Smurf Pants

[FluidMotorUnion]

A few hours of mill and welding time were all that remained. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at some Smurf Pants.

We’ve mentioned the name Smurf Pants a few times now when talking about Eric’s Z4M. To give you a little background, Eric’s Z4M has an RPI intake scoop and a Bimmerworld carbon-fiber airbox. The scoop fits and functions just fine, but the airbox is another matter. The outlet for it points towards the front of the Z4M’s frame, near neither the RPI intake scoop nor anywhere remotely large enough to fit a filter. As no parts were being swapped out at this point, we knew we could come up with something to point the filter towards the intake scoop and connect it to the airbox without needing to notch or cut the frame. As always, Smurf Pants started where the majority of our interesting designs start, the computer.

http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants1.jpg

You may see now why we call it Smurf Pants. Since the Smurf Pants are made of aluminum, it might get very uncomfortable if the Smurf needs to do anything remotely related to movement. Perhaps we should call it Smurf Half-Body Cast, but that’s just too clumsy to say over and over. Either way, plenty of time was spent on the mill, cutting out the basic shapes. From there, we put the pieces back onto the mill to have the holes cut out, and we ended up with these four pieces:

http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants2.jpg

We don’t usually need to make designs with as many contours as this piece, so watching this come to life on the mill was rather interesting. When all is said and done, the individual pieces came out looking pretty interesting, not that anybody could guess their purpose from a quick glance:

http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants3.jpg
http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants4.jpg
http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants5.jpg

After everything was double-checked for fitment, we set off to the welding table, where we, um, welded it:

http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants6.jpg

After some time to cool, we found ourselves the proud owners of one functioning pair of Smurf Pants. Seeing them in real life really makes the idea of Smurf Pants seem like a viable nickname. Another viable name would be Badonkadonk Smurf Pants, given the dimensions of one specific part of the aluminum piece:

http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants7.jpg
http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants8.jpg

Now that the pants were made, it was time to put them on. So we fashioned an aluminum clamp to connect the pants to the airbox:

http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants9.jpg

And now everything is connected! Test-fitting is happening as we speak, and everything looks as if it’s coming up Milhouse. The two “legs” of the pants connect to the filter we’re using, which has a double outlet since it’s quite large.

http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants10.jpg
http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/smurf_pants11.jpg

On a final note, we forgot to mention that it was great to see everybody at Another Level this past weekend! Being surrounded by like-minded individuals is never a bad thing. Speaking of being surrounded by like-minded car fans, you should all come sign up for Motor Union (http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/archives/7752)!

[D&W]

wow, nice work. looks like it would cost a bit to make that?

[FluidMotorUnion]

wow, nice work. looks like it would cost a bit to make that?

Yeah, but not as much as buying a new airbox.

Bimmerworld doesn't accept returns on this part, so the owner would have been out $3000 had he chosen another airbox. This was, by and large, the economical route to take.

[cobrawannabe]

Maybe it's the brush marks from cleaning the post-weld oxide layer off, but might I suggest the tiniest bit more pre-cleaning? Do you guys use acetone?

As always, "impressive" would be an insult to the craftsmanship.

[FluidMotorUnion]

Maybe it's the brush marks from cleaning the post-weld oxide layer off, but might I suggest the tiniest bit more pre-cleaning? Do you guys use acetone?

As always, "impressive" would be an insult to the craftsmanship.

Actually, I was a dick and didn't wait for them to polish it more and sand down the exterior welds a bit before I posted the blog. It's much cleaner now. Not sure on our pre-cleaning process; I'd have to check with the engineers on that.

Plus, it's wholly internal; the only person seeing this piece -- aside from all you lovely folks -- will be Eric's new techs in Seattle, who will eventually have to get that filter out to clean it.

[P78]

lol @ smurfpants

and dayum that's another piece of excellent welding

[cobrawannabe]

Actually, I was a dick and didn't wait for them to polish it more and sand down the exterior welds a bit before I posted the blog. It's much cleaner now. Not sure on our pre-cleaning process; I'd have to check with the engineers on that.

Plus, it's wholly internal; the only person seeing this piece -- aside from all you lovely folks -- will be Eric's new techs in Seattle, who will eventually have to get that filter out to clean it.

Excellent. Upon further inspection, I do see a bit of oxide around the welds. Such a small amount on a fresh weld is very impressive. Thanks for the insight!

[FluidMotorUnion]

lol @ smurfpants

and dayum that's another piece of excellent welding

T. Hanks!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZVkb0M61jmc/TObDdezASsI/AAAAAAAABbA/6UoTOPUCTCw/s1600/Tom+Hanks+3.jpg

Excellent. Upon further inspection, I do see a bit of oxide around the welds. Such a small amount on a fresh weld is very impressive. Thanks for the insight!

Thanks! We always aim for full-on pro.