Hey. Been reading this board for a few months. Picking up a lot of new information.

I'v been a hot rodder for a few decades. Started with a 1970 Torino Cobra in 1976. It's been down hill ever since.

About 11 years ago, I built this car

Street cruising:




Race Track:



Dyno Sheet from spring, 2013:


Engine bay, street trim:


Since that picture was taken, I dumped the distributor for a computer controlled coil pack.


When I built the car, I had never raced before, and had no intention of racing at all. Then I went to an open track day near my home town. Uh, Oh. I'v been hooked ever since.

I'v been beating it up on the race track for the last 8 years. I race NASA Rocky Mountain, TTR/TTU - the unlimited Time Trials class. It's been a boat load of fun, and the car has performed very well. We have been the regional champions for the last 4 years. I'm also an HPDE driving instructor.

The car has been under a constant state of development these last 11 years. I don't think it will ever be "done". Every year, I come up with some mod that will make it just a little bit faster.

But, the car is getting a bit long in the tooth. Seems like I have to fix something every time I go out. We're to the point where we need to strip it down and rebuild it, or build something new.

The Cobra has been a great car, and I won't sell it. It's been my dream car since I was 10 years old. But, it's about as fast as it's going to get, and still be a street car. So we decided to look around for something new. Then we can retire the Cobra to street duty only.

The Factory Five 818 looks pretty good. Nice body, excellent frame, reasonable price. But the cost of building a racing Subaru engine is just ridiculous. Repairs would eat me out of house and home. I needed something reliable, and (relatively) inexpensive.

It has to be faster than the Cobra, so that means a top speed of 150mph+. And it has to handle better, with improved aerodynamics. I'm certainly not a rich man, so it has to be affordable.

I came across this kit in Kit Car Builder Magazine: MEV Exocet | Exomotive – US Dealer of Exocars & Kit Cars



I was intrigued. The suspension is outstanding, using all Miata components. But, the Miata engine and transmission can be expensive to race in non-spec form. I want at least 400hp, with room for lots more, without spending cubic dollars.

The last paragraph of the article stated, "And, of course, there's room for an LS engine." Eureka! I found my new race car.

I'v been working with Keith Tanner at Flying' Miata, and he's pointing me in the right direction with parts selection. Where to save and where to spend money needs an expert. FM is building their own Exocet. It's the bright yellow frame on their web site. FM is the west coast dealer for Exocet, and they're only a few miles from my home.

This car will be street legal (barely), but it's going to be a purpose built track car. If it doesn't make the car go faster, it doesn't go on. I'll start with a used LS1 and T56. Freshen that up with a new cam, and should be able to hit 400 reliable hp without any trouble at all. Some used but updated suspension components, and the best spring/shock/bar/tire package that money can buy.

My previous racing experience will help some. But this is a different animal, and the technologies and knowledge don't always cross over. Especially comparing a Windsor Ford to an LS Chevy. I can make a SBF put out like a $10 *****, but I don't know a whole lot about the LS engines. But I'm learning fast!

This is just going to be a boat load of fun. I expect it will take me a year to get the car built. Parts flow depends on cash flow. In the mean time, I'll be reading here, and other boards looking for tid-bits of information.

 

welcome

 

Sweet car you've got there. Do you make it to Road America or any other Midwest tracks?

 

NASA-RM has a week end at Heartland Park and Road America this year. But my budget just doesn't allow it. We also a week end at Hastings this year. I'm going to try and go this one. We'll see how it goes.

 

Nice car! That kit looks similar to the atom, I like it.

 

Have you ordered the chassis yet? A few of us ordered ours on or around New Years. V8R is working with Exo to build a trans mount for us using the V8R kit that FM sells. FM is also working on a set of long tubes so hopefully these cars can breathe a bit finally.

 

I ordered mine in mid Dec. They originally said 12 weeks, so maybe in a couple of more weeks. Maybe I should contact Keith at FM and see if they have an ETA.

A ready made trans mount would be nice. That would save me the time of fabbing it myself. In the summer my time is at a real premium. Depends on how much they want for it though.

Same thing with the headers. I'm amazed at how much FM and BF are charging for shorty headers. I don't have a tuning bender, so making my own exhaust is going to be difficult. I'm considering some BBK shorty headers because the exit up fairly high on the block. I would really like to use side pipes, like on my Cobra. Not sure I can make that happen, though.

My goal is to get the car ready to race 12 months from today (give or take). The only hold up, really, will be cash flow.

 

Got a message from FM. Exocet is about a month behind, so maybe by mid-May. That's not a problem for me, I still have a lot of other stuff to do. To be honest, have the frame here now would just get in my way.

 

Well it looks like V8Roadster got with Kook and made a set of headers for us if the BBK's don't work out. If yours is mid May, I'll probably be looking at June/July. Will you be getting the old style body work or the redesign?

 

Wow. $1,100 for headers. +$300 for ceramic coating. I don't think I'll be buying this this year. I can modify a set of shorty headers for a whole lot less.

I think I'll be getting the new body work. Not too concerned about it, as I really can't see much of a difference.

 

I ordered this Exocet kit back in December. Supposed to be here in April, then June. Arrived in town last Friday, and I picked it up today.

Exomotive Exocet | Exomotive – US Dealer of Exocars & Kit Cars

They built a very nice palate for it. Even has 4 very nice wheels so it was easy to roll around the on the warehouse floor.



It was a pretty close fit on my trailer. We had to remove the back wheels to gain enough clearance. I might have to modify my trailer once the car is a roller.





Unloading was pretty simple. A buddy brought his truck over and we just pulled it out the back. When the palate was dragging on the ground, I just pulled the trailer out from under it.





Getting it into the garage was pretty easy. After removing all the small parts, we simply picked it up and carried it in. The frame only weighs about 200# or so.

Notice that there are no body panels. Unfortunately there's no parts list, either, so I can't do a proper inventory. When I get time I'll unwrap and count everything.

There's also no instruction book. It should be fairly straight forward, though. If I get stuck, I'll contact FM for help. They're building one now, and should be finished long before me.

I won't get time to do much of anything for a few weeks yet. But it looks like the first order of business will be to make a couple of small frame mods, like tow points. Then clean up and coat the frame so it doesn't corrode.

 

I bet that was originally my chassis. You're welcome!