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I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exocet? - Printable Version

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I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exocet? - BLINGMW - 01-17-2016

I have a lightly crashed Miata sitting in my front yard that is in decent mechanical condition (so I'm told unless Taylor is a big fat liar).
[Image: IMG_2016-01-09_12-21-46_zpsfaecxiw8.jpeg]

An Exocet kit costs ~$8K. So that's a good reference point, but let's just call that "too expensive".
[Image: thi3Paj.jpg]

Is there any way I could turn this Miata into a poorly executed Exocet for say, $1K? Just keep the suspension and drivetrain mount points, do some light modeling, have some current students apply some math I forgot, start cutting and welding some DOM tubing to replace most of the "car", add some aluminum seats and enter it in GRM's 2016 challenge? I'll ask, but their rules that allow "Any four-wheeled, production-based vehicle that was originally sold as a passenger vehicle" don't scream "NO" to me.
If this has already been attempted / done, point me in the right direction. I promise to never attempt a track day or crapcan race with such a poorly designed and built vehicle, it only needs to survive autocrosses and a drag pass and then I'll slap some farm use tags on it. Bonus points for it somehow having more power and/or that I can semi-legally drive to the event with my goggles and leather aviator helmet on. Maybe that's the 2017 version. :dunno:

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - Senor_Taylor - 01-17-2016

BLINGMW Wrote:I have a lightly crashed Miata sitting in my front yard that is in decent mechanical condition (so I'm told unless Taylor is a big fat liar)

I really hope I'm not.

I'm excited to see this develop and I'd love to lend a hand over the summer!


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Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - SlimKlim - 01-17-2016

I have no suggestions but I whole heartedly support this idea.

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - Jake - 01-17-2016

Yeah, same here.

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - rherold9 - 01-17-2016

[youtube]ZXsQAXx_ao0[/youtube]

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Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - ispoonwithmugen - 01-17-2016

Should you need them I have some seat mounts for a miata I'll sell fo cheap! (I'm assuming you're going to non stock seats)

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - *insertusernamehere* - 01-17-2016

Oooohhh much excite, will help. What math do I need to do?

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - PDenbigh - 01-18-2016

I'm out of research energy but I'll help build it if it's 67.4% researched. Obviously Kaan can weld like a pro, and I'm not a bad welder with decent equipment. I do not have a tube bender.

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - CaptainHenreh - 01-19-2016

I guarantee this is 1100 times more work than you have anticipated and has about 0% chance of being completed.

However,

Lotus 7 replicas with Miata donors are as "common" as such a thing can be. I even had a book on how to build them once, until I loaned it to a guy who actually did it.

Exocet frames are kind of complicated, and as Pete noted, nobody is going to have a mandrel tubing bender, and certainly not for the tube size you will need. A "Locost 7" will use square tubing and be much more well documented:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.locostusa.com/">http://www.locostusa.com/</a><!-- m -->

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - D_Eclipse9916 - 01-19-2016

^^^^ Yup.

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - BLINGMW - 01-19-2016

Good points on the Locost. I will look into that approach, especially given that they've allowed Locosts in the past at GRM. What book did you have (I see two mentioned on the locost page) and was it any good?

[Image: img_3190.jpg]

Re: I have done 0 research yet, could we make a homebrew Exo - CaptainHenreh - 01-19-2016

BLINGMW Wrote:What book did you have (I see two mentioned on the locost page) and was it any good?

This was a LONG time ago. It seemed decent, and the plans gave a good comprehension of what had to be done to make the car.

However, being from the UK, it had a lot of information that wasn't really viable, like pulling axles from Cortinas and stuff. Still, it was a good primer, and at the time there were a few geocities (lolololol) sites with good CAD drawings for other donors.