jwagner wrote: In reply to einy: Ordered last October, kit shipped in April, haven't seen bodywork yet. Good thing we're taking our time with the build...
As in, 2013? Oy...
jwagner wrote: In reply to einy: Ordered last October, kit shipped in April, haven't seen bodywork yet. Good thing we're taking our time with the build...
As in, 2013? Oy...
In reply to kb58:
FWIW, I placed my order at the beginning of July (2014) and was told by Exomotive that my kit would be shipping in late October/Early November, which I assume includes bodywork. Hopefully, because I think I'm the first to order dark green panels and can't wait to see them. Personally, I think that's a killer turnaround time for such a low production kit.
They also mentioned that the sport windshield is in the works and will hopefully be released soon...but that's a surprise I'll leave to Flyin' Miata and Exomotive to share. 
I'm following a build of a Factory Five Roadster on another forum. His "completed order date" was 5/3, and of his last post in September, he is still awaiting parts. Now he took the complete kit route so everything is new and a lot from 3rd parties. That being said, Factory Five has been doing this for a few years and they still have lengthy delays.
I'd give a relatively new cottage vendor a little more lattitude.
jwagner wrote: In reply to einy: Ordered last October, kit shipped in April, haven't seen bodywork yet. Good thing we're taking our time with the build...
Have they asked you what color bodywork you wanted?
I ordered 12/31, received the kit early August, and haven't been asked what color body work I want yet. I'm waiting to hear about about the carbon fibre pricing, so not in a hurry :-)
Trust me guys, if the long wait means a quality fitting and looking part, it'll be worth your time. :)
I'm actually curious to see what Warren has come up with for a windshield and fender solution.
tony_soprano wrote: What are you guys doing with your donor tubs? Selling them for scrap metal? Is there any kind of market for a stripped Miata tub if I were to advertise it on Craigslist?
Ship it to me!
Course the damn border is in the way!
Greg_E wrote: Trust me guys, if the long wait means a quality fitting and looking part, it'll be worth your time. :) I'm actually curious to see what Warren has come up with for a windshield and fender solution.
Hear, hear! Let's get some teasers...
Fenders haven't changed from the 2014 redesign you all saw, the Sport Windshield is coming along. The most visible parts of the Sport Windshield are still being tweaked, so I don't want to show anything just yet. I'll confirm it's completely removable and will fit on any US-built frame. With different mounts, it could even fit on a UK frame, although the UK frame has a narrower firewall and passenger cockpit.
Downing is making progress. All I'll say about that is "moving from labor-constrained in-house layups to Downing allowed us to eliminate a compromise." Exomotive isn't announcing anything yet, so don't ask me questions about it, but I'll go rogue and post a small blurred picture.
You wanted a teaser? Well, considering the secret "other upgrade" that's being produced right now, the windshield is absolutely passé. 
Direct all your questions about this post to Kevin. He's the tall ginger manning the Exomotive booth at Petit le Mans.
Have him take the hood off XP-4. I spent the last few days gutting the stock Miata harness and converting it over to a Megasquirt PNP with electronic boost control. It's not a custom harness "yet", but it looks much cleaner than before.
One piece hood/nose cone? Is that what I'm seeing?
I didn't say it. I promised not to talk about it.
Is blurry picture only worth 500 words?
That would make perfect sense, as looking at the install instructions on exomotive.com, it looked like the hood slipped into the nose cone and just rested on some sort of bracket. Having one piece would be structurally more sound. . . I like it!
Keith Tanner wrote: Not that much. Well, you'll pull out the entire rollerskate and wiring harness and replace it with another one. But you don't need to do much to the frame, so it's just a matter of disassembling and reassembling and rewiring. The fact that the Exocet is so naked makes life a lot easier. To grossly oversimplify things. Here's what the AIM dash on the XXXocet says when you turn on the key.
That makes it very nice if you wanted to start with a Miata based car and then upgrade at a later date.
Any thoughts about a spec series like the Factory Five Cobra?
Is that one piece nose/hood giving off a hella reflection or is that the outline/sketch of a potential headlight cut out ? Wonder if anyone else notices this ?
I was trying to figure out what that was as well. I thought it might be a air intake duct but a cut out for a sweet looking headlight would be awesome.
Having ordered last December 26th, all I will say is that ALL of the folks at Exomotive have been working their collective asses off and it shows. Currently I am in shipping limbo but it has NOTHING to do with Exomotive. I sent a bank check and it never arrived. My bank has a 14 day hold on it before they will cancel and reissue. Unfortunately I don't have the funds to just write a second check to cover the first one so I will have to wait.
That said, Kevin has improved the way the company communicates with customers. This is a huge improvement that eliminates tension on both sides of the counter. Since the disclaimer on the order form says they can make running improvements to the design without customer approval, I am not going to complain if the body I receive has less pieces, allows easier assembly, and is of higher quality....even if it means I have to wait a little longer to get it. Keep up the great work!
linuxd00d wrote:jwagner wrote: In reply to einy: Ordered last October, kit shipped in April, haven't seen bodywork yet. Good thing we're taking our time with the build...Have they asked you what color bodywork you wanted?
I specified dark blue when I ordered it.
You guys are reading too much into the reflections in that picture, I think.
The move to Downing for bodywork production has slowed down delivery for sure, but I think once the line starts moving it'll move far faster. Warren may have quietly moved kit car frame production into the 21st century with frikkin laser beams, but bodywork proved to be more of a challenge. Now it's in the hands of experts.
Keith Tanner wrote: You guys are reading too much into the reflections in that picture, I think. The move to Downing for bodywork production has slowed down delivery for sure, but I think once the line starts moving it'll move far faster. Warren may have quietly moved kit car frame production into the 21st century with frikkin laser beams, but bodywork proved to be more of a challenge. Now it's in the hands of experts.
Frikkin' Laser Beams you say?
I want body work made from laser beams! 
Hmm... 3D printed body work....
Greg_E wrote: I want body work made from laser beams!
Funnily enough, my girlfriend has been teasing me with some of the 3D printing work she's been doing lately. This geodesic sphere she printed yesterday actually was 3D printed with laser beams. This isn't the normal 3D printing you're used to, which is fused deposition modeling.
It's an awesome machine: http://formlabs.com/en/company/blog/2014/06/10/introducing-form-1-plus/
Check out this slick Formula SAE intake plenum printed by a machine like this:
Large-scale 3D printing would be fantastic for making bodywork bucks, but right now it's cost-prohibitive to make things that bloody big. I don't think the economics will ever work out for 3D printed bodywork parts, even at very small scales like 10 cars/year. Pressure formed plastic or even injection molding is going to be much cheaper.
Long time ago in my materials classes we were able to turn out vacuum formed / thermoformed parts in minutes, with only minor hand finishing required. I think that's how go-kart body work is produced and ABS plastic pickup truck toppers too. Is anyone in the industry making race car / kit car bodywork that way?
In reply to nderwater:
It works very well on the tightly curved parts found on karts. When you have extended surfaces with large radii, like a hood, tiny expansion differences throughout the thickness of the material become more apparent. This can be fought geometrically with aggressive shapes and double curvature, or you can throw more money at it and use temperature controlled molds. ABS and other thermoplastics also have a tendency to creep over time and change shape with heat cycles. The temperatures inside of an engine bay and even the temperatures generated by bright sunlight on dark materials can cause some long term warping. This can be improved by backing the surface with fiberglass or other materials like most truck cappers. It is something I'm very interested in, but without the right partnership, it is outside the scope of any of our projects.
In reply to Warren v:
And yes, there have been a few applications like you mentioned, and the problems seen in those exercises have scared me away for now.
Actually, I got a more serious question.
Will the new body work have a cut out for the fuel filler?
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