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BMW/Mercedes Engine Coffee Table

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    #16
    Cool project, I would love a M70 coffee table!
    My Garage
    2001 Z3 2.5i Steel Gray/Black (Lexi)
    1988 325ix Diamond Schwartz/Black (Izzy)
    1989 325i Cirrus Blue/Houndstooth (Stitch)
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      #17
      s62. but that would be a waste of a fine engine.

      i saw a ferrari testarossa engine made into a coffee table once. i thought it also seemed like a waste.
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      Gigitty Gigitty!!!!

      88 cabrio becoming alpina b6 3.5s transplanted s62
      92 Mtech 2 cabrio alpinweiss 770 code
      88 325ix coupe manual lachsilber/cardinal
      88 325ix coupe manual diamondschwartz/natur
      87 e30 m3 for parts lachsilber/cardinal(serial number 7)
      12 135i M sport cabrio grey/black

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        #18
        This is super cool.
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        2014 GTI | 2002 Land Cruiser | 1991 Volvo 745t

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          #19
          I shaved this down,



          so the wheel is now guaranteed to not contact.



          And I have shaved metal off this guy too; beginning with this:



          I also had to further cut out the bar to accept the bolt that will go through it.



          So these two pieces look like this,



          And finally come together



          It's not a perfect connection, but that doesn't matter; doesn't need to be. Just has to hold them together to prevent separation. Not a vital contact point.
          Last edited by Chilezen; 05-22-2017, 12:55 PM.

          Currently building a badass coffee table
          Random stuff on insta @kevanromero

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            #20
            Originally posted by AndrewBird View Post
            If that's how you put your rebuilt M20 back together, no wonder it blew up. ;-)
            Could say it severely lacked oil!

            Originally posted by stonea View Post
            Cool project, I would love a M70 coffee table!
            The Top Gear coffee table (shown during the news) is a V12, no idea from what car.

            Originally posted by flyboyx View Post
            s62. but that would be a waste of a fine engine.

            i saw a ferrari testarossa engine made into a coffee table once. i thought it also seemed like a waste.
            I suppose there's a legitimate reason for transforming that hunk of metal into furniture. Could have been a race motor that outlived its service.

            Originally posted by ajhostetter View Post
            This is super cool.
            Thanks!

            Currently building a badass coffee table
            Random stuff on insta @kevanromero

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              #21
              Next we're going to see what I'm doing with the head.



              Since I want the rotating objects to actually move within this "kinetic art project", I need the springs of the valvetrain to be softened, so that the little electric motor can easily spin the cam.

              My first attempt to soften the springs is by means of oxy-acetylene.



              The heat did weaken them, but not enough. I found that the OEM springs were still too stiff for a little motor to fight. So I went the hardware store and bought something close to my idea of ideal.



              That's the closest size they had to the diameter I need, and I can easily cut to length.

              Cut, and painted black, I need to "flatten" the base so they sit nice in place.



              Grabbed my torch and softened the wire into its new shape.



              Maybe I just wanted a reason to play with my crème brûlée torch :)



              With that done, I assembled the few components back together to test the resistance of the new springs. For now, I think they're okay. I don't yet have the electric motor I plan to use, so I can't officially test/confirm power/resistance needs/fulfillment.

              But for the hell of it, I threw a socket on my impact gun and gave it a whirl.


              Currently building a badass coffee table
              Random stuff on insta @kevanromero

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                #22
                the only problem i might see with motion is that sooner or later its gonna run out of lube?

                might it seize up?
                sigpic
                Gigitty Gigitty!!!!

                88 cabrio becoming alpina b6 3.5s transplanted s62
                92 Mtech 2 cabrio alpinweiss 770 code
                88 325ix coupe manual lachsilber/cardinal
                88 325ix coupe manual diamondschwartz/natur
                87 e30 m3 for parts lachsilber/cardinal(serial number 7)
                12 135i M sport cabrio grey/black

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                  #23
                  The motion is mostly intended to be a proof of concept. I'm building this to have motion, with low speed and low load, and spun very infrequently. It's like an over-complicated selling point that was my choice to include. So I'm not worried about heat or wear, because it will likely be turned on once in a blue moon, not a daily operation.

                  Currently building a badass coffee table
                  Random stuff on insta @kevanromero

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                    #24
                    Love it! The wine bottles in the cylinders had me cracking up-- it's perfect.

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                      #25
                      When those pre-calc and trig classes finally get put to use awh yeah.
                      Love the table with the wine bottles.

                      1991 325iS turbo

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                        #26
                        Originally posted by squidmaster View Post
                        Love it! The wine bottles in the cylinders had me cracking up-- it's perfect.
                        Originally posted by ak- View Post
                        When those pre-calc and trig classes finally get put to use awh yeah.
                        Love the table with the wine bottles.
                        lol thanks guys! Wine is always a favorite here.

                        Currently building a badass coffee table
                        Random stuff on insta @kevanromero

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                          #27
                          This next post is lacking a few important photos & steps, but I'll do my best to outline the task.

                          The transmission must turn the chain, which will turn the cam.
                          See here? There's a shaft, but no gear to drive the chain.


                          Now here I am showing where the gear must be located on the shaft.


                          But first, I have to cut a hole & slot in the block for the chain to pass through.





                          So this^ slot is where the chain is fed through. I could have just cut a hole, like I did at the top there, but this slot (which reaches from where the oil pan meets) makes the installation of the chain much easier to pull/feed through during installation.

                          Cool, now I can mock up the chain to confirm where the gear must be placed.

                          And this is where the gear is placed:



                          How did I get the gear on there?
                          Simple...ish.

                          I chopped the shaft, and drilled holes in each piece. But I didn't drill them exactly on center.
                          So I took them to a nearby machine shop, and the machinist tossed them into his fancy milling machine, to enlarge/center the holes. And then he made a cute little dowel that he pressed into the gear itself, to connect the gear to the two shafts.



                          With the three separate pieces now made, I assembled all the big items, put the chain on, fitted the gear on the shaft, and added a couple washers to space the gear forward, so that it sits exactly where it needs to be, in respect to the chain. Make sense? Cool. Once I had the placement correct, I TIG welded the washers & the gear/dowel to the shafts.



                          And now it's all one piece.



                          Now the full transmission running gear can connect to & drive the chain!
                          Last edited by Chilezen; 02-17-2019, 02:21 PM.

                          Currently building a badass coffee table
                          Random stuff on insta @kevanromero

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                            #28
                            Awesome!! those things must be a bitch to move around though, even with the wheels it still must be slightly heavy. Great work though. i like the one they had on Top Gear.
                            what if you used a bare M20 bock with the pistons as legs?i think itd look cool
                            Originally posted by dvck
                            I'm going to say this nicely; go fuck yourself.

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                              #29
                              Now we're going to build half of the most essential parts that make up the table: the "legs"! Begin with some cold rolled, eighth-inch flatstrap.



                              Cut out a cardboard template of the shape you want. Transfer the designs onto the metal with a Sharpie, and use the various grinding tools to remove metal until you're happy with the shape.



                              Go to the store, buy short bolts (because the OEM ones are far too long (they're the head bolts)). Test fit, make sure everything lines up nicely.





                              I did spend a LOT of time one these, more than I should have. But I really wanted them to blend together with the block!

                              So with the pistons & rods (caps removed), place them exactly where they need to sit. I used a stiff plate to flatten the tops (like, to make them flat relative to each other, as the glass would do), and throw a bubble level on it.



                              I MIG welded the parts together.

                              Later, at school, I TIG'ed them, filling in the sides, and smoothing out/blending the rest.



                              Then a little bit of cleaning with a wire wheel, and we have this:



                              Last edited by Chilezen; 02-17-2019, 02:10 PM.

                              Currently building a badass coffee table
                              Random stuff on insta @kevanromero

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                                #30
                                Originally posted by itskingsteelo View Post
                                Awesome!! those things must be a bitch to move around though, even with the wheels it still must be slightly heavy. Great work though. i like the one they had on Top Gear.
                                what if you used a bare M20 bock with the pistons as legs? I think it'd look cool
                                It is EXCEPTIONALLY heavy with everything put together. But the wheels do a good job of gliding the contraption smoothly across the floor.

                                Thanks! Yeah I wonder which V12 block they used

                                If you Google search engine tables, you'll find a lot of that design. I personally found it boring, to just have a block, rods, and pistons. Simple isn't bad, but it wasn't what I wanted.


                                ---


                                Next is a piece that's rather unimportant, but a give a little more character and intricacy to the overall project.

                                This table needs a chain tensioner.

                                ...not something you hear everyday, haha.

                                I'm using one of the original chain guides. One point will be the pivot, and the other will use some sort of spring action to provide tension.



                                Here's where it sits. It will be partially visible/obstructed, so it isn't distracting or hidden.



                                As you can see, the bolt is too short. Also, the head is protruding out the other side.

                                We can't have that.



                                Shaved the head down. I did this by putting the threaded end into a drill, and spinning it against a sanding belt (the machine we use is called a Burr King).

                                I enlarged the hole in the tube to accept the bolt, and welded it in. Using the paper (flap) disc, the weld was made flush!





                                Great, there are enough threads for a nut, and you absolutely won't notice it once it's painted!

                                For the spring, I found this little guy in a pile of stuff. Should do the job. It has one job...



                                More metal was cut and shaped to create the tab for the spring. Man, it was hard using a MIG to join a thin wire to a "much" thicker plate. I kept burning through the spring. Eventually it held.






                                Lastly, for this entry, I'll breifly mention the tools used: a handheld plasma cutter, an electric 6" cutoff disc, a 4" flap disc (a.k.a. paper wheel?), a 3" cutoff disc and a carbide burr (a.k.a. snow cone) on a pneumatic die grinder, a Burr King (a metal sanding belt), a drill press, a chop saw, and a Miller 141 MIG welder. Plus various hand tools and wire brushes/wheels.

                                I guess at some point I'll photograph all the tools, to provide a good reference as to how I achieved the results in this project.
                                Last edited by Chilezen; 02-17-2019, 02:31 PM.

                                Currently building a badass coffee table
                                Random stuff on insta @kevanromero

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