jevs Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 (edited) Hood hinges installed. Stainless steel pin fabricated. I decided to make a long single pin instead of two. I also used it to keep the hinges in line with each other for welding. This is faster to remove. Everything is nice and snug. Nothing to rattle. I positioned everything so there would be a tiny bit of tension. I decided to not use the round rubber buttons on the scuttle. The scuttle needs to support the hood all the way around or it is never going to be positioned correctly. The lip does not match the hood no matter what you do. It only touches in the center and maybe down by the frame rails. The corners are a 1/4" + away. So, instead of fighting this further, I ground all the gel coat off the lip with a wire wheel and I will re-fiberglass this to match the hood perfect once I get my 1/16" thick 1/2" wide adhesive backed neoprene seal. I will put the seal on the hood and then build the glass up to match. Later, I will put the seal on the scuttle, but I need it on the hood to get the gap just right. I also straightened up the lip of the front opening to make it consistently wide. I did notice that the flare on the passenger side was much wider than the drivers side. I cut down the passenger one to match the drivers. I will have to glass the bottom outer edge and then round it off to match the other side better. The hood and scuttle are requiring more work than I had hoped. There will be a lot of surface straightening to get a slick finish even after this is all done. Worst part of building a car.....I am ready to go back to mechanical stuff, but this has to be done sooner or later. Edited November 13, 2014 by jevs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 (edited) Made pieces to weld on the frame so the bottom hood clamp holes have something to fasten into . . . . Lookings god, jevs. Those tabs for the hood latches bring back memories. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=7904&g2_page=3 . . . . . :cheers: Edited November 13, 2014 by xcarguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 How do you like your hood props? That is something I thought a tiny bit about, but will have to figure out soon. One thing about the hood, it is rock solid now when closed, but as soon as you open it, its a wet noodle. You almost need to be able to hold it in the rear center and reach both prop rods. If you grab just one side and lift, it really twists a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 How do you like your hood props? That is something I thought a tiny bit about, but will have to figure out soon. One thing about the hood, it is rock solid now when closed, but as soon as you open it, its a wet noodle. You almost need to be able to hold it in the rear center and reach both prop rods. If you grab just one side and lift, it really twists a lot. jevs, The hood supports work well but aren’t ideal for the application. As you know, the Stalker hoods are large and, yes, they ALL do flex when raised; inherent in the design. Being that my hood props pivot on a ball joint, this allows the hood to flex laterally when raised; okay as long as the wind isn’t blowing. It’s simply something I’ve found easy to live with; at least for me anyway. One positive of the props is that they are small, compact and out of the way when secured. Another is that they secure to hood from inadvertently tilting forward once latched to the hood. If I were building a new car, I would research and find something (prop wise) that gave good lateral support with the hood raised as well as locks it in place once up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 jevs, The hood supports work well but aren’t ideal for the application. As you know, the Stalker hoods are large and, yes, they ALL do flex when raised; inherent in the design. Being that my hood props pivot on a ball joint, this allows the hood to flex laterally when raised; okay as long as the wind isn’t blowing. It’s simply something I’ve found easy to live with; at least for me anyway. One positive of the props is that they are small, compact and out of the way when secured. Another is that they secure to hood from inadvertently tilting forward once latched to the hood. If I were building a new car, I would research and find something (prop wise) that gave good lateral support with the hood raised as well as locks it in place once up. Great info, that saves me from realizing those facts when it is too late. I will stay away from ball connections based on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toedrag Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 What about one or two 20 lb (or less) pneumatic hood struts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 I will be staying away from gas struts. Nothing but trouble. Been there, done that on a couple other cars. I will come up with a rigid light setup... Potential problems with gas charged ones: Pressure when closed can move the fiberglass or make bulges, cause cracks, etc. Gas eventually leaks and then they don't hold or provide much lift help. More expensive than a metal rod of some sort Harder to close and again flexes the fiberglass when you do. Have to get the PSI and mechanics just right or they will be too strong or too week to hold it open. Unless you get the type that have a pull release lock built into them (More expensive), then you cannot lock it open and a strong wind can do nasty things. Most of them ball mount, although this could be changed. Could be heavier setup. Anyway, there are probably some other down sides, but that's the quick ones I can think of. I like a nice prop rod for reliability and simplicity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Great info, that saves me from realizing those facts when it is too late. I will stay away from ball connections based on this. Some food for thought: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=17196 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13915 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13913 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13928 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=14071 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=14079 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOTTTCAR Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 I had Brunton add a very heavy couple of layers of 90 degree glass on the inside bottom of the hood where the hinges are bolted. It's the same stuff they use for extra structure in glass boats, very stiff.... 1 prop in the wind is no problem now but I still use 2. I will do the same on the XL. Gale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) I got the new fuel pump fittings today. The original fuel system design goes up and down from -6 to -8 throughout the system. I am reducing it to less fittings and just making it -8 for the whole system. It wasn't any more expensive than -6 stuff really and the less fittings the cleaner it will look. The most restriction in the system will be the fuel pump itself. I doubt I will ever need an upgrade, but if I did, just a fuel pump swap would do the trick. However my main point is to let anyone know that might have got the -6 fittings from Brunton for the fuel pump, that you should consider drilling those out. You can see how much more restrictive they are than the new fittings I got. Also, the Brunton ones are steel so they don't need near that much meat anyway unless you plan to run a 5000psi fuel system Might as well let it flow some more for free. Edited November 15, 2014 by jevs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 Got some fuel parts from summit. The pre filter is very nice quality. It has a 100 micron stainless filter with a lot of area. The -8 fittings for my fuel pump that I got from http://www.gsl392.com were junk and ruined a $16 Earls fitting. I found some black ones and ordered them instead. I did not want blue anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Moved past the hood for now since I am waiting on that rubber strip. As far as I can tell it still has not shipped. I got a good amount done on the pedals. I did some research on optimal spacing which consumed some of my work time. I looked up several pedal sets from Tilton, Wilwood, and a couple others. I came to the conclusion that a good averaged of what I was seeing would be about 4" or a little over for center to center spacing between the clutch and brake. On the regular size frames Brunton runs the clutch at a little bit of an angle along the outside frame rail to get more spacing. This is not required on the XL. I put the clutch all the way to the left and then backed it over just about 1/16-1/8" from touching the frame. I put it straight. I used one of my daily worn shoes to make sure I had plenty of clearance. Everything worked out nice on the clutch to put it through the aluminum panel and the reservoir had plenty of room on the master cylinder. This area will be sealed up nice. There will be a hole for the brake rod that I have not made yet. I got the brake linkage all done except I have to make a spacer where the heim bolts to the rod that goes up. I also have to drill the hole in the brake pedal. I quit for the night at that point. I need to finish up those couple things with the brake and then I will do the throttle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 I got my PTFE fuel line and some more fittings. I also got the pressure testing kit for -8 AN. I decided to go with the Canton 12 ORB to -8 AN fittings instead of getting the Fragola ones. In talking with Canton they warned that some of the other brand fittings may hit or get too close to the filter elements and smash into it or reduce flow. I would have rather had black, but I did not want to end up having to machine them down if they were too long. I also got the same alternator plug that toedrag found. It fits great, but the only down side is that there is no sealing on the back side. It has an o-ring seal on the mating side. This will have to be sealed up to keep moisture out. I am not sure if I will just fill it with black RTV, or do something else. I also got a new 90º elbow since the first fuel pump fittings I ordered where machined poorly and messed mine up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 I spent all of last night working up some proper fastening of the brake assembly. I machined some spacers to fit the pedal and got it setup so that everything is nice and snug with no sloppy fitting parts. I made the spacers and the hole in the pedal so the bolt shoulder is a very light interference fit (spacers and pedal hole same ID as bolt should OD, no slop). I cut a longer bolt down so that the shoulder would be longer. I also machined some spacers to use on the rod to the booster side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 I drilled the rod out that goes up to the booster and welded the spacer through it. This way the bolts and the heim all fasten together like they should. The way it was supposed to be just puts a bolt through with a washer on each side of the round tube. This makes it so you cannot tighten everything or the tube would crush, so you would have to leave it loose. This setup is rock solid and should never give me any wear issues or come loose or get sloppy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 I have been working on the throttle setup for quite some time. I decided I did not want to use the supplied setup for various reasons. I wanted to retain the same arc location and movement of the stock C6 pedal. I also wanted to utilize the stock rotating pedal. I like it a lot better than that small stationary pad. I started thinking about the way I drive and the way my foot moves and the angled stock rotating pedal just makes more sense. There are also options later to replace the plastic part with a nicer aluminum part if I ever wanted. I started by doing some measuring of the stock pedal and making a paper trace of the shape. I then went ahead and cut the stock pedal. I rebuilt the pedal assembly to be shaped like the original with the same distance between the pivot point and the pivot point of the plastic pedal. I also made it straight without the jog. I added a bushing at the top pivot point. I machined some outer bushings and side plates to make a bracket. It was also necessary to weld spacers into the frame at the pedal mounting points so you can tighten things down properly and not squish the square tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevs Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) Here is the pedal bracket. It is very solid and works very smooth. I have to order some proper length fasteners. I rigged up a pseudo heim joint to experiment with travel and pressure. I am using a cheap Wal-Mart fish scale to measure the pedal effort. The stock setup was 4.5-5 lbs at full throttle with the scale hooked to the hole down by the pedal. I am going to try to stay close to 5-6 lbs and get about 3" of travel. Stock was around 2.5". Plenty of people are running high horsepower cars with stock travel and I never hear them complain. I think more than 3" might just make more work for your foot and put it in more angles. More movement is slower, but you have to find the happy balance of control and ergonomics. I welded a long piece to the sensor stub. I am not sure where the sensor is going to end up yet. I am now working on proper placement of a connecting joint and the up/down position of the sensor. Having to clamp things up and mock it up with this much pressure is tough. I probably need to go ahead and tack a plate in for the sensor so it is more solid than holding one tab with vice grips. The other challenge is that there aren't really any heims short enough. I did figure out a way I can cut a heim and make a really short one that is still adjustable. I will just have to order another one. The one I bought for the original setup has an aluminum threaded rod and I need steel so I can cut and weld on it easier. Edited November 24, 2014 by jevs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toedrag Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Here is the pedal bracket. It is very solid and works very smooth. I have to order some proper length fasteners. I rigged up a pseudo heim joint to experiment with travel and pressure. I am using a cheap Wal-Mart fish scale to measure the pedal effort. The stock setup was 4.5-5 lbs at full throttle with the scale hooked to the hole down by the pedal. I am going to try to stay close to 5-6 lbs and get about 3" of travel. Stock was around 2.5". Plenty of people are running high horsepower cars with stock travel and I never hear them complain. I think more than 3" might just make more work for your foot and put it in more angles. More movement is slower, but you have to find the happy balance of control and ergonomics. I welded a long piece to that sensor stub. I am not sure where the sensor is going to end up yet. I am now working on proper placement of a connecting joint and the up/down position of the sensor. Having to clamp things up and mock it up with this much pressure is tough. I probably need to go ahead and tack a plate in for the sensor so it is more solid than holding one tab with vice grips. Wow!! Nicely done! Looking forward to the final results. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOTTTCAR Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I did a similar thing on mine. I originally just wanted to keep the throttle assembly in the foot well. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=20898 John Meyers had suggested that I use 4 inches of travel to make the car more controllable coming out of a corner. So I worked it in to the design. It makes it nessary to add a spring for more tension of course, but the result was well worth it. It makes feathering in 500+ hp a very smooth intuitive operation. By that I mean you can hold it on the edge of traction with out having to work at it .....accelerating or exiting a corner. Gale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toedrag Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Has either of you talked to Brunton yet about this alternative design? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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