aja540i

7 hours ago, balancerider said:

@aja540i had what could best be described as 'not trouble free' time with that one

Close but different, mine is currently a lawn ornament that I curse on a daily basis! This one looks mint by comparison! 😂

Drove more than a few in my time working on them,  even the 660cc Suzuki powered ones are a blast!

6 hours ago, balancerider said:

@TulleAll the BMW diamond cut wheels do this. I'm going to get mine powder coated.

These probably are powdercoated, unfortunately putting clear powder coat over a very smooth surface, like machined aluminium, is a really bad idea! The powder has terrible adhesion to the smooth surface and is slightly porous so eventually water gets through and the aluminium oxidizes, which causes the powder to lift, letting more water in, and so on...

Recommended working temp for this product is 23 degrees so heating it probably won't help, the issue with vacuuming it is that the bubbles have no clear path out of the mould, they are trapped, so I might try to add some risers to the mould to give them somewhere to escape to. Ideally would like to stop bubbles from forming in the first place but that is a challenge when the urethane reacts to the moisture in the air, and I can't  afford a seat in Elons space Uber!

I have also ordered some more sensitive scales so I can mix smaller batches of product and not waste so much, the kitchen scales from Briscoes ( they were having a sale!) aren't the best for this.

okay, had another go, rigged up a contraption to hold the mould on an angle and rotate it slowly while i poured the product, hoping to get a nice smooth sealing edge. Also purged the mould with argon before pouring to try and displace air / moisture.

Unfortunately none of that helped.... i did get the colour right this time though!

Bugger.

Will have another go with this setup and a slightly different pouring technique to try and get it right, if that doesn't work i will investigate de-gassing...

I think the main issue will be that the shape of the mould directs the bubbles to the edge where I don't  want them to be, I have a cunning plan to try and solve that but I may also have to vacuum it if that plan doesn't work out.... the other factor is that the product only has a 4 minute pot life, so no time for mucking about!

Expanding on an earlier post, i need to replace a 45 year old dust seal for the steering rack on the E21, the part is badly perished and not available as a single part, so i thought i would have a crack at making a new one from scratch.

Step one, machined up an aluminium mould, 3 pieces that bolt together with an opening at the top to pour the goop in to, took about 9 hours all up but i'm not a machinist so i am just happy that i didn't throw it out of the lathe half way through!!

Bought some casting plastic, mixed it and poured first attempt...

Had a few issues, first up i bought the wrong product! the part came out ok but ended up being ridgid plastic rather than flexible so no good for a seal, other issue was a few bubbles on the edge that seals against the steering rack housing, so ordered new product and had a second go...

This piece is better, although it could have had more pigment added, nice and flexible, size and shape are ok, but still has a few bubbles, 

Not worried about the small cosmetic ones in the center but the outside edge needs to be smooth and continuous as it forms the seal,, so next step will be to play around with purging the mould so there is less moisture to react with the urethane and cause bubbles, if that doesn't work i will look at vacuum de-gassing....

Under side of original part...

Assembled mould ready to pour...

need to make a new rubber seal for the E21 steering rack, so made up an aluminium mould and bought some urethane to have a go at casting a replacement...

Looking for a complete rear subframe with hubs, axles, brakes, suspension, and small case LSD to swap into my E21 project, don't mind if it needs a bit of love as i will be rebuilding whatever i end up using anyway.

Will consider taking a whole / part car if the price is reasonable and it has what i need.

1 hour ago, Twistee said:

Free sunroof with an expensive custom crate, nice.

Anyone want a genuine BMW wooden box? $3500 and I will deliver it free? 😎

Picked up the new.sunroof for the M5, finally.

16 hours ago, M3AN said:

Good. It was a dumb and greedy proposition from the outset, I hope it cost them some long-term customer loyality.

But the quotes above are also just marketing BS and misdirection... 

How are they doing parking assist without (pre)installed hardware?

Liars.

Electric power steering, autonomous braking, drive by wire, 360 degree cameras, surely that's all standard equipment on a new BMW, what else does it need apart from software?

I'm about halfway through a 3 month wait for my new sunroof mechanism coming from Germany by sea, too big to air freight apparently, I was told 11 weeks by sea....

Could be the regulator which can be replaced separately, it has the brushes attached so 2 birds with one stone. I did the one on the M5 its a PITA to get at but way cheaper than a whole alternator.

Time to be a bit more ruthless with some of my unfinished projects and this is the big one, thread here with more detail...

After $999 as it is with a boot full of spare parts, REG on hold, no WOF,

OK, time for me to get this off my front lawn!!

It has been an interesting project but it doesn't make any sense for me to keep pouring money and time into it, and it needs a lot of both!!

Preferred method is to sell it whole with all the parts as a project to some other sucker, so i will try that first, if that doesn't work i will part it out.

I have poured thousands into it so far but i know that money is gone so i will price it at $999 in case someone is crazy enough to race it!

PROs;

Reg on hold.

Kind of driveable ?

Lots of parts with it

CONs

Everything else!

No WOF

Rust is quite bad and likely to get worse

LCM is insane, so no indicators etc

ABS warning lights are back

Can negotiate separately for a set of staggered style 66s that have been dip stripped and tidied up, need painting.

Same size wheels and tyres?

7 hours ago, Twistee said:

Being a good(ish) dad I grabbed a hot chocolate for my daughter, put it in the cup holder - you can see where this is going. Anyway how to I get the gear selector surround off so I can clean hot chocolate out of the switch gear. Yes it was a FFS moment, can't win some days. At least it's not terminal just sticky buttons, nothing quite as exciting as jamming the DSC off in the rain thanks to some sugary goo in the button. Skids on

 

It just pulls upwards, if you have to remove it completely the knob just pulls off as well, but it takes a bit of force!

Don't get this one...

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/525i/listing/4219089775

8 hours ago, Allanw said:

But you drive like a nana, right??? 🤣🤣🤣

Unless I'm in the Leaf,,,

4 hours ago, Palazzo said:

Question. If you do the rod bearings on one of these, are we one and done with improved bearings (?), or a recurring problem? And if recurring, how often?

I can let you know in about 80,000 Km when i check mine again! I used "upgraded" bearings from BE.

So you have documents from Recaro saying they meet 3 of the relevant standards and your LVVTA guy won't accept that, you need to ask him what proof he does need because it sounds like he's being a bit silly?

I want to buy one just so i can destroy it....

14 minutes ago, Jacko said:

Typo 245s, It took a bit of discussion that to meet their dreamt up requirements would require a 125 width tyre... This is the issue it nearly failed on, and would have required mud gaurds to be installed to pass. Who trains these people?

 

No one! They failed my e39 after I swapped in HIDs because the guy was convinced that all the wiring and switch had to be replaced to cope with the high voltage!! SMH.

LSD?