GRM Exclusive Reveal: Exocet Spec-A

That looks like the diagram from the factory manual. If you want to be sure of the data, grab a manual.

Thanks for the measurements. I do realize the work that goes into your project is your hard earned IP.

I guess Keith is right that I need to get a manual. Too bad I gave away the one I had figuring I would never need it after I sold the car!

US Car #001 has been built and is at the powdercoaters! All the Miata parts fit perfectly, too! It's been a hell of a journey getting here; now it's time to start cranking these out and filling all our orders.

Our new welder (Al) is very good at this sort of thing, the chassis came off the clamps and stayed perfectly straight!

Before welding (just tacked):

CNC Push-Bent Rollbars. Literally the best way to bend tubes.

Can't wait to move into our new dedicated building. Our current space is very cramped.

Awesome Warren? Where is chassis 01 off to?

This is actually pretty exciting to watch. Good luck with everything Warren, this is pretty high on my list of projects I'm considering.

The0retical wrote: This is actually pretty exciting to watch. Good luck with everything Warren, this is pretty high on my list of projects I'm considering.

This.

My S2000 will hopefully be sold in the coming week or two. Then I pick up the Miata and place an order for one of these.

What's the current lead time? Wondering if I can get one of these completed before I turn 30...

Do it!

ProDarwin wrote:

The0retical wrote: This is actually pretty exciting to watch. Good luck with everything Warren, this is pretty high on my list of projects I'm considering.

This. My S2000 will hopefully be sold in the coming week or two. Then I pick up the Miata and place an order for one of these. What's the current lead time? Wondering if I can get one of these completed before I turn 30...

you only have 4 months if your profile info is correct. That would be a cool build to watch.

Jaynen wrote: Awesome Warren? Where is chassis 01 off to?

Carlisle Pennsylvania, to the Import and Kit Nationals next week. We've got a 3-wide booth in the manufacturer area. We'll be bringing this chassis, Kevin's XP-1 (the black car in all the pictures), and a customer will be bringing his bright orange turbo (~250whp) Exocet.

http://www.carlisleevents.com/events/import/

You know, I hadn't given a whole lot of thought to actually building one of these soon, but that might change. I hope the new launch goes smoothly!!

dculberson wrote: You know, I hadn't given a whole lot of thought to actually building one of these soon, but that might change. I hope the new launch goes smoothly!!

Thanks. I think most of the work is long behind us. It took us 7 months to go from a CAD model to getting the tubes in hand. Only took 3 days of work to get the first one put together and fitting a Miata. We're very confident about smooth sailing on the manufacturing side, our only big hurdle is getting our new building to happen.

Also, for the mothers out there, may I introduce the soft-riding ExoNoodle:

(Those main upper tubes aren't welded, just held in by the tab/slot system!)

Do you guys have any plans to sell rollers or turnkey cars?

In reply to nderwater:

Not directly, else we'd have to sell it as a new car. We have done a few "90% builds", and we have partnerships with a few other companies to do the labor. Racing Analytics in Atlanta has three builds going on for pure racecar Exocets. Flyin' Miata has published in a few spots that they plan to be a dealer and sell full street and track Exocet builds. They are getting our first "production" Exocet, actually. I'm calling the first three "prototypes". There is no substantial change in the final product, but there are many changes that will affect the build process. It's really just a few tab&slot tweaks, finalization of the pedalbox arrangment, and the addition of laser-etched part numbers to every tube.

I'm not sure we've promised to sell full street and track builds. Let's put one together first Kits and pallet donors, definitely.

Keith Tanner wrote: I'm not sure we've promised to sell full street and track builds. Let's put one together first Kits and pallet donors, definitely.

Ah, I was just going off the interview with Bill in Kit Car Builder. Things are moving along on our end now that we have figured out the tube supplier; we'll be building yours before we even build mine!

I believe that you are planning on bringing one to the UTCC. Will it have two seats? I will be workin the event, and want to bring my wife down for a test fit of this. Scratches my itch for a Locost, while not requiring me to get a long term garage in which to build it.

In reply to mistanfo:

We are indeed planning on bringing one to UTCC. It will have a hotshoe, it will hopefully have an FMII, and it will likely be a fully caged version (the "Race" trim level).

Speaking of cages, holy cow do they go in easy. I love this CNC laser-cut and bent stuff. Racecar building on "Novice" mode. (This picture is before we finished it, so pretend there are a-pillar gussets, roof gussets, a propshaft tunnel, and a few other goodies.)

And for anyone that is familiar with the UK-Exocet build process, check this out:

Got the pedal assemblies, master cylinders, booster, throttle cable, etc all sorted perfectly. No more BS with grinding off the bushings on the pedal assemblies and swapping them to the other side. No more worries about clearing the hood or not being able to hit the pedal stops. The parts need no modification or bending, they simply bolt in with ample travel and clearance. There's even enough room for a small dead pedal later on. The redesigned pedalbox alone saves a minimum of 2 hours of work. Bolt in and go, adjust the pushrods if you want to later. The entire pedalbox is 4mm DOMEX, which is 101 ksi strong stuff. The Miata firewall flexes quite a bit with brake and clutch application, so this should help a lot with pedal feel. I'm kinda excited, if you can't tell.

Totally oblivious, I strolled through the kit car building at Carlisle and happened upon these guys. I came away quite impressed. Building a 'kit' car has been a pipe dream for many years, but this thing is possibly the product that pushes me over into the Dark Side. The wheels are definitely turning. I was going to buy another vintage car, but now...hmmm.

Yep I spoke to Warren at Carlyle as well.

Now my accent is stuck in his head

Well, having touched it and sat in one, I'm going to say this is one fine piece of kit, and I like it a whole lot.

Especially when compared to a certain Lamborgini kit thingie that was down at the end of the building.

aussiesmg wrote: Yep I spoke to Warren at Carlyle as well. Now my accent is stuck in his head

Hah, the hat doesn't help things! Great to see you guys there and show off the new design. We've had a few other manufacturers come over and angrily tell us we need to double our prices. Just a heads up, I'm gunna bug out early in the morning to take Adam's orange car to Centralia for a little photo shoot and won't be at the show. Sunday is a ghost town at this show, so Kevin plans to break down the booth by noon so we can scamper off back to Atlanta.

Was stuck in MD all day yesterday, at work for the next 13 days (swapped shifts to be able to work the UTCC). Look forward to seeing you there! Hotshot is a good thing for that event.

I also spent a fair bit of time drooling over the kits Sat evening. Thanks for leaving everything uncovered. Definitely looks fun and affordable.

Ian F wrote: I also spent a fair bit of time drooling over the kits Sat evening. Thanks for leaving everything uncovered. Definitely looks fun and affordable.

Oh, so that explains the missing turbo. :p

The show was a whole lot of fun; it was great to meet you GRM folks. This post apparently has a lot of lurkers. Just for fun, here are some of the pre-processed shots I took this morning in Centralia, PA. They'll be replaced with final versions once I get back to my workstation with Lightroom. Most of these are multi-exposures, I'm going to ham up the HDR cheesiness. Until then, you guys are the first to see these. The orange car is owned by one of our Pennsylvania customers, and it has a BEGi kit with water/meth injection.

Here's old Route 61 in Centralia, which has bubbled and cracked up due to the heat underground. I stood in the crack waist-high. It's blocked off to cars, I was hoping to get the Exocet back in there. Amazing scenery.

And as another bonus, here's our trusty support/tow vehicle (I call it "Uncle Touchy's Wild Ride"):

Now I am thinking one of these with an FE-3 swap :)