Pulled the trigger on Exocet.

Hello! My first post. I ordered an Exomotive Exocet a couple weeks ago. I don't have much in the way of a plan yet. I want to use this for NASA HPDE and if all goes well beyond. It will see the rare occasional street use. I ordered the race chassis. In the way of options I haven't choose anything yet. Might pick their fender kit. Still deciding on what I want for a wing. I hope though this post I can discus and get advice on a subject I'm not very familiar with. I'm not worried about building the car itself. Just want to pick the right parts and plan for track use properly.

Powder-coat Color I have no idea but I'm going to have to pick something. Prismatic Powders has so many choices. I may go grey on the chassis. It would be easier to change it up down the road, by changing the color of the body panels and fenders.

Safety I'd like to pick the right safety gear. I don't have any experience with the track and safety equipment. So any heads up is greatly appreciated. I know I want a 6-point harness. The chassis comes with a single tab on the front seat mount bar. I've done some reading. I know its critical for the belt angles etc. If I'm not mistaken 6 points are suppose to be separated for the sub belt? Has anyone ever came up with anything thats semi adjustable for the sub belts? Where the seat has adjust-ability? Hans also. I suppose full containment seat is in order.

Right now I plan on a basic stock Miata engine build. Decent coilovers. At most some bolt ons and standalone. I think if I decided to upgrade I'll just skip the turbo setup and change to a NA LFX v6. I will be looking for a donor. Likely a 99-01. I'd like a 6 speed but don't plan on tying bunch of money on it. It would be better spent upgrading later I think.

I'm about 4 hours away from a lot of good tracks. The biggest being VIR and Road Atlanta.

I'm really excited about this, but trying not to rush things. Thanks for the help!

Welcome to GRM! Sounds like you're in for a fun build. I wouldn't add a wing right away–learn to drive the car without any aerodynamic aids, then add them to go faster.

Every adjustable race seat I've ever seen hasn't had any adjustment for the sub belt. The lap belts are what you want super tight, then the shoulder belts. If you build in enough adjustment with those, you should be fine as long as the mounting point for the sub belt doesn't go in front of you and it doesn't get crazy tight or crazy long.

Don't sleep on CMP for track fun as well. We'll be expecting a build thread.

I want an Exocet too. Please do a build thread.

Please do a build thread on this. I know that the LFX is way in the future, but it is a swap that I am quite interested in seeing happen. V8 roadsters assures me that it is possible to manage the LFX, but does not go into specifics.

google portabull lfx, he has a build thread on miataturbo.net that goes into his lfx build. I was very excited about that potential swap, but it's got some kinks still to be worked out.

I'd call Flyin Miata (or wait till Keith posts in this thread) and pick there brain on suspension. WIth it being so much lighter than stock I have no idea what an exocet needs for springs.

And do a build thread!

Local autocrossing friend bought one late last season, managed one event 2 hours away since ours was done. I'm looking forward to seeing it in action, and didn't realize how reasonably priced they were till I checked it out after his...

There are a couple of documented LFX swaps out there, Portabull's is the only one I know of that's up and running other than the V8R shop cars. Ryan at Goodwin Racing is doing an awesome build, but it's very much a track/race oriented build and beyond what most folks would do, and it's not yet running.

The knowledge base is still very small for the LFX, and we still don't know how the engine will hold up with track use. A wait and see plan, with getting the Exocet up and running on a BP is a good idea.

Looking forward to your build thread!

Welcome!

For power, a turbo BP is really the easy button. The big enemy of turbo use on track - heat - isn't a factor with the Exocet because it has such an open engine bay. The power/weight of a turbo Exocet is in a really good place. Plus it's a simple install so you can spend more time driving and less time working on a swap.

Use a 5 point harness instead of 6. Some seat bases (like the ones from Planted) have sub mounting points built into them, so the sub belt moves with the seat.

If you're thinking you'll change from 5-speed to 6-speed later, keep in mind that they require very different rear end ratios. It's probably cheaper to get the right one in there the first time.

We're going to be building another shop Exocet in a few months. It'll have an FM II turbo in it, but it's being built more for track use than the last one was.

Keith Tanner wrote: Use a 5 point harness instead of 6.

Why's this? I find a 6pt to be way more comfortable.

Because he only has one mounting point

I think 5 point is more comfortable, there's fewer bulky straps and more room for Keith. Also, most seats only have one cutout so they're all basically 5-point by the time you come in contact with them.

One other suggestion - get the frame bare. Build the car most of the way so you can weld on grounding points, brake line tabs (the frame comes with neither) and anything else. Then have it coated locally. You'll save a bunch of money on shipping and have a better end result. It doesn't add very much time at all.

As for the wing, I'm pretty sure they're mostly aesthetic on the Exocet. They're mounted in really dirty air.

Is it possible to have tabs put in for both 5 and 6 point? Would be three tabs. Maybe I should ask.

I planned on having it coated there as I will not be shipping it, I can pick it up. I asked a local coater about price. It was quite a bit more expensive, but they didn't have a lot to go on never having done one before. I hate to chance it and pay more. Plus I know that people seem pleased with whoever exomotive gets to coat them. I haven't seen any complaints anyway. I'm not sure what to do here.

Right now I'm trying to figure out where I can get the RAL grey color samples. I don't really need all the colors from a whole set.

I do hope to have a build thread but it won't be a quick build like some I see!

Cool build! Can I be your best friend?

Some thoughts...

If you're ever thinking of racing the car (or even running with some clubs that follow race-style tech inspection protocols) you might want to hold off on buying seats, harnesses, and nets until the very end of the build. They have expiry dates. If you buy them up front then take 2 years to complete your build, you'll end up wasting money.

Since you're going to be driving the car on the street, you'll definitely want fenders and a windscreen.

I'm fully in the "buy once, cry once" camp. If you plan to run a V6, a 6-speed trans, or whatever else...just bite the bullet and build it that way from the start. In the long run, it's cheaper and you'll be happier.

Keith Tanner wrote: We're going to be building another shop Exocet in a few months. It'll have an FM II turbo in it, but it's being built more for track use than the last one was.

Are you going to be doing a build thread? Would love to see one from the pros.

We'll document it on the FM site like most of our builds. I'll try to put together a build thread here as well. The donor is already turbocharged, so you'll miss out on that particular installation.

Get a sequential PAR box with a final drive that best suits your use, build the BP and throw mountains of boost upon thee!

I asked about local powder coating. Looks like the price will be about $4-500 higher.

Any thoughts on other option other than getting the bare frame. Any other practical ways for brake line tabs and grounding points? Also I'm picking it up so shipping cost isn't an issue.

I'm going to do my best to do a build thread.

Paint the frame instead of powdercoating.

You can use the rollerskate as your main ground, and I've seen some really sketchy solutions for brake line anchors. Like zipties. I would recommend using hard lines for the brakes instead of the all-flex Exomotive solution. Flex lines can still expand slightly, and brake lines should not have a spring rate.