Anaximander

The snap rings may be the culprit. It will be inexpensive to get a pair of OEM Ford c-clips and attempt a reinstall. They initially appeared to lock in but no such luck.

Well, I guess building cars is not for sissies. Was perking along just fine on the dyno today and then took the car for its first couple of miles around the shop that has a circular road. The car ran like the wind. Only problem was that when I got back from the run, the passenger rear axle was leaking some diff fluid from being partially pulled out. Either the circlips that hold the axle into the diff are bad or the axles themselves may be mis-sized? It is back to Scott Minehart shortly to figure out what I hope is the final conundrum. No autox tomorrow <sob>.

I can't wait to see how the car performs with the specific modifications made for autocrossing.

My wife won't even ride in a Stalker except x1 for each one I have owned and that is only around the block

Getting closer to completion.

MV8, I am not sure in the least how my post would have suggested that I think it is OK to not follow through on the sale??? In fact, the winning bidder did in fact state that he/she was planning to pay for the car but was willing to sell the car that was successfully bid on for less that they planned to pay. This is what Gcarbid47 posted as the last comment of the sale: "Hi I purchased while driving, but having second thoughts as 2500 miles from me, fir a bit of a project. If any other bidders are interested let me know. Honoring the sale of course, will accept reasonable even lower offer 😏". I opined that this was a "class act". Please do not misrepresent my words.

MV8, At least the winning bidder is willing to step up to the plate and finish the transaction (class act). Somebody living on the West Coast up near Gig Harbor, WA could likely get a re-purchase price that would allow them to do the necessary fixing up and have a fun car to run around in since there are reportedly only 56 of them in the country.

Henry, I am really concerned how ridiculous the used car market has become for se7vens. Just a couple of days ago, a 2016 Stalker XL sold on BAT for almost $20k more than you could get a brand-new copy of the same car. The person had set a reserve of $33k and ended up selling it for $77k plus the 5% fee that BAT charges. This just does not make any sense to me. It may be that there are a multiplicity of reasons why people are abandoning traditional metrics and I suspect that the pandemic has had some impact on people's psychological outlooks and willingness to throw care to the wind in these trying times? For sellers, this is a terrific time to sell. For buyers, I sure don't think so. Just my $.02 on the matter.

OMG, Less Suave here. I thought I had lost contact with my long lost relative, Suave. He always went for those bright colors where I am choosing to put sedate STOP ME RED (nope, not street legal, hehehe) on my almost completed Stalker AXR. Unlike Suave's caretaker, I don't plan to do any jumping in this new autox car if my caretaker has any sense when he starts pressing the loud pedal in anger.

Bruce, Your points about the lack of upper longitudinal bars supporting the front portion of the roll cage seem reasonable. Last week, I had an HVAC replacement and the fellow that did the work jumped monster trucks for fun over an 8 year period. He pointed out to me that very same concern and said that in the monster truck world, they enacted some different structural requirements because one of their participants died in such a manner as you describe. He also showed me a picture of one of his monster trucks that did end over end flips and crushed the driver's side of the roll bar encased cab. He reported that he had to crawl out of the passenger side of the truck. Of course, our se7ens are not designed to get 15 feet of air over jumps but your observations do not seem to have missed the mark. The one thing we Stalker owners and other se7ens have going for us is the low center of gravity that seemingly would make it very difficult to roll these cars in most circumstances. Again, if one is overly focused on the inherent dangers of the cars we drive, then they likely should drive cars that have 5-star crash and roll-over ratings.

Bruce, Isn't it wonderful to have a car that you can admire to the enth degree! Enjoy the ride! It is the embodiment and the fruits of your labors that brought it to you.

What a great honor and recognition of a very special design and a very special car. Congrats on the award. It makes the cost of all those carbon fiber bits and R500 upgrade not hurt as much.

Bruce, Interesting observations. Since our Stalkers and most other se7ens do not come with airbags, about the only thing we can do is make sure that we have at least up-to-date 5-6 point 3" racing seat belts. If you strap in really tight, I am not sure that the rake of the windscreen would make any difference in terms of head injury? If you are concerned about head injuries in a collision which is a real possibility in any of these type cars, then I would suggest using a helmet that allows us to use a Hans device so that we minimize the risk of serious head/neck injury in a collision. Short of doing that, all of these types of cars, especially kits that are Cobra replicas can put a person in a world of hurt due to their old-school crappy handling characteristics. If we also look structurally at the chassis of a Lotus/Caterham, we have to be aware that we have even less structural integrity surrounding ourselves than a Stalker due to the smaller gauge of metal that is used. Colin Chapman likely wasn't too overly focused on safety issues when he designed his Se7ens and was concerned with every extra pound of weight. I guess life is all about weighing the risks and rewards and determining for ourselves what level of safety we hope to achieve in our lives. For me personally, Covid was a wakeup call that a tiny non-living organism could have taken me out as it did a couple of acquaintances as easily as getting in a wreck with one of our cars. Frankly, I would rather flame out in a se7esque car than die from a virus I can't even see I have made a personal decision to wear a Sparco neck brace along with my Sparco carbon fiber lightweight helmet when I race my Stalker AXR in autocross events. The likelihood of needing the neck brace it is probably on the low side but I am keenly aware of the fragility of our spinal columns and the attachment of my 10-11 pound bowling ball of a head sitting atop just a few sinewy connections to my spinal cord. On top of that, a normal brain weighs about 3 pounds and can suffer contrecoup injury in a sudden deceleration. Thankfully, my brain is so small that it would fit up a gnat's butt and roll around like a BB in a boxcar .

Cueball1, Stalker cars raised their prices a bit recently but I can tell you, being in the process of building an AXR, that the price of the components has skyrocketed. I paid $103 for an LS dipstick that cost $55 two years ago. I have been stunned at how much money I have had to spend to get a car up and almost close to running that supposedly just needed wheels, alternator, starter and a few assorted parts. That car on BAT would now cost closer to $63k to build in today's economy and it is highly unlikely that things are going to be getting cheaper anytime soon? The nice thing about Stalker cars is that all of the parts are basically USA sourced which makes parts finding and replacement much easier in this supply chain horror show we have going on worldwide.

Mike, That 2016 Stalker XL on BAT is likely the most stunning example of Minehart's work that I have seen to date. He even had the aluminum interior metal panels powder coated. The seats look uncharacteristically comfortable and supportive as well. Somebody is going to get a beautiful Stalker but I doubt it will not be pretty pricey when the hammer drops on the auction block.

Car_Guy, It looks like the width dimensions on that trailer might be too narrow for your XL? The rear end width on an XL is 76" wide. I ended up having to buy a brand-new 14' Aluma ( Aluma 7814 sa tilt trailer) to haul around the Stalker AXR (66" wide) I am in the processes of completing. Sadly, they are now about $7-8k due to the price of aluminum skyrocketing. Actually, just found a heck of a deal in FL and Iowa on what would be OK for your XL. The bed is only 77.5" wide so you would have .75" clearance on each side for your rear wheels.

Vipergeek, You communicated to me that you recently hardwired the fan because the relay did not seem to be activating it. FYI, because of the peak amp draws, it is recommended that you use at least a 12 gauge wire to not experience any overheating. A 10 gauge would be a bit of overkill but you would also be flowing a ton of electrons through that large a gauge of wire.

Vipergeek, Where is your intercooler located? Could it be that it is right in front of your radiator shedding hot air onto your radiator while cooling your turbos?

Vipergeek, I am using a Maradyne High Performance Fans M142K Champion Low Profile Series Fan that is 14" and reversible in front of a custom radiator sourced by Stalker Cars. Since I will be using this for autocross, I will be installing a 160 degree thermostat to get my engine warmed up quickly for autox duties. I am not sure what your EcoBoost needs for cooling? The nose area of a Stalker is fairly small and cooling is a bit challenging because the radiator has to be tilted backward for hood clearance. IIRC, your EcoBoost engine is mounted significantly differently than any M-Spec Stalker that I have seen or owned and so my setup may not be helpful for you? I know when I run LS3's in the Stalkers, the engines are designed to run hotter (about 200-215) than the older school engines. On this build, I am including an overflow tank (2.5L Universal Aluminum Coolant Radiator Overflow Expansion Tank Reservoir Recovery Water Tank Bottle) that you can get on Amazon.

BEAUTIFUL!!! Congrats in a big way on such a wonderful car.

Building