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(Not*) Mediocre 242

Drove it to IPD; the trip was something like 1800 miles total. The way out I had no problems, car ran fine. However, on the way back, my electric fan motor seized a little less than halfway home. So I drove 50 miles on the freeway with no fan, stopped in a junkyard in Boise, found an 850 efan and made it work. No overheating problems unless I was stopped at a light or an exit or something. Turns out the 850 efan motor has much shorter wires than the 940 fan, so I had to dangle my relay on the skid plate. Ghetto but I had limited time and tools. After swapping the efan motors, I drove the rest of the way home without incident. I'm trying to find another 940 efan locally.

My seats have been pretty bad for some time, so I decided to do something about it. These showed up the day I was leaving for IPD:

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I made some brackets yesterday, just waterjet out a shape from 1/8" mild steel and pounded them into submission with a hammer and vice. Small compound bends aren't really possible on the brake I have access to. The flange near the rear mounting point is to make the brackets stiffer as they hang off the back of the stock seat slider.

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They fit perfectly:

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I really need to find a black carpet and redo the rear bench.

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I really like these seats. They're Recaro Expert L. The driver side has hand inflatable lumbar support, but the passenger doesn't. The driver also has an armrest I can't use because it interferes with the seatbelt console. I'll probably machine some bracket to make it work, I really want an armrest. I made the brackets hang off the back of the slider because I'm pretty tall. Doing it this way gives me plenty of leg and head room.
 
ironically i really liked the seats that were in it. they fit a tall fat guy nicely.

having driven it: the motor is astonishingly good.
 
I made them from 1/8" mild steel. The holes in the part are undersized. I do this to get a location reference from the waterjet, and then I go through and drill them to the finish size. I'm pretty sure I used a J drill bit for the seat holes and U bit for the slider holes. This gives room for the square base of the slider studs so the bracket can sit flat.
 
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I didn't see this update, Glad you made it home safe and sound, when I first read "However, on the way back, my electric fan...." I was like, "If this dude killed a relay I'm going to LOL" that is one of the spares I brought with me and you scoffed at it.

Those seats are the cat's ass, I wish I could have gone for a ride in this beast.
 
I didn't see this update, Glad you made it home safe and sound, when I first read "However, on the way back, my electric fan...." I was like, "If this dude killed a relay I'm going to LOL" that is one of the spares I brought with me and you scoffed at it.

Those seats are the cat's ass, I wish I could have gone for a ride in this beast.

Haha. The irony wasn't lost on me. When I realized it was the fan that's all I could think about. I almost wish it was the relay though, that would have been a much faster fix. Maybe I'll start carrying a spare fan motor on road trips. I do have two spare relays now that I'll toss in just in case.
 
Haha. The irony wasn't lost on me. When I realized it was the fan that's all I could think about. I almost wish it was the relay though, that would have been a much faster fix. Maybe I'll start carrying a spare fan motor on road trips. I do have two spare relays now that I'll toss in just in case.

I feel ya on the relay being easier. As I gain confidence in my car, There is less and less in my trunk. Before leaving for Portland I told my wife, "I'm bringing everything, so we will hopefully need nothing" and it worked!
 
It's a good way to do things. I could have saved myself 3 hours if I happened to have a fan motor in my trunk. I'm not sure what I'm going to take to Big Socal yet.
 
It's a good way to do things. I could have saved myself 3 hours if I happened to have a fan motor in my trunk. I'm not sure what I'm going to take to Big Socal yet.

You plan to make that trek? I'll go, I just hate to be alone, in a strange town, with socal-ers :omg:

Will be a cool show, and I'm sure at least a couple of Bimmers guys from here in Sac will venture down.
 
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Don't ask me how or why, but the fuel rail mount broke again. This time it was a total weld failure and the part is off on the side of the road somewhere. I looked for a while but no luck. I did a pull, heard a little pop and lost boost pressure. I went home and noticed what was missing. Luckily pulling the intake only takes 20 minutes or so.



I'll have to machine my own bracket from angle aluminum unless Nathan does them another way.

I also did a few other things. I refurbished my shift knob, made a little extension, and installed a foam isolater. Super easy to install from the top and makes a huge difference in cabin noise.

I'm not in love with the looks of the shift extension, I may have it anodized black or something but it feels much better now.

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Yes it does. The worst part is I have no idea why it failed. I pulled a strut bar off because I thought the rail hit it. Looks like it's something else.
 
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