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FROM SILENCE TO VIOLENCE: THE BS GETS SOME HEAD(ERS) (FMU)

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Originally Posted on Fluid Motor Union

Risque titles are the name of the game today, as fabrication pushes forward on the header work on the RBM x FMU CLK63 AMG Black Series SEMA build.

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When it comes to headers on any 6.2L M156 motor, custom-fabricating a set requires patience, precision and a whole lot of caffeine. It’s a small space to work with on almost every version of the 63 setup (C, CLK, etc.), so it’s very much a “measure twenty times, cut once” mentality. As always, Fluid MotorUnion is up to that task.

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Let’s start with the bullet merge collector we’ve finished assembling:

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And now let’s get to the meat-and-potatoes of the blog post, the headers themselves! Since it’s SEMA, our design needs to be highly functional but still different than your standard set of long-tube headers. After lots of research, sitting down and theorizing, we have the idea we’re running with, but we’re not going to give it away just yet. For now, though, we’ve got one set of fully-welded headers (passenger), and the driver’s side should be finished incredibly soon. Let’s take a look at the progress so far, shall we?

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We’re moving at the speed of light, but it’s still a long process. Needless to say, we remain dedicated to our high standards of craftsmanship and won’t sacrifice an ounce of quality during the build. We’ll see you all at the barbecue tonight! It starts at 4 and goes until whenever we feel like it. Remember: No Haters.

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FROM SILENCE TO VIOLENCE: IT BEGINS (FMU)

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Originally Posted on Fluid Motor Union

Enough of the teasers, let’s show you guys some shots of the initial progress of the FMU x Raging Bull Marketing CLK63 Black Series build.

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Much like every other exhaust build, it’s important to make sure you plan out your clearances multiple times before agreeing on changing those tacks into full-blown welds. So we removed everything that we needed to, and now there’s all sorts of room! Just nowhere to put anything in the trunk; thankfully, the car won’t be getting groceries for a few weeks, so the trunkspace isn’t necessary.

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So now the Black Series has assumed the role of “friend who crashes on your couch for a week,” as its stuff is starting to end up everywhere. But unlike the crashing comrade, we’re super excited for the BS to be here, so it can take up all the space it wants.

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A few of the pieces are already tacked together for perfecting fitment. The clearances between the C63 and the BS are a bit off, so we’re taking extra precautions when making sure everything fits together nicely. You don’t want any sort of connection between exhaust pieces and the frame, after all.

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We have our ultra-top-secret, super-trick plans already in motion, so as long as everybody keeps working together, this build should go off without a hitch. Raging Bull Marketing is getting pretty pumped on their end, and we’re eagerly anticipating their arrival this coming weekend. This is going to be one insane month, folks, stay tuned!

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And don’t forget about the FMU BBQ! Marilynn spent all day Sunday prepping for it, so everything is starting to come together!

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FROM SILENCE TO VIOLENCE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE OEM BLACK SERIES EXHAUST

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Originally Posted on Fluid Motor Union

Today, we’ll do a thorough, statistical analysis of the OEM exhaust system on the Black Series, looking for points of improvement and critiquing the OEM setup.

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The Black Series exhaust is pretty straightforward directly from the factory. After the headers, the entire exhaust is easily accessed for both removal and documentation purposes. So let’s dig in, shall we?

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First, we’ll start at the back by the diffuser, the main piece of the exhaust that everybody sees. And trust us, given how fast this car is out of the factory, everybody should only ever be seeing these tailpipes. But there’s one problem — they’re stock. And they’re ovals. And everybody knows that ovals are not only a terrible shape for exhaust flow (there is no scientific basis behind that assertion), but they’re also too commonplace on AMG motors to be seen as hints that something wicked is happening under the body of the Black Series. So, they’ll have to go. Goodbye.

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Next, we get to these weird round things before the oxygen sensors. These things have been puzzling us ever since we started building exhaust systems. What are they? What do they do? Why make such a bulbous malignancy appear in the middle of such a nice, straight exhaust system? They must be messing with how the oxygen sensors should be working. So, since we have no idea what they are or how they function, let’s just get rid of ‘em in the new design. That sounds good to us. Screw those things.

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And now we have — wait — even more of these oddly shaped thingamajigs?! What is happening here?! They obviously don’t do anything, if Mercedes needs to put four of them in the system. We’re so glad to have found this engineering oversight that Affalterbach obviously missed. Millions of dollars in R&D and they’re still slipping up from time to time. Oh well, everybody’s human. Let’s just do like we are going to do with the front bulb-ball-thingies and cut them the eff out of our new design.

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H-pipes? H-pipes?! That’s just goofy. If only there were a more appropriate x-shaped solution. We don’t know what you’d call something like that though, so we’ll gladly take some suggestions as to how to go about naming the x-shaped h-pipe. One of them isn’t even welded all the way around! Silly German engineers.

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And that about sums up our expert analysis of the CLK Black Series’ OEM exhaust system. Obviously we’ll be running an onion-shaped-bulb-free, x-shaped h-pipe setup that should produce approximately 1 to 3 extra horsepower for this seriously sick vehicle.*

*Disclaimer: Yes, we know they’re catalytic converters. Yes, we know it’s called an x-pipe. Yes, we’ll be putting down a lot more than 1-3 horsepower with our FMU bespoke catless exhaust. Yes, we are fully aware of the laws surrounding the removal of catalytic converters, as this car will be for off-road purposes only, competing in both SEMA’s contests and a time attack racing series thereafter. Follow your local laws, folks. And have a great weekend!

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A LOAD OF BS: FROM SILENCE TO VIOLENCE (FMU)

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Originally Posted on Fluid Motor Union:

If you saw it on Facebook, then you already know. For those of you who don’t, we’re currently in possession of a SEMA-bound CLK63 AMG Black Series.

A while ago, we were approached by Joe Galante on behalf of Raging Bull Marketing, a company in the Pacific Northwest that specializes in the marketing of vehicles. Some of their previous builds have been nothing short of outstanding, and they were looking to us for one seriously trick, SEMA-worthy exhaust setup for a CLK Black Series. After some back-and-forth, snarky witticisms, Anchorman quotes and liquid courage, the wheels began to roll. What started as an exhaust ballooned into a fully custom exhaust setup, featuring both FMU’s long-tube header design and a custom piping scheme from the collectors back, along with one of our oil coolers. Before we even knew it, a two-story vehicle hauler showed up on our doorstep around midnight last night, and we were greeted with a beautiful sight:

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With the BS secured in our garage for the evening, we sought some rest. Upon our arrival this morning, though, cameras began rolling and snapping. The most obvious things you’ll notice about the vehicle below is the aggressive wheel setup coupled with one very unique paint scheme. We at Fluid have come up with several different names for the paint, but only Joe (the man who mixed it himself) knows the true title for this tint. The wheels are none other than ADV.1’s ADV.10 design with quite the aggressive fitment, coming to just about flush with the massive BS-exclusive fender flares. It’s one of the most beautiful cars we’ve ever encountered, and it’s only been here for twelve hours. Ideas are floating around, as they have been for months, so the coming weeks are shaping up to be nothing less than utterly epic. We can’t wait to get together with Joe in Chicago and show him how we do things in the Midwest. Until then, let’s take a gander, shall we?

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Currently, our first step with the Black Series is to get it on the dyno, which we did. It’s undergoing some runs to find its baseline power, so we can see just how much power the long-tube headers and exhaust will add to the mix. This is already a seriously powerful car, but since it will be competing in Global Time Attack’s Modified RWD class, it’s going to need that competitive edge.

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Thanks again goes out to Joe and Mitchell of Raging Bull Marketing, as this is one opportunity we’re both humbled and overjoyed to undertake. Look out world, Fluid MotorUnion is about to turn your shit upside-down.

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