vrus

I'm not sure to be honest... Hopefully someone can answer the question for you.

Sang... sorry to hear that .. Did it snap right in half? Maybe a little crazy glue will repair it? I dont have a spare one otherwise I would send it to you.

I've seen the plastic star on display at the dealership.. but I am not sure what size they were. I asked my parts guy.. he is looking into it.. I'll get you a part # once i hear back if it can be ordered.

sang55

Vic thanks alot .yes get me the part # if you can or sent me the new one I will pay you . Over here where I lived my dealer is stupid they don't like anyone who mod the MB car so I don't think I can get the MB Star alone.

Jrocket

I tryied to find the star alone but it doesnt show a part number for it.

Go to the dealer and ask to see this part number. A211 758 00 58,that is the part number for the star that is on the rear of the trunk lid on your E55.It might be close in size and appearnace.Onlt thing I can think of right now for you.

FlyByNight

Yeah, Victor... very nice kit. But let me be the first to warn you people are going to have a problem on that last step with the silly emblem. Not only is it a pain to get off the original cover without breaking, but each cover varies in difficulty. I know this because of my spare engine... I used its emblem after breaking mine as E55 killer did.

Second, once they get the frickin emblem off, expect more that a few people to not be able to line up the holes well, let alone just get the super glue in the exact correct spot... AND have it actually stay. It pops out, slides, its mickey mouse. Even then it spreads to the side and bingo, you're frantically wiping super glue off the cover.... and it doesn't come off. Now you've got some nice super glue stains on your cover. I tried the emblem 4 times, broke one, and neither line up with the holes 100%, so one side is sticking out.

I now have two messed up emblems, 4 super glue marks on the CF engine cover, 1 scratch from a post sliding out... not good. I have a feeling I'm not going to be the first to experience this.

The kit would have been excellent if you had removed this last step: Either bought a lot of little plastic emblems and pre installed them, or just made the cover without the hole necessitating the emblem transplant.

By the way, the airbox install and everything else, even the clips, was easy. This super glued emblem part is going to make people insane, and produce a lot of ruined covers... as mine is now.

Just my two cents...



Loren

ROCKETW19

ouch that sucks. i think ill leave my emblem off for now. thanks for the heads up.

sang55

Loren you're right , Why didn't Vic make the cover without the hole. because once the Emblem sit on the OEM cover if you try to take it off the chrome thing will break . I'll try the emblem on the trunk of the C class to see if it fit the hole . The emblem of the E is too big . I will let you guys know .

Jrocket

Looks like the C class uses the same star.

FlyByNight

yeah, but it goes past that... the super glue in the kit is really runny... like water, so it moves off the posts quickly and easily. No matter what emblem you're putting on it, expect that particular glue in the kit to move outside the area... and that's if you get it aligned perfectly on the first try.

I got it perfectly aligned on the second try, with very little glue at all... and just barely pushing down on one side the was popping up just a tick pushed the super glue out to the edge from the post... ran like a drop of water to the side. Wipe it quickly, won't matter... its left is mark.

For those of you who have not done this yet, get super glue GEL or other more viscous solution that won't move much... assuming you get the original emblem off the old cover in one piece.

Anyone knows what takes off super glue without damaging the CF, let me know... I got as far as adhesive remover, HD cleanse, 409... nothing works. Scared about paint thinner, but who knows.



Loren

RoydRage

Guys...

Been reading this... How bout clear Silicone?

It should hold, and resist vibration. And it certainly won't stain, you should be able to roll it off with your fingers. And it won't run either.

It will take 24 hrs to dry properly though.

RoydRage

vrus

Damn Loren.. I'm sorry it was a struggle... I checked and those emblems are not available by themselves.. They are part of a $156 engine cover.. There was no way for me to pre-assemble this otherwise I would have.

One thing I did was take clear scotch tape and taped all the way around the area that the star was going into. This was just in case I made a mess and had overrun of the glue.

When you drop the star into the opening, did it not sit flush? You dont really have to press down hard on it for the glue to adhere to it.

I will look into the glue and see if there is a better replacement for it.

As for the star, do you guys really think the cover would be better without the hole altogether and just not put the factory star in it?

Can you take a pic of the stain on the cover and email it to me.. Let me see what it looks like now. I'll forward to the composites shop and I'll see what we can do.

SleeperX

Just installed my carbon fiber tubes.. Wow!! Do they look nice. Thanks Victor.

Does anyone know what the rubber hose is for that comes out of the airbox in the back? Is it suppose to connect to something. I looked around and couldn't find anything to connect it to..

m3tonyh@verizon

It goes to left valve cover under airbox

SleeperX

Do you have a picture? What will happen if I dont connect it.

Jrocket

I was wrong,C class is much smaller.

PTE

Hi Folks: there is some different type of Super glue to chose from . I personally Like Loctite Products , out of Newington CT. I Use their Loctite , Quicktite Instant Adhesive GEL. P/N 37391. 2 oz tube. It has a non running formula. Will stay put for vertical applications. You can get it at WW Grainger
I usually put my in the Refridgerator . Next to the Beer. The coolness helps thicken the gell. And keep it from running out of the tip , on to your part without squeezing the bottle . Cheers ___PTE___

FlyByNight

yes, I should have ditched the glue in the kit when I saw it was generic / runny... I'm hitting myself for not knowing better. Anyway, in addition to the smears and runs, you can see one of the drops that merely fell off when inverting the star to place it on... 2 inches from everything... and what wiping it away yields. Not even a second on the CF and it burns through it / on it. Anyone know what gets super glue off a CF piece like this? Meanwhile it takes its sweet ol' time drying on the plastic emblem. I'm just trying to think about other things because the frustration of this dumb little piece of plastic pushed me to my limits. I'd rather change a rotor out that try and glue this thing on the CF engine cover.

@$%!%$!#$%#@$#@$% !!!!!!!!!!!

Otherwise, stunning kit. My advice to everyone: Assuming you get your star off your old cover intact (congrats), use some thick glue only... and do so very very carefully. Maybe tape up around the opening to protect the CF, etc, as Victor said. I'm good with stuff like this... not an ******** by any means... so if it can happen to me, I'm sure others will run into it too.



Loren

PTE

You can try a little acetone or MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) on a area not seen from the front or top . Say maybe the rear mating sealing edge behind / below the Throttle body flange area. Use a small amount on a clean cotton cloth . Apply to the finish , See if it doesn't melt it or soften the epoxy. I sometimes am a little messy and get that glue on my fingers. MEK gets it right off. You still may have to buff out the area with some very light compond. I feel really bad about your misshap. It's happen to me more often than I care to admit. I drink WAYYY to much Coffee ___PTE___

MafiosoCLS55

Well I just got back to Miami, Finally get to open the BOX!! Amazing work Vic!! I was a lil worried when I was reading all these stories about the star emblem breaking.. I just finished removing my star, and nothing broke. THANK GOD! Im usually the first one to break it. Well a helpful hint to taking it off which is what I did. I first placed the cover on my knee sitting down with star directly on my knee to support. Then I took a sharp knife (Miracle Blade) and one by one placed the tip of the knife over each small pin hole and just twisted the blade with gentle pressure until it popped out, carefully do this to each pin hole and you should be ok. I hope this helps out..

m3tonyh@verizon

Its a breather hose for pcv, its listed as a high rpm breather, so I guess conceivably you could get oil vapors from it at high rpm. Keep it connected to play it safe.

FlyByNight

*** Update ***

Good news / bad news:

Acetone does remove the super glue... at least the smaller marks. Lots of rubbing and soaking, and only minimally faded the area in question, if at all. I'll have to keep working on the larger marks, but already its cleaned up a lot.

Bad news: Be very careful how you rotate / mount the engine tubes, as even though they may clear the engine cover by a 1/4" or so, they end up rubbing while you're driving / when the engine flexes... which immediately leave marks in the tubes themselves. I'm going to take them off and try pressing them down while tightening the hose clamps / or otherwise rotating them a bit to create more distance. Mine are snapped in and straight, with both coming about 1/4" from the engine cover with these resulting marks on both sides after just one day of driving:



Loren

vrus

Thanks everyone for the input & feedback! I appreciate it and this is exactly what I need to improve on the products.

Those airtubes were made as big as possible to take advantage of extra volume.. Every car is a bit different with respect to the routing of the hoses and other ancillary components that reside in that general area.. Because of that, everyone's car might have different things in the way with different tolerances..

On my own car, there was no sign of rubbing on the sides of the tubes but I am going to install them on another car and check for clearances.

Loren: Sorry for the rocky road you went through to install these.

Maybe a small strip of window weatherstripping or something similar can be stuck on the bottom of the CF engine cover in case the tubes make contact??

Can you take a pic of the 2 items as they are installed on your car so I can see better?? I will also pass them along to the composites shop and see if we should increase the gaps between the 2 of them.

FlyByNight

Here you go... I tried loosening the clamps and pushing away and down, but then it pops out of the radiator mount area... so its kinda fixed in this position on both sides. I'm putting in some adhesive felt (pictured) between the three pieces...



Loren

JamE55

Not sure if you've noticed this or not but your star emblem looks a little crooked.

FlyByNight

oh, yes... note the discussion above about what a pain it was. I gave up when I got it in the holes and it was rotated clockwise a bit... until I find a better, solid, metal star, its going to stay that way. At least its on and only broken in one place.



Loren

vrus

Loren,

I forwarded all of these posts to the composites shop.. I will go personally install it on another car here and see what the fit is like in relation to my own car.