norcal505 Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Hotness has been achieved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted December 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 replacement mirror (from ukit): andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryancohnracing Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Damn those springs look great! I need a bigger budget to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted December 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 okay, i don't know how big of an audience this is being seen by (b/c of the current problems with this site), but i'm confident that we'll get this straightened out so i'm moving on with my life. have been busy with work & family stuff (winter concerts for the kids, parties, etc.) so haven't had as much time to work on my car as i'd like, but i have been accumulating needed parts. many fuel system parts on order, slowed down in holiday shipping crush. did get my springs back from the powdercoater, he did a great job: part of me wants to re-paint the color strips on the springs so a future owner (after i'm dead ) can tell that these are OE springs and determine which ones they are...haven't decided about that. plus i'm not sure how i'd paint a red strip on a red spring.... my powdercoater has great prices but can't do big stuff due to a small oven (pm me if you want his info, send him a pic & he'll send you a quote), so i'm looking at having the swaybars done at one of the big commercial places here in LA...but it's pretty expensive, not sure if it's worth it. i might end up painting them myself (silver with clearcoat)... will post more soon. andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted December 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 new fuel pump came in today, right before christmas. probably took up space on the truck that could have been some little kid's present from santa. suck it, little kid! here's a comparison with the old pump: new unit is slightly smaller in diameter (despite having the same part #, 69430), so it comes with that plastic accordion sleeve so that it fits correctly in the old bracket. despite the improvement in bosch's miniaturization skills, their crimping skills seem to have deteriorated over the years. still waiting on accumulator, etc. will be pulling fuel injectors and sending them off to be cleaned/tested after the holidays... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted February 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 wow, has it really been 6 weeks since i updated this thread? have been very busy with work & family stuff so not much progress on my car, but i have been buying stuff. will be posting more in the coming days. i wanted to replace my dashboard, it's badly cracked (which is not uncommon). i had been talking to etienne about getting a dashboard from france; he had some interesting ideas for getting around the expensive shipping, but unfortunately it didn't pan out. so i contacted brian holm, and sure enough, he had a good condition dash...just got it last week: no cracks! it needs a little cleaning & protection, but that's about it. i have not yet put it in b/c i'm getting my audio system together (will post about that soon). brian also sent me a new lower glovebox door and the frame that goes around it so no more ugly screw holding my glovebox shut! more to come. andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryancohnracing Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 Glad to see you are getting back on the project. Tis easy to get side tracked with life. What do you plan to use on the dash to bring it back to life? Mine is still perfect and I want to keep it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted February 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 sorry for the slow reply, bryan...i have been using 303 aerospace for my other car's vinyl & rubber surfaces -- i like it a lot, it gives a nice finish, doesn't have much of an odor and seems to last a lot longer than armorall. i will probably be getting some 1Z einszett cockpit premium to clean the dash in my 505 -- that's the product that seems to get the most raves from the detailing crowd. nearly done with the dynamatting on the lower part of the interior...will post some pics when i'm done. just waiting for a combination of a sunny day and a day when i don't have too much work to do...it's been a bit rainy here in LA lately. i have been trying to source fuel injection line (30R9) for my car, as some of the old lines looked a bit ragged (surface abrasions on the outside). trouble is, i haven't found anyone in the US who sells 5mm FI line -- it's all low-pressure or different sizes. i *have* found some places in the UK that carry it, but i'd rather get it domestically if i can. i'm gonna give it a few more days, and if i can't find anything here i'll go ahead and order it from across the pond... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryancohnracing Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 Someone must sell 5mm fuel line that you need, how can it be impossible to find in the US? Will the SAE equivalent work? Check hydraulic line/fitting shops in your area. Long ago I was on the hunt for some of the clear, hard line as used for the high pressure fuel lines, similar to what is on your car, only they were used for coolant bleeds. They were odd sized, can't recall but 5mm sounds right. Anyway, a local shop in St. Louis had not only the line but the fittings and other bits I needed in stock. Some times you have to look outside the car world and this might be one of those times. As for the dash, I knew not to use Armor All, that stuff is nasty. Thanks for the tip on the 1Z. Never heard of it but I am going to look it up asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N9TE Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 1Z rules. It's my go-to cleaner for all things vinyl. I'm actually thinking of getting the 5l jug for $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted February 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 thanks for the feedback on the 1z, koll. just waiting for my order to come in! i've been buying quite a few items lately, i'll post them in the coming days; i'll try to space them out so this doesn't seem like a shopping blog! as i mentioned to bryan in an offline discussion, here in LA i'm surrounded by places that probably have everything i need -- but they're all 45 minutes away from the urban westside, where i live/work. when i'm busy with work and family stuff (like now), it's easier to order things over the internet, even if i have to pay a bit more. so i haven't had as much time lately as i hoped, but i did manage to pull the fuel injectors off today. i used the old visegrip/prybar method. it was kind of difficult b/c there are a lot of old, brittle plastic parts in my engine compartment like the standoff guides for the spark plug wires and for the fuel lines to the injectors (both of which are now broken ). i also put a few more cracks in my firewall insulation, but no worries there as i have a replacement from a late-model car. of course, the injectors looked pretty filthy -- see for yourself: i'm sending them off to a place to be cleaned and flow-tested, should take a couple of weeks. the o-rings were rock-hard, but this place puts new o-rings on the injector for you. the o-ring on cylinder four (at the front of the engine) was cracked inside the hole, only half came out; you can see the remains in the first picture. i will try to get the broken piece out in the coming days -- hope i don't have to pull the head. more to come. andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted February 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 i finally decided which way i was going to go with my audio system -- i got a becker 780 head unit. this unit is not strictly authentic for our cars -- it came in the late 80s & early 90s big mercedes -- but it definitely has the look and feel i am going for. i picked up this unit fairly inexpensively on ebay, and i'm sending it to becker autosound in new jersey to be refurbished. straight refurbishment cost US$150, and for an additional US$50 they will wire in an auxiliary input (3.5 phone jack). i had mentioned these units a while back when we were discussing car audio...the thing i didn't like about the refurb becker units was that the auxiliary input functionality was really kludgy; you had to put an audio tape into the tapewell to switch to the aux input (and you lost use of the tape deck). becker autosound recently changed the way they do the aux input, now it switches over to the aux input whenever you plug something into the aux input jack; plus, you still retain use of the tape deck. another feature of the becker that i like is that is has a switch for the power antenna -- you can kill the circuit for the power antenna lead and retract the antenna, even when the head unit is running. i don't listen to the radio that much (los angeles radio is pretty bad these days) so i intend to use this feature. between the time i ordered the becker unit and the time i got it, though, i started researching bluetooth units. i found that there are a bunch of very nice units that connect in between the head unit and the amp/speakers --- this gives you bluetooth capability through your stereo system..they all have some additional control unit(s) and microphones. some of the nicer ones even have usb input in addition to a 3.5 phone jack, so that you can add external sources (obviating the need for the becker autosound hack). so i will probably go with the straight becker refurb and add an external bluetooth setup. i'll post more info when i get the bluetooth device. i'm working on the amp/speaker setup as well, will post more info on that as it develops. will be respectably high-end while still being very 80s... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryancohnracing Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Love the 80's MB audio plan. Becker unit's just have a cool "feel" to them that nothing else does. I love the old Becker Mexico's found in early 70's SL's. Nothing like high end AM radio, top down motoring. Have you thought about replacing those injectors instead of cleaning? I can't imagine they are terribly expensive, not that proper cleaning and flow testing is either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I'm curious what your plan is for amps and speakers... Should be a sweet set up for sure. Like everything else it seems - I've collected the majority of the components and awaiting time to install it properly. Of course properly means crazy labour intensive so it all sits in my garage. This is compounded by multiple ongoing project cars and and the most severe form of Automotive ADD. I'm very easily distracted by by other ideas and easily have 20+ projects on the go with no time for any of them! Except late night researching and purchasing of course. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryancohnracing Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 I think its time for an intervention on Rabin's behalf. And his wife's. She must be a saint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohms Posted February 28, 2012 Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 that becker looks like it BELONGS in the 505, nice piece andre! i had the same notion about latemodel bmw decks (and the old 90s blaupunkt decks, before they used bright colors and lighting) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted February 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 bryan -- as it turns out, none of the places i was going to use can clean mechanical injectors (like my CIS units). here's what one of them emailed to me: "You can clean the outside of the mechanical injectors but it's very hard to clean the inside which is really what matters. I have tried ultra-sonically cleaning them and it isn't successful because there is no way to open the injector while in the ultra-sonic bath. You would need to find a way to force a cleaning fluid through the injector under pressure. " makes sense...you learn something new every day. so i will be replacing the injectors after all... also, i think rabin is beyond intervention at this point...maybe an exorcism? omar -- the main thing that led me to choose the becker was the availability of refurb services...my second choice was a blaupunkt. there's a guy on ebay selling NOS blaupunkt units... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryancohnracing Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 You might, before buying new ones, check out some VW specialists. I know there used to be equipment that applied pressure and opened the injectors while forcing cleaning fluids through them. I'm going back to the late 80's here when I last worked in European repair shops. The machine may have been a home made thing for all I know.... My original posting on this was simply the cost of cleaning vs cost of new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted March 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 cleaning is about US$20 apiece, new ones are about US$40 apiece...so it's not a huge price difference. i was mainly interested in the flow testing, anyway...they give you these cool printouts that show you how your injectors perform. i did some checking around my part of town, nobody works on pre-motronic bosch systems. i found one place where the shop owner told me his dad knew all about CIS systems, but he was semi-retired, on a cruise & wouldn't be back for several weeks (i could come back then?). so it's not worth the time/hassle, especially when my car needs so many other things. so i'm going to stick with the original plan, which is to clean everything and replace parts as necessary, then do a bit of tuning and take it to ukit for the final tune before i get it smogged. finally got the FI line stock (30R9) from the UK, so i will be making some new fuel lines in the coming days... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 astute readers of this thread will remember that i decided that manually stripping wheels was for the birds. so i had my spare beadblasted. here are some before & afters: i also got a tire pressure monitoring system -- these will be mandatory soon on new cars: haven't decided how i'm going to refinish the wheels...they'll be in the original silver, of course. i will either finish them myself (paint) or have them powdercoated. i am bringing my sway bars to the powdercoaters in the next few days, i may have my wheel done at the same time. the guys i am using do lots of car stuff, so they know the right way to handle alloy wheels... btw, any suggestions for the color of my swaybars? i was thinking silver... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Powdercoat! Been there - done that. I went to a LOT of effort to save some steel wheels with steel shot blasting to get the rust gone, then bead blasting to clean them up even more. THEN I cheaped out and spray bombed them with primer, paint, and then had my buddy clear them properly. You can barely touch them without them scratching or chipping. If they can do a nice bright silver powdercoat - you'll be MUCH happier with the damage resistance after all the work to get them nice. BTW - I thought tire pressure sensors were manditory for run flat tires only. Is there a push for them to be on all cars? Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick@nite Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Rear parking assist/ which means sensors or camera or computerized governed parking, then TPMS are in the motion of getting passed though as a DOT standard... More $ shit to fix that you won't fix when it breaks... The weight factor too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 yeah, i was leaning towards powdercoating... i plan to make my decision when i go to the powdercoating place. they quoted me a really good price for the swaybars, so i'm thinking they'll have a reasonable price for the wheels as well. i'm glad you chimed in, though, it's always good to hear other people's experience...for me, the durability aspect is the biggest benefit of powdercoating (in addition to the "have someone else do it" aspect ). oh, as it turns out, most US vehicles already have TPMSs, not just those with run-flat... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted March 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 dropped off my swaybars today at the powdercoaters. i knew they had good prices on stuff, what i didn't know is that they're a wheel place -- something like half of their business is powdercoating wheels. since my parts were already beadblasted, the guy made me a good deal for all three pieces, so i had my wheel done as well. should be ready by monday or tuesday, i'll post pics when i pick them up. the guy seemed genuinely surprised that i didn't want my wheel done in black! i had it done in classic "wheel silver." they also had a "bmw silver" that looked a bit darker and "grainier" (if that makes any sense), but i prefer the lighter silver color... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N9TE Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Can't want to see them André! Yup, Good ol Ray LaHood never saw a regulation he didn't like. Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't outlawed standard transmissions. After all, all that skill and effort to change gears. Quite a distraction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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