Flibbie

Hank, I know exactly how you feel. Took me 2 months to get the State happy enough to let me have a title and tags. Up until my car was legal I kept very acurate records of expenses. Since the car has been street legal, I just throw the receipts in the box. It is ALOT more fun to drive than do paperwork. My wife knows of the total outlay thru tags. Now I just tell her we needs some "Improvements". As she never passes on a chance to go riding with me, I get no complaints for these "Improvements". Just ordered a set of wire wheels and tires for the rear ($1800) and got no hassle from her. Life is good. Jim

of your eyes while driving your 7? I found some really cheap ($3) sun glasses at the local drug store. The glasses wrap around to the side very nicely. Jim

Engine is suposed to be 280 at the crank. No idea of rwhp. Weight with full fuel 1560#. Equals 5.57#/hp ? At LOG I was able to get 3 Dyno pulls. 1st was just to ck a/f ratio. 2nd pull showed 230hp. Jim Summerville @ Speedsouth felt my sparkplug gap was too big. We re-gapped to 0.035". On the 3rd pull we got 240 hp @5600 rpm. Max tq was 252. I thought we had a problem because the engine was cutting out @ 5600. I was under the impression my rev limiter was set @ 6500. After calling Dennis @ Stalker this AM I found my limiter is actually set to 5600 rpm. Jim S. thinks at the crank I'm getting about 290 hp. Not too bad for a stock engine advertized @ 240@crank. Only mods are to ECU, headers, air cleaner and no pollution equip. Jim

3275 miles. Now HOt rainy weather is here, so morning and evening jaunts are it for a while.

jlumba81, I may try a clear coat later. I have concerns with clear-coating when the time comes for touch-up due to rock chips. About runs in the paint; firstly, I'm far from expert on this so this is just my experience..It is by FAR easier to not get runs than have to remove them. Duplicolor recomends thin coats 10 min. apart but within 1 hr. So I sprayed 1 coat, waited 10 min. then sprayed again. 20 times per fender. A week later I wet sanded with 600 grit then 1000, then 1500, then 2000. I've read that it is very easy to burn thru the paint with a power buffer. So I wrapped a wet terry cloth around my finger tip and using a coarse rubbing compound rubbed an area about 6" square at a time. This was followed by a rub with medium then fine compound. 2 months later I repeated using a scratch removing compound then carnuaba wax. Total cost for 4 fenders painted less than $50. Jim

Jlumba81, I don't know if the engine bay undertray sides effect cooling or not. I removed the side panels (the panels around the headers) when it got hot down here about a month ago.I had considered covering the driveshaft but decided against it. The problem I see is that dirt and water can still get in at the front of the transmission tunnel. I'll try to post pics to explain better. Croc, My guess is diffusers start to effect downforce around 90-100. However, to notice a difference, I'd bet 150+ in needed. I've read the Elise diffusers contribute 4lb downforce. However, they never mentioned at what speed. I never expect to see any effect. I just like the looks. Jim

The floor of the trunk was covered to allow for future baggage area. The diffusers were added just for looks. I've seen 120mph once. As I use back roads, 55-65 is perfect for me. The front has undertrays on both sides of the engine. As the engine and bellhousing extend beneath the frame they are not covered. Jim

The left side is mirror image of right side. Jim

Hank, The front of the diffusers extend about 3/4" below the floor pan in front. That leaves me about 5" of ground clearance. At the rear they extend 4" below the floor pan and leave about 6-7" of clearance. They are 2' long. The angle between the floor and the trunk floor is 10-12 degrees kick-up. These pics are on the right side. Jim

It's my first attempt at painting a car. 2 cans per fender gave about 20 coats. For every minute spent spraying I probably spent an hour rubbing out with rubbing compound (by hand). Still need to do more painting on the hood and trunk. That will have to wait til after LOG.

Hank, I'll try to get my son to get some better pics maybe with a flash. The diffusers start at the frame member that runs across behind the seats. I put a floor up under the rear and the diffusers are attached to it. Material is scraps of ali left over from other body mods. Anodized dark blue. Jim

Effects are questionable at my cruising speeds but I like the looks. Jim

Duplicolor rattle can. Jim

I have ALWAYS been so happy the USAF decided to quit polishing the a/c just about the time I went in. Polished a/c were a real SOB to work on. I think the polishing raised the temp. about 20-30 degrees, the glare gave you a headache and it was so easy to start sliding off. The best polished a/c I've ever seen was President Ike's. Closest I ever came to cleaning an a/c was using a push broom to sweep snow off the fuselage and wings of a B-52. So now you know why I had all my ali anodized. Jim

What REALLY makes me sick is as tax payers we must pay this SOB's room and board for months or years while awaiting trial. My solution is a semi-Atlantic crossing. Mid-way toss that animal overboard... tomorrow. Jim

able sit in your LSiS in one stint. I'm working on the seat padding for my car. At present I am able to last about 1 1/2 hours between stops. It doesn't seem to matter whether I'm driving around town or back roads. Just curious how often others need to stop and stretch. Jim

Thanks guys for the help. I sort of got the cart before the horse here. The new wheels have a different back-spacing than the current wheels. After the new wheels are installed I'll have a better idea of the fender size needed. Ordered the wheels today and am looking at a 4 week delivery. Bummer. Was hoping to have them by the LOG. Hopefully the new wheels and fenders will be done for our ToTD trip in July. Thanks, Jim

Plan on installing wider rear tires and will need some wider rear fenders. I'm going to try 275-40-17's on the rear. Figure I'll need 11" to 12" width fenders. any and all suggestions are appreciated. (Car is strictly street driven and tail lites are trunk mounted) Thanks, Jim

My son bought a new 05 Elise and now has 26k miles on it. We have driven from Naples, Fl. to the ToTD twice. About 2,300 miles round trip on back roads. With dining room chair cushions from KMart, the ride is comfortable. Without them the seats are very hard. All maintenance is done at dealer. Without modification to the undertray, it must be removed to change engine oil. Dealer charges $100 for oil change. A/c repair was covered under warranty twice (would have been over $2,000 without warranty). Radio plays techno pretty good for him, not me. In south Fl we get ALOT of rain in the summer and no leaks with either hard or soft top. Tires are a little expensive and can be worn out in less than 10k. One benefit of owning an Elise my son really enjoys as a single guy is the car is a chick magnet. I just finished assemmbly of my Super Stalker in Jan. Now have about 1,500 miles in it. My car is 1560# vs Elise 2020#. My hp is about 260 vs Elise 190. As expected, I smoke him on acceleration and cornering. The Elise is speed limited to about 145. Don't know what my top end is yet. My steering is much heavier than his especially at slow speeds. Ride quality in both cars is very similar. You feel every "cat's eye", crack in pavement and jolt on every bump. As I am using "Brooklands" style windshields, I have no top so entry/exit is easy. With the top off the Elise entry/exit is O.K., with either top on, it is awkward for me. My son just laughs at me. (I'm 63 he's 29.) Gas mileage for both ranges from 31-32 down to about 20-22. The only concern I have with the Elise is I have heard if you lift off after entering a turn a little too fast, the car will spin-out like a Porsche. Jim

2 people (in a Stalker) for LOG. Would have been 4 people for Branson. Jim

jlumba81, An option you may want to consider instead of painting is to anodize your ali. I had all ali on my Stalker done in a deep (Royal) blue. Very durable and easy to clean. Also, seems impervious to chemicals like brake fluid. I painted my fenders with rattle cans. Each fender took 2 cans. That gave me 20 coats. The time consuming part was rubbing out. Started with 600 grit then went to 1000, 1500, 2000, then coarse rubbing compund. Followed that up with a medium rubbing compound then a fine compound. 2 months later, rubbed out with a scatch remover/wax. I'll match my paint job to any pro job. All it takes is alot of time. The only drawback I've seen is the paint seems softer than a baked on paint job. BUT, with all the sand abrading them, I figure any paint job will look worn in 2 years anyway. For $10 per fender, I can repaint. Just my 2 cents. Jim

Finally got my Stewart-Warner speedometer calibrated today. I took a 75 mile trip on some back roads at about 55-60 mph. Average mileage was 31.5 mpg. My Super Stalker has a T-5 transmission, 3.43 rear, 205/50/15 tires and weighs 1560 with a full tank (10 Gal?). That's alot better than I was expecting. Jim

Xromad, I agree completely. Sad to say, but the same thing applies to Chrysler. Chrylser started a big downhill slide in the early 60's. They produced some of the worst junk to come out of Detroit. When they almost lost it, they had Lee "the idiot" Iococco trying to save the company with the K car. He now admits they were buiding junk. And the sad thing is, he blames current (mis)management for the problems he instigated. GM is/was only a little better than Chrysler. GM had some of the best designers out there. But the quality or rather the lack of quality, was appalling. Look at old issues of Consumers Reports surveys of American cars and it is a wonder they have survived this long. To me the really sad thing is the way all of the Big(?) 3 piss and moan about needing a "level playing field". I really don't think the American public buys that line of crap at all. This is America!!! We can take on anybody, anywhere anytime and win. I am talking about cars here. NOT politics! I feel the problem is that the corparate office is too removed from reality to have a clue about the real world. It is my opinion that there is NO CEO in the world anywhere that earns or deserves a salary in excess of $1 million a year. I don't care who they are. Isn't it like the Queen of France saying to the peasants that complained of no bread to eat and she says "well, let them eat cake". Jim

I think reasonably priced is relative . My tail lites to me were cheap at $60/pr. Bought off Ebay ("Closer to Wholesale" was the source). 13 LED's on each side. Jim

Ian7 Yep, that's a trailer hitch. As I plan on traveling with this car, I think a trailer would would be handy to haul a spare tire, the soft top, a hard top as well as luggage. Bob, All ali was anodized, but I used screws instead of rivets. For me. it makes it easier to remove panels if necessary. Jim