Been away for a while - how are things moving along?

 

Tops and Tubes Baby!!!

Raj
06 E55 Triple Black

 

Hi Steve,

We're still moving in a forward direction.. The start is always slow.. Once we get rolling and have confirmed our design, things will move along quicker.

The CF guys are still studying and working with the stock airbox assembly I gave them.

I am working with a friend of a friend who is good with Autocad and we are working on some design ideas that I will pass by the CF guys.

 

CF guys are taking a few days off so our meeting has been rescheduled for early next week (Mon or Tue).

More to follow by Tues.

 

vrus: will this airbox fit the slk32's or slk55's?

the slk55's i dont think so since not super charged but the slk32's?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...QQcmdZViewItem

"Introducing our all new Carbon fiber front engine cover for all 5.5L V8 Kompressor AMG cars and Carbon Fiber Airbox's. This is a direct replacement for the existing silver plastic front engine cover and each factory airbox. As usual we strive for perfection, so we utilized the core of the OEM Mercedes-Benz factory cover to provide superior fit and use OEM Mercedes-Benz Factory Airbox's. Each Airbox even comes with FREE Green High Performance Air Filters to inrease HP and TQ and give you more MPG. $129 value.

This is just the item for all show cars or carbon fiber lovers!

This fits E55, SL55, CL55, S55, CLS55 etc..
"

Just saw this wow browsing ebay...

 

Sorry about the late reply.. I completely forgot about your post.

I am not sure to be honest. Best thing to do is call your local MB parts guy and ask him for the part # for your car and then ask for Part # for E55 and see if they are the same. That's the best way to confirm this.

Yeah.. Those are direct replacement for the stock boxes. They are the OEM size and are a cosmetic piece. I think there are 1 or 2 people on the board that are running that setup. Looks great.. But, I want something that adds a few ponies AND looks great.

 

so whats the status,did you ever get the renntech box?

 

Nope.. And, thank God too.. After Lou posted his pics and I confirmed that half of it was all stock components, I really wanted to get my money back.

I spoke with the guy that I ordered it through (authorized Renntech Dealer) and he agreed to put the refund on my CC.. I dont know whether or not Renntech let him off the hook or not, but, I got my money back so I am happy.

As far as our box is concerned, the CF guys are working out the design and trying to come up with an optimal upper box to improve airflow. They just got back into the office today so I will probably do a follow up tomorrow or Wednesday with them.

 

How things going - much progress?

 

We are still working out the design of the airbox.. I am going with a few different ideas and we are working through them. Once things solidify a bit more I will post some info. Within the next week I should have some concrete info.

The tooling & the mold are on the ready.. Shop time has been allocated to us.. Its just a matter of finalizing the design of the box. I have to move slowly with this because if there is something that gets missed, I will have alot of useless parts on my hands. Not to mention there is alot of money involved in the setup so I dont want to screw it up.

 

Take your time and continue to do it right... you've been very resilient to this point, and patience will be rewarded in the end.

Wow... I think I just became a fortune cookie!



Loren

 

Thanks for the support Loren.. Truly appreciated!!

You got it right on the money... I won't rush and do something half ***.. It's gotta be perfect (or as close as it can be) otherwise I won't accept it.

This project will pick up steam once we get past the design stage and they get into production.

 

victor , i'm sure this thing is going to be worth the wait !

 

why dont you finish one job before you start others?

 

Because there is alot of time in between when you are doing R&D stuff like this.. Solutions to hurdles you encounter don't always present themselves promptly... And if you are organized enough you can do more than 1 thing at a time.

Case in point... Airbox design is still ongoing.. If I was only working on this, I would have alot of free time right now. While they are busy working out the design of the box, I am doing other things.. When they need me, I task switch and go back to them.

If you've ever run a company in your lifetime you learn to do 2 things very well:

1) Have multiple tasks going on at the same time.

2) Learn to delegate and manage others.

 

Victor, I was going to post a smart-*** reply to that needless question but I refrained. As usual, you handled it with a respectful and mature response.

I will pm you about the TB

 

Thanks Dave... I try to be a nice guy and give people the benefit of the doubt.. Although, some people confuse nice with weak and then learn the difference.

 

Sorry to upset your self admiration society, it was a reasonable question I thought, and in fact, I guess like many on here , I am self employed.
Has anyone actually purchased one of your products that we can prove of, I mean, how do I know that all the ppl on here that say you are great are not just you(or your clones), how do we know that all the money that you collect goes where you say it does??.
Dont mean to offend, just curious is all.
Regards

 

Wow, I guess that we got a Ted Baxter of the Internet... with old "Baked Beans" here......

MachC5

 

Actually..I am Jangy

 

Did I not give a reasonable answer?

As for the rest of your statement... No offence taken.. But... At the same time, I dont have to prove anything to you because I am not asking anything of you. I dont need or want you to buy anything so I dont understand where your concern comes from?

If you think I am putting on a big charade, that's fine.. Just dont deal with me.

 

Met with the carbon guys tonight for a few hours..

Here are a few "notes" from our meeting:

1) I am bringing my car down to them early next week (whenever MB finishes with my brake issues) so they can do some fitment testing. (hopefully Mon or Tue)

2) They are still doing airflow bench testing to work out the design of the top piece.. They have some pretty cool ideas.. Once they finish the flow bench testing we'll be humming along.

3) In 2 weeks time we will get a production schedule and a firm outline of pricing.

Stage 1: Complete the top airbox piece

Stage 2: Create the new thicker CF air tubes (thermally insulated also) with POSSIBLY new mounts to replace the plastic pieces in the grille. I wanted to create a set of CF mounts that go inside the grille area to replace the stock plastic pieces so that the driver side can be made with a bigger opening like the passenger side. Depending on price I will either go ahead or scrap.. I'll let you know.

Stage 3: Do the engine cover if everyone is on board.

Unfortunately to do each piece requires a new mold, which requires enough people to justify the setup costs. If everyone is onboard we will do the engine cover, otherwise it might be scrapped.. We'll decide once I post the pricing info.

4) We talked about ownership of I.P. etc.. They basically own the mold and everything else when we are done. The "special" price I negotiated was to satisfy my initial R&D group (you guys that paid).. As soon as I finish shipping all of you your boxes, the price will jump significantly so they can recoup their costs. That means anyone not in NOW will pay alot more if they want the same box later.

Because of that, the money that you all paid was only used to purchase the stock airbox assembly that I sent to them to prototype from (basically $20 from each of you covered those costs). The remainder of those funds ($180)will be used as a DEPOSIT on the final price of the box.

That's all I can think of for now.. More updates early next week.. They will have my car for 1 or 2 full days for fitment testing... It's starting to get interesting now..

 

Oh yeah... 2 more things..

1) I took DocStone & KEE55AMG off the list because they never paid and I havent heard from them since Page 1 of this thread. I also refunded M5KILLR his money because he said he sold his E55 and he is no longer able to login to this board (All the best Mike).

That means we are down to 29 paid participants. I told the CF guys we had 32 people participating, so if any of you can come up with 3 more guys to fill the empty spots that would be wonderful and they would also be able to get the box at the R&D price.

2) You airflow and engine specialists.. I have a technical question!!! Pay attention!!

On an F/I motor, does it make a difference if the velocity of the incoming air is slowed (ie. an opening is made bigger than normal?).. Does it have a negative impact to oversize a tube or opening? This is critical and need some input.. It will save alot of money and time if we get this right the first time.

Here's an example.. You have an 80mm TB on the car. Let's say hypothetically that a 3" diameter tube leading to the TB has been found to provide sufficient flow to feed the engine the air it needs.. If I increased it to 4" diameter tube does it have an adverse affect on power?

I know on an N/A motor you need to keep intake velocity up, but on an F/I it doesnt matter right?

 

AFAIK, (regardless if forced induction or NA) any dry-manifold, injected motor will not suffer from having "too much" air like a carbureted motor will. NOt sure if that was really the question or not, but there it is.