Anaximander

Comley, I have had the pleasure of owning both the NA and Supercharged versions of the GM V6 in a classic Brunton Stalker. You DEFINITELY want the supercharged version. It is sooooooo much more fun!!! Brunton designed it quite well to handle the supercharged version and it is just a hoot to hear the supercharger whine when you stick your foot in it. IMHO, the NA and Supercharged versions drove like two completely different cars with the nod fully going toward the supercharged engine. I am currently on my 6th Stalker with an L33 engine upgraded with a ghost cam and all new upper end internals and although it is quite fast in my Stalker AXR, I do miss the whine of the supercharged engine. OTOH, with the FiTech FI system and all of the mods made to the L33, when I stick my foot in it, even with 13" slicks on the rear, it is at times a challenge to keep it fully hooked up. Plan for sure on riding around with TW200 tires. I especially like the Avon AO52's which in reality actually act like TW80 tires and won't last a long time but will give you tremendous traction. I had R888R tires on my supercharged Stalker and they were pretty darn good.

John and gang, There is an interesting 2015 article on the features of a Holley HydraMat system and many of the nuances of what is being attempted with the reported 9 different HydraMat configurations to prevent vapor lock issues. An interesting read: https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1508-holleys-new-hydramat-fuel-pick-up-system/

John, If all else fails, I installed a Holley in-tank fuel pump with no return line and feeding through a hydramat. Summit is very proud of their return line in-tank fuel pump but they get rave reviews on reliability. Holley In-Tank Retrofit Fuel Pump Modules 12-130 Fuel Pump, Electric, In-Tank, Retrofit Module, 60 psi, 255 lph, Gasoline, Return Style, Each Part Number: HLY-12-130 They want $800 for this gem but if it solves your problem, just 4 hours of phone consultation with the Brits would pay for the pump

John, You were mentioning that you had to swivel your head to see the fuel pressure gauge. How about just pointing a GOPRO at it while you do the various manipulations you want to do, orally let the GOPRO know what things you are changing and then correlate your fault conditions with the GOPRO recording of the fuel pressure gauge?

JohnCh, I feel your current pain! Not to derail your thread but I recently completed a Stalker AXR with a L33 engine upspec'd with a ghost cam and upgraded top-end components (rockers, pushrods, trunions, etc.). It came with a FiTech 70001 fuel injection system and self-learning ECU. I have successfully autocrossed the car x3 but found that it was running rich on the driver's side bank and lean on the passenger side. After numerous FREE (sorry about what the Brits are charging you per hour for consultation and the exorbitant fee to unlock the ECU) calls and re-reading the installation manual, I came to the conclusion that my O2 sensor wires may not have been sending the ECU the proper information since the 70001 is designed for a single passenger O2 sensor but is pre-wired for a second O2 sensor. I called FiTech a couple of days ago and reported the rich/lean condition with no faults being shown except occasional rough idle because the self-learning ECU was keeping it fairly OK. I asked the tech if it would be OK to switch the driver O2 to the passenger O2 sensor and vice versa. He said it couldn't hurt anything. Well, I did it and voila, everything is now working harmoniously. There was one sentence in the install manual that stated that if the O2 wires are crossed with no explanation of what that meant, you can get a rich/lean condition. So, doing a simple switch allowed the complete system to really start learning what AFR's are optimal at idle and in all other conditions and it has achieved stoichiometric mixture at idle which is defined as an 14.6 AFR ratio. If you have an install manual with your ECU and wiring harness, maybe be on the lookout for something as simple as the one sentence I found imbedded in 19 pages of instructions. Much good luck with the fettling.

That car looks like a project in the making. The seller does not know where and when the doner engine was produced. There should be some serial numbers on the block that tells what year of manufacture? The ad suggest that they are not GAZ shocks but it sure looks like the original GAZ shocks that Dennis Brunton was selling with his kits. Buyers need to know that the steering rack comes out of a Chevy Chevette but I just looked it up and they are selling rebuilt steering racks for those long-gone cars. It also uses an S-10 rear end/axles with drum brakes usually.

Car currently undergoing street legal upgrades. Thankfully, Scott Minehart is continuing to build these cars. It also helps that his shop is only about 1.5 hours away from the house here in Florida. I did not realize that there is slightly over $10k just in my engine. I started adding up all of my receipts and gasped that an upgraded L33 with a ghost cam, all new upper end and state-of-the-art LS3 oil pan and FiTech fuel injection could cost so much money. I'm wondering what all of these Zetecs and Duratecs are going to run when someone gets around to having to rebuild one? The added pictures of my Amplify Orange C8 Z51 HTC with the AXR is one of the reasons why I decided to hang up my race shoes. The car is running perfectly and has been fully dialed in at this point.

Thanks for the compliment Croc. Coming from you who races all over the world, I am honored. My Stalker AXR (I think it is the 7th one produced?) makes the driver look like they know what they are doing because it is so competent and easy to drive. Especially with the power assist steering and unbelievably stable chassis and suspension. I am including a picture of a former AXR race car that was converted by Scott Minehart to a street legal car in the past couple of months. My car can also be converted to a street legal car by the next owner or by Scott if the buyer chose to have him do the work. Above is a picture of what they look like converted to street use. My AXR has the same wheelbase as all of the other M-Spec chassis (95"). However, the seat is placed 5" forward to accommodate the larger rear wheels. One of the Minehart's who is almost 6'4" fits adequately in his Stalker AXR. The really nice thing about the AXR I am selling is that everything on the car was sourced new (except the 3-piece aluminum race wheels) or in the case of the engine and rear-end, upgraded to better specs than new. The car has approximately 60 miles on it since completion. Autocross is easy on cars/engines because you don't generally get over 70mph.

My newly built Stalker AXR is now up for sale! I have now thoroughly tested the car in 3 autocross events and the car is performing magnificently! I actually placed in the top 25% of a 100 person field on June 3, 2023. I am including a couple of pictures of me autocrossing the car last weekend. I had removed the second seat and will be placing it back in the car with the new harnesses. My wife did not want me taking passengers. I will be out of town for the next few days.

This would be a great car for a Californian since it already has gone through the SB100 dance!

Hey, it isn't a mountain bike. It is a high-speed retro cruiser. As you so aptly noted, other than Central Florida where we do have hills, the State is basically FLAT. However, we have an incredible system of former railroad lines that have been turned into paved trails. Near my home, I have the longest rails to trails biking trail that spans 47 miles in length. I plan to get a second Bosch PowerTube (500Wh) for added pedaling assistance and in the Fall, when things cool down again (we have been experiencing record setting heat), I plan to ride the entire trail round trip. When I was about 22 years younger, I could pedal a conventional 10-speed bike a 100 miles in a day. Sadly, without some powered assistance, that ship has sailed. Just think, if the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico continue to rise, our follow-on brethren in Florida will have to take canoes from island to island in what was once a total land-based peninsula. The lower third of Florida is expected to be underwater by about 2100. Thank goodness, I will not be around to see that.

You have quite an eye for cars Mike. I looked up the KTM line of cars and the base X-Bow looks somewhat similar to that Mad Max wonder. Since I cannot afford one of those KTM GT-R's at about $300k, I pulled the trigger this week on a limited edition ebike that I have been Jonesing for since I first laid eyes on the ad back in 2019. It is an Electra (Partially owned by Trek) Cafe Moto Go! Class 3 ebike (28mph pedal assist) which is now legal for our rails to trails here in Florida. Ain't it a beauty with a Bosch drive train and genuine Brooks B17 leather saddle and tool bag. The gears are a Enviolo continuously variable rear hub drive instead of a derailleur that transmits power via a Gates belt instead of a chain. Super smooth cruiser to try and stay in shape. Unfortunately, at a hefty 61 pounds, it does not follow Chapman's edict of making things lighter with the hydroformed "tank" and uses the fat tires as its suspension.

Croc, That 1958 Lotus Replica that you just posted this morning with the wedge nose reminds me of some kind of ramming vehicle that would have been featured in a Mad Max movie! I could see this car stripped down from the body work and used as a wicked Exocet type track car with slicks on it. The chassis seems extremely stout and the only issue would be one of weight distribution with the engine in the back. Would likely have to add some weight to the front end to prevent understeer. Or, if you left the body work on and blew an element with a 5-cone wallem, the machine would take out the cone wall with the greatest of ease. We have a fabulous driver running in SCCA A Mod with a former C5 Corvette that he calls the LS1-Kart and he is very quick and it is even street legal!

Panamericano and USA 7's brethren, I am VERY happy to report that after Glen Minehart and I fixed the leaking rear end passenger half shaft leak, I successfully ran 6 runs at an autocross at Florida International Rally and Motorsports Park (F.I.R.M.) yesterday and the Stalker AXR performed spectacularly. No leaks and after the first run, my times kept decreasing my 2-3 seconds each run, such that I ended up placing 47th (raw time) out of 120 participants. Until the AXR that Glen and Scott Minehart helped me build, the 2014 Caterham 300r with 400r specs was the most wired into my brain car that I had ever owned/driven. Well, with Avon A11 compound slicks (10" and 13" wide respectively) on the Stalker AXR that weighs a 1625 pounds wet, the car behaved like a Hoover vacuum cleaner on the track and steering through slaloms and especially even the tight ones was a breeze. With the electric power assist steering, superb Coleman racing ratio steering rack and the Stalker AXR suspension, the car was the most wired into my brain that I have ever driven. I hope the weather back at the F.I.R.M. is as good as it was yesterday for an upcoming event next weekend. Hopefully, I will better understand the throttle, brakes, steering and suspension as I go out an try to perform even better at this next event. It was a long journey to yesterday, but I feel sort of exonerated that I took on what for me was a pretty complex task of completing a Stalker kit and came out at the end having a ball with the final product.

Searya, Thanks for sharing your interesting Stalker build. I have been fortunate to be on my 6th Stalker which is an AXR partially completed kit with a L33 upgraded with wilder cam and upper end components. Since my sort of ls1 had been assembled but not run, I bought a couple of brass pieces from my local NAPA store and hooked the pieces up that would go into the side of the block near the oil pump and bought a cheap $19 pump sprayer at Harbor Freight that I used to prime the oil pump and upper parts of the engine including the rockers with the garden sprayer and the Mobil 1 oil I put into the engine. I was concerned that attempting to crank an engine with no oil in the oil pump would just continue to try and pump air rather than oil so priming the engine was my security blanket and a simple thing to do. I gave the priming tool to Scott Minehart who has plans for a couple of other engines that will need priming after rebuilds.

The 1983 Westfield that Croc listed this morning that is in NC is VERY interesting if it is in fact the very first prototype of a Westfield. If I were a Westy fan and had garage space, I would certainly pursue the provenance issues and snap that car up as an incredible legacy to a company that reportedly has produced about 1500 copies of Chapman's concept. The seller reportedly has had it for 31 years and is offering it at a nice price that is still negotiable. That to me is a real potential "barn find" that hasn't been in a barn.

Croc, Where in the heck did you "dig up" that 500r Superlight. You would think that somebody trying to market it for all or more than their share of the money would take the time to wash the damn thing. That has to go down as one of the poorest presentations of a Caterham that I have seen to date.

My last scope was a 14.5" f/4.3 Zambuto/Starmaster with GOTO/Tracking. I have had several 32" reflectors, one 30" and two 28" reflectors in the past. I have partially returned to the hobby but not at the breakneck speed that I did for 20 years.

Well, 2023 was an interesting year.

The car will be shortly converted to a street legal car when I add the necessary lights, turn signals, windshield and wheels/tires. The car's Manufacturer Certificate of Origin lists it as a 1962 Lotus Replica Roadster and as such, most states will not require much to get it street legal. Companies like Hagerty's will insure it as a 1962 Lotus Replica.

Kitcat, Thanks for the kind words. Actually, it is $55k in the car and $9k in the trailer and all of the accessories for a total of $64k that has been laid out. The car drives amazing well and I have never owned an autocross car that was more competent.

I was going to but I realized after all of the money, time and energy that I had put into the project that at the end, the journey was the completion of a well sorted se7enesque car. Brunton M-Spec Stalkers are exceptionally stout from a frame architecture standpoint and I learned a lot from the build which was why it was on my bucket list. I know these cars go for a lot more money, especially with the expensive trailer but I just wanted to recoup some of my money and donated all of my time that was involved in the build. I have a history of "beating things to death" metaphorically speaking and this car represents my 6th and final Stalker. The Mineharts, especially Glen, spent an enormous amount of time helping with the project and the car is built exceptionally well with small almost hidden features that make it much easier to work on like having openings underneath the pedals to be able to easily remove them if there was ever a need. Additionally, Scott Minehart knows these cars exceptionally well and had to R&R the engine/transmission to get the clutch just right. I did not realize that the brand-new clutch had not been installed quite properly and Scott made it work perfectly as a new clutch should work and also provided a stop to insure its continued reliability. Essentially, no money was spared in the build and that gives me great pleasure in being able to hand it off to the first true operator of the car when it sells. It drives exquisitely with the Coleman racing steering rack and the electric steering assist and grips like a vacuum cleaner with the exceptional shocks and very sophisticated suspension. There is a reason that Stalker AXR's are the second, third and fifth fastest cars in national competition when it comes to E-Modified class autocross. The acceleration, sounds and feel are pretty incomparable and that is what makes this car so special. If somebody wants one of the badest street cars on the road, they can take the time and expense to make it street legal which in many States would not be very difficult. Scott Minehart, the designer/builder/owner of Stalker cars advised that the cost of a prospective upgrade by him to street legal status would be based on the State or country that the car was going to be operated in and he would have to know the specifics to quote a price.

I am really going to sell this magnificent car this time. I know that I have had numerous misgivings about letting it go, but I just bought a new Corvette and decided that my se7enesque days are likely on hold or over. I will miss it dearly because it was a great labor of love and is now so thoroughly dialed in. For sale is a 2022 M-Spec Stalker AXR with aluminum block 5.3 L33 V8 engine with Summit cam and hardened Summit valvetrain (valves, springs, guides, etc). It is also fitted with a FiTech Ultimate complete fuel injection system with the latest software. I added up all of the receipts for just the engine and the total came to $10k. It was purchased and built by an ASE Certified Mechanic who also races cars. The transmission is a new GForce custom wide ratio T5. It has a Ford 8.8 rear differential with 3.73 Eaton TrueTrac limited slip differential and electric power assist steering. With the exception of the low mileage LS built engine and the three-piece lightweight aluminum racing wheels, all of the components on the car are sourced from brand-new parts including Optima Red Top battery with master battery cutoff. It has Wilwood brakes/pedals with brake bias and state-of-the-art adjustable coil over shocks, clutch, racing seats, roll cage, and 5-point harnesses. The scuttle piece in a couple of the pics was reshot by the painter because the amount of coats was incorrect and now matches the rest of the car. There has been approximately $57k total investment in the car since the kit was ordered in 2019 and constructed by Scott Minehart of Stalker Cars here in Florida. Major contributions to the build were provided by Glen Minehart and Scott Minehart (the designer/builder) and the car has been fully sorted to be one of the finest autocross/track/street cars in the country. The car with full fuel (approximately 13 gallons) weighs 1645 pounds. You can go to stalkercars.com and see that this car would cost approximately $60k if you got one from Stalker Cars. To complement the Stalker AXR (See Stalkerscars.com), is a 2023 Aluma Model 7814 SA tilt trailer with trailer brakes, upgraded 15" main tires/wheels including a 15" spare. The trailer is equipped with a 3000 pound electric winch and a brand-new Optima Yellow Top Deep Cycle battery in case of a need to winch the car onto the tilt trailer that I will sell the trailer for $6000 additional money will buy you all of the extras seen in the ad except the GPS and suction cup. The car also comes with a custom seat cover for open towing to protect the driver's seat from the elements, a fitted rain cover for overnight parking, state-of-the-art professional wheel tie down straps, Longacre tire pyrometer. The total investment in the trailer and all of the spares totaled more than $9k bringing the total investment in the development of the car to approximately $64k and took approximately 8 months to complete. All fluids are new including engine, brakes, transmission and differential. The car has been on an autocross tracks x8 and a dyno x2 to do a shakedown and all of the gremlins were addressed following the shakedowns and the car is now ready for autocross, track or street use (if additional street equipment is added). The car makes approximately 340hp to the rear wheels which is ideal for controllability and ease of driving. It drives like it is on rails. This was a bucket list life challenge and I was fortunate to have the Mineharts close by to provide the majority of their expertise and talents to complete the car. I am including updated pictures that I took on February 22, 2024 with brand-new Avon slicks and a fresh ceramic coating job. I will post the updated pictures at the end of this thread.

What a very interesting story! With your steady work an attention to detail, this car is getting the rehab it deserves. That picture of the car in the weeds really tells the story of how this whole saga began after delivery to the first owner. Dennis Brunton, of SuperStalker lineage, used to tell his prospective and current customers that the cars are very capable of killing you if you do not respect their performance capabilities.