Is it worth building an 05-08 Ego in 2025?

[DarkApollo]

Ive always wanted one but could never get one. Now I am looking for winter projects and thought of building an 05-08 Ego.
Everything looks pretty cheap on eBay.

Is it worth piecing one together and doing a custom ano?

What is the deal with the solenoids? Why are Egos known for blowing them up? I have so many electros with tens or hundreds of thousands of shots and still going. Why are Ego solenoids known for going bad?

[Ecapnation]

Short answer. No.

The deal with the solenoids are they are no longer made and not readily swappable with something off the shelf.

While great guns they are definitely British bespoke engineering.

[Ecapnation]

As for the solenoid fragility..... They are pushing 20 years old and just giving out. Plus in cases of the 09 egos they pushed the solenoid too hard and it eventually self destructs.

[Mr.Rush]

The grip panel screws could be tightened down far enough to damage the solenoid coils. You can use any 5 way solenoid you want in the marker if you ditch the manifold as long as it fits in the frame. The 7/8 markers used a MAC 43 variant here's a write up on a swap.https://www.mcarterbrown.com/forum/p...from-the-grave

[Ecapnation]

That was a big issue with 05 and 06 egos.... Tech guys used to cringe when they saw hybrid grips

[DarkApollo]

I was looking through that thread while compiling a parts list for a potential build of an 08 body on eBay.

[Mr.Rush]

I just don't bother with putting all the grip screws on my 05 ego 4 out of 6 is good enough.

[DarkApollo]

I’m not a stranger to using different solenoids. Ive put Humphries solenoids in raceguns to replace the SMC with an F1 style housing. So not really worried about them being available. I saw a comment about how not using QEV’s will shorten their life which didnt make sense.

I didnt know if it was an electronics issue where PE was overdriving the solenoids or it was some fundamental design flaw.

Ive had to repair my Shocker solenoid so I understand the grip screw issue.

[Mr.Rush]

The problem is just them insisting on using manifolds and slightly custom solenoids. I've also been told that the air passages in the 05/06 Egos are slightly undersized and cause the aging solenoids to appear bad when they're not.

[Ecapnation]

Iirc PE used strange voltages from the stock COTS version

[Mr.Rush]

4w 5v instead of 4.7w 5v

[DarkApollo]

Since the new solenoid would mean swapping the whole thing, is the 4w vs 4.7w really an issue? It would be using the 4w coil either way. Just one would have the 'correct' spool and manifold.

[Chuck E Ducky]

08 noids are good as long as you don’t put a grip screw threw them. It’s not worth building one. Parts are pricey moods can cost 150+ alone if you can find one. They rarely go bad from use. They go bad because they sit in the frame behind the grip screws if you over tighten them it pokes a hole in the aluminum housing. Off you are looking at used one have the seller pull the grip frame and make sure there are not any holes. The rest is rebuildable.

But you can find complete ones they are great shooters. My favorite early ego is the 07-08 up until the LV series. The SL versions are really nice SL74 being one of the greats. The LPR and HPR bumpers can be replaced now. I would replace the QEV diaphragms as well.

I still own an 08 ego and shot it up until I won a CSR in a raffle. My CSR has given me more issues over the years then my 08 with 10x the amount of play on the old girl.

08/SL74 with the LP valve 👌🏼

[Nugepb]

I was in the same boat. I've always wanted a SL74 but could never afford one. Nowadays they are a bit hard to come by at a reasonable price. I bought a body from ebay and what ever parts I could get from PE's spares website. The only thing I couldn't get is a solenoid and I didn't want to part out an old ego 7/8. So I designed a manifold to use a LV1.6/LV2 solenoid. You can follow my build below.

https://www.mcarterbrown.com/forum/custom/custom-projects-custom-questions/616140-reviving-a-parted-out-sl74