R53 Most liked posts in thread: Let's Change Something !

Hello guys, finally the prototype is ready!
I finished the installation late last night. I will update the thread shortly with some pictures from the installation. So far everything went according plan. Fits perfect, no contact at all with other components ( so no need for the spacer), no air leaks and smooth operation.
And a small teaser...

 

Previously I mentioned (I think) that I did a MAP adapter… So I figure out it will be nice to explain the reasons and my thinking behind that.

Why do I need a MAP adapter?

Of course I could do it without it but…

The OEM plastic adapter after all these years of use can break pretty easily…. Ask me how I know !!

I think by now I made it clear that I want the charge pipe to be as plug n play as possible. So sometimes I might go over the top with small details (that’s one reason why I am sooo late)

So let me explain my thinking:

The OEM design comes with plastic vacuum lines that are connected to the MPA adapter. The problem arise when you want to remove the line from the adapter. Then you realize that you need to make a small cut in order to free the line from the OEM adaptor!! Let’s add that the OEM plastic map adapter breaks so easily ….and I am starting thinking that this is not so plug and play after all !! Additionally if I have to destroy the OEM lines later I would not be able to use them again if for whatever reason I need to go back to the OEM setup (why? Ok I don’t know!! )

So I replaced the plastic vacuum lines with high pressure fuel lines (overkill, but I prefer to be safe than sorry ! ) And… I designed a map adapter exactly like the OEM unit. Then print the adapter by using NYLON 6.

Printed? But why ? how ?

Let me explain:

Nylon 6 is polyamide plastic. It is widely used in engineering and especially in automotive industry and it has a broad range of properties ..

Some of them are:

oil and solvent resistance, fatigue, abrasion resistance, low friction, creep resistance, high tensile strength, thermal stability, fire resistance, drawability

So it is a really nice material to work with and especially for this application.



So what do you think? Overkill? You like it , you dont like it ?

And a something extra ....



This is the bypass take off....as it came out of the mold !! Yeap even that comes from a mold, everything is custom in this project. I am sure many of you will have questions now .... The bypass take off and the vacuum take off are attached to the main body . Why? Because only then you really have a truly unrestricted flow inside the charge pipe.... Slowly I will explain all the details of the project.
I hope you enjoyed this long (maybe boring ) post !!

 

So today I would like to discuss a bit about fitment !
Increase tolerance and manufacturing processes are reasons for boost leaks in the OEM charge pipe design. One of the main problems is the way the OEM charge pipe seals with the green plastic gasket and the supercharger inlet. It seems like the tolerance between the gasket and the OEM charge pipe is a bit to much. That was one of the first things I wanted to address when I started designing.

Why tolerance matters?
Tolerance is the size between functional limits, the variation of a dimension’s value and the limit that controls the gap in an assembly.

What are the advantages of a low tolerance value in the charge pipe?

1. Most importantly elimination of boost leaks.

2. A fitment that allowed the whole charge pipe assembly to operate perfectly even without support ….for more than 5000 km under hard accelerations, highway and city driving. (I drove the car initially like that, before designing the supports. Now everything is shorted out of-course and the assembly utilizes two supports-brackets )

Below in the photo you can see the jig support the printed charge pipe and the OEM unit. Just check that gap of the OEM unit ! So what I did different ?

Instead of reverse engineering the OEM charge pipe flange, the green elastic flange was used as reference for the charge pipe’s outlet. That way a perfect fit was ensured (and extremely tight of-course)

 

I agree it would be nice, maybe next year who knows ? Never been to America, I would like to come there.

 

Thank you,
Yes of course there going to be many data to support it ! The plan for the testing is:

Dyno ( 2 different cars )
Racetrack ( 1 car )
Dragstrip (maybe not necessary, I will see that)
Road Testing (heavy traffic, 2 different cars)

In all the scenarios I want to compare the delta factor not only in the power figure.

I made a small diagram explaining the way I work so far:
Design and development by Precision Engineering, on Flickr

 

This is going to be the heat shield of charge pipe. It will be from carbon fiber as well. In an older post I posted the printed model of the heat shield in thr engine bay. The rest you see in the pictutes above is the jig that helps during production. With the jig I can be sure that every heat shield will be the same and that it will fit as it should be.

 

I can uploal an assembly photo with an explode view and some comments. It will be easier to understand having the one picture.

 

Weather forecast says next week there might be some colder days, so I can try again.
In the meanwhile I am printing a carbon fiber reinforced nylon version. It would be fully fictional, as that material can withstand pressure, fuel, oil and heat ! I am very excited to see how it will work !

 

Terrible sorry for not updating the thread for a while, currently I am quite busy with many projects ( some Ducati projects and an R56 ) .
I have done a bit more than 6000 km so far with the charge pipe and everything looks good. Some days ago I removed everything in order to inspect the charge pipe. Everything looks good so far ! foto below:

 

Yeap molds. It is not a one stage mold ofcoure. The chargepipes are made with the infusion method ( and not just hand lay up), oven backed and pressured the same time. That's one of the reasons why it takes me so much time. The prototype I uploaded in the forum it is actually the 5th version of mold design (and the final !). So that means.... 5 prototypes of molds.... machined aluminium...
But I enjoy and the most crucial learn from the procedure
Last night when I was driving home I did a bit of loging, saw some nice numbers. 16.6 psi 4th gear at 6.800 rpm, without heatshield. Pretty happy with the results. Ofcourse the cold weather helps a lot.
I will try to update you guys as much as I can, and ofcourse I will try my best for the dyno to happened before the new year.

 

There is a small relocation of the throttle body. The main reason is to create a smooth air path for the charge pipe. By doing that the throttle body had to be moved towards the front of the vehicle and the driver's wheel arch. Moreover it is also rotated in order to avoid contact with other parts. The oem cable was not enough for just 30-40 mm, in that location. So instead of cutting the excisted cable I made a new extension by using bmw-Mini components. It's a small detail by every time I unplug it and plug it back feels so good! The lenght you see in the photo might be a bit overkill ( its around 120 mm ) but i felt its better that way.

 

Hello guys, this time I will post something different that I did to my car.
A friend of mine wanted to route a brake hose to feed with cold air the brakes. So he asked me if I could help. Initially I was not intended to put these in my car but after the first test fit I liked them !
So I designed a backing plate - dust shield ( I think that's the name).
. As for material I used stainless steel 304L with 2mm thickness. CNC laser cut and tig welder for the 50mm hose adapter (again stainless steel 50 mm tube). Here some fotos as it is on my car right now. Next some laser cut brackets to support the hose and some adapters for the front bumper. What do you think ?


*edit maybe at some point I should do something with the OE brakes !!

 

After 75hr of printing .... and 2 failed prints .... (75 * 3 = 225 hr in total )

Nylon 6 printed JIG for the heat shield is ready ! Some areas that look burned (darker colour) is because I had to use a lighter in order to burn any residues from the support material. Although Nylon 6 is one of the best materials for the application, it can become a bit tricky..... Next time I will design smaller components and then create a final assembly (JIG assembly).

 

At some point I said I will create an nice assembly to illustrate as good as I can the whole kit. I am working on it, but I I want to go a bit over the top and create a really really detailed assembly. That means everything from the smallest detail has to be be designed, reverse engineered etc. Additional I just bought a domain name !! so I want to create a blog and upload technical details etc (more about that later ! ) and some nice designs
Below you can see the cad design of the BMW fuse I am using in this kit, for the throttle cable extension. This is all classic metrology and not 3d scanning (not that if you 3dscan you save time... still you need to design the whole component). I hope you like it !

 

In another forum they asked me why I tend to upload only designs etc and no the actual product ! I wanted to write my answer to that here as well.
Its true thats there is a huge delay ... the reason is that i had a problem with one of my moulds resulting in 4 destroyed charge pipes... imagine my state when i realised it ! Time and money all went down the drain. But ... I redesigned, reproduced the moulds and eveything seems good so far !! Yes a bit more waiting but that's part of product development. And dont forget this is a one man show
In the next few days I will finish all the detailed designs and the whole assembly, make a final explanation giving as much information as possible and then.... just the final product

 

I did a .. tolerance mistake !!
The good news is that I am closer than ever to finish it now. I have a ready charge pipe, Monday its clear coat day !
Also a fiberglass prototype heat shield is ready (photo below). It is in a very raw form now, just to test that fits as I want. Next step is a nice carbon fiber one.

And some foots from the whole assembly as I promised, you can see all the parts needed for the kit.
I hope you like it !!