Return of an Original Gangsta

[jaredmac11]

We're you doing some gasket matching or just a polish? Looks like just the latter. I wish I did this but it was my first time and the head was already on the block. Very cool stuff.

Very detailed build

[autox320]

We're you doing some gasket matching or just a polish? Looks like just the latter. I wish I did this but it was my first time and the head was already on the block. Very cool stuff.

Very detailed build

Mostly just a polish (well grit finish on intake sides) and knocking off burrs etc. Massaging the casting. No hard edges on port openings and chambers. The exhaust bumps were the largest areas removed. Most of these heads are already gasket matched believe it or not. I want to touch the chambers and exhaust side a bit more tomorrow. Yeah this is something I've been planning on awhile, but never had time. BMW's are well made from factory. So we don't have horrible casting lines or large burs to grind down. Ever seen a mistu offset casting with large lines to grind down? We are lucky the Germans are very consistent, and engineer conscious. After all they didn't just slap turbos on to make up for poor castings. This go around, this old head requires a massage to get the most out of what we have.

Thanks man. I try to break out and tap the camera often even with dirty hands. Associate with sips of brew and camera becomes habit.

[autox320]

More brew jobs today. Polished up the chambers and exhaust ports of the head one more sweep. Washed it out good with dawn and hot water. Cleaned up the valves and put back in order. Bagged it up. Cleaned off the crazy aftermath of sanding work. Detox'd the bench and made room for a round of ring filing. The top moly rings took a bit to cut cause so hard. The iron ones had to be extra careful cause they cut fast with a diamond wheel. Bought this cutter from Speedway and very happy with it. Bore of a stock S14 is 93.4mm (3.677") Setting for track gaps cause if I beat on it at VIR I don't want a catastrophe. Cleaned up a factory piston as a depth guide and verified each ring with a caliper for depth of 1" before finding gaps. As mentioned in the JE notes to only file one side of the rings making it much easier. I marked which side I was filing with sharpie. Once filed debur and onto the next. Moly rings took more than 20 turns of the filer, but the iron rings were about 5-10 turns to reach desired gaps. I like to organize on a per hole basis especially the circumstances of using a used block and refreshing it. Top ring is a custom moly ring, 2nd is napier cut just like the factory S14 ring. Oil rings are 3 piece making for additional ones to file

Dad decided we are getting older and wanted a bit more padding in the seats. Helps with ergonomics also in seating position. He cut closed cell foam for both seats. Also put in the back window of lexan.

Might hone the block soon, but enough for one day.

[autox320]

Put the rings on and mounted to the rods. Pulled the head back out for a few. Greased the seats with some superlube to seal the valves. Threw in a set of iridium plugs and cc'd the chambers. Had access to a 10cc syringe body. After dumping 50cc, I went drop at a time till tension. Used a starrett gauge just for the pointer to find the tension point at surface. Keep in mind this head is a "doorstop" and milled beyond spec on purpose. After the detail work they all came in at 57cc each.

[autox320]

Some goodies came from carbs unlimited. I still need to contact them for the plenum spacer. But they sell a standard 10" round filter kit from Redline. Bought the kit and also some custom short horns came in for the top of the 38 weber. I'll probably have pics once installed etc.

Was mocking up and measuring all over the motor. Plastigage and the whole nine. Clayed the piston without a headgasket and there's plenty of room since it will never be this close. Even spark plug isn't a factor with these JE pistons. Will check cam timing later once mocked up with a spare S14 gasket, and test springs in every valve to check all of them individually. Note the M10 head is a choke point and not going to flow as much as a S14 head. It is and will always be the limiting factor. Even knowing that this should be kinda fun.

Things looked good till got to the quench(piston to head distance), and not satisfied. Factory S14 distance between piston and head is .046" using a factory head gasket which compresses to .066". It achieves this by having the pistons above the deck by .020" minus compressed gasket thickness. The factory 320i M10 has terrible specs on this and is in the .060"+ range which is dated. I wanted to tighten it up a bit especially running high CR, but already had pistons (honestly thought they'd be more like the S14 above deck spec). But they only stuck above deck .010". This only gives a quench of .056". The dtm S14 cars ran a thinner 1.4 mill gasket that brought the quench near .030".

What to do? Well I decided on what a lot of people advised not to. Decked the block. . . a lot. Total of .018" to be exact. Tore down and off to the machine shop again. Went ahead and brought the flex hone so could just be done there as well. So was decked again and again till a final pass. Knocked the ridge out of the bores and honed. Had it hot washed. Removed the oil galley plug and cleared everything again. Washed up again here at the house. Loctite 545 hydraulic sealer on the oil galley plug. Cleared everything with air and re-wiped the cylinders again with atf. Washed the crank, and cleared the oil journals. Put in fresh set of main bearings and torqued to spec. Fresh set of rod bearings. Now this puts the pistons at .028" above deck and gives us a quench of .038".

While at the machine shop messed with the valve spring measuring. Have a set of HD springs from Ireland Eng. Stock spring at my install height is 18-20 seat pressure, and at 0.5" was 135 lbs. The IE springs were a bit taller and measured 55 lbs seat pressure with 155 lbs at 0.5" compressed.

Some other specs.
Mains clearance .002"
Rods clearance .002"
Bore 93.4mm
Stroke 84mm
Head gasket bore diameter 95mm
Compressed head gasket height 1.6764mm
Combustion chamber volume 57cc
Piston dome volume 17cc
Gives overal head chamber of 40cc (M3 is 44cc)
Piston deck clearance -0.7112mm

Estimated CR = 13.24 :1







factory 2.3L S14 piston protrusion

[autox320]

My favorite assembly lube is lucas oil stabilizer for the bearings and eventually head lube. For bolt lube I use generic conventional 30w oil. Ignoring the interwebs and BMW TIS; I only follow the dtm grpA manual. Torqued new rod bolts to spec with old school 11 lb/ft, 22 lb/ft, 60deg angle. Most have moved to a single 48 lb/ft torque, but not me personally. I'd rather stick to the angle torque.

Another neat thing about the S14 block than can be added to a M10 block is it's trick for oil control. There's a "jet" orifice in the block that meters the amount of oil from the block to the head. This keeps oil to the main and rod bearings without all of it pumping to the head. Some guys building higher end motors should take note of this little detail that could benefit a build up. Circled it in the pic. Exact hole is avail on an M10 to tap for this "jet". Been meaning to mention it before but now seems a good time.

Dad worked on the seats more with our closed cell foam. We came up with a basic halo design mocked after the M's OMP halo HTE-R seats, and he implemented the idea. Turned out great IMO. Anything to keep your head from movement is better than nothing. Hans is standard, but having halo seats is paramount for limiting movement also.

Weber 38 carb with some updates from Carbs Unlimited; Redline 10" filter adapter, and progressive throttle cable adapter. More filter surface area than the stock weber filters. Air horns are from SVtek in TN, and spec'd for the 38.

Keeping the plenum volume near what I had on the 1.8L. Volume approx 400cc of the cut and ported plenum, which is roughly 22% of engine volume. If was on a 2.0L it's 20% and the 2.3L only 17%. A bit small and need to bump up additional volume not to choke breathing. Basic math of the opening of the plenum peanut shape(circle dia+box). Volume of a 1" spacer would give us roughly +190cc / 26% for the 2.3L. A 3/4" spacer will give 140cc / 24%. To start I'll order a 3/4" spacer from Carbs Unlimited.

Rings clocked, Pistons are in like sin. Next should be mocking up the head with all test springs and an actual gasket etc to see cam timing limits. Sacrifice an expensive S14 gasket in the process. To know limits, it's just part of it.

There will maybe some that will suggest should of ordered pistons with correct CH, we'll what's done is done and I'm guessing by measurements these were for a M10 head gasket of .056" compressed, not a M3 S14 gasket of .066" compressed. Would of never worked cause the M10 gasket can't fit the large bores of an S14. Could I of ordered another set of pistons, sure, but no turning back now. It's to spec how we need it now moving on.

[captain awesome]

Where did you order the Federals? I see a set on Ebay is $316 shipped but figured I would ask just in case there's a cheaper source. I found them for $298.10 shipped through onlinewheelsdirect.com but they don't seem to have great feedback online anywhere, so I'm thinking the extra $16 or so through Ebay would be a good protection on my dollars.

[autox320]

Where did you order the Federals? I see a set on Ebay is $316 shipped but figured I would ask just in case there's a cheaper source. I found them for $298.10 shipped through onlinewheelsdirect.com but they don't seem to have great feedback online anywhere, so I'm thinking the extra $16 or so through Ebay would be a good protection on my dollars.

Only place I know they legitimately come in off the slow boat is in CA. I bought through onlinetires.com. Shipping is where they get ya otherwise not shabby pricing. No places that sell these online have great reputation. Even onlinetires don't get a good rep, but I've ordered through them twice now. Once for the RR's and another for some SS-535(awesome street tire) for a E30.

[autox320]

[autox320]

After looking closer at the carb just couldn't leave the top casting without a sanding cone profiling it. Setting up the engine bay items. Making a Air Oil separator can, a vacuum canister for the power brakes, and a small reservoir for the trans breather. I'll go into details on the AOS canister later since it's my own diy design and a bit unique. I've a few of them running on other cars with great results. Oil pan tapped like the S14's for return line from the AOS can. Tapped the intake for vacuum.

Been sidetracked with a few other projects. Like snow bars for the our roof on the house, and a steering stabilizer bilstein shock for the F250 truck.



yum; S14 Damper pulley

[jaredmac11]

Hahaha looks just like my project.

[autox320]

Hahaha looks just like my project.

Yup, I figured most on here could relate Cheers.

[autox320]

And yet another small hurdle tackled. Figured I better get in a few min during the week. The new main S14 timing chain tensioner guide pin came in. . . from Germany of course. I can see the guy pulling the part now wondering whaaa beennz azzzwhile for dis part Cleaned the hole well and ran some coffee filters in it. Best ever to see when metal is clean btw scrub with coffee filters till can no longer see black. Tapped home the pin using a sleeve that rode on the center chunky part.

Before the pin came I knew a massage would be needed to combine the parts. Since this is a S14 block this pin is different, and larger diameter. A few thousandths shorter as well. I also didn't like how the factory M10 guide just rode on the "eyes" or holes. The pin is harder than the guide material and mine was a bit worn from this but otherwise in perfect shape. So drilled out the holes of the guide. Found a metric sleeve from dis-assembly of the car. Measured a precise distance and cut to length. Filed and cleaned up then persuaded in the vise to close the eyelets of the guide on the sleeve. Now it was perfect fit on the pin behind the C-clip. Tack welded it making one chunk of metal. IMO a much better solution of a larger area riding the pin. Makes me feel better since using a fat dual row chain with $ riding on it.

edit: completely forgot to add the best detail about this pin; has a oil path inside to feed this pivot point a fancy and expensive little part

[autox320]

Waiting on timing covers being shaved at the machine shop. Also cutting the front seal hole to fit the S14 one. Taking a night off with Dad just having brews. Apparently this is what happens when clip boarders, bean counters and corporate get involved with evolving the traditional 40oz. I present the 32oz can. I chose German IPA to be appropriate.







no koozie large enough. . . dia 3.279" ; so found a spot for it; fits perfect

[autox320]

Dad tackled some aero. Riveted on some .080" aluminum (aka road signs) as rear diffusers. He started cutting out a new 1/2" plywood splitter for the front. I found a old chunk of 1" nylon we ordered over 10yrs ago from mcmastercarr. Drew up and cut a 1" spacer out of it for the carb. Need to clean it up a bit more but not too bad. Was like making nylon marshmallows to drill press this thing. Had to torch the saw to get the center chunks out. A quick pass on a table saw to cut the spacer off the block. Finished up the vacuum can for the brake booster, expansion can for the trans breather, and AOS can for the engine. Also started in on the 3 step process of sealing the fuel tank with POR15.

Warning below - long winded and brew driven thought process. Grab your beverage. . .


Air Oil Separator

When dealing with upgrading displacement on the M3, a problem area of crank case venting came up. There is a relationship of CFM crankcase fumes to displacement of a motor. Oil control becomes a problem especially at high speed with sustained wide open throttle ie straights on the track. A visit around the paddock showed a lot of people have this same issue. Determined I came up with this AOS can and it's worked so well I put one on all my cars. Track tested and proven on the M3. All our vehicles except the X3 since it doesn't have vacuum using valvetronic (no throttle bodies, valves open to control throttle) (has a vacuum pump just for the brake booster).

Crank Case Venting. Vacuum has been shown beneficial on a crank case for performance. For most track cars it's hard to have vacuum and still have enough venting of any case pressure since pushing so hard at WOT most of the time. Oil tends to go where we don't want out gaskets, dipsticks, and into the intake diluting precious race fuel octane. Venting all of the crank case to atmosphere is the simplest solution most follow. But they rely on the bottom of the pistons to push out the fumes. A race engine will accomplish using vacuum by a belt/gear driven vacuum pump or ultimately a dry sump system which with an external pump is vacuuming the fumes along with the oil. Redneck engineering way to tell if you have any vacuum on your engine is listen when opening your oil cap, or pull out the dip stick. Should hear a slight sucking sound at first. Usually just a few inches vacuum which is good. If you have oil splash in your face well you don't have vacuum. If you can't get your oil cap off and have a howling noise from your crank seals you probably have over 15 inches

Vacuum aids in piston ring seal giving differential of pressure from combustion chamber to below the ring pack in the crank case. Simply things move faster in a vacuum. This is greater benefit than just letting the pistons down stroke pump out the crank case fumes themselves. Vacuum ring seal is less oil consumption, less fuel into the oil, and less blow by overall. The rings are under tension by combustion pressure above, but not on the exhaust stroke. There are losses and that's where fuel and oil can blow by the most when the ring is relying on it's tension alone. If the case stacks fumes under the pistons things can get worse especially if the case see's positive pressure. This is drag created by air spring on underside of the pistons. Excess oil underside of the piston, splashing around even with a windage pan. If the crankcase is under positive pressure it usually will vent itself eventually like popping out a dip stick, or pushing oil out of every orifice usually first seen at the oil cap. Slight vacuum solves all these. Keeps oil where it's needed, and the rings happy. Some noticed a gain back in part throttle response having slight vacuum.

This is my take on a dual function air oil separator catch can. It's designed like the factory, but larger, and has both vacuum and crank pressure release simultaneously in the same can. Under idle, and cruise it's under complete vacuum. When WOT or high load, vacuum is non-existent cause the throttles are open bringing to atmosphere, any excess crank case vapors pressure over atmosphere that exceeds the vacuum circuit, it's vented instantly to atmosphere via one way large check valve. Once vacuum slightly returns the can is again sealed and under vacuum.

Very simple to replicate. This is made out of PVC. A 2" pipe and 3/4" center tube.
The crank case fumes enter into the side facing the center tube just like a factory oil separator but larger diameters. Vent fumes must pass through a copper mesh media before reaching the bottom. This forces oil to condense out of the air. Oil can collect in the bottom and drained back to the oil pan with a check valve. Vent fumes are drawn up the center tube. Filtered case fumes are pulled under vacuum out a small top port. Then a check valve necked down in size into the motor at a restricted small amount. Keeps the crankcase under vacuum when possible. If beyond the vacuum line capacity or lack of vacuum, fumes vent to atmosphere at the top out the center tube large valve.

The one way check valve installed on the vacuum line. This keeps the air volume of the crank case and plenum separated. It was noted during my search that the two volumes connected (throttle's+plenum, plus crank case) can "feel each other". This affects the overall air box/plenum size the motor see's since connecting to behind the throttle plates. This one way valve also helps vacuum the case as the pistons descend limiting the amount of fumes by about exactly 1/2 versus a wide open line. Also stops reversion of the case fumes.

The large top vent valve to atmosphere is a homemade one way ball check valve. This design was chosen for high flow, and to ensure a seal when on the seat with lowest cracking pressure nearest to zero to open. Diaphragms and rubber disc's were tested but diaphragms of 1/2" or larger size cracking pressure was too high for adequate flow, or rubber disc's did not give a positive seal at all times when under vacuum. This ball valve is a 3/4" PVC tube, using a 3/4" viton o-ring for a seat, and 3/4" PTFE ball. It's sucked closed by vacuum under normal conditions, when WOT it can leave the seat as needed to vent. This valve can work horizontal, but having vertical with gravity aids the quickest return to seat seal.

The bottom is a 3/8" oil drain line, also with a one way check valve to the oil pan. Ensures oil cannot make it's way up the line into the can under any condition. It also makes sure the vacuum circuit isn't pulling the oil pan contents into the motor. Oil flows only toward the pan. The cracking pressure of the 3/8" valves is 0.5psi. This allows flow under gravity of oil to the pan.

All barb fittings and inline check valves are made of brass or kynar plastic for excellent chemical resistance. The valves have viton diaphragms for the same reason.
The entire bottom plate is a removable inspection cap. This allows to clean the entire unit and replace the media material if needed.


Actual field motor testing;
I wanted to know how it would work if met extremes. So with the engine running I connected a pressure gauge inline with the main valve cover. I then made a air compressor nozzle fit a sealed adapter for the oil cap sealed with o-rings and a one way check valve to ensure flow only into the motor. Then Injected air with a large stand up air compressor wide open into the crank case oil cap fitting with 120 psi; engine running and the pressure gauge needle barely fluctuates to know it's working as air flows initially past it then rest's fluttering at zero. No pressure is measured. This is an extreme scenario, but all the pressure is immediately vented through the one way ball check valve to atmosphere as fast as you can inject it. As soon as you release the nozzle trigger of the air compressor the motor returns to idle vacuum.

Tested the main large vent while driving to see if any venting was needed and when. It was suspected it needed load and WOT. Used a small water balloon attached to a fitting made onto the vent output. Drove around hard to see if vents to atmo the balloon will blow up. On the 318is it would inflate at WOT under load when continuous. When let off the balloon wasn't sealed to the fitting so air would escape around the base. So I'd see it inflate and deflate driving up and down my road. Cool right, so onto the M3. Once WOT and over 4k rpm there was a quick glimpse of a large exploding balloon flying off. I'd stop and slip on another balloon just to see it again This proves there is a lot of venting going on especially on this engine.

I'm not the first on the thought for similar design. I scoured google for anything remotely like this AOS can. Found two great candidates off the top of my notes are the Mann pro vent 200(uses a spring diaphragm), and the Mighty Mouse Solutions pcv cans(uses a plain rubber disc sitting in a filter as the vent). In the early 2000's there was a product called "krankvent" which is still available and can be used the same way with any can inline. All these can get the same result, but I wanted a all in one package for my application that wasn't hundreds of dollars.

I could adapt to any engine size. If needed more venting could use multiple atmo check valves for more capacity if wanted ie large liter V6/8/10 worth of case fumes. Generally a single 3/4" will work for most setups.
I've tested the flow rate of the 3/4" single ball valve with water to max of whatever water pump attached to it. Flowed the same gpm rate as wide open line up to 100psi. At gravity it flows just over 5gpm.

Note I did learn not all pot scrubber pads are created equal. 99% of them are plated garbage steel wool. Tried the stainless ones to find they weren't really stainless but a plated shiny steel wool. The plated stuff flakes off and ends up in your oil. Not a big deal if manually draining your can, but if connected to your oil pan not a good idea. So best ones hands down are chore boy pure copper pads. They never clog, never rust. After over a year of service the same pads are in my other cars looking like new.

[tlapham]

very nice, I will have to try making one of those one-way vents.

[autox320]

The sanding saga continues and a bit of polish


Reconditioning the rockers and head hardware. Made a jig out of some left over engine stand parts for the drill press. Used some extra rocker arms as test samples to see how far I wanted to take it. Gave a bit more ramp on the intake rocker noses, and a bit more ramp on the exhaust rockers base (leading side). When running cams with straight up profiles the ramps can be made a bit steeper to help. Actually received this idea from Brendan (HDX). Once I looked very close decided I better put it on my list. So today was the day. Sanded till took out pits and lines, then polished. Took off some of the casting lines while was at it. Wet sanded down the rocker locks and profiled them to clean them back up.

Took some pics to note the differences I usually talk about between rockers. The early style "aka chunky" 77 2L ones are better design. Areas of interest mostly are the nose profile has more meat, and the eccentric arms are thicker stronger. Later 80's ones are much weaker and if over tightened will break much faster when pushed to limits.

Also filled in the carb choke holes where the flaps used to go on the top plate. Profiled the inside of the top plate a bit more cause why not. Was looking at the carb and decided to profile a razor edge the auxiliary venturi's (Holley carbs call these boosters). The idea is the increase the effect or "signal" of the transition to mains. Supposedly making the leading a razor edge encourages the air to want to go into the aux venturi up to a 20% increase in vacuum. Holley does this on their race carbs. Also noted on Winston Cup, and Nascar before they went EFI.

[Somjuan]

Shiny! Going to put a low friction coat on it of some sort? Because racecar

[autox320]

Shiny! Going to put a low friction coat on it of some sort? Because racecar

Nah John no coatings, just polished parts. We'll be running Liqui Moly oil which is pretty slick stuff.

[autox320]

After back and forth contemplating about windshield options, broke down and just called Safelite auto glass. These guys have been in the business a long time and always have somebody that knows these older cars. Sure enough one of the techs was very familiar with older bmw's and glass. Very professional install. Great experience with the guys, and it's warrantied. Of course they also really liked the car. One of the techs did think since the call was a 83 without a motor it was going to be a rust bucket. Can't blame him, but boy was he surprised.

The Timing covers are in route, so I started assembly of the test spring loaded head. Checked the rockers new angle of attack since reconditioning. Yup we're good

[autox320]

Finally a shout out to Dave (bassboy3313) for the windshield banner. Thanks man it took me long enough to get it on there.

Another weber upgrade. In searching for other things came across mention of a bearing upgrade. Sure enough weber offers bearings to replace the shaft bushings. I had to have a set so here they are.

Checking out and contemplating uprating the chain tensioner spring. Ours being mechanical and not wanting to resort to the fixed IE version from the 750 BMW. Later models get to be dynamic a bit using oil pressure and spring pressure. The M42 tensioner measured at 17 lbs/in installed. The popular S50 upgraded tensioner for the S14 comes in at 23 lbs/in installed. The M10 is pretty weak and long but installed is only about 5 lbs/in. Ordered a few springs to try and will post if find a suitable upgrade.

Really buggered up the nut for the tensioner in the past. When I had cheap tools and sockets that only grabbed the corners. Cleaned it up.

Round of Fastenal for all 10.9 fasteners.






yup every now and then I crave Indian food and a few of these - old habits

[m60b30530i]

Nice ! Did safe lite have a new windshield gasket in stock ?

[autox320]

Nice ! Did safe lite have a new windshield gasket in stock ?

I didn't ask but didn't want to risk being overcharged for parts. Especially stealer prices.

I ordered the gasket and lock strip a few days earlier from Rockauto. They didn't show a lock strip for the E21, but the E30 one is the same so ordered for a 318i. It was chrome, so blacked it out with some flat rustoleum.

$28.89 WLSF464C lockstrip
$26.79 51311831958 (31 1 831 958) windshield gasket

[m60b30530i]

I didn't ask but didn't want to risk being overcharged for parts. Especially stealer prices.

I ordered the gasket and lock strip a few days earlier from Rockauto. They didn't show a lock strip for the E21, but the E30 one is the same so ordered for a 318i. It was chrome, so blacked it out with some flat rustoleum.

$28.89 WLSF464C lockstrip
$26.79 51311831958 (31 1 831 958) windshield gasket

Awesome thank you !!

[autox320]

Hmm I need to check my tensioner piston for the ball function. The m10/20/30 does trap oil and suppose to increase overall chain tension using the internal ball as a one way valve. Forms a hydraulic cylinder but I guess can bleed down over time at high revs. Even so a bit uprated spring can't hurt. Still digging a bit, but guess I'll need to test a few options.

Best site I've found for easily helping calculate springs is https://www.acxesspring.com/espanol/...alculator.html