Cooler than a Polar Bear’s Toenail

What a beautiful Friday it is!  Sunshine, blue skies, puffy clouds…ahhh, just another perfect summer day!   That means a great night for our Cruise-In!  Come on over starting at 6pm!   We will be preparing for the Swap Meet tomorrow.  That’s right, Saturday, August 27th from 8am-?? is our first Swap Meet.  We’ve got some cool stuff on the list from several enthusiasts and customers, so come early for the best parts and best deals!  Read all about it here.
Once again, we’d like to thank everyone who has voted for us on the IndyChannel.com’s A-List.  Your support and loyalty make us who we are, and for that we are so very grateful.

It’s been another busy week here in the shop.  Let’s take a quick peek at some of the goings-on, shall we?

We got the 2003 BMW X5 back from the body shop.  Here’s a look at one area that was repaired:

Before going to the body shop, her front and rear brake pads and rotors were replaced:

One of our favorite e30 M3’s, 1988 BMW M3, is in the shop for transmission and differential service:

This 1992 BMW 325i cabrio came in for slight front end lowering and a custom antenna switch:

Jason trimmed a console that already had an opening  for an airbag button and installed the custom antenna switch in its place:

Stay tuned for “before/after” photos of this cabrio’s e90 drop hats!   The owner is ecstatic about how the slight lowering made such a huge difference in the stance of his bimmer.  We love that!

You may recall that we’ve been working on a special project, specifically retro-fitting A/C in the 1978 BMW 320i.   Things are coming along quite nicely now that

we’ve acquire all the necessary parts, including custom hoses and fittings.   Last week we showed you that the dash had been removed to make installing the A/C box that much easier.  Here’s a look at the interior before removing the dash:

Last Friday we asked our Facebook fans how many A/C boxes were used on this model – the answer is 6!   Reggie took this photo showing 3 of the 4 we acquired to get the best fit for this bimmer:

Now fast forward to this late this week.  Reggie made custom hoses for this bimmer’s A/C system.  Here he had re-routed the hose to place a hose to avoid getting in the way of the hood spring:

It’s quite popular to relocate the car’s battery to the trunk using the A/C hole, as is the case with this 320i.  So Reggie drilled a third hole for the A/C hose.

Reggie and Jason use teamwork to get a grommet into proper position:

Reggie feeds the proper length of hose into the new hole:

Once the proper length is determined under the hood, the hose is cut and ready for fittings:

The black rusty piece, also known as the receiver drier, will be replaced.  This part helps to remove moisture from the system and should be replaced any time the system is opened up.

Just a cool view of the valve cover!  Love the texture!

Ok, now back to the A/C system!

Now the same thing is done to the end of the hose that Reggie fed through to the inside:   Cut the hose, attach the fitting.

And as promised, the new receiver drier has been installed!

A view of the engine bay (prior to the installation of the new receiver drier):

Jason has evacuated and charged the A/C system, and is now ready to do the wiring.   The system does blow nice frosty air!   You may be asking what the title of this blog post has to do with anything.  Fair question, very fair question, indeed!   Though Reggie enjoys so many different genres of music, one of his all-time favorite hip-hop groups is Outkast.  It just so happens that in one of their songs they sing “Cooler than a polar bear’s toenail.”   Name which Outkast song this line comes from and leave your answer on our Facebook fan page!  And just what does all of this have to do with A/C on this 320i?  Well, we’re hoping that this A/C system blows air that is just that cool.

Stay tuned for more next week!  Have a great weekend!