Late model M42 Timing Case Swap info

[roguetoaster]

Made a little more progress last night after work,

Deep cleaned both oil pans (sorry no pics but you know what an oil pan looks like). Removing the upper pan did require unbolting and lifting the motor as stated everywhere, but it wasn't that difficult. With the head off the motor it was fairly easy to manipulate it solo from the bottom.

Bolted up the upper pan, no drama. Don't forget to red loctite the 6 upper pan bolts inside the lower pan! (awesome mess i made taking the pic)

That bolt will never, ever come out again. Yet taking the time to show that picture makes this thread even better. That's without mentioning the pretty shiny pictures and part with parts bag pic which I wish more people would do.

What cleaner and methodology did you use to clean the pistons in place?

[bmwman91]

This thing needs to be a sticky!

[Fsnow]

This thing needs to be a sticky!

For sure! This will save so much time and money for people. I have read about it before but it's so nice to have pics and part numbers also. Would blue loctite be effective yet allow you to get it apart one day without stripping threads or using heat? :thankyou:

[varg]

Would blue loctite be effective yet allow you to get it apart one day without stripping threads or using heat? :thankyou:

Yes. And I'd use the blue stuff for this, but with such small bolts applying enough heat to them to get the red thread locker to yield isn't a big deal, the big deal is using a torch in your crankcase.

[Balleristic31]

Ok time to do another update on my progress.

I picked up my updated lower timing chain guide from bmw.

Here's how it looked in comparison to the "old" style one:


Great! Ready to bolt up, or at least i thought. Of course i didnt check realoem and see that the cap screw sizes were also different for either case/lower guide .
Old bolts are M6x35 and the new are m6x25. I found one proper length bolt in my spare hardware, but of course had to make a trip to the hardware store for one bolt.
(sorry no pics of the guide bolted up yet)
Moving on and continuing to prep the block for the head installation.
I spent a fair amount of time cleaning out the threads of the block in preparation for the ARP studs. Used brakeclean and cotton swabs to remove all the larger debris and finished with a thread chaser to make sure everything got out of there.
Heres a thread chaser for those who do not know. The pitch for the block head bolt threads is M10x1.5

Great. Now that all the boring cleaning stuff was done it was timing to do something fun. Threaded in the ARP studs using the supplied lube to the specified "finger tight" torque.

Next came the headgasket. I am using a Goatze gasket sprayed in copper.
Heres the gasket:

Now sprayed

Set that in place after allowing it to become as dry as it would get, along with a new inner profile gasket (don't forget this I almost did) and the head was ready to go on.
So for my head I wanted to go as wild as I could while also staying on a college kids budget so here are the "specs"

Late M42 head with 6mm valves (stems)
VW lifters
Decked/Cleaned
Valve job
Porting
New seals
New exhaust guides
Early (E30 m42) intake cam (proven to be more aggressive than the late one here: http://www.m42club.com/forum/index.php?topic=18786.0
late m42 exhaust cam (might change later because my early cam is in better shape)

All of the headwork was done by Shant @ bimmerheads and i think he did a great job at a VERY fair price.
Some garbage pics of the head:

Intake:

Exhaust:

Bam

ARP studs lubed up and torque to the recommended 85ft lbs in three even steps.
Now came the cam installation.
NOTE: I marked TDC @ the crank before installing the head and then turned it back 30* or so in order to ensure no valve to piston clearance issues while installing.

First came the new VW lifters which i soaked in oil before installing. Here are the lifters and p/n:

And just for fun, late m42 on the left, early m42 center, and vw on the right:

lubed those all up as well as the cams and carefully installed them. Managed to get both of them in and torqued to the 11 ft lb requirement without snapping them so i decided to take a little break

Sometime in here i also replaced the heater hoses and for now deleted the external thermostat thing that is supposed to save your legs during a potential overheat and rupture of the heater core area in the cabin. I didn't feel like it was necessary to have.

Then i installed the new upper timing chain guide

And compared my new cam sprockets to the old ones. Pretty significant wear:


Popped those in place and was done for the night. After midterms Friday ill be attempting to time the motor and button things up!

[e30s50dan]

Keep those picture coming

[varg]

Got flow numbers on that ported head? Looks pretty schmick.

[Balleristic31]

Made a good deal of progress tonight!

I bolted up the headers with new gaskets. Nothing crazy.
Then I wanted to get this thing timed. This was a little more difficult than it should have been because i have the single mass m40 flywheel conversion and when I installed it I forgot to install the flywheel where the pin would lock the crank at TDC. Also i did not have the cam blocks to set them at tdc either. Luckily I found this: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...-Vanos-install and improvised.

Worked great. A little grinding on the c-clamps for clearance and i had a <$10 cam locking tool.
Once that was set setting timing was quick and resulted in this.

GREAT. All of the hard stuff is done, so time to make this thing run.
Cleaned up lower timing cover with new crankshaft seal:


Then came the dreaded MEGAHUGEHULK crank bolt. But never fear, my super ghetto awesome crank holding tool (version 3.0) is here.

If you look closely you can see why this is version 3.0 (check that sweet bent/cut off handle), but I made it work by jamming a decent extension through the square tubing and using the jack handle for leverage (Also how i got the bolt off originally).

Once that was a tight as possible, I slapped on the crank pulley. Excuse the rust in the belt groove, its been sitting out in the damp air here at the beach for awhile and I didn't feel like painting it.

Then came the a/c compressor bracket. Followed by the compressor.

Then the water pump.

Was going to then bolt up the upper timing cover, but through all of my part shuffling i lost the stupid profile gasket. So turning her over will have to wait till tomorrow.

[bmwman91]

Looking good!

Make sure to rotate the crank a few revolutions by hand once you have all the tensioner stuff in there and then re-check the cam timing. It wouldn't hurt to check the timing again after driving around a few miles. The timing can "walk" a degree or two after the full system tension is applied and gets everything seated.

[Gkwan]

Thanks for documenting the progress, keep us updated!

Love the DIY crank bolt holder!

[Balleristic31]

Ok guys I have everything pretty much buttoned up, minus the upper intake but now im having a difficult timing getting the oil pump to prime/pump oil. Ive been cranking it for a decent amount of timing plugs out and no fuel going in and I don't seem to be getting any oil to the filter housing or top end.

Should I be seeing a lot of oil coming through the filter housing after it's drawing oil?
How long have others spent cranking the motor over to get it primed?

Gunna do a little searching and reread viveks thread to hopefully get some oil flowing.

[ccsdo5]

hmmm, it didn't feel like it took that long when I cranked my rebuilt engine for oil pressure the first time.

Did you prime the oil pump before putting it back on the block? I took mine apart filled it with assembly lube and spun it around by hand a few times then installed it. If you didn't do that it might take a while to get the air out...

The oil filter housing should fill up with oil though, did you update the relief valve when doing everything?

Do you have an oil pressure gauge? I put my gauge in the back of the head figuring that's one of the highest points of the engine and if I get pressure there I'll have it everywhere else.

[Balleristic31]

hmmm, it didn't feel like it took that long when I cranked my rebuilt engine for oil pressure the first time.

Did you prime the oil pump before putting it back on the block? I took mine apart filled it with assembly lube and spun it around by hand a few times then installed it. If you didn't do that it might take a while to get the air out...

Yes I did exactly this and filled it with assembly lube before installation

did you update the relief valve when doing everything?

Yes I did

Do you have an oil pressure gauge?

No I don't but might get one if this doesn't work.

[Balleristic31]

False alarm! :D

Went outside and gave it a bit more love (cranking) and suddenly the filter housing started to fill up nicely with oil. Slapped the cap on and cranked some more and there went the oil pressure light! :p

Should hear her roar to life tonight!

[ccsdo5]

Good! ^

I do highly suggest getting an oil pressure gauge anyway, I always get paranoid and glance down at it just to make sure. Be sure to post a video of it firing!