TQ curve than HP however. dont really care for the other way around. i still want to race this car. plan on a few time attack events next spring once everything is perfect

as for hte FF stuff. if you have the money go for it
i cant justify it. but this kit is cheap enough it is still stupid fun and simple for anyone to make

[David88vert]

Roots SC's tend to be too much too early on, making traction more difficult on light cars. They are also heavy with the heat. Centri's are a little slower on initial power delivery, and easier to cool the charge. Just a suggestion. You should talk to Bob at Kurgan Motorsports, up by Road Atlanta. He knows everythign there is about 302's.

I have a friend with a turbo Miata. Maybe he will do an Exocet.

[YokotaS13]

if i hadnt blown up my turbo engine i would have just done that. but the exocet wasnt available then.


And i want that hard initial tq. then i dont have to clutch kick haha.
When i drift, ill love it
when i track it. ill be on slicks anyways, so i dont really care, coupled with an aero package im working on (splitter, diffuser, and wing) should be able to maintain traction into and out of turns

[YokotaS13]

so 4 cans of rust prevention spray paint isnt enough. i need another 3 to finish - _ -

[YokotaS13]

prolly doing these wheels also



Luxury abstract Madors in a 16x9 step lip -20 or so offset

[David88vert]

Aren't those a little heavy for this project?

[YokotaS13]

not really. forged 3 piece wheels. be just as heavy as a set of works

[YokotaS13]

Ok. did some work today!

stripping the miata by Flsimages, on Flickr

aero! by Flsimages, on Flickr

stripping miata by Flsimages, on Flickr

Wiring harness is out. engine is disconnected and all that jazz. Just have to drain the transmission and coolant so i can pull the radiator and driveshaft. at that point, i can pull the body off so we are right on the plan to pull the body by sunday

also fitted some parts. Test fit the brake master, and fully fitted the clutch pedal and master cylinder (note, it is different than yours, i have mine powering a hydraulic conversion on a ford t-5 transmission)

fitment issue by Flsimages, on Flickr
dodgy fitment of clutch pedal. had to open all the holes up, including the main one (main one was due to diameter of the clutch master)

clutch master mounting by Flsimages, on Flickr

Clutch master mounting by Flsimages, on Flickr
still have to lop off the extra threads.

other than that, pretty mild day. most of it was spent running around getting some supplies, and unloading the trailer with tons of stuff, so i only did about 5 hours of work total id say. by lunchtime tomorrow the body should be off chassis

[YokotaS13]

So update.

busy busy day, wish i could have been there at the event today

Last Import-2 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-1 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-3 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-4 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-5 by Flsimages, on Flickr
Last Import-7 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-8 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-9 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-10 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-11 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-12 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-13 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-14 by Flsimages, on Flickr

[D3UC3S]

This is gonna be awesome!

[YokotaS13]

and a lil more work before i was done. stripped the subframe. found a bent LCA to knuckle bolt on both sides.

Last Import-0 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-1 by Flsimages, on Flickr
getting bushings pressed out tomorrow

Last Import-2 by Flsimages, on Flickr
and done

[YokotaS13]

got more stuffs done

subframe is totally stripped and going ot Powdercoater in the morning for a nice bright color.
Frame is now in the garage, and the engine/subframe are installed. trans mount is mocked up so i can build out the trans tunnel. getting some welding gas tomorrow, so life will be easier
Last Import-6 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-5 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-4 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-3 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-2 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-1 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-0 by Flsimages, on Flickr

[YokotaS13]

and more


Last Import-0 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-1 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-2 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Last Import-3 by Flsimages, on Flickr

[YokotaS13]

So, now that i had the pedals mounted, i could build a firewall around them

I also moved the gas and brake pedal over an inch each (cut and welded on a piece of 1/8th steel to space it over) which you will see tomorrow when i put it all back in.

anyways, today i reframed the firewall to how i wanted it. the bellhousing is much wider than i anticipated so it is going to be WAY tight hence the push over on the pedal. I also framed out a transmission tunnel since i dont want to just bend it. I want to be able to remove the top panel, and pull the engine that way so it can come out much faster. I pull my engine quite frequently to do head removals, to check pistons and other things since i run it at such high RPMs constantly (7500-8k) so ease of maintenance was very important.


Last Import-0 by Flsimages, on Flickr
More on this. You see the panel isnt quite "bent" like the rest. When i put in this patch panel, the bellhousing bolt is actually only a fraction of an inch from the panel as it sits now, so i wouldnt be able to facilitate a bend to be uniform.

Last Import-1 by Flsimages, on Flickr
inside shot showing how i reframed it
i apologize for the unground welds, and ugly stuff. i was letting my dad learn how to weld lol.

Last Import-2 by Flsimages, on Flickr
here you can see the trans tunnel i framed out. There will also be a panel bolted to the main cross bar, going to the tunnel (also mounted on bolt tabs) to hold the switches , circuit breakers and relays, (on the backside)
and here is what it looks like as i put her to bed

Last Import-3 by Flsimages, on Flickr

[D3UC3S]

coolest project i have seen in a while!

[dragoncelica]

It is cool and all but i dont like the design of that chassis, the miata looks way better, but please dont take it bad bro u r doing a awesome job and i do apresiate your work cuz it is superb.
Keep the good work and please make me eat my words and make it prety i know you can!

[chaseamundo]

Subscribed

[chaseamundo]

Are these street legal?

[YokotaS13]

100%
Go to Exomotive.com
Kevin is right in your backdoor in roswell where they are sold

[chaseamundo]

I wonder if you could buy them pre assembled. I'm really interested in these.

[YokotaS13]

He can build it. but its not going to be cheap.

a guy in ohio is selling his for 25k iirc.
you can build one under 10k

No pictures to post. However, the front passenger and rear brakelines have been bent and mounted via Pclips and nutserts. i trimmed my engine mounts to lower the engine 2 inches in the engine bay since i wont have this car as low as i used to and wont be breaking road reflectors. The front subframe is now reconnected and struts connected.

I am picking up my rear subframe from powdercoat (royal blue with flake overlay), hte new diff carrier is here, both new rear lower control arm bolts, and front brake lines (i tore mine from too much steering angle and stock mounting locations.

tomorrow i have to grab some bolts, posterboard and then its time to tackle the upper firewall, and ill start mounting/running wireharness, starter relay, fuel pressure regulator, etc etc

Read more: http://www.mevowners.proboards.com/i...#ixzz1vvsJRfjE

[Elbow]

I'm not an engineer but why would the tubes be above the square tubing at the front?



I'd just assume it would be stronger in the event of an impact mounted behind? Just curious, not sure if more is added down the road or what.

[YokotaS13]

can you point an arrow for me please? not sure im following and want to be sure that i answer correctly

[Elbow]

Yeah, sorry:

[mavisky]

Are you going to really keep that forward facing exhaust?

[YokotaS13]

Not 100% sure. I imagine it is so the radiator can be mounted correctly?
i really cant give a 100% answer on that one.
could be just deisgn of bodywork related also