Head Gasket, Agh!

[riceh8r]

min. head thickness is 4.909". mine is 4.913". head is true, but shop is shaving .001 just to clean it up. also installed new 2nd oversize valve guides. stock cam. been wondering about hg myself. does min. head thickness mean with stock head gasket? and got them pretty torx head bolts...ready to go as soon as machinest is done.

[87_black_325is]

min. head thickness is 4.909". mine is 4.913". head is true, but shop is shaving .001 just to clean it up. also installed new 2nd oversize valve guides. stock cam. been wondering about hg myself. does min. head thickness mean with stock head gasket? and got them pretty torx head bolts...ready to go as soon as machinest is done.

I wouldn't expect any problems with your setup, if your really concerned, order the oversize gasket it's only like 3 bucks more and it won't lower your compression any noticeable amount.

I have an aggressive cam in my car and with the lift valve to piston clearance became an issue after having the head machined to true it out.

Almost got it back together, hopefully tomorrow the first crank since this mess started!

[riceh8r]

still have rings, hg, intermediate gear and a few seals to purchase. been down since june. hope for a march start-up...

[87_black_325is]

No spark!?

Now I've got it all back together and I have no spark, in the process of doing all of this, I found that the crank sensor was so brittle that at one point i brushed up against it and the wire just completely separated from the sensor. I went to the junkyard and pulled a new one but it's not 100% the same one, just very close.

Would a bad crank sensor give you no spark at the coil?

[riceh8r]

no fuel...no spark...i believe

[87_black_325is]

Any time you have the upper timing cover off, make sure you put the little spacer bracket back in behind it. Cost me a cap and rotor..

[87_black_325is]

Well apparently you CAN use the CPS from a 325e or a 525 of similar year. Got the car running finally today, had the rotor 180 degrees out of time because I thought it could only fit on one way. I was sorely mistaken.

Also the weird bracket behind the upper timing cover, is absolutely necessary to start the car, because without it you will grind up your cap and rotor(ask me how I know.)

Had some bad vacuum leaks, working on those but I got them to the point where the car idles good and runs fine. Still have a lot of reassembly to do, as well as to figure out how to setup the condensor fan as my pusher fan.

Also for anyone who has taken their exhaust off at the headers (for whatever reason), if you are running on original sagging motor mounts, you have to lift the front passenger side of the engine to get the exhaust into position to reattach it.

Simple head gasket job turned into, milled head, machine shop bolt removal from head, new water pump, new timing belt and tensioner, new cap and rotor, misc new hoses, power steering and a/c delete, and a lot of blood, sweat, tears and frustration.