vipergeek

Stalker home done (minus Paint)... so now on to radiator airflow management - yesterday's project. I used poster foam board for easy to make templates and .025 AL sheet for the base. I bought the baffle material, the aluminum edging tool, the cleco pliers, and the clecos from Aircraft Spruce and the AL sheet, the rivets and the rivet gun from Lowe's. I broke/jammed the first rivet gun (operator factor) so I went back and bought the next more expensive one. Projects, you gotta love em'! Test drive showed about a 10 degree improvement without the fan (manual switch) on. Fan added about another 5-10 degrees of cool. It wasn't 100 degrees either since it has finally cooled off here to the mid to high 80's. Most of the air now has to go through the radiator with very little bypassing on the sides. Pleased with the project and the results. Minor blood sacrifice completed, but very minor. Wear Gloves!

@Slowbro - Try Doug at (517) 294-4772

@Anaximander - A good decision on several fronts. Three cars and a two car garage? Wife's car never left during this project although several tarps gave up their best during the construction period. "Stalker in a Box!" I'm pretty sure it's better protected now than if it was in the garage.

I bought my Stalker Ecoboost 2.3 from Doug through BAT. He was very easy to work with and very helpful with the subsequent shipping from Michigan to Texas. He keeps finding interesting and desirable cars and this is a very nice looking Caterham!

@panamericanoYes, the parking pad slopes gently to the front of the enclosure and so far no problems... but then it hasn't rained much lately. I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks for the tip and it was great meeting you last Saturday.

Roof is on! Now just trim and paint to go. 90% done and 90% to go. BTW, the BAT get together this past weekend at "The Shop" in Dallas was a lot of fun. I got to meet a fellow USA7s traveler, PanAmericano with his Birkin. They actually parked us almost next to each other.

Stalker in a box! Roof next!

More bones on the Stalker exoskeleton. Skin coming soon.

panamerico - We Texans don't think that's totally unreasonable.

Interestingly, I was just on their site yesterday. Off to the Power Ball counter!

Three cars and a two car garage... what to do? Build another mini garage of course! With the goal of keeping the new arrival out of the weather in Texas (heat, cold, rain and hail) it was time to get to work. The front section is stationary and the rear section is on casters allowing it to telescope/overlap over the front section by about a foot. I'll insulate it with radiant barrier foam board and radiant barrier fabric. I think I'll use thin aluminum sheet for the exterior roof and clad the sides with a LP siding product I used on the storage structure you see in the pictures. It's easy to work with, looks nice and is easy to finish. It'll probably end up with better climate control and protection than my existing garage. I'll be able to pull in to the front section, get out and then close it up with the rear. It has been a fun project but I have to stop by about 11 am when the recent temperatures start getting about the century mark. Here's some pictures.

Anaximander and fastg, A-looks like I'll be doing some re-wiring based on your suggestion. Thanks! fastg-thank you for your suggestions and cautions. Airflow is a funny thing. I flew the F4 for 10 years and that beast never encountered a molecule it didn't abuse.

MV8, I have already received my baffle material from Aircraft Spruce which I ordered about 4 days ago (the red stuff). I also started mocking up some baffles with poster board that will attach to the radiator mounts with the red stuff angling forward to seal against the nose bowl as it closes and then air pressure will force it against the inside of the nose bowl when moving. The original builder of the car, who is also a builder of experimental aircraft, had to relieve the top of the nose to clear the top of the existing radiator. I didn't notice the bump on the nose until I started down this path. I'll start taking some pics. Thanks again.

MV8, Uh oh! This is stuff I haven't even thought about as I am still learning the ins and outs of the car. Thank you for these thoughtful and interesting suggestions. I'll take a closer look at the fan shroud. What do you think of the side baffles creating a pressure cowl nose bowl approach to greatly reduce bypass air around the radiator?

Thank you for this information. I'll let you know how the baffle plan works. I was surprised that your radiator fit inside our small nose area. I expect it pretty much fills up all of the available space... which should be good in that there will be very little incoming air bypassing the radiator.

Anaximander, Your build is looking great! What radiator are you using? I'm having some cooling challenges with my Ecoboost Stalker in this Texas summer. My radiator dimensions are 14.5" wide, 16.5" high and 3.5" deep. There is about 4-5" of open space on the sides of the radiator where incoming air can bypass the radiator. The top and bottom are pretty snug. My first step will be to fab some baffles to block air from bypassing the radiator on the sides and create a semi-pressure nose bowl similar to a recip aircraft cowling. My objective is to force most, if not all, of the incoming air through the radiator. If that doesn't help I may be looking for a larger radiator.

That's encouraging news about your car! My Iron Butt (1000 miles minimum in 24 hours with documentation) of 1120-ish miles took just over 18. I didn't ride it for 2 days after I got there. It was as close as I've ever come to a case of terminal "monkey butt".

UglyFast - Are you waiting on a kit delivery or looking for one to buy? I'll have to "man up" to drive my Stalker from Texas to Western North Carolina. Maybe in the Fall. I did do an "Iron Butt" from Fort Worth to Banner Elk, NC on a BMW GS some years ago but... that was few years ago. With children and grandchildren at least 9 hours East of here I've started looking at the trailer option for long hauls. I know, I know, even I used to make fun of guys trailering their Harleys as I passed them on my bike with "Ride it or sell it!" Age will do that.

Did you fab the carbon fiber guards or purchase somewhere?

I've spent considerable amount of time in western NC where my parents used to live in Banner Elk and my brother and sister-in-law still live in Valle Crucis, just outside of Boone, NC. I've ridden many of the local roads in that area on a motorcycle that are little traveled and unless you need to check the box , get the t shirt or buy the bumpersticker, I'd stay away from the traffic jam that Deals Gap and the other "famous" ones have become. I rode the stretch from Linville to Blowing Rock one day and didn't see another vehicle the whole way. One man's opinion.

Bought it!

@Anaximander - That is a good looking M-Spec and I really like the way you have installed the seats. I also like the cleanness of your dash/instrument panel and boot cover. Are those Stalker items or did you build them yourself? I'm guessing the white one is the new build AXR attack weapon. I'm looking forward to seeing you in action when it is complete. What drivetrain combination are you planning on using?

@Anaximander, Based on your BAT comments I've already been cruising the Summit Racing site in the seats section. Thank you for the suggestion. The good news also is that we have a huge Summit retail store in Arlington about 20 minutes from my house. It's a very bad place for a car geek to visit.

Greetings all! As a BAT neophyte I purchased the green Stalker, Ford Ecoboost several days ago. I first saw the car after its run on Cars and Bids and while it does not quite have the classic look of the other Lotus 7 variants I thought it was a distinct "American Hot Rod" take on the basic Seven. The components of the build are very strong and the chassis/suspension design by Scott Minehart, the builder of the Stalker kits, is very advanced. I took a ride with Dennis Brunton years ago in one of the original V6 GM supercharged cars, was very impressed with the performance and have been following the Stalker threads off and on ever since. Before bidding I was able to talk with the lister, Doug, and the builder about the car and they were both very open and forthcoming about the build and the features of the car. After considering the engine (310 hp and approximately 350 ftlb) and the weight 1650ish lbs it looked like car with potential performance approaching a Caterham 620. No sequential transmission of course but ballpark power to weight. I've been interested in these cars for years and I've given up motorcycles after riding since I was 14 in Florida so this looked like a good place to put my bid in. The basic raw intensity of these cars is very appealing and it should be here in Texas (out of the snow) in a week or so. I think I'll be very pleased with the purchase. Oh yes, there is a Cobb Accessport that comes with the car. I'll take some time to get used to the car before that gets plugged in but nothing succeeds like excess.

Just bought this BAT listed Stalker with a Ford Ecoboost 4 yesterday and am looking forward to getting it home to Texas. Thanks to Doug, the owner/lister and the builder for making this very interesting car available. The builder is an EAA member/builder and also a multi-kit car builder. His craftsmanship looks excellent and I'm looking forward to enjoying the results of his attention to detail. More to follow after some road time. I'll also document the registration process here in Texas for those who may be interested.