Brunton StalkerXL #23 Build

[jevs]

Unless someone makes me a realistic offer, I am going to try to squeeze it in. It is really a bad time with our house being for sale currently and trying to prep land and plan out a new house among our other life duties. We will see how it goes.

[jevs]

I cut the clearance holes in the tunnel panel for the magnets today.

The magnets are from K&J Magnetics, Inc.

D92-N52 N52 Rare Earth Neodymium Magnet 9/16" Dia. x 1/8" Thick Nickel Plated

I marked all the locations on the tunnel panel and the arm rest plate. The tunnel panel clearance holes are drilled to the 5/8" step of a step bit.

I drilled countersunk holes into the arm rest plate so that the epoxy could flow up through and also create a mechanical bond. The "nub" can be sanded off when everything hardens.

Everything was sanded where the epoxy is going to connect including the spacers.

Spacers had to be made for the magnets because the spacing was larger towards the rear. The magnets were sanded on the sides and top and then stuck to the frame centered in the clearance holes.

 

Slivers of the material I am using to cover the panel were taped to the top of the tunnel panel to create the proper spacing for when the material is wrapped around the arm rest panel.

Everything was epoxied and then held down lightly with some boards. I want to make sure the magnets can reach when I am all done.

Hopefully not too much worked its way down and it doesn't get stuck to the frame.

Edited March 28, 2016 by jevs

[comley]

Great to see XL #23's build on the move again. It really is amazing how much time these projects eat up and it's especially hard now that spring is here and there are so many other things waiting for one's attention. I'm following your handbrake install with interest as I am about to tackle the same thing on Classic R #27.

 

-Dave

[jevs]

It would have been done tonight except for some reason the exposed portion of the cable is 1-1/8" too short. I suspect someone made a mistake, because I sent a diagram of exactly what was needed. I have to get that rectified tomorrow, but it appears the setup is going to work well. These cables are heavy duty.

[jevs]

Finished the tunnel armrest panel except for the upholstery part. The magnets work perfect. I sanded off the excess epoxy that flowed through the countersunk holes and added a little more epoxy around the magnets for extra strength and to encapsulate the spacers and look cleaner. Now this can easily be removed with only two screws (the right side boot bezel screws). There will be no other visible fasteners or anything to irritate your arm. I made it a little longer in the front to also hide the panel joint between the tunnel panel and the shifter panel.

 

I fit my parking brake cables but discovered they made the exposed portion of the cable too short. I will post pictures of those once I get the corrected cables. I did have to drill out the tapped hole on the caliper bracket. Since the cables use a double nut so you can adjust it in and out, this did not need to be threaded. It should have just been a 1/2" clearance hole. Easy fix to just drill it out with a 1/2" bit.

 

I needed to put a rear wheel on to check clearance for the cables. I thought I would snap a couple shots with the wheels on one side just for the heck of it.

[jevs]

Finished the arm rest panel.

[jevs]

Started on the shifter. The Brunton shifter stick has a 1/2"-13 threaded hole for the shift knob, but the knob on the parts list when I purchased has a smaller threaded hole. So, the first thing I had to do is make an adapter. I just cut a bolt down on the lathe and cut some threads the old fashioned way. Works perfect.

[jevs]

I removed the shifter plate because it has to be flipped and the shifter rod has to be modified.

The Tremec emblem was sanded off so the shifter plate can set flat. I considered using washers to space it up, but I thought this was slightly better than fiddling with spacers between and it gives more contact area for rigidity.

The sealant was cleaned off the transmission and the shifter plate.

The shifter rod assembly was removed because it needs to be cut down, milled, and a new hole drilled.

It was cut off just at the bottom of the lower hole.

[jevs]

The shift rod needs to end up with about .260 thickness to fit perfect in the shift rod adapter clasp with no slop. I actually went a couple thousandths more for mine. I believe the spec is 1/4", but you want this as close as possible. Squeezing it with the bolt will take up slop, but the more you pull, the less of the surfaces are in actual contact.

I used a ball mill to do this, but that turned out to be a waste of time. The rod needs more room and the radius gets in the way. I ended up grinding and filing more off by hand to get adequate clearance. I did not want to measure and clamp everything back up in the mill. I would advise just using a regular end mill with a tiny radius on the edge instead. It is tricky that you do not take too much off because you need the rubber boot to stay lower than your cut.

The hole is drilled 3/8".

I sanded the top off just to the point that the original lower bolt hole threads disappeared.

I sanded the weld on the bottom of the linkage rod so that it is gently on the rubber boot if it makes contact on the top.

[jevs]

The shifter seems to work very well. This is definitely the least expensive method to relocate the shifter and it seems to work just as good as the more expensive methods I have seen.

I looked pretty hard for awhile, because this assembly was not available, but did not find any other aftermarket ones that put it in the same location as this one and they were all very expensive. Brunton came through eventually and because I waited so long they sent it at no charge which was nice of them.

I will need to seal the shift plate on final assembly after everything gets coated. I am replacing the bolts with longer ones where the plate goes. I only had two, so I have to pick up a couple more.

[jevs]

Installed the shift boot into the tunnel plate. I did not like the look of the polished stainless panel because the bottom side of the punched part is the side they polished. This looks a bit cheep because the edges curve up. I flipped it over and made a brushed finish on the other other side which I prefer.

 

The back edge of the plate and the rubber boot had to be trimmed to get the boot centered on the shifter. This allows it to kind of tuck under the lip of the arm rest a bit.

 

The screws that the shift boot comes with are pretty cheap looking screws that would likely rust if they got wet. I replaced them with stainless button heads and used stainless nylock nuts on the other side. Removing the shift boot would not give you access to much, so anytime access is needed you would most likely just pop the whole panel off instead.

 

The rubber of this boot is super flexible and not real thick. Some stock rubber boots I have seen in OEM car shift setups can actually cause pop outs in cold weather, this one has very little resistance to movement.