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Esprit's '01 Exige Over-winter refresh


Esprit

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Well, another long night on the car complete, and this one will hopefully be the last.

Tonight I got the handbrake adjusted finally (well overdue), then managed to repopulate the engine bay, get the coolant refilled and bled. The legendary Richy came around and gave me a hand to get the clam and engine cover back on as well as some well-needed moral support and then left me to it getting all the good stuff back on her.

I've still got a couple more jobs to do Sunday afternoon like an oil and filter change (back to an OEM one while I figure out what to do with the Canton filter) as well as degreasing the floorpan and re-affixing the number plate. If I get an extra pair of hands I'll also give the brakes and clutch an overdue bleed.

But for now, have some pictures and I'm off to bed.

Exigeatworkcomplete01.jpg

Exigeatworkcomplete02.jpg

Exigeatworkcomplete03.jpg

Exigeatworkcomplete04.jpg

I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out... perhaps a BIT blingy, but overall, I think it looks brilliant.

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Not too blingy at all, given most people who's opinion actually have the slightest scrap of meaning to you understands gold foil stuff to be highly effective.

So awesome to see such a quick progression from heartbreak to present situation, especially when the OS community have a fair idea of other pressures in your life. I suspect many of us would have given up and moved on some time ago :salute:

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With the car back in working order again, this weekend has been about getting the dash and extinguisher install moved on another notch.

Yesterday I bogged and sanded the dash trim pieces smooth at the join so that the join won't show once upholstered. I also drilled the openings for the extinguisher trigger button and the communications port. I've left some space in the middle for a 12v power supply to go should I want to add one in the future.

DashTrimsBogged.jpg

Today I ran into a bit of a glitch with the Lifeline extinguisher control box. This is to fit flush in beween the two dash pieces in the photo above, with the trim with the holes in it being to its right. I had measured it all up and allowed space for the cable to run concealed behind this trim piece. However, when test-fitting it today I realised that the connector stuck out WAY further than I'd allowed for. It fouled the communications port connector by a long way.

To resolve this, I took the Lifeline box to bits and found that there was a good bit of free space inside it I could use. I spent an hour or two making up an aluminium plate to blank off the original opening and to mount the connector inside. It's a shame I don't have any pics of this because I made a really nice job of it and it came out looking like it was meant to be that way all along :)

With this done, I was able to modify the heater surround trim to mount the page-select button for the MoTeC MDD display. Until now I just had this hanging on a cord until I could figure out where I wanted it. I ended up putting it here as it's easy to reach when strapped in, and I've now got a spare heater surround trim to re-fit should I ever want to go back to the factory-standard look. It's nice and tidy and out of the way, but really easy to use, I wish I'd not waited so long to do it as it's so much better like this! :)

MotecPageButton.jpg

Then I was able to permanently fit the MDD display in place, and then test-fit the rest of the dash. You can see the result below. Imagine the trims upholstered in blue like the rest of the original dash bits and with button-head screws in place of the cap-heads on the com-port I've used here. Should look pretty lush when all finished!

DashTrimsTrialFit01.jpg

DashTrimsTrialFit02.jpg

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Spent some more time on the car in the weekend. Been getting some bits and bobs finished inside and a little more of the extinguisher plumbing done.

Dash bits should be back in the next day or two, and I need to chase Lifeline up for the extinguisher bits I still need.

Got the car all cleaned up again so there's no more oil residue on her, erasing all memory of the little barbecue we had.

Since it was shiny, I took it out for a drive with my friend Richy doing some lenswork :)

ExigeTunnelRolling1024.jpg

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I love how your attitude has gone from this

Will probably tow it down to Hawke's Bay in a few weeks over Christmas, stick it out in the back paddock with a tarp over it and forget about it for a year or three. If I ever get my motivation back, I will see then. Until then I'm giving up on playing with cars and taking up a hobby that doesn't piss on me at every opportunity.

I wish I could say it's been fun, but in reality it's not been anything other than expense and heartache.

to this

Got the car all cleaned up again so there's no more oil residue on her, erasing all memory of the little barbecue we had.

Also might have to employ Richie for some tunnel photos, they look fucking awesome!!!

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  • 1 month later...

Well it's been a slow few weeks. Having the car buried in the back of a shed halfway across town as well as having other things going on in life has meant little time to spend working on or enjoying the beast.

However, I finally got the replacement extinguisher parts from the UK and this weekend I set about finishing off the mechanical installation of the extinguisher system.

I had originally planned to mount the remote charge cylinder inside the centre footwell divider to keep everything hidden. The routing of the braided hose and access to it for replacement/servicing would be a major issue, so I reverted to plan B.

This involved modifying the extinguisher bracket I'd made up to take the remote charge cylinder as well.

Here you can see the remote charge cylinder mounted alongside the extinguisher cylinder on the bracket:

RemoteCartridgeMounted01.jpg

RemoteCartridgeMounted02.jpg

This remains nice and tidy since it sits underneath the passengers' seat and unlike the centre divider option keeps the braided hose out of harm's way from people climbing in and out of the car.

This assembly is now bolted back in the car, and I've just got to measure up for wiring and get the looms made (which will happen next week). Then I can finish the dash assembly and the extinguisher, and the car's interior will be 100% complete.

Then I've just got to modify the Canton oil filter housing to take a lockwire then it's time to hit the track!

Here's hoping for some nice Autumn weather (after literally the crappiest Auckland summer on record) so I can enjoy the thing! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well tonight I'm going to have a couple of nice single malts, because today, for the first time since Easter 2008, the "to do" list on the Exige is completely blank.

The final two jobs today were to finish off the extinguisher install and dashboard and to reinstall the Canton Racing oil filter and lockwire it on to prevent the possibility of our little barbecue.

The extinguisher went in first and I got the wiring all run for it nice and tidily. It was also my first chance to see the dash all finished and I think it looks great. The additions look like they're meant to be there and don't look out of place.... which is what I was hoping to achieve.

DashFinished01.jpg

DashFinished02.jpg

I also got the extinguisher itself back in place and hooked up. I self-tested the firing circuit and it checked out fine so it's ready to deploy if I should ever need it (perish the thought!)

ExtinguisherCannisterInstalled.jpg

The final job was to swap the oil filter back to the Canton Racing one. I've got no photos of this, but the hex on the end of the filter I've drilled to take a lockwire and there's also a cast-on boss on the side of the sump that I've drilled as well. I've then run a twisted stainless lockwire between the two, which makes it impossible for the oil filter to self-loosen.

I had hoped to take the car for a spin tomorrow, but in typical fashion, now it's ready to use it's forecast rain for the next week.... still, it's ready to go and have some fun in!

Tasks on the horizon for it now involve trackdays and getting it back to the dyno to up the rev limit a bit more and liberate a few more horsepower.

There will be ongoing stuff that needs doing as well and I'll keep posting that in here, so don't worry... this thread won't fall silent.

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