engine and drivetrain Cylinder Head Rebuild... Advice??

[2002inthewoods]

Hey Everyone,

 Just got off the phone with Jeff at Ireland Engineering - it definitely cleared some things up for me. First off; have the head resurfaced (as little as possible) and while the machine shop is at it, have them do a valve job. It doesn't make much sense to take the time and effort to do this sort of a job and leaving the condition of valve guides unchecked. It would be a false economy to put everything back together only to take it all apart again in a thousand miles.

  Regarding the rocker locks - I asked what torque they should be set to and his response was "tight", haha. I suppose I'll hand tighten them with locktite, and leave the quietly recommended two-thousands gap between lock and rocker ("you don't want them to bind, but the idea is to stop the rocker from walking" - I'm paraphrasing here).

 I'll have to buy new valve stem seals, in my over-excitement I already installed those and they won't survive being removed and reinstalled again. Luckily they're cheap, and since I'll be making another order I'll try to get some new rocker clips for added peace of mind.

 As a precaution against the machine shop having taken too much off the head and threatening valve clearance  - I was encouraged to use modelling clay on the piston tops to give an indication of clearance by either reusing my old head gasket, or the new one, assemble everything and bolt the head down finger tight with four head bolts or so and crank it over by hand. Pretty brilliant if you ask me.

 

.....Anything else??

[Preyupy]

With a new cam and rockers either use a good "break in oil" or add a bottle of ZDDP to non synthetic oil for break in.  This is really important!!!  Keep the revs above 2000 for at least the first 20 min, vary the speed, set your timing, top off the coolant, look for leaks etc.

[Hans]

In case this wasn't covered, you HAVE to get the head surfaced with the front cover attached. If you're worried about CR being too high, get the thicker head gasket.

[jgerock]

As a follow up to this -  I got a response from an e-mail I sent Schrick regarding their break-in procedure.  The response I got was to "follow the OEM instructions" (as in follow whatever BMW recommended).  As my late grandfather used to say" Gee - thanks". 

[2002inthewoods]

As always - thanks for the responses everyone.
 Got a call back from the machinists today (RPM racing in Georgia, VT). Good news and bad: heads not warped, valve guides are good, no cracks or anything, but the last person who did a valve job on the engine went a bit too far on one of the valves and it will have to be repaired. Total bill: $395 for resurfacing, jetwash, valve job, guide check, bad helicoil job repair. Not too bad I guess, and the guys at RPM are a pleasure to deal with.

 Cant wait to get it back though!!

[2002inthewoods]

A couple pics after having the head jetwashed, resurfaced - low and behold; further inspection revealed that a prior "valve job" was a bit too aggressive on one of the valve seats. To a point where even at low RPM valve float would have been experienced.... well that explains a lot. I'm under the impression (and praying) that the switch from stock cam to IE292 (not regrind), along with the repairs to the valve seats will bring about an improved sense of acceleration, freedom, and satisfaction. The weather here in northern vermont has been apocalyptic. I'm almost finished with the 2002, and the caterham has it's zetec engine and gearbox back in after having to remove it all just to swap out a clutch slave cylinder - in the process I cracked a coolant port off of the thermostat housing and finally have a relatively suitable replacement in hand (from a ford contour no less, probably one of the luckiest ford contour parts around), although one of the sensor ports requires some modification. I'd let someone punch me in the face just to have a day with no wind, snow, and clear roads.

I cleaned the head bolt holes and blew them out with the compressor, cleaned the top of the block, placed the head gasket, then the head, bolted the cam sprocket up, torqued the head down, installed timing chain cover, and bolted the headers back up tonight. Not enough time to do any more. I'll snap some more shots tomorrow and load em up ASAP. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to do the initial break in (I've got the ZDDP oil additive and some CompCams cam lobe lube, and will follow the recommendations posted here).
After the initial break in, is it wisest to let the engine cool back down (overnight) before rechecking the torque on the headbolts (and whatever else you guys recommend I recheck?). Or could I just do the initial break in, check everything, and then try to take it for a spin - assuming there isn't enough snow piled up to stop me from trying to get out of the driveway?
   Thanks again for all the help everyone.

[2002inthewoods]

P.S: I also included two pictures of two BMW V12 heads that were in for service at RPM racing engines in Georgia, Vermont. The guys there have a great shop - very professional, cordial people. They're rates are decent as well: The resurfacing and valve seat repair (including jetwash, helicoiling a spark plug hole and a timing cover hole, removal/reinstalling of valve springs and seals (don't ask, and yeah I bought new ones for them to put in... again) as well as checking for major warpage/cracks) was a few hairs under $300. That price increased to around $500 total after listening to you guys and having them machine the timing cover to match the head, and paying for them to school me / supervise me as I/we installed the cam, rocker shafts, rockers, clips, washers, and locks. This was my decision... I figured after having spent this much time and money toward a rebuild, I wanted to be sure the head was finished correctly - and I wanted to be the one doing it, or at least taught how to do it.

[FB73tii]

After the first heat cycle (cam break-in) let the engine cool to ambient (does not have to be overnight--particularly in Vermont winter), check head bolt torque (various opinions on best methods) and check valve adjustment--some may have tightened or loosened. Glad to hear this is all coming together--you'll like the new cam. --FB

[kbmb02]

If, by chance, the valve lash was set with the head on the bench, it's best to check/set the lash again after installing and torquing the head (per proper procedure). -KB

[2002inthewoods]

Hey y'all (just got back from louisiana, it hasn't worn off yet),

 The head is on the block and torqued, after having forgotten to install the oil squirter beforehand and having to restart, obviously. The intake manifold was still attached to the head when I pulled it out and didn't think twice about how much more of a struggle could have been avoided by making sure to reinstall in the manifold prior to replacing the head on the block. Everything seems to be slowly getting back together without too many issues over here..
However, as always, I have a question for you guys:

  While the head was out of the car I removed the badly worn steering box from the car and installed a refurbed unit. When I went to top it off with the only oil that I found suitable (sta-lube hypoid SAE 85W90 API/GL-3 and GL-4.. this was a bit hard to find and seemed to be the only thing around that didn't also suit GL-5 and so on, you'll be the judge and tell me if this works, right?) : the box itself was packed with was I imagine is similar to Valvoline Ceruline, or another heavy duty greased commonly used for packing axles and whatnot.
What do I do here? It is possible that the box was refurbed with different components than what the factory used, therefore making the need for the previously recommended oil irrelevant? Is this a tell-tale sign of a less than informed re-builder doing their best? Or....??

As always, Thanks for all the help from y'all (there it goes again). 

Edited March 14, 2014 by 2002inthewoods

[2002inthewoods]

Another issue that has come up is with the distributor: its a replacement for the vacuum advance one the came with the car that I had bought in the past from IE - from the getgo it was a tight fit. To the point where when I removed it to get into this whole cylinder head rebuild the o-ring on the shaft tore. I bought another o-ring to replace it with and now I can't even get the shaft to enter the housing.... Out of frustration I did try forcing it a bit but I don't dare try any harder because the housing has had a hairline crack in it since I can remember and I'd rather not split the housing in two. Has anyone else dealt with this? 

[FB73tii]

I normally use a large flat-bladed screwdriver inserted in the slot by the bolt to spread the housing a bit to get a tight-fitting distributor in. Never have seen an o-ring tear--be sure to lube it first.
 
Interesting your steering box is packed with grease. All you need is some 90-weight gear oil like could be used in a diff, such as Redline 75-90 diff oil. Here's a few relevant posts--the first mentions using an extreme pressure (EP) grease. Not sure if you can add gear lube on top of that, or just leave it alone if its got enough lube.

 

Which gear oil for my old BMW manual steering box?

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2385360

 

Where buy Hypoid GL-4 90 wt Oil for steering box?
http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/89310-where-buy-hypoid-gl-4-90-wt-oil-for-steering-box/
 
Steering Box Oil
http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/140198-steering-box-oil/.

Edited March 18, 2014 by FB73tii

[GoFaSSter]

Another issue that has come up is with the distributor: its a replacement for the vacuum advance one the came with the car that I had bought in the past from IE - from the getgo it was a tight fit. To the point where when I removed it to get into this whole cylinder head rebuild the o-ring on the shaft tore. I bought another o-ring to replace it with and now I can't even get the shaft to enter the housing.... Out of frustration I did try forcing it a bit but I don't dare try any harder because the housing has had a hairline crack in it since I can remember and I'd rather not split the housing in two. Has anyone else dealt with this? 

Did you buy the replacement rubber seal? Or an O-ring off the shelf?  I ask because I thought I had the right size o-ring and had the same issues.  I bought the correct seal from Blunt and it was very different from the o-ring that I had previously procured.  The distributor then went in fairly easily.

[FB73tii]

Good point. The factory O-rings are squared off and work well. The round ones, such as may be supplied with an aftermarket distributor delete plug (if running crank fire) are a tight fit--OEM is the way to go! --Fred