some updates

[nando]

I got my new head finished and put in yesterday. ported the exhaust to 35mm and polished, ported the intake with a rough (but even) finish, polished the combustion chambers, new valves, rockers, springs, eccentrics. it was a lot of work - I wouldn't reccomend porting with a dremel, but it can be done. I had the most expensive unit with a 1/4" chuck, which is pretty much a requirement if you want to do a good job!

oh, I also ditched the depos.. I found a deal on NEW smoked hellas that I just couldn't pass up on. How does $295 shipped sound? I'm getting $100 for the depos from a buddy..
















This week I'm having the exhaust done, it doesn't do much good to gasket match the exhaust ports with the stock manifolds. also my downpipes are cracked and there's a hole in my resonator, plus the headers were basically free.

it lost a little bit in the low end but there's definetly more oomph, especially from 60-100. my car is still slow, but that was to be expected. overall I'm quite happy with this setup and it lays the groundwork for when I do a 5 speed and bottom end rebuild.

p.s. would you believe my car is "dirty"? The engine bay will be cleaner, I haven't cleaned all the grease I got on the intake from putting in the head.

p.p.s. see you all at the E30 picnic!

[AdironRider]

nice

[hamann318is]

WOW. :shock:

[A_325i]

that is a nice looking e30 man and some nice work you did what are you planning to do with the exhaust? custom? or cat back?

[nando]

thanks guys! I put waaay too much work into that head, but it was a lot of fun. assembling the rockers without having to hammer on the rockershafts was like solving a mini puzzle. :D

that is a nice looking e30 man and some nice work you did what are you planning to do with the exhaust? custom? or cat back?

already have a supersprint catback, will probably do dual 2" from the IE headers with a resonator and maybe a cat (no emissions here though). right now the exhaust goes from a 35mm polished port to the shitty ~28mm exhaust manifolds, it's like the exhaust gases are hitting a wall!

[hamann318is]

I have to ask; where'd you score those ellips? Everytime I see pics of them, I get very tempted.

[nando]

I have to ask; where'd you score those ellips? Everytime I see pics of them, I get very tempted.

somebody from the yahoo ix group posted them, I beat out 3 other people with my payment. he was moving and had a bunch of stuff for sale, there were other parts I wanted but I'd already spent a bunch on the head. and considering I've seen used sets go for $500 (plus shipping!), and I've wanted a set since forever....

[Jordan]

Why didn't you polish the exhuast ports? What do your chambers look like?

[nando]

Why didn't you polish the exhuast ports? What do your chambers look like?

I did:

ported the exhaust to 35mm and polished

I kept it pretty light on the combustion chambers, I didn't want to take too much material out or mess up any of the geometry.



I used packing tape on the surface of the head so I couldn't accidentally scuff it up, it worked perfectly.

[Jordan]

I guess our ideas of polished differ.

[nando]

trust me, the exhaust is smooth as a baby's bottom, and it's a fuck of a lot better than stock. I wasn't going to waste time cleaning the ports to make them all shiny looking when they'll be covered in exhaust soot anyway. ;)

[Slick92GS-R]

looks great --- exhaust is gonna be IE headers into twin 2".. are those the IE shorty style.. ? and 35mm port..any particular reason? are these matched to the IE primary tubes.. ?

[Jordan]

Not to rain on your parade, but this is polished The dull spots are places where I never wiped off the excess polishing compound. Still got one pass left before done.

[Slick92GS-R]

man, u could shave in that reflection ..

[nando]

looks great --- exhaust is gonna be IE headers into twin 2".. are those the IE shorty style.. ? and 35mm port..any particular reason? are these matched to the IE primary tubes.. ?

yes, shorty headers, and 35mm is the size of both the exhaust gaskets and IE headers.

and jordan, I didn't build this head for you. I wasn't expecting it to pass your judgement, and I wasn't trying to either. ;) it's polished as well as I could do myself (I don't work in a BMW shop now do I?) and the improvement over stock is vast, which I'd hope you'd realize. the stock ports look like a topgraphical map of the moon. also, most of the smuges on mine are from when I touched the tape and melted it onto my tip :P