I don’t think they have the correct size anymore. 11x17?
https://www.belmetric.com/wire-reinforced-hose-c-14_140/
https://www.belmetric.com/wire-reinforced-hose-c-14_140/
Show and shine fails
- Thread starter Mal CSL 3.0
- Start date
inovermyhead
Well-Known Member
Hi Mal,
Very odd judging this year, even with new paint and hours of polish and wax I only managed 7/10, same with the interior, new carpet new head lining several leatherique treatments again only 7/10 and this after ‘ best in show’ last year....., now I like an e30 as much as the next guy but in terms of detail it’s a ten minute wash and wax, possibly won’t bother next year.
Yeah I know it sounds a bit like sour grapes but there’s a LOT more work getting a coupe sparkling than any modern.
Very odd judging this year, even with new paint and hours of polish and wax I only managed 7/10, same with the interior, new carpet new head lining several leatherique treatments again only 7/10 and this after ‘ best in show’ last year....., now I like an e30 as much as the next guy but in terms of detail it’s a ten minute wash and wax, possibly won’t bother next year.
Yeah I know it sounds a bit like sour grapes but there’s a LOT more work getting a coupe sparkling than any modern.
The guy judging did look like a “millennial” barely out of nappies (diapers) so perhaps doesn’t appreciate or understand the level of detail in our coupes...
Belmetric is a wonderful company -but- the blue brake fluid hose is wrong size.
12 x 19 is factory.
I will give you my 2 cents on aluminum, having had all the trim on the car done (at Speedway) and working on several motorcycles myself
If you 'dry' blast aluminum it will have a flat not original look to it
Vapor blast is glass media but with water which softens it
Either blast or vapor blast you need to be very concerned with the particles getting in the engine, particularly if exposed to the oil system
Some engine re-builders will not do either on engine parts
If you want to clean aluminum cast parts yourself use a brass brush on drill
Brass brushes are rather expensive and hard to find, all the ones I have seen in hardware stores are brass plated steel, not what you want
After you clean or polish, if you don't coat it, it will turn grey eventually
You can live with that and redo as required or you can coat it
Wax, clear ceramic, anodize (not clear paint or power coat)
I have been advised that anodize can turn out blotchy
If you 'dry' blast aluminum it will have a flat not original look to it
Vapor blast is glass media but with water which softens it
Either blast or vapor blast you need to be very concerned with the particles getting in the engine, particularly if exposed to the oil system
Some engine re-builders will not do either on engine parts
If you want to clean aluminum cast parts yourself use a brass brush on drill
Brass brushes are rather expensive and hard to find, all the ones I have seen in hardware stores are brass plated steel, not what you want
After you clean or polish, if you don't coat it, it will turn grey eventually
You can live with that and redo as required or you can coat it
Wax, clear ceramic, anodize (not clear paint or power coat)
I have been advised that anodize can turn out blotchy
I just bought this and gave it a go on my throttle tube. Surprisingly it actually does clean the alloy up but with a lot of effort. I attacked by hand with this paste, a cloth and a toothbrush for the indented areas. I will need a lot more time and elbow grease to finish it, but I think result should be ok. Not nearly as good as a professional approach, but the upside is I don’t need to remove parts off my engine.
(btw tied a few other metal polish products, all of which had no impact)
that (Mothers) and SemiChrome, get the tub not the tube
I agree John, your Fyord coupe looked amazing, but the judges were a tough crowd.
This S&S was the first ever for me. I live to fight another day and will make improvements ready for next year.
I reviewed my score sheet and had a worthwhile chat with Josh - one of the judges, also a BMW club official and very helpful. He took another look and pointed out some faults - he said cleanliness and “freshness” is a critical criteria. He showed me dirt, and other flaws such as tarnished metal, rough paint in my engine bay that I didn’t think would detract from the ‘big picture’, but they do......Some example comments “use a paint brush to remove dust from top of strut towers”. “The guy who won best of show spent 5 days cleaning and detailing his E30 engine.” “That same E30 owner has been in seven BMW S&S events, coming 3rd, 2nd and finally wining, so experience and learning counts for a lot in terms of getting a good S&S result”
What I now realise for these BMW NSW S&S events are:
- The significance of model, overall look, colour, ‘presence’ are all irrelevant (you could rock up with an M1 or 507 and if there was cleaning product residue, shabby paint somewhere, dirt or dust on engine, u would not get a prize).
- It’s all about the small details. You need to make sure every area is as flawless and as fresh looking as possible. (my spare tyre rim had some black grease so that was a deduction. I also had some fluff on my drivers seat apparently.)
- The Average Distance Calculation criteria can make or break the total score as it’s worth max 20 points. (I made an error here as I wrote down miles and not klms so under reported my ave. distance traveled. I forgot to multiply by 1.6 to convert. Rookie mistake.)
I really enjoyed the day, due to the strong number of BMW classics, great location, spectacular weather, and of course the excellent E9 comeradre.
And congrats to Peter M for his swag of awards across his 3 models. At least we had an E9 on one podium.
as an example rechromed springs, matt finished
just curious why you would chrome plate the springs and not zinc? did you put a spreader in them when they were plated?
the answer is very little professional or scientific, leaving aside the that i prefer silver colour over gold coclour the truth is that the chrome shop is 5 minutes away by car, and zinc is 25 minutes away
spreader, yes
I get the drive part
Zinc comes in not yellow, were I go they call it clear
They will also do in between, 'pale yellow', like for spoke nipples
Zinc comes in not yellow, were I go they call it clear
They will also do in between, 'pale yellow', like for spoke nipples
Indeed. Some grades of aluminium have a higher lead content. My anodiser (used for E9 parts, but also professionally) told me that it is the lead that reacts and turns dark grey during anodizing. Some (have no idea on percentage/ application) cast aluminium grades contain this high lead contentto aid the casting procedure, some don't. I have had some cast aluminium parts come out evenly dark grey, and some splotchy (army 'camouflage' style; not really fitting an e9) . Perhaps the lead% varies even inside one piece of cast material?
Another route , used by a world renowned (Ferarri etc) carburetor repair shop in the Netherlands here, is to clean aluminium by tumbling and vibration cleaning them with stainless steel pins, balls and satellites. Advantage is that it compacts the surface a little, and doesn't leave an open pore structure that's prone to dirt burying itself in. (like gritt /glass blasting does).
regarding the spring; I always wondered how I could get it shiny again, thinking zinc/chrome wasn't an option due to turns of the spring touching each other-Never thought about the practical solution to put them on a jig to spread them a little before dropping them off for plating. Creative!
regarding plating or painting springs, I read one time, to install a heavy spring like a center stand spring, bend it sideways and stick pennies or washer in the gaps, so to paint a spring I did that, bought a box of small washers, of course this left little unpainted areas but they don't show and with a little was or oil won't rust
I am having on old Triumph motorcycle head rebuild, the guy doing it said he would never blast or vapor blast an engine part because particles become impeded in the surface (and released later to ruin your engine) He said he burnishes them, which is tumbling in some media, don't know what the media is
I have not had any parts vapor blasted, but the claim is that it compacts the surface
I had some assemblies zinc plated without taking them apart, like a trunk latch, and they came out great, I was surprised what they can do
They wouldn't do the door handle release because it looks like it has a lead part
I am having on old Triumph motorcycle head rebuild, the guy doing it said he would never blast or vapor blast an engine part because particles become impeded in the surface (and released later to ruin your engine) He said he burnishes them, which is tumbling in some media, don't know what the media is
I have not had any parts vapor blasted, but the claim is that it compacts the surface
I had some assemblies zinc plated without taking them apart, like a trunk latch, and they came out great, I was surprised what they can do
They wouldn't do the door handle release because it looks like it has a lead part
I don’t like it on the TB
they will also do 'clear' looks about like cad, and pale yellow, you almost don't notice the yellow unless next to 'clear', good for spoke nipples and other parts