325ic Calypso Euro Conversion - Houndstooth & dbilas now, MT1 & MM 3.2 stroker coming

[bradnic]

thanks Parker

a few more pics

[Javier h]

Sorry for your loss man. The one extra weird reason I would get a vert would be for my dog as well. They tend to love the open space. Build is going fantastic as usual.

[parkerbink]

Harley my black Lab loved the red '90. He died of intestinal cancer in 2002. I miss him like it was yesterday.


Borden saw Max on my MacBook Air and wanted to play with him.

[e30rapidic]

man, losing a pet sucks. I'm sorry to hear about your fur baby. I know he lived the good life!

[bradnic]

Thanks Andre, and Javier, really appreciate it. Yeah he was spoiled rotten :-)

Thanks Parker for the sharing those wonderful pics of Harley and Borden. I know what you mean. We've had 5 goldens over the last 22+ years, down to our last now. She loves to sit in front of the TV and bark at horses whenever she sees them

[bradnic]

Was able to get some time on the car today, so I worked on prepping the mounting area for the top motor


turns out I didn't need to drill the hole for the motor sprocket - the hole was already present! there's a simple cover tacked over it in 3 places, so it was a simple thing to remove the cover.


I'll try to tack in the top motor reinforcement bracket tomorrow, at which point I can hook everything up, swap the tops and give her a go.

[bradnic]

My new Strömung will need modification to work with my mtech1 rear apron :-(
It works perfectly for mtech2, but not mtech1.

I'm in touch with Scott to see about getting more angled tips, and to use the same double wall setup as my straight version. Really hope this works as that exhaust is the best.

@tvance306 just tried trial fitting to his mtech1 car and the tips are clearly not angled enough. They don't exit straight like the standard strömung, but the angle just isn't sharp enough outboard to line up with the exhaust cutout on the mtech1 rear apron.

[bradnic]

top motor repairs needed

I have two top motors:

- one with a broken top cover in the usual place - it works fine, just needs the German top cover repair. was planning to keep it as a spare after I installed the repair kit. here's a side view.


note the arm on the left is almost at a right angle. The top of it bolts to the back rear side of the top compartment. It should be straight vertical. You can see the arm in mounted position here on @MPoser's vert (right side of the pic)


- The top cover on the second unit is intact and has the spin nut you need to attach the electric top pull rod to the motor. Note the same arm is bent more severely, inwards. If I tighten it down against the top compartment wall it will likely crack at the bend.


closer inspection shows there's also a cracked mounting boss on the top cover, which is why it looks bent in the photo above as well. Quite frankly I'm amazed the boss didn't just shear off completely


Not sure it can be repaired, so basically I'm stuck waiting for the German cover repair kit.

I'm gonna go ahead and get the reinforcement bracket welded, but I'm not going to risk the top motor mounts breaking off.

QUESTION: anyone have an idea how to safely bend the long lever straight? You can't just heat aluminum the way you heat steal can you? I always thought it was fairly brittle - you couldn't bend it very far before breaking

I can also try having someone aluminum weld the cracked boss.

[bradnic]

some interesting info

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/can-i-heat-straighten-cast-aluminum-195814/

[jeffnhiscars]

I've had my alloy wheels straightened so there is definitely a technique (art form really). You are correct that it will take only so much.

[DRVN2WN]

Any update on getting more angled tips? I'm in on the next group buy and love the look of the angled tips, and yours don't really look angled. I also want double-walled.

[bradnic]

My new Strömung will need modification to work with my mtech1 rear apron :-(
It works perfectly for mtech2, but not mtech1.

@tvance306 just tried trial fitting to his mtech1 car and the tips are clearly not angled enough. They don't exit straight like the standard strömung, but the angle just isn't sharp enough outboard to line up with the exhaust cutout on the mtech1 rear apron.

Any update on getting more angled tips? I'm in on the next group buy and love the look of the angled tips, and yours don't really look angled. I also want double-walled.

@tvance306 and I have been working with Scott at Strömung. Tom will be trial fitting some new tip adapters next week once he has his car back from the interior shop.

Here's the classic Strömung currently on my vert. It has double tips which stick out straight from the back of the car, even though they look angled relative to the muffler



Here's the angled Strömung catback like the one Tom trial fitted with his Mtech1. It came with single wall tips. Tips look straight off the muffler, angled when mounted on the car. Unfortunately they're not angled enough.


These are the adapters Scott sent him. We're to cut off all but 2" of the angled tips and clamp these adapter over the remaining portion.

Note they are single wall, not double wall


Once Tom confirms the adapters work I'll try once again to get Scott to make double walled versions. I really don't want to lose those tips.

[bradnic]

@tvance306 modded his cat back and will be installing on his car soon.

here's the tips cut off


and the new slip on tips mounted. he hasn't tacked them in yet.

[bradnic]

Tom just finished mocking up the modified mtech1 Strömung setup on his coupe.
Looks like it fits GREAT!





All I need now are double wall versions of those tips for my vert!

[e30m3s54turbo]

Did you buy a silver coupe?
I bought a other e30 silver 1989 325i.