GRM Exclusive Reveal: Exocet Spec-A

We got the pieces for the front subframe jig in at the end of the day today! It's not welded yet, I just tapped it all together with a rubber mallet (it's all slotted and tabbed). Super rigid and precise, and it only weighs 24 lbs. We will use this to hold the front of the car together during welding. We had been using a Miata subframe, which didn't allow for the precision we wanted.

Forgive the terrible photo, the focus mechanism in my cell phone has failed.

It fits on the car like this:

It was pretty hard to figure out, actually. It has to hold 12 points of constraint in 5 degrees of freedom (four points have 6), allow for full weld access, and also remain snag-resistant for the weld lead. On top of that it needs to be very rigid, self-aligning, resistant to warping during its own assembly, and light enough to be installed by hand, assisted by built-in handles placed with respect to the CG. Very happy to see it all fit together nicely. I'll bring a better camera on Monday to show the fit of all the joints.

Love the amount of engineering that is just for chassis assembly. I will own a exocet one day.

UPS lost my race chassis!!! Somehow the "paperwork" for it made it to KC but the chassis was not attached. I called UPS today and am trying to find out what happened. They turned my matter over to a "location specialist" to check both docks (Atlanta and KC). I'll update when I find out. When they asked how big it was I said about 14' long x 6' wide x 4' tall and 480 lbs (there was a long moment of silence). I'm getting 45-50 degrees on Thursday this week and I was going to paint the chassis then but if its not here then I'm behind for its first race in March.

jjkarns wrote: When they asked how big it was I said about 14' long x 6' wide x 4' tall and 480 lbs (there was a long moment of silence).

Hahaha wow, I've seen some crazy shipping screwups but this would take the cake.

If it makes you feel any better I've heard of crates the size of an original Mini being "lost." One sat in a corner of a warehouse for a year.

GameboyRMH wrote: One sat in a corner of a warehouse for a year.

WRONG THING TO SAY!

Warren v wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: One sat in a corner of a warehouse for a year.

WRONG THING TO SAY!

They are looking for it with top men.

Raiders of the lost Exocet!

I've been blogging my build for the NASA ST3 Exocet. Big credit to Kevin and Warren at Exomotive for their great help and responses. They are working round the clock on these chassis and around the elements. Big credit also to Keith Tanner at Flyin' Miata for helping me get the parts I need. My plans are get the car up and running with a stock 1.6 liter putting me at 130whp (where I can run 175 whp but am building a '99 motor with a light pressure turbo it).

I hear-tell rumors that the car has been found. Whew.

Warren v wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: One sat in a corner of a warehouse for a year.

WRONG THING TO SAY!

Ooooh...right...forgot...

Warren v wrote: I'll bring a better camera on Monday to show the fit of all the joints.

I can confirm that the car is found (by me)! However I learned a very valuable lesson when picking up your trailer at the storage place after getting 1' of snow. They plow the aisles but then leave nice 2-3' drifts in front of your trailer (mental note - add a folding shovel to tow kit). When 0 degrees out everything stops working like your locks which you are bashing with a hammer to unfreeze (mental note - add a bottle of lock deicer in tow kit). When you have a brand new trailer with no options it does not have tie downs inside and the chassis comes on rollers for ease of movement (mental note - put in e-track on floors and walls) - and pat myself on the back as I can lift a corner and wedge blocks of wood in to secure it down. Now with potentially 40-50 degree weather this coming weekend I'll have it painted and hopefully dry.

This ice storms have brought many donors to the Atlanta area.

This guy was picked up today for $800. It drives quite nicely, and it has a Torsen. Looks like our co-op will have an Exocet of his own once we get caught up on frames. He's already joked about dropping one "accidentally"...

Any update on the bodywork?

The ice storms have made things round here, um, interesting, but bodywork is moving along. We should be getting the rest of the steel skeletons this week and the laser-cut LitePly panels early next week. The bucks should fly together pretty quickly. Just for fun, here's an inside look at the process:

It is horrible.... I have not received my kit yet, my doner is waiting with 90% of the extras gone & I am far from finished. I have already started gathering parts for my "next build". Is it just me? Am I crazy? Am I the only one?

Even with the city shut down for a good portion of two workweeks, we're still shipping cars, and quality is continuously increasing. This particular steel-floored Sport (picture taken today) is the first to use the new front subframe jig.

When we released the 2014 bodywork design, we offered the upgrade at no charge to everyone on the waiting list. Due to the bodywork development timeline, a good portion of those customers will be receiving their bodywork in a separate shipment after their kit is delivered. Until then, their kits are being sent out as soon as the frames come back from the powdercoaters. Bodywork is the last step of an Exocet build.

We're hoping to move into our final shop by the end of this week. We can't wait to get everything all set up and streamlined.

Mind if I ask what program you are using for drafting the body panels?

Solidworks. Jack of all engineering trades, and it's reasonably affordable (not 5 figs).

I dunno, I keep hearing that these are "lego cars" so logically, you should be using Lego Digital Designer for CAD, right? http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/

I thought that was solidworks, but maybe pro-e. Nice work!

Great work Warren! Not used at standards that high from kit car builders, you are really taking it to the next level; if I were in US, you would definitely have my money! We use a similar method to your "skeleton" to build moulds for our FSAE team; actually we had built two monocoque moulds that way, and I have to admit it works great!

On a side note, have you thought of replacing the bottom part of the chassis with sandwich panels instead of tubes? Aluminum skinned/honeycomb or foam core panels could be used, bent, cut and bonded/riveted in place to create a folded "tub" which could accommodate seating etc. while shaving off some more weight.

Well, we weren't planning on buying a truck today, but a really good deal popped up on the List of Craig, so we jumped. Uncle Touchy's Wild Ride (our re-purposed ex-Uhaul) has a new friend today:

Exomotive now has a well-maintained 7.3L. Any of you guys know where Ford put the "Roll Coal" button? We can't find it.

Warren v wrote: Uncle Touchy's Wild Ride (our re-purposed ex-Uhaul) has a new friend today: Exomotive now has a well-maintained 7.3L. Any of you guys know where Ford put the "Roll Coal" button? We can't find it.

I think that button can be found by forcefully inserting one's head into their own rectum and breathing out quite hard.

Seriously though, nice tow rig score.

Hey, they ARE from Atlanta. Some things can't be denied.

Anyone know how I could obtain insurance in Ontario/Canada for and Exocet? Other than "facility" insurance (gov't mandated insurer or last resort) I've had no luck finding a potential insurer. The facility cost is a bit on the cost prohibitive side.