S14b23 Drivetrain overhaul and concours restoration.

[efficient]

updates?

[Jordan]

Waiting on the cylinder head to come back from the machine shop... because surprise surprise they failed on their commitment to have it done for me Friday so I could finish building the engine this past weekend.

Hopefully I'll have it this week.

[AWDBOB]

What was your process for installing the freeze plugs? I need to do them on my S14 in the near future.

[Jordan]

Coat the flange with hylomar, line up with opening, hammer them in with a form fitting socket which was a deep well 24mm if I recall.

Getting them out was much more difficult.

[Jordan]

The cylinder head finally came back from the machine shop yesterday, and with that means a productive weekend.



Headgasket in place



Head set in place, bolts torqued.



Cam tray set in place, torqued down.





Camshafts installed, engine timed.




Once the engine was timed I started measuring the valve lash, oh what a joy this was. All of the original shims were far too thick now so I ground one down until it fell into the correct range for adjustment and then checked it against all of the intake valves. Once done and recorded I moved to the exhaust side and then did it again.

All of the original shims were in the 3.65mm - 3.80mm range. I ground one down to 3.45mm and then to 3.25mm to be able to take measurements at each lobe, both of which will be discarded.

The table used to determine the optimal shims to order and keep track of where they need to go once they come in. Target lash is .026-.031mm.



If anyone wants the active spreadsheet you can download it here: https://www.e30gruppe.com/wp-content...ent_m3guru.xls

While I wait for the shims I can continue to assemble everything else as its easy enough to drop the shims in with just the valve cover loose.

[parkerbink]

As always just amazing work!

[Andrew325is]

That is one gorgeous engine.

[econti]

Stunning. A shame to put it in a car and not on a stand

[iXguido]

How does a person keep the bare aluminum parts looking fresh?

[AndrewBird]

How does a person keep the bare aluminum parts looking fresh?

There are products to apply to aluminum that will keep it from oxidizing over time. I've never used them, so I don't know how well it would work. Clear coat would likely be a cheaper/easier way, but is viable for many surfaces. Really you just have to accept that it will eventually oxidize.

[0-60Motorsports]

Amazing build! Very informative. Thanks for posting the build. The owner is one lucky guy.

[D.Martijn]

There are products to apply to aluminum that will keep it from oxidizing over time. I've never used them, so I don't know how well it would work. Clear coat would likely be a cheaper/easier way, but is viable for many surfaces. Really you just have to accept that it will eventually oxidize.

I've had good luck with covering my bead blasted intake, valve cover etc with a quartz coating. Still looks great after a cold/humid winter :)

[bmwman91]

Awesome work. The attention to detail is incredible.

[Jordan]

Alright, this will likely be the past photo update in this thread as I've wrapped up the engine for all intents and purposes.

Measured for valve adjustments needed and ordered 16 new shims, installed and buttoned up the valve cover. Its ready to go off to its owner and get installed in his super clean M3!

[TeXJ]

im not seeing any photos

edit: work must be blocking these for some reason. I can see the photos from earlier posts in this thread...rip work