Hub spacers referenced above have arrived. Also, 78mm lug stud conversion kit from Motorsport Hardware also arrived. Will try to get out into the shop this evening, and do a test fit, and if successful, the 4-pot brakes will go back on. Now that I know they exist, really want to jump all the way up to the 360mm/6-pot fronts and 330mm vented disc 4-pot rears. That combo would probably solve the braking issues for tight courses.

The front springs are the next challenge. Not sure any of the off the shelf solutions will work. Has anyone had a custom OEM-type spring made for them? I'd love to hear about your experience. I have gone for custom coil over springs, but those are generally standard 2.5" type springs, and almost off the shelf.

Once these two items are on their way, the next challenge will be to bring a past project for this car back to the front burner. Last winter, I began work on a modernized LCD instrument cluster conversion. A Crossfire cluster was victimized for this, but what I can tell you is that it is working on the bench. I can pull off the CAN bus messages, and anything else that is missing from the CAN bus is added in through an Arduino (Teensy) board that I designed and had made (I'm a nerdy engineer). The software I am running is called RealDash, and thanks to Crossfire Forum member @rbracy10406 , it is off the ground. The software runs on Android, and the bulk of the people running it put it on their Android head unit, or add a tablet. Way too basic for me! Once complete, the solution will be seamless, and appear OEM, which is the effect I am after. I will try to dig up some pics of it (it's *ugly* right now), but I am at work, and without the pics for now. This is kind of a cold-weather type of a project, so it was shelved since about March. I'll get back on it fairly soon. If you have worked with RealDash, or something similar, PM me. I'd love to trade stories, ideas, etc.

So why post about this here? Much like the points I made above about closing the loop on the package, this is another part. The RealDash conversion is not just about some fancy looking toy in the car. Actually, the dash will be able to convey a lot more information to the driver than the stock one can. For example, already integrated and working are the following extra sensors: Wideband O2, oil pressure, fuel pressure, intake air temperature, intercooler coolant temperature, and I may had a fuel temperature/ethanol content sensor (debating on this one). The best part about this is that there will be no external gauges, gauge pods, or any other ugly add-ons. Well, save one. Part of this will be eliminating the steering wheel, and replacing with a W205 wheel (already in hand), like this one:



I have three of these (with minor styling variations) in hand already. Work has already begun on communicating with it (it uses LIN Bus). Work on this latter part would be accelerated by spending a day with a similarly equipped car and some test equipment, so that it coming. One neat thing in this addition will be the paddle shifters. Yes! The TCU in the car has this option enabled, and this will close that loop, once complete. The other buttons in the wheel for controlling the radio will be able to talk to the double DIN Android head unit already onboard, and the other buttons will control the dash, pretty similarly to the original intent in the car the wheel came from. Hoping that this will be a slick addition to the car. For the curious, the airbag situation has already been sorted, based on experience from users in other MB platforms.

The RealDash will likely deploy into the car before the steering wheel, and the steering wheel will complement it later. The more mechanical projects that are still out there (brakes, suspension, tires, Killer Chiller, etc) will come before these, but I wanted to give a peek into what is up and coming. Always on the move!

p.s.-I already have a plan for the logo on the steering wheel. I am open to comments or suggestions, but the Mercedes star is not going to be part of this one!