Assembling the Chassis of STALKERV6 #29

Page Four

2/29/04

The clutch slave was installed after considerable research and parts hunting. I was unable to find any fittings locally that would mate with the slave cylinder and still fit within the confines of the tunnel. I bought a new "cast" cylinder but before reworking it, I decided to hack the old steel cylinder that came with the transmission. The cylinder was disassembled, cleaned and inspected. The plunger seal still looked good so I decided to try to make the cylinder serviceable. I was unable to remove the bleeder screw, but decided I would try bleeding at the hose fitting instead. The original hose fitting was welded shut, and I drilled and tapped a hole on the end of the cylinder for a 1/8" NPT adapter to an AN-3 hose fitting. An Earl's 18" AN-3 braided brake hose was connected to the cylinder, and transitioned to a 3/16" steel brake line with adapters.

I cut the end of the steel line so the threaded fitting could be removed, AN flare nut and adapter slid onto the hose and an AN 37 degree flare formed. This along with a male/male AN-3 adapter transitioned the braided hose to the metal line which then connected to the master cylinder in the same manner as the brake lines.

The clutch system was bled by holding the slave cylinder higher than the master cylinder while pumping the pedal. The fitting at the slave was loosened a few times to allow air to escape and we soon had a firm pedal. Since the original pushrod is laying on the ground somewhere at the junkyard, I made a new pushrod out of a 3/8" x 6" bolt; the head was cut off, and 4.5" of the shank was saved for the pushrod. The "new" pushrod was greased and inserted into the slave, the slave attached to the bellhousing, and we had a clutch. The old steel cylinder is working just fine so the new high doll$$$$r cylinder will be returned.

3/4/04

The past few days have seen sporadic progress since the project is now in that phase of construction where we are buried in details. Nothing drastic changes in the appearance of the car, but slowly loose ends are being pulled together.

The rear quarters now sport taillights, and a tag bracket with light. The taillights are utility units from Autozone. The rear panels were covered with masking tape, the gasket from the lights used as a template, the holes marked and a power jig saw was used to cut the holes. It was necessary to take the screws out of the rear panels so I could get access between the panel and fuel tank.

The exhaust system has been painted and installed. The scavengers are fitted with "black chrome" slashed tip tailpipes I found at Advance Auto Parts. It was necessary to cut the oil dipstick tube in two to get the left header in place. Once the header was mounted, the tube was rejoined with a piece of rubber fuel hose and a couple of clamps.

The exhaust hangers are made from a universal hanger from Advance Auto. The strap was cut in two, and a combination of 5/16" bolts and hardware was used to fasten everything together. A short length of 3/8" fuel hose serves as a standoff between the hanger and the side panel.

Not all that pretty but hopefully effective.

Update at 3300 miles: The original silencers have served well while delivering a really aggressive tone. However, during extended periods of highway cruising, the music being emitted by the barely baffled mufflers would lose its charm as my ears were assaulted. The remedy is a pair of generic glasspacks. These mufflers slip onto the header collectors and take the high-frequency crackle out of the exhaust note. The Stalker no longer sounds like a V8, but instead has a more refined yet still very aggressive sound. Highway cruising is much more comfortable, and the engine seems to like the straight-through muffler design.

One, ah, feature of the Stalker exhaust system is the tendency to direct exhaust fumes into the cabin. This results in the highly sought-after fragrance de la Stalkere' accompanying  the Stalker driver after a jaunt through the back roads. Some individuals have not yet developed an appreciation for the aroma of unburnt hydrocarbons so I installed a set of turndowns on the mufflers.

The turndowns are Jeg's part #555-30641, 2.5" steel clamp-on. They come with an expanded end that is designed to slip over a 2.5" pipe, but after cutting off the expanded end, the turndowns fit perfectly inside the end of the muffler. I left 8" protruding out of the muffler, twisted them to about a 45 degree angle, and attached them to the muffler with a couple of small spot welds. They were then painted BBQ black to match the rest of the exhaust.

The turndowns not only direct the majority of the fumes away from the car, but also some of the exhaust rumble. All in all, a nice addition to #29, and I don't have to immediately change shirts when I return from a drive.

When first installed, the mufflers were secured to the headers with a couple of small spot welds. But these clamps are a much more satisfactory solution (Jegs #055530732;  2 1/2" preformed band clamp). They clamp tightly and don't allow any leakage.

It turns out that a throttle cable from a '74 Chevy truck w/454 engine works perfectly on the Stalker! The cable has the correct fitting on the carb end, and even has a square  thingie that snaps into the bracket furnished with the Holley 390 cfm carb.

Also visible is a return spring I added to firm up the throttle pedal action.

The throttle pedal hangs from the firewall. Also visible is the headlight dimmer switch above the clutch pedal.

Spoon throttle pedal is from Speedway Motors, part #916-55011.

After the initial trial runs in the car, I decided it was imperative that my big feet have more room in the footwell. The throttle pedal was bent slightly to the right, and the brake pedal was trimmed for more space between it and the throttle.

I am using a "spoon" throttle pedal from Speedway Motors. I made a fitting from aluminum angle for the pedal arm; it has a hole with a slot so the cable can be inserted and snapped into place. The large bracket has a square hole that accepts the square fitting on the cable housing. All in all this turned out to be about as close to a factory setup as I could hope for on the Stalker. The little plate on one of the pedal mounting bolts is an adjustable stop for the pedal.

Another view of the attachment of the cable to the pedal. Also visible is the fuse block that is recessed into the firewall. Computer labels (see below) mark each fuse and the block will be covered with a piece of lexan. I used a ten fuse unit which is the bare minimum for this car; twelve or more would be better. The block is by Bussman and can be ordered at well-stocked auto parts stores. It uses the blade style fuses.

I am going with minimal instrumentation because this is a minimal car! The tach, speedo, and water temp gages are Autometer and are all electric. They are complemented by oil pressure and alternator lights. The switches are for master, fan auto/on, lights and starter.

I made aluminum surrounds for the lights and switches so the computer generated labels would show up nicely. The labels were designed in Microsoft Publisher and printed with a laser printer on Avery 2660 clear address labels. They were then cut from the label stock and applied to the panel. I have used this type of label for years in the airplane and they have proved to be very durable. Of course, if one is damaged or changes are necessary, it is very easy to make new labels.

Stalker #29 is coming along nicely. I have begun installation of the safety harnesses; it was necessary to jack up the car, remove the rear wheels and bottom forward control link bolts in order to attach the outboard belts.

The front signal lights are el cheapo marker lights from Autozone that are modified so they can be mounted on the headlight stalk bolts. Holes were drilled in the headlight shells for chrome conduit to carry the wiring to the frame. Brackets were made and attached  for the conduit on the chassis rail. The conduit is secured to the shell and bracket with a "grommet" cut from 5/8" heater hose and epoxied to the conduit.

The fuse load center has been installed so wiring can now begin. Once that is completed and radiator hoses installed, we may just pour a couple gallons of gas into the tank and see if #29 can find its voice!

3/7/04

Stalker #29 now has electrons flowing through its veins! The wiring is complete; I hooked up a battery to perform the Smoke Test and flipped the switch. No smoke escaped! All the smoke was contained in the system and everything works as planned.

This photo shows nearly the entire electrical system. At upper left is the toe-operated dimmer switch. Attached to the steering column is the signal flasher. In the center of the photo is the 10 slot Buss blade fuse block with two headlight relays attached. Both high beams are tied together and are controlled by a fused relay; likewise for the low beams. This split system means that if a headlight fuse blows, the other "beam" is still operational. The relays isolate the light and dimmer switch from the heavy loads associated with the headlights.

The turn signal switch incorporates the circuitry to allow each rear signal and its brake light to work properly on the same bulb and also allows the tail lights, signal lights, and brake lights to have separate fuses. Switch is from Speedway Motors, part #910-62850. The blue end of the stalk is a lamp which is the turn signal indicator. The switch is attached to the column with a clamp.

Here is the main loom inside the tunnel. All wiring is secured with either cushioned clamps or cable ties so it cannot be fouled by the shifter. Since the harness and all instruments and switches except for the run out to the steering column is contained in the tunnel, I can add panels to enclose the shifter area without significant interference from wiring.

Here are some tools I consider absolutely indispensable for quality wiring work. All the connections in Stalker #29 are crimped with a ratcheting crimper. A properly crimped connection is the best way to join wires to connectors. The el cheapo "notched" crimpers that are in auto parts stores are bad news and produce very ugly crimps that are not acceptable for good wiring technique.

The ratcheting crimper produces extremely consistent crimps without damaging the connector. Since the only way to release the tools is to fully crimp the connection, consistent crimps are assured. The wire strippers are commonly available at Radio Shack and have discrete cutting blades for each size wire that produce a clean strip without damaging wire strands. Do not even think about stripping wire with a knife! Also needed is a sharp diagonal cutter; I like the small model because it will fit in cramped spaces.

I recently saw both the crimpers and strippers at Autozone.

Since I am using a reman distributor ('82 S-10 2.8) that did not come with a harness, I made some connectors for the ignition module with small spade connectors and shrink tubing. The wires were brought out of the distributor through a grommet smushed into the notch in the side of the distributor and then on to the stock Chevy ignition coil.

The vacuum advance is not used; timing is advanced to 36 degrees   @3500 rpm by the mechanical advance.

The yellow wire is from the ignition module "C" terminal and is connected to the coil in common with the tach sensor lead. The two red wires on the left terminal are 12v+ and ignition module "+".

All the wiring in the front of the car is contained in metal or plastic conduit. This requires some extra work but the results are well worth the effort to avoid seeing dangling wires. The wires from the headlights go to the frame via flexible chrome metal conduit, then into plastic conduit which is attached to the frame members with either cushioned clamps or cable ties.

The panel ended up a little different from the original arrangement. I started out with just a toggle master switch and pushbutton starter switch; my intention was to configure an aircraft-style master solenoid system to feed the fuse block and also a separate battery disconnect. However, I got to thinking that a simpler keyed ignition switch might be helpful with insurance coverage so I dropped the master solenoid and wired the fuse block through a generic ignition switch. This doesn't make the car much more theft resistant, but it might discourage honest folks!

The "old" pushbutton starter switch is now the horn button.

The safety harnesses have been installed. The outboard lap belts attach to the lower forward control link bolt and the inboard belts are bolted to a plate provided on the chassis for this purpose. Likewise, Brunton has provided attachment plates for the shoulder belts behind the seatback. Grade 8 bolts (1/2") are used for all harness hookups and washers were used so the belts would have some movement at the attachments. I am not using the crotch belts since this is intended as a road car.

Continue to Chassis, page five

Back to Assembling the Chassis, page three

Return to StalkerV6 Front page