» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | | | | | 03-12-2009, 04:32 PM | #1 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Central NJ Posts: 2,440 | California Top motor gear replacement To those of you with Cali tops: My motor stopped working well and I could hear grinding when it was trying to move. I popped the transmission of the motor open and saw that one of the two sets of gears on top of each other had been stripped. So, I pulled the good gear out and made a silicone mold out of Dow Corning Silastic T-4. Anyway, I'm going to be making some extra gears to sell and offset the cost of the silicone. If your Cali top is having issues, this is probably why. I haven't made my own gear yet, but I think it will end up costing around $15 per gear shipped or two for $25. I'm going to buy molding epoxy from Home Depot which is around $8 a tube (good for one or two gears) and the silicone was around $80... though I have a ton left. So, if anyone wants to save the hassle of buying a now $400 special order motor and transmission, get one or two of these gears so that you don't have an issue in the future. If it's broken, pull it apart and see if the gears are stripped. Let me know if anyone's interested. | | | 03-13-2009, 02:55 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Central NJ Posts: 2,440 | Actually it will probably be cheaper... but I made a test with Loctite 5 minute epoxy and it shattered. Onto another polymer resin... | | | 03-13-2009, 03:16 PM | #3 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 3,244 | I wonder if you could find a stock gear in a catalog somewhere? Can you post a pic of it with measurements? __________________ My Former Rides 1999 318ti Alpine White, Cali Roof, Dinan goodies 1996 318ti Hellrot California Edition | | | 03-13-2009, 03:43 PM | #4 | Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 57 | If you figure this out I am definitely in for both gears. Mine starts to open then you can hear it make the same noise a stripped gear will make. L et me know and I will paypal immediately. | | | 03-13-2009, 04:14 PM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Central NJ Posts: 2,440 | There won't be a stock gear. It's not just a gear; it has two trapezoidal posts on it where it connects to another identical gear by means of a rubber connector piece. I'm going to spend the next week (my spring break) figuring out how to get it to work. I'm going to an aluminum CNC shop and I'll see what they can do. | | | 03-13-2009, 04:31 PM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 3,244 | FYI if needed I could duplicate it in CAD and send for rapid prototyping (just need you to send to me). I have a pretty good connection at a RP place in Columbus. A small part like that can be thrown in with any other run. Just have to make sure it is high res and hard plastic. Phil __________________ My Former Rides 1999 318ti Alpine White, Cali Roof, Dinan goodies 1996 318ti Hellrot California Edition | | | 03-13-2009, 05:08 PM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Central NJ Posts: 2,440 | Hmmm... I'll make an epoxy clone for you and mail it so I don't have to get rid of my one working PP... or nylon gear. Man, and I spent so much time making a mold! Oh well, now I can make an army of clear epoxy gears!!! Muahahaha | | | 03-13-2009, 05:29 PM | #8 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 3,244 | pm sent __________________ My Former Rides 1999 318ti Alpine White, Cali Roof, Dinan goodies 1996 318ti Hellrot California Edition | | | 03-13-2009, 08:16 PM | #9 | Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Kauai, Hawaii Posts: 41 | My motor runs and runs and runs and runs...but my top doesn't go anywhere! I can manually crank it open and closed no problem. Gears? if so, sign me up! __________________ | | | 03-30-2012, 03:27 AM | #10 | Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 1,364 | Quote: Originally Posted by bobvilas My motor runs and runs and runs and runs...but my top doesn't go anywhere! I can manually crank it open and closed no problem. Gears? if so, sign me up! | How long does it take to open or close the top manually. Is the crank conveniently located? | | | 04-01-2012, 08:24 AM | #11 | Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Kauai, Hawaii Posts: 41 | takes a lot of turns to open the top manually. The crank is just a "S" shaped allen wrench. __________________ | | | 03-13-2009, 09:29 PM | #12 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Central NJ Posts: 2,440 | sounds right to me | | | 03-13-2009, 09:47 PM | #13 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oxford, Ohio Posts: 868 | 96Cali, I have a lot of experience making parts using stl. There are a couple of materials I know of which may be strong enough to create a working part from. By the way, what cad system are you using? | | | 09-16-2009, 12:39 AM | #14 | Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 10 | Did this effort die off? The tread just seemed to quit... | | | 09-16-2009, 06:34 AM | #15 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 3,244 | Quote: Originally Posted by dave45056 96Cali, I have a lot of experience making parts using stl. There are a couple of materials I know of which may be strong enough to create a working part from. By the way, what cad system are you using? | totally missed this Dave! I use Pro/engineer. __________________ My Former Rides 1999 318ti Alpine White, Cali Roof, Dinan goodies 1996 318ti Hellrot California Edition | | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |