Because we always think too much about everything also the container to catch the oil damps has significantly changed. Version 1 was just something we bought, a nice red anodized container. But unfortunately these standard parts do not have large vents to breath. Changing this means welding and then it’s hard to have it pass the aesthetic tests.
Since we don’t believe in laxation products we have chosen for some surgery. 3 times we had to modify the tube to the heat exchanger. Due to the short length and the relatively this tube you can impossibly bent it in a small radius. Or we made it to short or there was too much tension on the tube. After some desperate trails we decided to use some extra Goodridge couplings and this seems to work better.
In the history books we learned that Thomas Johann Seebeck from Tallinn put some basics together to measure “hot“ temperatures. It did sounds as a good idea to do the same to protect our S14 power plant.
Originally we also liked to use aerocatch clips at the rear but there is not enough space between the trunk cover and the spoiler. With regrets we were forced to mount the traditional “ugly” clips.
It looks like we encounter a lot of issues by mounting all small items. Since the injectors grew a bit in height (12mm) we were forced to remake the fuel rail supports. At the end not really a big deal but at the end of the fuel rail is a dash 6 connection. It’s this Goodridge part that started a fight with our valve cover.
It was impossible to make version 1 simpler. A straight tube Cr25Mo4, 2 threaded welding busses and 2 rod ends.
But again we wanted to replace our very simple throttle cable by a drive by wire system. The actuator location forced us to reshape our straight tube. Some saw and welding work later both items were again in perfect condition without touching each other.
From start on it did not feel right. We made it quiet difficult for ourselves by making some wrong choices in the past. Additionally we wanted to have an adjustable support so we were able to perfectly align the gearbox. Sometimes if you want too much it can start to look as a dragon.
The right time for a face lift. We changed the ST52.3 steel to lightweight AL7075 and removed the rod ends. We also optimized the shape to save some additional weight. To make it look sexy we anodized it in blue. See the pictures for the final result.
For some dark reason for a S14, very often we find the pressure regulator in the area of the CAM wheels. With our original setup it was even worse. The fuel was guided inside the CAM housing. Far from good since the fuel heats up easily by the hot oil splashing around.
Since we have sequential ignition we had to move the regulator anyway because we need this place for installing the CAM sensor.
We were pretty sure we would never break the world record for fuel consumption (economy) with the R-Box M3, but in the mean time we discovered that our BMW belongs to the category heavy drinkers. This has of course an impact on our fuel tank. Was it naivety or did we too much focus on the more attractive prices of the standard fuel cells? We don’t know.
