i Valve Springs in my Eta head?

[EtaSport]

I didnt take mine to a shop, and Ive had no problems... Oh besides me missing an oil hole. But that was an easy fix. My head had been to the machine shop for a complete overhaul only a few months before it came off for its port work and cam. I recommend having a shop look at your head, checking it for cracks, straightness, and if it needs a valve job, etc. Your car will run much better if the head has been taken care of. I took everything apart and either cleaned or polished as much as I could. There are many places for carbon and crap to build up and ruin your performance.

[SpecM]

-
-Sorry...at bit off topic... but how much is OK to shave off the head?

-Hmmm?

[EtaSport]

To shave to raise compression? I believe 10 thousandths is the spec for resurfacing. I imagine you would alter ratio from 30 thousandths and up, but I dont know the limit.

[SpecM]

To shave to raise compression? I believe 10 thousandths is the spec for resurfacing. I imagine you would alter ratio from 30 thousandths and up, but I dont know the limit.

-Yes to raise compression. Since a super-eta's CR is a bit low (for NA) at 8.5 and the i's was 8.8, I was thinking one could shave the head a bit to get it up to at least 8.8, maybe even 9.0.
-I know that the difference (super-eta vs. b25i) is in the piston not the head.

[Jand3rson]

Glad you reminded me about this thread, EtaSport, I'd forgotten all about it.

Just a little update, I've got the 325i throttle body and 325i exhaust, but I'm still debating on whether or not to enlarge the TB opening of my eta manifold, or just to go ahead and get a 325i manifold. I'm also planning on buying a set of IE Shorty headers soon, those will go on the 325i exhaust along with my Magnaflow.

[EtaSport]

Josh, just get the 325i manifold, you will be happier with it. Im actually running the i exhaust right now, just picked it up. Makes a nice difference. Little more low end torque and quicker in higher rpms. IE headers should get a little more out on top end.

Next step for mine is 323i head, 284 catcam, oil seperator, maybe crank scraper, IE (or some type of) long tube headers, lightweight flywheel, and maybe a 3.25 differential.

[E30 Wagen]

EtaSport, did u ever try a performance chip when you swapped to motronic 1.3? Has anybody else gone as far as EtaSport and then used an aftermarket chip? I'm very curious what that would be like.

OT: Also, since I have no experience at all fiddling with engines and wouldn't dare try to swap in the dual springs and camshaft by myself, how much would a professional probably charge me to do it? I suppose at the same time I would also want to have it examined and then port and polished, so would that start to add up fast?

[EtaSport]

EtaSport, did u ever try a performance chip when you swapped to motronic 1.3? Has anybody else gone as far as EtaSport and then used an aftermarket chip? I'm very curious what that would be like.

OT: Also, since I have no experience at all fiddling with engines and wouldn't dare try to swap in the dual springs and camshaft by myself, how much would a professional probably charge me to do it? I suppose at the same time I would also want to have it examined and then port and polished, so would that start to add up fast?

Ask cowden_12 in a few weeks. He is going hardcore swappage. He's got an 84 318i (lightest chassis). He will be getting my top end and fuel injection when I move to the 323 head. Hes ordering a conforti chip, throwing the shortie headers I was planning to run on, and dropping in a 100k mile 2.7 bottom end. He's going to run the small case 3.91 until he can find a 3.73 LSD. I have a feeling this car will haul major ass.

As far as doing the valve springs. Have the valve seals replaced (they have to take them out to do that anyway) and tell them to put the duals back in instead of the etas. Valve seal replacement should run you much, 75 bucks at most?

[nando]

don't buy shorty headers.. they don't make any difference (at least I didn't notice anything).

btw the M20 head is very easy to take apart and put back together.. not something I'd pay a shop to do, and they may actually do it wrong (I know the core I bought last year was put together wrong). swapping springs is easily done, same with the cam. the most difficult part is removing the rockers, but that's pretty easy with the head out of the car. once the rockers are out of the way the rest is very very simple..

[nefarious7907]

bump

[jhower08]

ive got a couple of questions here. i have an 86 325es with what i beleive to be worn out valve guides (getting oil in combustion chamber of cylinder closest to firewall causing cylinder to misfire) is there anything i can do about that without removing the head from the car? also, if there isnt, how hard is it to remove and install another head. and what kind of money are you looking at for an I cam, the dual springs, intake mani, and throttle body. and with those three things (I cam, intake, TB) what kind of HP numbers would you be looking at?

[EtaSport]

You would need the head off the car to do that type of work. If you've got high milage like most of us, its probably time to do a rebuild anyway. I wouldnt do the I cam and valve springs unless you are planning to raise the revlimiter later on. The cam likes to work over 4k and you wont be seeing that often with the stock 5k redline. The intake and throttle body might be worth 15 hp or so. I would recommend those for a cheap boost. If you were to buy everything from the cam to the tb, your probably looking at 200-250.

If your interested, I'll be selling my complete head/intake, motronic 1.3 FI package for 500 plus shipping. Basically a bolt on kit to net you around 165 hp.

[TopOfTheLine89]

Yes you can run any cam you want as long as you drill the proper oil holes. The eta cam (4 bearing) has two oil pumps cut into the cam bearings to allow oil to run from the inlet (on the exhaust side) to the exhaust rocker shaft, then to the intake rocker shaft and finally to the oiler bar. The i cam (7 bearing) has only one cut in the middle bearing, and you must drill a hole in the head, as well as the two other bearings. confused yet? I have a picture if your curious.

I ran a 274 cam in my eta before going to the i cam. I like how it runs with the i cam much better.

Hey sorry to pull a jurrasic park with this old dynosaur of a thread but i wondered if anyone who has done the i cam swap could explain or show me what needs to be doen to the bearings and head. I copletely understand that the additional oil journals need to be drilled but what else needs to be done. Any and all help would be appreciated. I will probably be doing the swap in a few weeks or whenever i get head bolts.

[EtaSport]

Im glad that someone actually brought up an old thread by searching instead of just asking the same questions over and over when the info is all here. btw, i know a few very fast e's, one that my m50 is a little afraid of.

Take a look at the picture I posted to see which holes need drilled. The pink circles show the ones that need drilled, the rest are already there. If you have access to seeing a 325i head you'll need to have the holes drilled to mimic that head. You can take it to a machine shop and tell them what you need done. Once the holes are drilled thats it. The cam goes in without any other modification. Now is the time to do port work, and install new springs, guide seals, cam seal, etc. Anything else is simply bolt on after that.

[TopOfTheLine89]

Im glad that someone actually brought up an old thread by searching instead of just asking the same questions over and over when the info is all here. btw, i know a few very fast e's, one that my m50 is a little afraid of.

Take a look at the picture I posted to see which holes need drilled. The pink circles show the ones that need drilled, the rest are already there. If you have access to seeing a 325i head you'll need to have the holes drilled to mimic that head. You can take it to a machine shop and tell them what you need done. Once the holes are drilled thats it. The cam goes in without any other modification. Now is the time to do port work, and install new springs, guide seals, cam seal, etc. Anything else is simply bolt on after that.

Thanks, thats what i originaly though but that post made me think i needed to drill into the actual camshaft. thanks for clearing it up. Im still debating whether to just swap the whole I head or just put on the intake mani, valvesprings and camshaft. It all depends how hard it would be to convert to motronic 1.3. Also will the timing marks work when i switch camshafts(idk why they wouldn't).