First time rebuilding an 885 head

[BMW B3N]

Hey, Im starting this thread mostly because i need help and opinions. I also thought now would be a good time to post my first 'build' thread. Soooo I bought a b25 head off CL in june for around $175 I believe.. The guy had two and said he bought them off a mechanic and knew they had no cracks. I bought one and its been sitting in the garage up until a couple weeks ago. I stipped the whole head down did a bit of cleaning and bought new parts. The original reason behind all of this is because when I got my e30 its odometer stopped just under 200k and it makes screeching noises and what seems to be knocking sounds. I'm sure some of its just small problems and some sounds i'm hearing are just in my head(pun intended;)),but i thought it would be good to have a fresh setup because i eventually want to have a good reliable setup for drifting. I'll get a lot more pics later
Parts I got so far...
-Bimmerheads hd rockers

-ARP head studs
-2x rocker shafts
-Timing belt
-Tensioner
-A/C,Power steering, and alternator belts
-Gasket kit
-Waterpump
Parts I need...
-injectors
-spark plugs
-a whole lot more that i can't think of now
I'm working part time minimum wage and i don't have a lot more to work with but i'm open ears to any parts/accessories i should be buying. I've already tripled what i wanted to spend and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak, but I guess thats what u get for liking cars. At first I just wanted heavy duty rockers, ARP head studs, and a good clean up but it fell into a snowball effect so quickly and I'm ready to wrap things up. If any of you could give me some words of advice it would be much appreciated. I think I can get more pictures by tomorrow.

these are questions I have and i would appreciate it if someone can give me insight
-I was thinking of getting a cam since now would be the ideal time to do so, why does Ireland engineering have such a bad rep.? I thought the reground 272 cam was a good deal for something like $190
-Are new valves necessary? Like I said i want a reliable drift setup that I can redline for days(small exaggeration) and not be too concerned but at the same time I never really hear any problems with people saying anything bad about the valves in an m20. the ones I pulled out don't seem to have to much carbon build up. Should i just clean them all up and put it back together?

Cleaned up with something like purple power and a wire wheel.

And.... here's all of it

The head itself...

sorry didn't save an after lol

-If I didn't want any machining done, ballpark ,how much do you think it would cost for just a hot tank, and a check for cracks? Also is there a stress test for valves? What else might I need from the shop? I plan to just lap the valves back in if i'm using the same valves.
-Last question for now... What would you upgrade inside the head for a 272 cam?

Any advice/support would help a ton
Ohh.. and for those who r about to say "just look it up" please move on lol. I'll continue trying to search for the answers
Thanks in Advance:thankyou:
-Ben

[101]

I'll let others chime on but one thing that caught my attention was the cupcake tin. Mmmm - cupcakes!

I would add to your list of machine shop work to have the head casting checked for flatness. Even a head off a running, non-overheated car will likely have some small degree of warping. Get it checked and decked (I paid $75 to have mine done) and you'll have a much better experience when you bolt it on to an engine.

[ahlem]

Valve guides and seals.
Check the rockers where the pads contact the cam to be sure they aren't worn to a concave.
Skip the drifting and go straight to autocross and road racing.

[Cabriolet]

Before you install it. get it pressure tested!!!!!!! i just had to do a head over, bc the guy brought be a head that he said was pressure tested for cracks, it hadnt and now i have milkshake for days.

If you can afford it, i would replace the valve springs, valve guides, seats and get new valves.

invest in assembly lube to build the head
use only ARP studs or BMW head bolts, the bmw bolts are only slightly more than the victor reinz ones but are far better quality.
and only the BMW headgasket.

[jlevie]

In my opinion, the head and valves need to go to a good machine shop for pressure and crack testing, checked for warp, the valves & seats ground, and the guides checked for wear. In my experience a used head always has enough warp to justify a minimal (.005") cut.

You can lap in the valves when you get the head back, which a good check on the grinding job. People have had mixed results with the VR head gasket. Most of the time it works okay, but some of the time it will seep oil. Given the work involved in changing the head gasket, use the BMW OE gasket.

You won't need new valves unless one or more are bent or the exhaust valves are too thin after grinding. The last head I did was off a 150k engine that ran well, but with some slight misfires. A leak down test indicated that some of the valves weren't sealing. Even though there was no history of a broken timing belt, we found that two of the exhaust valves were very slightly bent. Dunno how that could have happened unless someone removed the crank bolt without using a counter hold tool.

[BMW B3N]

Update

Thanks again for those who replied so quickly. I'll make sure to do the basic stuff to the head. Do you think it will cost me over $400 to get the head cleaned, valves grinded, valves seated with seals, and pressure tested? I know theres a lot of "iffy" variables in that question but I have no idea on how much i'll be paying. Soo today after school I went home to take picture of the parts and head itself and to check if the head had any warping done to it..
The pictures
The rocker shafts new vs. beat to death old

The cam, seems to be in good shape to have it reground by IE


The gasket kit off of turner motorsports

waterpump

ARP head studs

Belts

The head

And.. OEM vs HD rockers


This next part shows how my mind goes entirely blank when looking at items in person on craigslist. When I went to go get the head off craigslist it never occurred to me maybe I should do a rough check for cracks or chips in the head.. No i just took the guys word and bought it. Well here I am many months later and with more money in the project than I like to think about, finding chips in the head. I don't exactly know yet if its fixable, I really need to find a machine shop soon. Here are the pictures of the small chips and I'd really like to hear what you think.

Small gash that goes through to the side. not too worried about it especially if i'm just having it decked anyway

Small dent on the border where the cylinder meets the head. not sure if i'm overeacting on this one but it seams close to where the seal is made with the gasket

Last one, this one I have some concern about its in the same area as the last one but bigger also notice the gashes inside the concave part too what would cause that?


Like I said I don't know if I'm overreacting or if I should find a new head. I'll find a shop soon to hear what they have to say. My follow up question would be has anyone had bad experience with Ireland Engineering cams or IE in general?
Any advice is accepted right now, thanks again hopefully next thing i'll post will be the head going to the machine shop. Ohh and thanks for noticing the awesome cupcake sheet keeps everything inline:D

[TobyB]

That looks ok. Something, maybe part of a ring, or a rock, or a K&N filter went through it, but didn't beat it up
too badly.
At this point I WOULD for sure have it pressure tested and crack checked,
then if it passes ok, surfaced as little as they can get away with,
and the valves ground.

The surfacing will take off almost all the nicks and scratches, and the
few that remain in the chamber aren't bad enough to matter. If it bothers you,
sand off the high spots with 120 grit crocus cloth before you clean and reassemble the head.
Because, no matter how clean it looks when it comes back, a final cleaning is
a reallyreallyreally really really really good idea.

i would replace the valve springs, valve guides, seats and get new valves

If you are on a budget, do the guides and seals, have the valves ground, and
call it a day. If you are, like me, paranoid, check the spring pressures yourself.
They USUALLY are ok, but not always 100% ok. Likewise, a replacement spring
is USUALLY the right pressure....

hth

t

[dasmanschaft012]

use an OE head gasket.
VR is trash
Elring is better
But if you want to not worry about if your HG will blow in 1000mi,
spend the $80 on an OE one.

[goldenbb]

Get it machined and pressure tested, it doesn't cost that much.

[Bearmw]

I just did a back yard rebuild on a head with 145k on it. The car ran pretty good when I pulled it but was leaking oil everywhere. I degreased the head with brake cleaner and checked for warp with a straight edge. When I disassembled it the cam, rockers, and shafts were in pretty good shape. I closely examined the head with a magnifier and saw no cracks and the seats looked OK so I went ahead and installed new valve seals and then lapped the old valves. I was pretty good with cleanliness during the process and I used assembly lube. I used a Reinz HG (hopefully not to my chagrin) and of course I cleaned and inspected the deck. I was fortunate the head was in pretty good although filthy condition and the car is running well.

I don't expect it to last as long as an all new head but it definitely added some longevity without much money into it.