I'm not sure what your talking about? I was just saying that if the heads were removed in the past (witch they obviously were judging by the VICTOR REINZ gaskets) that those heads may have been machined once already. When a cylinder head is machined "resurfaced, milled, shaved, cut" that mean metal was removed from the surface of the head. This in turn makes the combustion chamber smaller, which in turn increases compression. I said that carbon build-up could NOT cause high compression readings. Only incorrect cam timing (on a stock engine) OR resurfaced heads with incorrect head gasket thickness.
Look into a head gasket set for a V12, you will find that the head set does not come with head gaskets. You have to order those separately according to the thickness....to accommodate for the material removed from the head to resurface it.
Last edited by 1fatcat; 08-11-2014 at 02:56 AM.
My apologies, I just took the heads off my V12 and they have the same Victor Reinz gaskets. So unless both of our engines have been dug into before, then it looks like BMW did use Victor Reinz gaskets from the factory. There are some pics of my gaskets in this link...
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ket-1996-750iL
Update:
Purchased used motor. Arrived with damage to upper and lower oil pans, and thanks to a terrible freight company, Benton Global/Express, which sent the motor to the wrong state first, now will not honor the damage claim. Took a loooooong time to get this motor to my workspace.
Side note, the head gaskets on this motor, which look original, say Victor Reinz on them.
Lastly, and most importantly, I need a good rear subframe for this car (one with anti-sway bar brackets and SLS attachment on bottom rear). If anyone has one within ~200 miles of my location (Columbia, SC), please let me know. I have had 2 used ones shipped to me via FedEx, both were damaged. So I need to pick this thing up in person. Otherwise, I'm going to the dealer. I have been working/waiting on this rear subframe problem for 2 months and am growing impatient and angry about it. Short story of why I need another subframe: Baum tool made for E38/E39 diff bushing removal/install had an incorrectly sized disc for the 2 rear diff bushings removal (at least in the kit I bought from them). Me not knowing this caused the first diff bushing I tried to remove to buckle the bushing sleeve and deform the angle of the mount such that it wouldn't correctly align with the differential upon installation. Machine shop, body shop won't touch it.
Wow, sorry to hear you've had such terrible shipping and tool experiences.
A 740 with SLS should have the same subframe, to add a little to your picking pool.
What will you do about the motor now?
I want your old block for a coffee table
"**if you suck at driving, it certainly could put you into a curb. Don't suck."
haha, I was thinking the same thing
yes, I'll swap the upper pan, but the old lower pan already had a bit of a ding/dent in the bottom. From past experience with a dented M62 lower pan, the only thing that stopped the gasket leak was an undamaged pan. So I may need to find one if this starts leaking.
For all of you on the edge of your seat... I found a used rear subframe at the 11th hour on craigslist down in Florida. Someone is parting out a 750 in Tampa. I bit the bullet and drove 500 miles one way to collect it (plus a spare wheel, which was missing from the trunk). Gas prices being a little lower helped. I probably saved about $1k by avoiding going to the dealer for a new one.
While I waited for the proper rear diff bushing tool from BMW and now an M12-1.50 threaded rod and nuts from Fastenal (which is what the BMW tool thread spec is), I've worked on a few things here and there.
First, this is what kept happening when I had 2 subframes shipped, purchased on ebay. Corner bushing sleeves were deformed from FedEx presumably dropping the subframe too harshly.
Had a war trying to separate the rear strut assembly from the hub. Tried every trick the forums and youtube had including torching while it was still in the car, to no avail. Ended up with this setup and a 3 lb. hammer banging away directly after using the propane torch for a couple of minutes on the joint. Used some aluminum foil to shield the CV boot.
Replaced all of the differential shaft seals as well as removing the rear cover to wipe down some of the inside deposits. The seals didn't seem to be leaking, so just preventative work here. The various sleeves and discs that comprise the differential & subframe bushing tool sets that I purchased conveniently doubled as a drift for driving in the new seals. The paper gasket is no longer available for the rear cover, so I just used some Hylomar blue gasket sealant instead. Made sure to mark the front flange nut and spindle with a center punch to ensure correct tightening torque/depth when putting the front flange back on:
Also, the diff was quite dirty, so I cleaned it, only to find some rust under the grime and a lackluster finish. So I primed and painted it with some engine spray paint I had leftover from doing the same task to my 540 diff a while ago:
Upon taking apart the struts, I found that the "supporting cup" immediately above the foam bump stop was very rusty. Tried ordering new ones, but they are no longer available. So, I took a bench grinder wire wheel to it, a Dremel, and Archoil rust remover to neutralize the rust so that it could be reused. Both coil springs had large areas of rust underneath bubbly paint, so I'm currently chemically neutralizing that as well. I'll try to remember to post "after" pics when finished.
VERY IMPRESSIVE! This my friend is dedication.
Subbed
The World is ruled by Kings and Queens that blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
When answering my questions please use a qualifier if you are not sure.
The more I work on this car the less I respect German engineering.
When you speak in Absolutes you are always wrong!
Semper Fi
Can't wait to see it finished and driven. Good work op
It's been a while since my last update, but I've been busy with other things. Here is a rundown of what I've worked on over the last couple of months:
Apologies for the cell phone pic quality; when my hands are dirty and I'm working, I don't want to use the DSLR.
Finished priming and painting the rear coil springs. Yes, the surface is still rough from the rust erosion, but the rust is now neutralized.
The supporting cup above the rear strut bump stop was very corroded on both sides of the car. I treated them with the same rust neutralizer as the springs. Initially, I didn't want to repair them (time factor), but they are no longer available from BMW. Trying to buy used looks to require purchasing an entire rear strut assembly, no thanks. The tool in the background of the first pic is what I used for compressing the springs. Much better than the typical compressors rented at Autozone (and necessary for the front struts).
Finally got the rear struts assembled. Probably could have finished more efficiently if I had worked on rust, paint, etc. for both at the same time...but I didn't want to assemble one incorrectly if I forgot how they went together, so I left one assembled while doing the other side. TIS was followed, but not every spring pad alignment is laid out (maybe this doesn't matter).
Rear differential bushings going in with the BMW tool (wasn't going to take any more chances with unofficial tools for these bushings). The four subframe bushings were replaced using the Koch tool (#KT20356). The description for the Koch tool only mentions the E39 application, but it worked fine for me on the E38 (with the use of P-80 emulsion [circolight] of course). I don't have pics of all of this, but I will say the front diff bushing was the most difficult, as it didn't want to stay in the hole, but kept squeezing out with the help of the slightly conical shape of the bushing sleeve and the lubricant. It was also turning in the sleeve every time I tried drawing it in, so I had to offset it before compressing it. TIS says the front bushing has to be horizontal +/- 7˚, so I was trying to be exact. If none of this makes sense, please ignore.
Subframe with new bushings going in:
Let's talk about my work area. Annoying to have everything more or less outside (carport open on 2.5 sides). There were at least 3 days when the weather went from the 30s or 40s to the 70s and rainy within 8-12 hours. This, as you may know, will initiate a condensing humidity situation, as the metal is still cold, while the humid/hot air will leave water droplets on everything. What happens is every part/surface outside looks like it was rained on. Picture below shows the carport during such a time. What ended up happening is a lot of flash rust and some more severe rust. The brake rotors of course are completely rust brown now on all surfaces, the transmission output flange is rusted all the way up to the new seal I put in as well as some of the input shaft. The engine itself looks okay, but who knows (will be opening it up within a week or two for head rebuild). Just wanted to warn anyone if ever in this situation to bag or tape off anything that may rust on you if you have to let it sit in the open air for a while. It has cost me a lot of time to try to remedy this type of thing, as well as make sure all tools and parts are picked up and stuff put away every time I stop work for the night. So please don't judge me on the length of time this project is taking me.
After finishing the assembly of the rear suspension (except for final torquing), I moved to fix the rear parcel trays. They were purple from sun exposure and looked glaringly bad to me. I took them out for strut replacement and found some loose fabric near many of the edges, so I first cleaned with a lint brush, then used some 3M headliner adhesive to reattach the loose fabric. Afterwards, I used some fabric spray dye found at Hobby Lobby to turn the purple back to black. It worked well, but took a few dozen passes over a couple days (and 4 cans of dye for both parts). If you do this, make sure to let the first couple of coats dry overnight, then apply more over several hours, letting the dye soak in a little at a time. I also replaced the completely blown rear deck speakers with aftermarket replacements, though I hear this DSP setup really doesn't work well anyway. I just wanted it to be thorough.
I also vacuumed and shampooed under the driver's seat, as there was crud and gunk everywhere from one of the previous owners. Looked like coke or something had spilled down the driveshaft tunnel carpet and onto the seat rails. So now that is clean(er).
I wanted to finish prepping the engine bay before starting on the engine head refurbishment/install. So i replaced the two fuel hoses and flex brake hoses at the right rear engine bay. Also replaced were the SLS hose from reservoir to hard line, and two fuel breather/vent hoses at the left rear engine bay. The new parts are shown in the pics below. These would be nearly impossible to do with the engine in the car. The brake hoses were replaced with the ECS Tuning SS braided hose set for this application. The rest of the SS hoses will be purchased and replaced with a brake caliper rebuild maybe later this year or next. These fuel hoses are formed hoses, so I bought the BMW part for these instead of running run-of-the-mill fuel hose. Hopefully I'll have no leaks. Not pictured, but I changed the brake booster vacuum hose as well, which was extremely difficult to reinstall the new end at the booster. Reason for replacement of the booster hose was me accidentally slicing it when cutting a different stubborn vacuum hose during engine intake removal.
right engine bay:
left engine bay:
Well, that's where I am now. Next step is to clean up the engine exterior and take her apart.
I also am looking for a RR electric upper seat trim cover in black (part number 52208197106). Part 5 below:
I have searched for the past few months in vain. This specific color part is no longer available from BMW; all other colors look to still be available. Mine is cracked and broken from the previous owner (probably looking to fix the rear headrest motor problem). If you have a good one, I am interested in buying.
Wow, a lot of work, just wow
Very Impressed! Keep us up to date.
I have nothing worthwhile to add, just wanted to say that is a gorgeous color for the e38!
Great work. I just picked up 2000 750il. Digging into a coolant leak problem right now. I parted a 750il a few years back. I may still have some parts you may need. I'll keep you posted on what I come across. Good luck!
Well, I've been concentrating my time on the engine refresh. I disassembled the heads, lapped the valves, had both heads cleaned, pressure tested, and surfaced. Other than not knowing exactly how much the shop took off the heads everything looks good there for the most part.
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Now, I have a problem before I can put these cylinder heads back on... well, 5 problems to be exact. In taking off the valley pan cover, some (7 to be precise, how appropriate) bolts snapped, despite being careful and dousing in penetrating oil. I managed to extract 3 using Kroil, some heat, and Knipex cobra gripping pliers. I tried removing the two rusty studs at either end as well, but one broke and the other still won't budge. So, two are still above the surface, and two are broken at the surface. I am pretty much at wits' end with this valley pan area, as nothing seems to be working on the remaining bolts/studs. In addition, I have a broken cylinder head bolt below the deck surface on bank 2. Haven't tried working on that until I get a proper drill guide (coming this week) to center my left hand drill bits.
Most annoyingly, it also looks like a crack has formed due to my extraction efforts on the rear stud. I'm not sure how to proceed with this, any ideas or guidance? Take to machine shop? FYI, the stud bores at front and rear are different than the rest of the bolts, in that they are threaded all the way through the casting in the valley pan (not blind holes).
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So sick coming along very well!
Sent from my iPhone using BF.com
Do you inspected upper valve body piece for crack?
You do need to know (ballpark) how much was taken off the head in order to buy the right thickness gasket.
That crack is scary.
That doesn't look like a crack, that IS a crack. Take it to a machine shop before anything else breaks. The amount of money you'll spend will be worth every penny.
Go ahead and bite. Plenty for everyone.
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