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Complete Exige rebuild

20K views 118 replies 24 participants last post by  Partsfinder 
#1 ·
Car is finally here in New York. Took for a fun test drive today little scary with current condition of the car, but hit 80mph few times through the industrial complex. Now that I now everything is work ok, Engine performances was amazing, Transmission shifted well (even with bent shifter) actually think the bend took out some of the slop.

Disassembly will start this week. I’ll try to post as many photos as I can for those that are interested. Also I’m sure I’ll refer to this site for how to help and up grade ideas while car is apart. Differently thinking of hinged rear clam and all aluminum radiator at top of list.
 

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#4 ·
Surprisingly wheels seem inline. I did a few slow passes and tried little faster and hard on gas to test if it would act strangely. But could feel good responses, no dog tracking or loose rear car steady straight even with hard shifts. I did belt in just to be safe.
 
#8 ·
Finally a day I can work on the car. Seats out, right door off. Had to cut rocker off to remover left seat. Working on rear clam next.
 

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#12 ·
If you read my other posts I heard a clunking sound. Thought it was the frame separating during shifts. Well found source of the sound. Mount pulled off the transmission. Luckily I’ve welded worse. Easy fix once I get engine out.
 

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#14 ·
Had about 8 hours free today. Except for the 4 customers that came to pick up engines and body guy was there talking way to long about doing the repairs. Will give him the rear clam first. He is a professional boat repair shop, knows his fiberglass.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Hopefully by the end of this weekend motor will be out.

Wheels going out for powder coating tomorrow. Sorry guys I can’t stand black wheels on any car.

New set of R888R’s coming in along with many other nice new parts.
 

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#21 ·
Little more progress today. Surprisingly got a lot done between phone calls, body guy stopping over for money, and engine I had to load. Spent about 3 hours today.
 

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#23 ·
You haven't posted a photo of the "new" chassis yet, so I'm assuming you haven't got one yet. It seems significantly out of order to be buying tires, roof panel, painting wheels, etc. without having even seen the chassis... your enthusiasm is fun to watch, but my suggestion would be to prioritize your work. You've got a long, steep hill to climb there.
 
#24 ·
New chassis has been found, deposit paid and will get delivered mid April Owner of that chassis is installing new windshield and frame. He is also stripping off parts I don’t need, we will swap some parts (good for good) to save on labor time. ie dash, heater, rocker cover etc. Plan is once it arrives will get all body parts to paint shop including chassis so all can get sprayed Persian Blue. Then back to my shop to reassemble.
 

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#28 · (Edited)
Engine out !! Luckily I ordered racing mounts last week, 3 of the mounts were bent from impact. No other surprises?. Continued working till 3pm and was able to finish stripping rear of car. Front suspension and radiator to come out next week.
 

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#29 ·
Stopped by the body shop today. He’s making progress on rear clam. Also working on right door which got some seem splitting for the concussion Of the left side impact.
 

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#31 ·
Hopefully by the end of May. Nice weather is short in New York no time to waste. By time to chassis gets to me I should have all the parts for rebuild here. Plus the up grades I have planned. Also will clean and paint / powder coat may of the suspension parts make everything look nice. I’ll be welding transmission damage this week and installing the baffled oil pan.
 
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#32 ·
Having fun with this build. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a total ground up project ? since I have no new pictures of Exige thought I’d share my first build (62Falcon) and my race car build, Saturn S body on sport mod. The Yellow and Deep Purple Car is kind of inspiration for this build.
 

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#33 · (Edited)
Body guy has finish largest damage on rear clam and sprayed with gel coat. By the end of the week all body repairs will be done and hopefully in primer by the following week. Planning on picking up replacement chassis after Easter. Paint work will move quickly after that. Then the fun of reassembly <img src="https://www.lotustalk.com/forums/images/smilies/eyecrazy.gif" border="0" alt="" title="crazyeyes" class="inlineimg" />
 

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#38 ·
Since you have the rear crash structure off, I've seen someone powder coat it, it looks really good and prevents the galvanized metal from turning to powder over time. If you do that, you may also want to re-coat the two rear brace pipes as they tend to rust over time.
 
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