[Jaggu]

Came across a bunch of passionate guys who wanted to do something different, to showcase the passion they had for automobiles. Thought this would be an interesting share on TBHP.

Though the concept of 'Recycled Automobile part' furniture is not new, this was something done just out of passion by few individuals and not for any commercial gains....

So many of us are automobile enthusiasts passionate about automobiles and we think and dream of power & machines all the time. Most of us drive cars everyday but many won’t be able to tell the difference between one engine component to another. We hardly open the hood of the car to see & study the marvel that’s called the engine, to get a detailed glimpse of what lies beneath these wonderful machines that carry us great distances all the time.

So why can’t we do something that will showcase this marvelous piece of human engineering called the car engine? Yeah sounds great but how do we convert these wonderful thoughts to actions? Where do you find such an engine and how do we display it? Engines are oily full of grease, how do we display these engineering marvels that people can appreciate?



So came by the thought “Hey why don’t we create a dining table engine with an engine that has a turbo charger, NoS and the works et al? Why can’t people touch & feel the engine that’s clean polished and shiny and the heart, the most important part of the automobile, that people can appreciate? Why do engines have to be dusty, greasy and black?” We will change that- And so was born the concept of the Baloch M1300 Turbo dining table. We needed to finish it such that it is really attractive and when someone sits on this dining table, remove the thought of an oily greasy and dusty engine.

While the thought sounded nice there were many questions we needed to answer - So the task one was to find an engine. Where will we find one? While we always drive cars and bikes one never thought of creating a concept table that can be fabricated so as to showcase its engineering beauty. How do we fabricate it? Who will do it for us? Would we be able to deliver a well finished product?

How we went about addressing these challenges, step one was to find a used engine. Where else but in the local flea market we went hunting for one, finally after a diligent search we found one that was junked for many years but with most of the components intact!!!

The Engine before finishing (Work in progress)



Semi-finished Engine Table



Step two - was to fabricate the legs that will hold the weight of the engine and strong enough made of fabricated solid steel. We actually found a small fabrication shed that had a lathe machine and Anwar who knew to operate it. Hey Anwar will you help us build the table? Could you help us put the steel table legs together? We will do the design for the compression pipes but would you be able to fabricate them? No the engine does not have to start thankfully but needs to be “finished” perfectly. He instantly said yes we can do this. So we had the engine, and the turbo purchased from another flea market and the NoS cylinder from yet another source. And of course the main legs on which this would all stand also had to be just right!

The next challenge was to get all these components fitted as though they are part of one engine and finally fit into an “Engine Dining Table” Turbo, NoS, Alternator everything that one could effectively display. Yes we got the assembly right with a bit of struggle and all the parts integrated perfectly well. Hardly a week from our busy schedules and the installed piece was ready. So we got the High speed fuel injection jets, the NoS kit and the fabricated exhausts.

The next challenge-Finishing it to perfection! The right chrome finish, the right orange peel finish for the turbo, exhausts etc etc. And so embarked the real journey-dismantle the ugly piece, find the best painter, find the best chroming unit find the best “stickering” guy and above a good glass to complete the fabulous item.

Not very sure, we dismantled the unfinished table and sent out the parts for finishing. One by one - what colour but a bright German red for the engine and on top the engine casing had to be red and silver… was a difficult job to get the silver stripes, then the chroming and the desired level of finish as we had envisaged in the beginning. It took a good 2-3 weeks to get these items painted, polished shined and chromed and finally to get them assembled back on the now masterpiece in the making…

Lastly the most important part, final item was the 4 pillars on which the table glass would fit such that they look one with the engine provide a full view of the engine and also perfectly be able to hold the glass top. After a lot of deliberations and one or two failed and not so very elegant designs, we ended up with 2 wasteful fabrications to hold the glass. But finally the 3rd attempt to get the right design gave the desired effect such that the four extensions merged completely as though they were an integral part of the engine.

The Finished Table BALOCH M1300 TURBO



Photo Gallery of the finished table:





There was the glass etching to be done. So we got the “BALOCH” logo etched beautifully on either side of the top of the table glass to complete the garnishing of the concept table. That completes the story of the concept table “BALOCH”.



Table Concept & Design: Lochan Varagappa Edit: Wrong URL (www.facebook.com/balochgearknob)
Fabrication: Anwar
Photography: Ravi Ramappa
Article written by: Hemant Khandeparkar

[adg_andy]

Very beautifully executed idea . A must have for auto enthusiasts. Any info on the costs?

[Octane_Power]

Wow looks beautiful. The red color can also be changed to some other color after a while if one gets bored with it.
The picture doesn't do justice to the actual size of the table, looks quite small here; but since it is a dining table what are its dimensions? And how much does it cost?

-Bhargav

[FlyingSpur]

Doesn't Top Gear have a table made from an engine block? Can be seen when they do the news. I've always wanted Auto-parts furniture.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by FlyingSpur

Doesn't Top Gear have a table made from an engine block? Can be seen when they do the news. I've always wanted Auto-parts furniture.

Amen. That's the first thing that clicked in my mind when I scrolled through the first post.

Here it is:



Looks like a V12 engine block.

A Google image search for engine block coffee tables returns a whole bunch of results!

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by adg_andy

Any info on the costs?

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

The picture doesn't do justice to the actual size of the table, looks quite small here; but since it is a dining table what are its dimensions? And how much does it cost?

It's a coffee table which can seat comfortably 4 people, to give you an idea about the size. And cost is not something the author would want to publish, for the fact that the redoing bit and effort spent/invested makes it an obnoxiously costly affair.

He mentioned he could have bought half a dozen coffee table set at this cost

[devilwearsprada]

Saw your post and came across another great firm based here in NCR. For NCR folks, they make pretty good automotive merch's and amazing engine block coffee tables. A friend just got one made for ~ 11,000. Done with a Palio 1.6 engine they look pretty amazing too. Sturdy and good!

P.S- I am not affiliated to the company but just a fan of their work.

Some Links - https://www.facebook.com/theautomotivemerchandise/

Well who knew, NCR could also have a bunch of hidden talent inspired people!

[Samar117]

A lot of people now have this idea of using old Auto parts as Furniture. Obviously popularized by the Top Gear table. Even my Uncle used an old chevy V6 to make a table.

The only downside I saw, is that it is rather difficult to clean and is quite heavy.

[TurboGuru]

For Bangalore guys: have any one been to Hell's Kitchen, it's in HSR Layout off 27th main. you get to dine on table on top of bike wheels, you can optionally relax in sacks of old tyres & you need to pick tissues placed in Oil Filters. Other pretty innovative stuffs too. Highly recommended for fellow Bhpian. You can pick some idea for DIY for your dining space also (if your wife/ gf/ parents agree :-) )

[dilsh3r]

I mainly sit in the workshop of my Bus Transport business and a few months back came up with this cool idea of converting used spares to fancy looking furniture and accessories.
I was going through the online shopping websites finding nice pen stands for my desk which would relate something to the automobile industry and couldn't find none and then when I came across this bus whose engine I was to help my engineers and mechanics overhaul, I was onto installing the connector rod to the pistons. There I came across this one used piston which was lying next to me, fully filled with bolts and then my mind clicked, linking it with a pen stand. After having a mechanic to wash a used piston, I took it to my desk and then put my stationary in it and got the result as in the images below!

[YaeJay]

I too have a piston from one of my old bikes. Sits on my table as a paper weight. my mechanic did have a weird expression on his face when I said wanted that.

[dilsh3r]

Originally Posted by YaeJay

Sits on my table as a paper weight.

Please can you share the picture?

All my staff now uses Pistons as desk stands and hub bearings as paper weights.

My new mission:

Crank shaft and steering table.


Gear shaft table lamp.

[greenhorn]

My dad used to have a Bus piston for years at his office desk. doesn't look as fancy though. I think he still has it in his cabinet.

He mentioned that they used to make chisels (or some sort of sharp implements) out of old con rods.
Recently I've seen engine blocks being used as stands for glass table tops

[dilsh3r]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Recently I've seen engine blocks being used as stands for glass table tops

Yea I have seen alot of those with super car collectors in the US and the best that I saw was a Glass Table top on a Bugatti Engine.

[GTO]

Among the many pieces of automotive merchandise I have, here's the most special one. A paperweight gifted by Moderator Rtech back in 2006.



If you're looking for such stuff, nothing can beat the sheer variety on www.aliexpress.com