calw

Mine came and is installed in the instrument cluster. The car's not on the road yet, but I did test it sitting on the seat of another car to confirm operation. A few points to note... This works best in a cluster with the "wood-grain" front panel. Part of the procedure is to remove the retaining fingers on the panel around the speedometer hole (they hold the panel to the inner panel which is almost identical to the the previous version of the cluster. I like the earlier version, and had one ready to convert when I realized it would be more difficult- the earlier version has individual plastic bezel "rings" for each of the 3 gauge holes. Removing the retaining fingers would leave that center bezel without anything to hold it in. The later one piece front panel is retained by the fingers around the other two holes. I removed the wood grain from my front panel during the process 'cause I wanted it to be black. I replaced hot melt glue with a fresh new tube of silicone glue/caulk. I was more comfortable without a soldering iron grade hot thing near my new toy and my freshly refurbed plastic parts. personal preference thing... I was able to put it around almost all of the periphery of the gauge, and will be able to get it out later if needed with an xacto knife. The GPS antenna cable was somewhat cramped by the metal shell of the old speedometer, so I made an additional hole just behind the antenna jack (with grommet) and got a short extension cable to make connecting the antenna easier later. Ebay has "SMA" cables in various lengths and genders. You want "SMA", not "RP-SMA", with a male connector on one end and female on the other end I think mine was 4" long. That short additional antenna cable length is not a problem for signal strength as the antenna's amplified. I replaced the standard pushbutton with a different higher grade switch made by microswitch and was able to use the front panel hole as-is with a nut holding the switch in. Speedhut's switch is fine, mine's better. Finally, note that the face of the gauge now comes with a small "Speedhut" logo at the bottom. No choice, it's a company policy thing.

I just implemented Guisto's solution, with an aluminum plate inside the door. Although you can't see the front hole looking down thru the window slot, you can see the back one, which makes it possible... I made two modifications to the scheme- #1. I used flush head (countersink) 8-32 bolts and "KEPS" nuts (with captive star washer) instead of the nylock nut shown by Guisto, and located them with a tiny bit of 5 minute epoxy glue before attempting the install, and # 2. I rounded the corners of the aluminum part, worrying about sharp corners deforming the steel of the door when tightening the bolts- this probably isn't a viable concern, but I did it anyway. It was easier than I thought, but the access is indeed very tight. It might work better with a second person pointing a bright, tiny light down the window slot

I just did this job, with help (well I was more the helper...) When installing the windows after the riveted on trim and big gasket on top, back, and bottom, It worked best for us to 1. install the window glass inslde the rubber #4 with the plastic bush #8 held in place with a dab of silicon caulk. 2. Insert that assembly in the "hinge" #5. Line up the hole thru glass, rubber, and metal, and put in cotter pin, from inside to outside (Not too tight, don't want to stress the glass). 3, Then install completed glass/hinge assembly in the window opening, using those tiny screws to hold it in place. Needed- helper to hold window in place outside the car while the inside person installs the wee screws. A few extra screws before starting would be a good idea, they're easily lost!

2. Also, how is the rear vent window glass attached to the hinge? Is it just glued in place, or is there another part I need that holds it in place? No glue, it sits in the vertical rubber "gasket" # 4 inside the black sheet metal "hinge' #5 , held in place by # 8 and 9 - A small plastic sleeve that surrounds a cotter pin as it goes thru the little hole in the glass near the top. The plastic sleeve is nothing very special but vital to prevent the cotter pin from grinding on the glass. The cotter pin goes thru #5 to hold it all in place. The bottom just rides in the rubber gasket's groove. # 5 is secured to the trailing edge of the pillar by 4 tiny screws #6 which are pretty hard to find except from BMW due to their little size.

I did this task recently, here's info from memory: To replace the vent window seal, I have read that you first pull the glass from its frame and bend the frame out of the top pivot point. Correct, no other way I could see. 1. How hard is it to pull the vent glass from its frame? Is there a trick to this? I got mine wet by soaking the whole assembly, upside down, in a clean trash can of hot water for an hour. (well it started off hot anyway). Then gently pried the bottom of the rubber strip surrounding the glass from the frame with a small flat blade screwdriver to get things started. GENTLY! Then, take a drink and start pulling on it hard enough to remove it but not hard enough to hurt the frame. I did several sets, it worked, and each time the rubber surround came out with the glass. It stuck better to the glass than the metal frame. The frame is pretty soft aluminum material, so it's sort of a balancing act- don't break the glass or the frame. 2. When reinstalling the vent glass, is there something between the vent glass and the vent frame, and if so, what is the part number? There's a rubber "U" channel (as removed in #1 above). It's listed as P/N 51326454324 possibly NLA from BMW, but seems to be available from others online when I searched. 3. Do you glue the vent glass into the vent frame, and with what glue? I did not glue mine. It's kinda hard to get it in without glue, and I couldn't find any glue residue after the removals. I had to lubricate the rubber outside when putting it in the frame after putting it on the glass, (and after reinstalling the frame in the outer frame- reverse of removal above!) 4 (you didn't ask) "What's the hardest part of this process?" Installing new vent window seals, the rubber that is inslde the outer frame between it and the vent window frame! P/N's 51321815011 and 51321815012. On all of the windows that I disassembled, these were age hardened beyond re-use. I only reassembled one set, and had to install them on two different days. VERY hard to get them fully seated to that the vent window frame could be installed, much hand strength, lubrication, blue air, and patience required. I can offer no good advice on how to do it if needed on yours.

Jim, it goes back to the refinery for reprocessing and antiviral treatment

thanks, Mike. oops, I didn't turn notification on for my post. I probably worry too much about things that don't matter. The problem that I didn't mention is that I have several radiators which started life as standard '02 but no longer have the original mounting brackets on them- no idea why, they came to me this way. So, I can't take a n absolute measurement- I don't know how far a standard radiator extends upward from the upper mounting holes, or how close it is mounted to the crossmember. For the record- The two standard radiators that I have are 19" tall from bottom to top of the cap, the E21 radiator is just a bit over 19 1/2" tall (both brass and plastic/aluminum versions). The E21 radiators have ears for mounting at the top corners that are almost as tall as the top of the cap - but they are easily removed or bent out of the way, at least on the brass version. If 1/2" higher is ok at the cap, and it's still OK where the ears stick up, things should work out. I'll probably bend my ears over and go with it... I'm mounting it rigidly to all 4 mounting holes and ensuring "no-touch" at the crossmember, so I don't see the need for the rubber bits at the bottom (any other opinions about those rubber parts cheerfully accepted!)

I'm attempting to use a nice E21 radiator in my 1600. It's the early brass version with the transmission cooler stuff at the bottom. The plastic plugs are still in place on the transmission ports. I've seen the details about how to mount it, but I've done it a bit differently by fabbing aluminum mounting parts- "U" channel shape on the passenger side, "Z" shape on the driver side (with 90 degree bends,not really a "Z"). With the bottom of the plastic transmission port plugs suspended above the cross member by a fraction of an inch, the top looks like the first photo from the front of the car My hood is not on the car so I have nothing to go by, but it looks tall. Too tall?

Now, if we could only get cage nuts for those mirrors...

Not a Covercraft comment, but be prepared to expect the unexpected from online orders these days. 1. I ordered some hardware bits on Ebay recently. The vendor promptly shipped them by USPS. Watching the tracking- From the east coast, they disappeared into the system, finally showing up at a wrong post office in my local Colorado area, followed by a week long vacation in Souix Falls SD, then coming to my post office, with an additional rest period there, and finally to me. 3+ weeks in the Custody of USPS "3 Day" Priority Mail. 2. At the other end of the spectrum, I ordered a GPS speedometer from Speedhut. Their website mentions a 4-6 week delay. It will be delivered tomorrow by Fedex after 2 1/2 weeks.

The local ACE hardware store often has rubber plugs of varying sizes - like a grommet but with a solid center. An old fashioned autoparts store will also likely have similar bits. Measure before going, and check the thickness that the plug is designed for when buying- if it's meant for very thick material, it's still work if you goop it up with caulk, but not pretty.

I've got two different styles of light switches in my stash. I don't know when the switchover was, or for certain if these were original to the cars they came from. The first is the older style which came from a late '68 1600-2 (and another just like it from a late '68 2002). It has the panel light rheostat at the front of the housing and 9 terminals, with wide contacts. It's stamped "12V" in red on the side. (so there's a 6V version also ? ). It has a paper label with wire colors marked on it rather than wiring diagram numbers. The other is from a '76 and has the rheostat at the back end of the housing and 8 terminals, with narrower contacts. It also has a partial part number stamped on it, which I haven't tried to track down. It's contacts have molded numbers corresponding to the wiring diagram numbers. Are there only two versions of the light switch (well 3, with 6V)? This information is hereby released for use in the "Conserv Book Of Originality" (we know it's just a matter of time)