Brunton Stalker XL #22 Build

[toedrag]

I did my own on a 2014 AXR but this might not apply to all Stalkers

 

Thx. I found the one from Brunton, and it seems to match what my car is doing. For those unaware, the different tables below represent different holes/mounting points on the rockers, which translates to different motion ratios between the wheels & dampers. In each table, the left column represents how much the wheel is moving up (as in, the first inch, second inch, etc.) and the right column represents the change in the damper stroke:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28244&g2_serialNumber=1

Edited January 16, 2015 by toedrag

[toedrag]

Did some rough wiring for the alternator. It's a multi-wire alternator with the following functions: Excite, Sense, Alarm, and Battery.

 

The harness from Current Performance Wiring contained the Excite wire, but unlike all the other wires in their harness, the Excite wire had no wrap or split loom once it exited the main harness. It was literally just a brown wire dangling in free space - it was quite odd, really. I guess I don't know if it was Current Performance Wiring or Brunton that left the wire this way.

 

I decided to reroute the Excite wire since the other three alternator wires were taking a different path through the car. This meant I had to find where the Excite wire went in the harness.

 

Initially, I thought that it came from the ECU after I checked some generic E38 pinouts and found the Charge control pin. However, that pin wasn't terminated on the ECU connector on my harness, which really confused me.

 

To confuse me further, I got out my handy dandy toner/tracer tool mentioned previously to find where the Excite wire went. Surprisingly, about 1 foot inward from the point where it exited the harness, my toner lost the signal completely. After replacing the batteries, checking my connections, I decided to open up the harness to investigate.

 

What I found is that the brown Excite wire is tee'd off a pink wire that ends up at the 7-pin coil pack connector on the driver's side, which turns out to be Ignition voltage for the coil packs. When I checked continuity between the Excite wire and that pin on the connector, which I assumed would be a dead short, it was ~480 ohms. So, it would seem that the Excite wire in this harness is simply Ignition voltage with a 470-ohm current limiting resistor. The 470 ohm resistor is why my toner lost the signal; it simply couldn't handle that much attenuation.

 

I gave the Excite wire a little u-turn in the harness so that it could flow back to the opposite side of the car and join up with my main wire bus that runs along the passenger side lower frame rail. In the picture below, you can sort of make out the profile of the resistor under the giant heat shrink tube.

 

I think I'm all done with engine harness modifications, thankfully.

 

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28248&g2_serialNumber=4

[toedrag]

I received my replacement pushrods, aka swage tubes, aka adjuster rods for the front & rear, and I was elated that the ride height is 6 1/4" in the front & 6 3/8" in the rear with plenty of thread engagement for future adjustments. That's also with zero preload on all springs. After the swap, there was only one phrase that came to my mind:

 

 

--

 

Made good progress on the rear fenders, and I found fitting the rear fenders to be frustrating & incredibly time consuming. Re-shaping each fender's arc took 2-4 hours per fender. Then, as you can see in the following pictures, on each end of the fender, the arc straightens out towards the bottom. It was challenging to try to maintain symmetry of the point where it straightens out vs where the fender would eventually be trimmed flush. Plus, the attachment points to the car aren't quite coplanar, which means the fender twists as it's clamped down. The twisting action changes the gap to the tire. You can hopefully now imagine how much adjusting & reclamping was required; it felt like an insane amount to me.

 

Re-shaping the arc on the outer lip:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28250&g2_serialNumber=3

 

 

Fitted to the body with 4 clecos:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28252&g2_serialNumber=2

 

Trimmed flush with the bottom. Trimming was straightforward with a level, coping saw, oscillating multi-tool, and palm sander:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28254&g2_serialNumber=2

 

Front view:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28256&g2_serialNumber=2

 

I'll probably round off each inward facing corner, but I decided to first get both fenders attached and then decide on the radius for the corner...still have the passenger side to trim flush. [EDIT]: I also have a little fine trimming to do on the rear bodywork where it comes up the side of the car and exits in front of the fender. You can see it sticking out in the picture immediately above where the clamp is [/EDIT]

 

After that, I'll do a little electrical work before gathering some courage to start working on the windshield template & hard top.

Edited January 22, 2015 by toedrag

[Automoda]

I'd cut an angle starting from the body and moving upward to the edge by the wheel. Just a couple inches of angle there will do a lot to help the fender look better. My Birkin does that, and I have to say Birkin did a great job in adding very subtle angles and tapers to improve the looks of that fender. What we 7ers have to try to avoid is the "trailer fender" look. Birkin angles the front fenders leading edge quite a bit and I like that too.

[HOTTTCAR]

How does the fender fit up against the back of rear clip. Any pics?

To looks like your fender extends beyond the rear clip, but that may just be the angle that the shot was taken from.

Gale

[toedrag]

I'd cut an angle starting from the body and moving upward to the edge by the wheel. Just a couple inches of angle there will do a lot to help the fender look better. My Birkin does that, and I have to say Birkin did a great job in adding very subtle angles and tapers to improve the looks of that fender. What we 7ers have to try to avoid is the "trailer fender" look. Birkin angles the front fenders leading edge quite a bit and I like that too.

 

I've seen that before; it's definitely an option.

 

How does the fender fit up against the back of rear clip. Any pics?

To looks like your fender extends beyond the rear clip, but that may just be the angle that the shot was taken from.

Gale

 

Also cut flush. I can take a picture of it if you like.

[HOTTTCAR]

A picture would be great.

Thanks

Gale

[HOTTTCAR]

A picture would be great.

Thanks

Gale

[toedrag]

A picture would be great.

Thanks

Gale

 

Here you go. Sorry about the tilted camera.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28260&g2_serialNumber=2

[toedrag]

Been working on the terminating wires at the fuse panels. Here's what I'm using:

 

Bussmann fuse panels, Metri-Pack 280 sealed tangless female terminals, cable seals, wire stripper, crimper, and Metri-Pack 280 terminal removal tool.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28266&g2_serialNumber=2

 

I was stalled for a few days earlier in the week because I originally ordered the wrong terminals, which were unsealed and had a tang. Once I tried installing the first terminal, it was clear something was wrong; I found my way to the the Bussmann fuse panel datasheet where I saw the detail I had missed. They call for *tangless* terminals. I ordered the correct terminals and received them today. The differences in the terminals I bought can be seen below:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28264&g2_serialNumber=2

 

If anyone wants more detail on this, such as part numbers, I'll be happy to share them.

[toedrag]

Took a few days' vacation to the Everglades National Park & Florida Keys and had a wonderful time. The Anhinga Trail in the park has a tremendous amount of wildlife. We also did a guided backcountry boat tour (pontoon boat, not an air boat) from the Flamingo visitor center. Lots of manatee at the Flamingo marina. That Manchineel Tree that they have in that area is one crazy dangerous tree - wikipedia link Our favorite meal in the Keys was at a restaurant called Lazy Days in Islamorada - great food and a great view. Great beach at the Bahia Honda state park.

 

Back to car talk...

 

I'm mostly done running wires on the chassis & under the scuttle; I finished terminating wires at the fuse panels & terminal blocks. The ring terminals I'm using throughout the car have a brazed seam and have internal serrations to hold the wire, and the heat shrink is adhesive lined with .06" thick wall after shrinking. Both the ring terminals & heat shrink are higher quality and less expensive than what you can usually find at the local electronics shop. Got 'em from Digikey.

 

I've also been trying to organize the rat's nest of loose wires under the scuttle into nice looking bundles. Man, that takes a long time and is pretty tiring on the legs and back since the car is on the ground and requires constant bending over.

 

Got the Penta-Star turn signal & brake light module wired in; I chose to just hardwire it instead of using a junction connector. A trick I found when splicing multiple wires is to stagger the splices by 1/2" or so; this minimizes the bulge created by the heat shrink (9 wires on that module to hook up). The module is hanging skewed in the picture because it's currently only supported by an adel clamp on the wire bundle. For final install, I'll use the supplied double-sided adhesive pad. At the terminal blocks, I'll remove the blue painter's tape labels after testing each circuit.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28282&g2_serialNumber=2

 

More electrical in the coming days. Have more to bundling to do under the scuttle and then will move onto terminating & testing the various devices.

[powderbrake]

Try using plastic tie wraps to create the bundles as you do the wiring. You end up cutting off the tie wraps as you add wires, then add a new tie wrap. I bet I used over 200 tie wraps wiring my dash, but it came out well.

[toedrag]

Try using plastic tie wraps to create the bundles as you do the wiring. You end up cutting off the tie wraps as you add wires, then add a new tie wrap. I bet I used over 200 tie wraps wiring my dash, but it came out well.

 

I've ended up using the electrical tape in the same way. Lots of taping, cutting, & re-taping. My floor is littered with little tape fragments.

 

I thought I had some spare velcro straps to use as temporary ties, but I could never find them and wasn't motivated to buy some. In retrospect, I wish I had simply because it would be much faster to make adjustments to the bundle. I need to make a trip to the HW store for a hole saw for my speedo, so I may look for some.

[toedrag]

While fitting a metri-pack GT 150 connector onto the Miata brake master cylinder's brake fluid magnetic float switch, I noticed that the resistance was different than the expected Normally Open behavior. Instead of being an open circuit when the switch was inactive, the resistance was 500 ohms. When the switch was active, it was a short circuit. This wouldn't have worked with my dash because it would result in the indicator being lit all the time. Not to be deterred, I found the easiest of workarounds: simply take apart the switch and remove the 500 ohm resistor. Sorry about the over exposure from the flash.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28288&g2_serialNumber=2

[toedrag]

Over the last several days, I've been making additional changes to the engine harness to clean up the routing. All of the engine harness wires are now exposed. Thinking back to when I test fit the engine harness for the first time, for whatever reason, I had assumed that the harness was custom-fit to the Stalker, mostly because the harness was created by Custom Performance Wiring, who can do custom harness builds. Now, I realize that's not the case, and I'm really not sure for what vehicle this engine harness was designed. When researching this build last summer, it was readily apparent that I'd be on my own with chassis wiring, based on the lack of any build videos or write-ups on the electrical system. It just never occurred to me that the engine harness would follow suit.

 

Don't get me wrong, I haven't been upset or discouraged by this at all. Quite the contrary, I've thoroughly enjoyed all the electrical work, despite the tired legs, back, and occasional wrecked fingertips. I bring this up to hopefully set the proper expectations to others out there. If I were to do it again, the only real time and/or comfort savings might have been to go ahead and remove all the corrugated tubing from the engine harness before the first test fit; it's a bit annoying to do it in-situ. I suppose it might be also be possible to re-route some of the wires with the harness on the floor, but obviously trimming or extending various wires would require the harness to be on the car or jig. If I remember, when I remove the harness during disassembly, I'll trace the various wires on some cardboard for future reference.

 

Here's the list of what I've changed on the engine harness so far. I wish I had a good 'before' picture:

 

• To get a little more slack between the driver & passenger bundles, cut & extend a black wire & a pink wire. (Once the big split loom has been opened up, it should be obvious which wires need to be adjusted).
  
• Reverse Lockout harness --> Extend 12"
  
• VSS harness --> delete Delphi Metri-pack connector and wire in Ford connector
  
• Backup lamp harness --> Extend 12"
  
• Throttle pedal harness --> delete 6-pin junction connector, re-route, and shorten
  
• Engine Control Breakout (Tach, Speed, CEL, etc) --> delete 6-pin junction connector & extend
  
• ECU Pwr, Starter Solenoid, Crankshaft sensor, passenger side Knock Sensor --> re-route and shorten. As the harness comes from Current Performance Wiring, this bundle runs along the passenger side cylinder head along with the injector wires, and then exits on the front side of the engine where it then loops and runs rearwards to be connected to the target device. I re-routed these down behind the engine on the passenger side.
  
  • The engine harness's main power wire is an 8 gauge with a 3.0 sq mm fusible link (slightly smaller than 12 gauge) prior to a ring terminal. By re-routing this line, I should be able to trim off about 3' of the 8 gauge wire and can likely re-use it for either the alternator feed or my main fuse panel feed.
    
  • The starter solenoid wire appears to be a 12 gauge wire, and my starter's solenoid terminal is a #10 stud (the *one* ring terminal & gauge combination I didn't buy...back to Digikey)
    

   

  [*]OBD2 harness --> re-route and extend by ~3 feet. Had to twist the High & Low data wires; a drill comes in handy here.

  [*]O2 harness (passenger) --> re-route & shorten

  [*]O2 harness (driver) --> re-route. Shorten the engine side harness. Extend the sensor harness. This allows the junction connector to sit in a spot where it's out of the way of the brake pedal linkage.

  • Note that the sensor harness was a little tricky. The insulation seemed to challenge my wire strippers on occasion. The bare wires had a finish that prevented solder from sticking, but after applying a tiny bit of flux, all was well.
    

   

  [*]MAF harness --> shorten

  [*]Oil Pressure harness --> re-route & shorten.

  [*]Camshaft sensor, driver side Knock Sensor harness --> re-route & shorten. Similar to the bundle on the passenger side, this bundle runs along the driver side cylinder head along with the injector wires, and then exits on the front side of the engine where it then loops and runs backwards to be connected to the target device. I re-routed them down behind the engine on the driver side.

  [*]Alternator Excite --> re-route & extend.

 

 

I've said it before, but I really mean it this time: I think I'm done with wiring changes to the engine harness. At this point, the only reason I should have to dive back in will be to rework an error (knock on wood).

 

Passenger side view of the main chassis wiring bundle. The ECT label you see is for a sensor that I added to feed my dash; the hole in the head is plugged from GM, but it's easy to remove to add another ECT sensor. The ECU's ECT sensor is in the usual LS location near the front of the engine on the driver's side.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28290&g2_serialNumber=2

 

Test fit the speedometer in the dash. The arc on the left marks the top of the steering wheel as seen by the driver. The steering wheel looks funny in this picture because the heim joint isn't connected, so the steering wheel is hanging low:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28292&g2_serialNumber=4

[toedrag]

Picture of previous work showing driver side engine harness re-routing. Note that the ECT wire on the left actually comes from the upper engine harness bundle. It's hanging down low because the upper bundle is just laying askew on top of the engine. The ECT wire doesn't come from the lower bundle, as this picture might lead you to believe. I wish I had noticed it before snapping the picture, and I would have tossed it out of the way:

 

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28294&g2_serialNumber=3

 

I also cut the hole for the main wire bundle to pass through the tunnel top and encountered a happy accident. (Background: I'm sure no one remembers, but due to my car being an XL and the build video I was following targeted a standard M-spec, my tunnel top ended up too short; I added an extension which meant the tunnel top was then a two-piece element. I had been toying with the idea of re-doing the tunnel top as a single piece). The happy accident was that I was able to cut an opposing u-shaped notch in each of the two tunnel top pieces so that when they come together, they form a nice circle around the bundle. I made the hole 1/8" larger all the way around to accommodate a grommet, weatherstripping, foam, etc.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28296&g2_serialNumber=3

 

 

Thx to a child-less Sunday morning, I tested my lights & wiring before I close up the wire bundle with convoluted tubing, aka split loom, aka corrugated tubing

 

The two big circular lights are 3-function from Maxxima: Stop/Turn, Reverse, and Tail lights. The long skinny rectangular light is the 3rd Brake & Tail light, also from Maxxima. The small light between the cleco pliers & wire stripper is the license plate light, from ebay.

 

The Stop/Turn function is driven by the Penta-Star turn signal module. The turn signal inputs to the module are driven by two buttons mounted to the steering wheel.

 

Yes, those are wire nuts you see connecting the wires together. I'm only using them temporarily for this test. Wires will be terminated the proper way for the final installation.

 

Edited February 16, 2015 by toedrag

[toedrag]

Placed some orders with Aircraft Spruce for adel clamps and McMaster for sheet metal screws, windshield weatherstripping, hard top latches, and high temp convoluted tubing for the engine harness.

 

On the rear chassis wiring, I poked holes in the rear body for the STTR (Stop/Turn, Tail, Reverse) lights, license plate light, and license plate. Originally, I had planned to put the STTR lights in the rear fenders, but after a wifey consult, we liked them on the main rear bodywork. Mostly, it was aesthetics from wifey's opinion, and for me, it simplifies the wiring plus there is less worrying about debris kicked up from the tires. Filed under 'happy accident' with the position of the STTR lights, the inner of three mounting screws lined up in front of a frame tube, which meant each light gets a solid mounting point and the body gets another solid mounting point. Neither is really necessary, but it doesn't hurt.

 

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28317&g2_serialNumber=2

 

In the middle of routing the wires:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28310&g2_serialNumber=3

 

I wired the aforementioned lights into the chassis harness, ran & terminated ground wires, covered the bundle in the convoluted tubing, and drilled mounting holes for clamps/ground points. Did the same for the remainder of the rear chassis wiring: fuel level sender, fuel pump, and parking brake switch. Very happy to say that the rear chassis wiring is done, except for the 3rd brake light because I have to get some mounting tabs welded to the roll bar before finishing it up. Looking at my build log, it looks like everything described in this post took about 10 hours.

 

Here is the completed harness all buttoned up inside the convoluted tubing. I would have shown the completed harness all routed nicely with clamps, but the larger ones I ordered to fit around the tubing haven't shown up yet due to the inclement weather in TX.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28314&g2_serialNumber=2

 

I'm really getting close to having all the *known* holes drilled in the chassis, which is a wonderful thought to have.

 

Up next, I'll take a break from electrical and will work on the prop rods and windshield + hard top.

[xcarguy]

Looking good, toe.......Cresson is just around the corner.

[toedrag]

Been a while...

 

All the convoluted tubing is now installed. It's nice to finally have the engine harness buttoned back up. I'm really happy with how the engine harness turned out after all the modifications I did.

 

Lower engine harness secured to the engine with some simple aluminum brackets I made. Also shown below is one of three 8 AWG wires that connects the engine block to the frame. There is a corresponding one on the passenger side, and the last one is located at the rear of the engine, near the firewall shelf cross-member. They are all longer than necessary to allow for engine movement.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28330&g2_serialNumber=4

 

2 AWG & 8 AWG battery cables are done, except for the starter's lug for the 2 AWG cable; I'm waiting on a right angle ring terminal from Digikey.

 

The alternator's 8 AWG power wire is also sorted as shown below, and I added an 8 AWG wire from the alternator back to the block to ensure a good return path.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28332&g2_serialNumber=4

 

I'm also happy to report a few revelatory moments that have helped me move some tasks forward with which I had been struggling:

• Problem: As various elements (brake line, clutch hose, fuel hose, transmission harness) exit the engine bay and head into the tunnel, it was driving me a little crazy how I was going to keep these parts from rubbing each other, the frame, and/or the transmission. My "Ah-Ha!" moment was to fab a simple aluminum bracket that straddles the block & cylinder head.
  http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28318&g2_serialNumber=2
  
• Problem: Hard top hinges. Brunton welds on some tabs, but as I've said previously, I don't weld yet. I can't fit the hard top without having these tabs or something similar. Thankfully, I found a suitable tube clamp. It will clamp to the 1.25" diagonal support tube at the back of the roll bar, which is where the Brunton weld's the tab. The bolt acts as the pivot point. The clamp is a Kuryakyn 1003.
  http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDUwWDQ1MA==/z/WjAAAOxyVPJSKBvz/$(KGrHqN,!nsFIIr7yUp5BSKBvztOpQ~~60_35.JPG
  
• Problem: The uncompleted items on my growing welding list were creating some roadblocks for me. It occurred to me that I needed to temporarily fabricate whatever I could to help me move forward, and then the welder can quickly weld them up later. So, I bought some flat & angle steel and will be revisiting things like right angle brackets for the throttle linkage and the parking brake lever supports.
  

 

And if you're keeping score at home, this is calendar day 213 since the kit's arrival with roughly 255 build hours thus far.

[toedrag]

I revisited my parking brake lever brackets over the past week, and I'm quite pleased to report successful completion. Now, keep in mind that this is a bolt on approach because I don't weld. Later, I may or may not have a welder either weld together some of what I have or have him re-do it completely. Just depends...If I do have anything welded, I think it would only be the right-angle brackets that attach the assembly to the chassis. I like the idea of leaving the majority of the bracket removable.

 

Here's my first version:

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28344&g2_serialNumber=3

 

Once I finished with version number 1, my elation quickly turned to one of those...."uhhh, wait a minute...." moments. As I'm staring at it, I started thinking about how the seat back panel would mount with it, and it occurred to me that the bottom bolt heads would be visible, which wasn't a deal-breaker by itself. Then, it occurred to me that I'd need a giant trim ring for the boot to hide the 4 upper bolts. I felt like such a large trim ring would look a little goofy up there. So, I set version 1 aside and began version number 2.

 

I used 1/8" thick 1" & 2" steel angle. The major difference with version number 2 is that the mounting points are all hidden behind the seat back panel. Since none of the hardware will be visible, I can use a normal sized trim ring. This method also requires some steel spacers on both sides of the lever due to my usage of Lokar's electrical switch which mounts to the side of the lever. You can kind of see the back of the switch in the last picture; it's the fuzzy white-ish rectangle near the top of the picture. Without the switch, I probably could have just used a couple washers.

 

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28352&g2_serialNumber=2

 

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28348&g2_serialNumber=3

 

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28350&g2_serialNumber=3

 

As a bonus, I figured out how to route the cables. In the last picture showing the rear view of the assembly, you can see both cables heading to the lower left. That's intentional & necessary with this installation due to the geometry of the differential casing. If the passenger side caliper cable exits to the right, there is no way to secure the cable without it making contact (a lot of contact) with the differential casing. By having both cables exit the left, it's easy to secure the cables with adel clamps to the frame and leave at least 1/4" of clearance to the differential casing. The passenger side cable travels around and under the differential. The bend radii are well within the capabilities of the cable, and the action on the lever feels good.

 

My next task is to secure the cables & cut them to their final length.