Some shop organizing happened today. It will take a fair bit to get the shop back to a presentable state. The old M112 and transmission still runs, and will fill a gap for someone out there, so we plugged all the holes, and pressure washed it. Dried it real well, oiled down the cylinders, photographed it, and then put it aside for now. The boy went on to install a MB V8 throttle body (74mm?) and airbox on his car. Modding, instead of repairing made him happy.

I turned back to the other car for a bit. Mainly worked on the SLK55 seat project. Since I have no intention of using the memory seat function, nor will I run Airscarf the way the factory had it, I decided the more basic 8-way switch functions of the R170 will do just fine. Since the buttons on the R171 are a module, and laid out differently, I needed to get "innovative" with all the plastic. Translation: I cut the button panel out of a R170 in a semi-rectangular shape, and am splicing that into the side panel of the R171 seat. Since no one wants to watch sausage being made, I will hold off on any grotesque pictures of the Frankensteining of this arrangement, and put up pics when the panels are done mid-week. Not my most proud work, but it will do.

Next weekend will bring two more exciting projects to the 04 Crossfire. First, I plan to install a pair of 4-pot/345mm SLK55 front brakes. Everything I have read says that this portion is a bolt in. Searching part numbers seems to show that the SLK55 used the same rear brakes as the SRT-6/SLK32 AMG, which I already have on the car. The wildcard though is the master cylinder. If part lookups are to be trusted, the SLK32 AMG uses a 1" bore master cylinder. The SLK55 uses a 1.812" bore master cylinder. I am concerned about fluid volume for the SLK55 brakes. The parts places list the SLK55 MC for over US$300. I found the same Raybestos part number, new on eBay for $65 shipped. I have one coming. I am debating on using it, though. My next concern is that the ABS module will not handle it all properly, even though it is the same unit for SLK32 and SLK32 AMG (with a huge difference in caliper/rotor sizes). Of course the 2004 ABS module is different from a 2005, so no direct plugging in. Perhaps I should be looking at various C-class modules? Certain C-class cars use the same brakes as the SLK55. Of course all of the dynamic proportioning will be off from the SLK platform. Perhaps I am over-thinking this, too.

The second project will be to install a Kincaid Performance "Killer Chiller" into the car. This system, for those who don't know, takes the intercooler coolant, and runs it through a self contained box that also has in it an A/C evaporator core. Running off of the car's A/C system, in parallel with the in-cabin evaporator core, this system will chill the intercooler coolant substantially more than the water to air heat exchanger can. As a result, charge temperatures will drop, lowering the chance for engine damaging detonation, and also providing a more dense air charge, which means more power. It's a good thing, too. I was about to get bored with the 500hp it was already making!