BMW v8 engine coffee table project
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updates! if you are allergic to cats, leave now.
Before I finish the block (polishing and painting) I wanted to figure out the feet. The block could be left alone and just set on the floor, but this will help with moving the table and not scratching nice floors.
Here are the front feet. used the oil pan bolt holes, a nut/washer and bolt and some rubber table feet. height adjustable for leveling!

Here is our cat inspecting the feet that I just installed to make sure they are up to code. (this actually happens in a lot of photos, those who have cats know what Im talking about)

I decided to use casters as the back feet to ease in moving the table around. I used some 1 1/8" square aluminum tube, medium duty non-marking fixed casters, and plastic end caps.

Installed with m10 bolts

Here is the the gap achieved. Will work unless you have 70s shag carpet.

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Russian Blue?
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Russian Blue?
nah, just a domestic shorthair (blue is one of the colors they come in)
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Mittens does that to me all of the time. I love the way you mounted those casters=)
thanks!
Lovin the "gap" in the last pic!!!
what guy doesn't?
i missed a golden opportunity, thanks for reminding me!

amidoingitright?
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masked and primed the block the last couple of days.
this was the worst of the masking:

just a rando pic of the primer on the block:

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so i really wanted to make a set of shorty headers, but after some research and experimentation, it just cant happen. so what i decided to do was emulate the style of this honda indy display motor, and just have short outlets.

so i'm making the flanges out of oak, and the tubes out of aluminum tubing. once together, i will spray paint them with some sort of metal-look finish.
here are the flanges being cut out:

on the drill press

flange in place, measurements were correct!

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Whoa, this is getting cooler and cooler
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Super awesome man! Keep it up!
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the stock stamped steel ones? they are pretty ugly, some of them are even T-shaped leaving the head. have any pictures, anyways? i'm curious if m62 looks much different than m60.
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thanks for the offer, but I'm going to pass. i mostly hate that left/right are not symmetrical, but those stamping edges, wow it makes them look so cheap. what are those called, "hemming" or something like that?
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ah i see. unfortunately I cannot weld or machine anything, so i'm limited on customizing stuff like that. yeah they are definitely dual-walled, thats why they stamped them instead of just welding or casting.
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got the main bearing caps painted and the related hardware cleaned/polished.

also, my 1.75" 6061 aluminum tube came in for the 'headers'

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more work done on headers:
finished the flanges

wood filler used to get the grain/imperfections hidden before painting. before on top, after on bottom.

to cut the tubes, I don't have a miter saw, or a table saw, or a band saw, so i made a little jig for my circular. fyi, diablo circular saw blades are the shit. i've been cutting soft woods, hard woods, and aluminum on the same blade for YEARS and its still sharp.

rough cut done

tubes filed, fitting and glued into the flanges. all that's left is to make some 'simulated' welds and then paint.

also started on the injectors. they were a bit crusty, and i want to use them to bring a little color to the whole motor, so they will be painted BMW blue.

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