Top End Rebuild, Thanks Engine Machine Service!

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

JUst thought I'd post to all of you about the latest work done on my own car.

About a week ago, my car suddenly started overheating. Immediatley I shut the car down, checked the blets, coolant level and the thermostat. All were fine. Had the car towed home, and did a compression test. 150 +/- 5 in all cylinders except for the 5 cylinder, 60 pounds. "great" I thought. Blown head gasket.

Spent all day sunday tearing down the cooling system, taking the intake manifold off and finally pulling the head. Once off, I noticed the head gasket was intact. I thought "&$(%! warped head"

Took the head to Engine Machine Service here in L.A. and had Dick Nuss evaluate it. Head was slightly warped which was allowing coolant to escape through the exhaust port. Discoloration on the surface of bothe the head and the block confirmed this. Apparently it had been leaking for a while.

At the same time I told him to go ahead and do a valve job. All my valves were ok, and just needed to be re-ground, however my cam, rockers and valve springs all needed replacement. I got a hold of all the parts he needed and dropped them off at the shop for him to do his magic on the head.

Three days later, got my head back, looking brand new. Dick went over all the specs with me, telling me things I wouldnt have thought to do putting this thing back together. These guys really run a great little operation there. Price was really fair as well.

Got the head back on, new timing belt, tensioner, water pump, cap, rotor, and plugs. This was time consuming but not really all that difficult. The hardest part of the whole thing was figuring out out to secure the oil return tube in the block while mounting the intake manifold.

Did a quick compression check, all cyls within spec. Got everything boltewd up and BAM, fired up on the first turn. No hesitation. I revved up the idle and let it run for about 25 minutes to bleed out the cooling system and break the cam in.

then I heard a weird sound.. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, temp starts going up... Heater goes cold, belt starts smoking. shut it off and look at the front of the motor. Got a defective "new" water pump. Spent the rest of the day tearing it all down again and pulling it out.

Next day, get a new pump, install it, put the whole cooling system back together, fire it up again, bleed the cooling system, no problems. I changed the oil and took it out for a spin..

What a difference! Car pulls MUCH harder than it did before. Cam really comes alive at about 4500 RPM and pulls all the way to redline. Took it out on the freeway and didnt even realize I was doing 90 in fifth til I looked down at the speedo. Motor runs COLD. Very susrprising. I think it might even be running too cold, temp doesnt even get out of the blue with the A/C on. I might need to install a higher temp thermostat.

Once again, thanks to Dick at EMS for some really great work at a great price and some outstanding results.

For everybody out there...

Engine Machine Service
8416 Osage Ave. Los Angles, Ca. 90045
Phone (310) 641-7019 Fax (310) 641-4958
Bill Duncan or Dick Nuss

[jase007]

Congratulations Jared!

Nothing like accomplishing a great DIY job and the satisfaction that some with it.

telling me things I wouldnt have thought to do putting this thing back together.

Such as? Please let us know

Q: Were you "nervous" putting a refreshed head (new valvetrain components) and it's accompanying "restoration" of compression back on a motor with 1XX,XXX miles on it?

I have done this a few times to other cars ('90 Volvo 16 valve GLE) without any problems but, .. was wondering how well the bottom end would hold the refreshed top? People have warned me ... that volvo is causing no problems for the new owner.

Very curious to hear what you machinist said about it as am thinking of re-doing top end on my iX (assuming bottom end is in spec). you used a new head gasket right? Did you look at newer designs with "cutting teeth" to fasten better to the block and head surface? Any thoughts on those products?

Were you tempted to "shave" a little off the head or deck the block for slight bump in compression?

TIA

Jason

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

I was briefly tempted to install a hotter cam and have the head shaved a bit, but then again, this is my daily driver, and the Porsche is going to get all the goodies. Plus, with the mods I've done so far, the car only gets about 19MPG.

I just used the OE head gasket set, which was a flat gasket. Looked much beefier than the stock head gasket though.

I was a little nervous about putting the new head on, but I didnt really have much of a choice! Dont have the time to fully rebuild the motor at this time. What I'll probably end up doing is finding a 325i block and rebuild the bottom end when time permits and then swap it out with the rebuilt head. I might even look into the 2.7 e with 2.5 i head and 524td crank combo. Been doing some reading on this and you can push something around 230HP if you build it right. Turbo? Who knows? I'll probably just do it stock, of course this will be the next project after I finish doing the 5-lug conversion and 2.7S transplant into the 914..

[Wayne 962]

WooHoo! I have an E36 head gasket article coming soon...

-Wayne