I like those wing mounts enough to consider trying to use them on something else. 
I like those wing mounts enough to consider trying to use them on something else.
Keith Tanner wrote: There was just a noise in our shop that sounded like a supercharged V8, but it came out of something that looked like an Exocet. Weird.
berkeley you, Tanner. You berkeleying tease. 
Keith Tanner wrote: Looks like SFI padding. Which explains the velcro straps holding it on.
Oh, duh, thanks. The way it reflects the light on the photo, I thought it was metal. Padding makes more sense. I had seen people padding the upper part of exos before, but never those lower diagonal tubes.
NOHOME wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: There was just a noise in our shop that sounded like a supercharged V8, but it came out of something that looked like an Exocet. Weird.You can't just say E36 M3 like that and then walk away!
I have video, but really the first noise (with a complete exhaust system) is always a bit anti-climatic unless you set something on fire. We didn't set anything on fire. So it's just video of an idling engine with a bunch of guys looking for leaks and monitoring gauges.
I can tell you that the LSA acts and sounds like a stock OE engine. Which it is. It just purrs. You can hear the injectors clicking. It doesn't shake the whole car or sound like it's about ready to ingest a Kia or go rump rump rump and spit raw gasoline out the tailpipe. I'd call it a sleeper if it wasn't installed in bunch of scaffolding with wheels stuck on it.
Now, it'll be out and running around Thursday or Friday and will hit the track Saturday for shakedown. And then ihmcguinness will likely not be able to form complete sentences.
I need to go to jelly school.
Because I'm jelly as hell.
Is the frame even painted? It looks bare unless it has been clear coated, which is actually pretty cool.
It certainly has a 'raw' look to go with that "RARRR!'
Why is it that the guys with money finish my ideas before me? This is a great build and I wish you all the best of luck with it! {Yes I am going to steal ideas from this build...just sayin}
In reply to Meierznutz:
No problem. Come on up to Boston and see it sometime!
I really dig those seats. What model are they?
In reply to HAZZARD:
The best way to do a custom build is to get everything mocked up, weld on extra tabs and mount points, and then break it down and have it powdercoated. At least that's what I learned from OCC. 
In reply to Meierznutz:
Can't escape the project triangle. Well, you can if you can build stuff with frikkin' laser beams.
Keith Tanner wrote: I'd call it a sleeper if it wasn't installed in bunch of scaffolding with wheels stuck on it.
quote of the century...
I'd like to point out that the photo is a few days old. It wasn't in running condition at that point.
As noted, the frame isn't painted yet. Since this is one of the first V8 Exocets to be built with reproduction in mind (and possibly the first US-sourced frame to get a V8), we knew we'd have to make some modifications. Fewer than we'd originally expected, actually, but we still had to do some work with the transmission mount, the top of the trans tunnel, etc to make things work the way we wanted. That radiator mount in front of the nose is also welded on, as are a bunch of other anchors, brackets and mounting points.
Once it's up and running and we know where everything goes, we'll tear it down, powdercoat and do the final assembly.
Seats are Tilletts. Gorgeous.
Keith,
You mentioned before that radiator mount points changed on the latest frames. Are you refactoring your brackets?
On this car, we needed to move the radiator in front of the frame because of the size of the engine. On a four cylinder (and possibly a naturally aspirated V8), I'd put the radiator in the other location behind the tubes.
Exomotive did make our lives a bit more difficult by moving a gusset on the front of the frame, and that will require a rework of the brackets.
Keith Tanner wrote: I'd like to point out that the photo is a few days old. It wasn't in running condition at that point. As noted, the frame isn't painted yet. Since this is one of the first V8 Exocets to be built with reproduction in mind (and possibly the first US-sourced frame to get a V8), we knew we'd have to make some modifications. Fewer than we'd originally expected, actually, but we still had to do some work with the transmission mount, the top of the trans tunnel, etc to make things work the way we wanted. That radiator mount in front of the nose is also welded on, as are a bunch of other anchors, brackets and mounting points.
Frame modifications...got it.
At the same time, I can't believe that you basically have to break everything down, powder coat, and then reassemble everything all over again!! That's got to be a helluva labor bill!
What will be interesting to see is how long it takes you all to start the tear down and reassembly process once you all have the car up and running for ahem shakedown testing at the track. I can see somebody saying 'do we have to tear it down now?...it's just too much fun with it running that I don't know if I can let go of it just yet!!'
Doesn't work like that around here with customer cars 
We're on a schedule.
If I use a '99 as donor, keep it NA and put some sticky track day tires on the car, roughly what kind of 0-60 and 0-100 times should I expect?
What's typical weight distribution % F/R for a 1.8 car?
0-60 is going to be affected by driver, surface, and a thousand other variables. A better guage would be to compare similar power to weight vehicles: www.tinyurl.com/power2weight
With a '99 motor, you're talking somewhere around 135, STi, G37, s2k. Power-to-weight gives way to power-to-drag gradually, so expect acceleration to trail off compared to the heavier cars past 80mph
Distributions tend to be around 53%F on n/a 1.8s with a driver, 52% with a driver/passenger. Same as a Mazdaspeed Miata.
HAZZARD wrote: ...At the same time, I can't believe that you basically have to break everything down, powder coat, and then reassemble everything all over again!!
That's how it's done, to be done right. For production, things are done in a different order so it isn't an issue.
Warren v wrote: www.tinyurl.com/power2weight
Nice spreadsheet. Illustrates how more Exo hp = more fun :)
Darn your spreadsheet, Warren! You are messing with my plans of starting with a stock 1.6 and growing it over time to something more sinister
First test drive of the XXXocet today. I believe it has some potential.
1890 lbs with 10 gallons of gas and no bodywork. That's 100 lbs lighter than my CRX
Rear tire clearance continues to be an issue. We're going to have to go well into negative offset territory.
Keith, what are you running and where are they hitting? Very interested in knowing if I should sell off the 15x8 +15's I have....
Keith Tanner wrote: Seats are Tilletts. Gorgeous.
Yeah...that seat is cute and all, but I suspect it wont meet the basic requirements for this application. I was thinking this might be a better spec.
You'll need to log in to post.
