I'm having problems uploading new images as well.
I'll dig into it...
Test
Picture is working for me
-sold...replaced by turbo e36
I see 2 pics.
Sweet radiator! What are all the ports for? Is it a custom unit or off the shelf?
It's a custom unit I had Bimmerworld source for me.
On the right side of the radiator, (under pressure cap) there is an 11 plate oil/water heat exchanger integrated into the end tank.
The -12 AN bungs on the bottom of both end tanks are for an auxiliary cooling circuit I have planned. (It will have it's own pump)
The fans flow roughly 1600 CFM each, and draw approximately 16 amps each.
Core thickness = 2.56"
Height = 24.5" (not including rad cap)
Width = 27.5"
Last edited by PEI330Ci; 01-19-2019 at 03:50 AM.
I'm going backwards a bit here....but while we were assembling the head, we found that a couple of valve locks had cracks on them.
I don't know for certain what caused the cracks, but I have a guess. One of the methods I've used to pull the valve locks out is to hit the top of the retainer with a socket and a hammer. The valve stays in place, the spring compresses, and the locks fall out of the slot. I think that while doing this, a lock might have turned sideways and then been compressed by the returning valve retainer and spring causing it to fail. I've disassembled this head twice now, so the possibility seems higher. I think in the future I will use a valve spring compressor (Same as we use to assemble) and take the valve locks out carefully.
Even though there were only 2 locks found damaged, I decided to replace them all just in case. So a new set of 48 locks is on the way from Supertech.
Considering I thought the head was "Good" when I ran it before, I've done a surprising amount of work on it:
- New valve guides
- New valve seals
- Valve seats re-cut
- New valve springs and retainers
- New valve locks
So this leads me to question my ultimate power goals, because my tolerance for wrecking/breaking stuff has decreased significantly over the past couple of years. Where I used to consider an engine rebuild to be like washing ones clothes, I now see it like having to do a major house renovation. The thought of toasting this engine build, after what might amount to a handful of hours of use, is highly disturbing. The M54 engine in general is still widely unproven above 800hp, so I'm having second thoughts on my 1100hp goals.
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Championship level "Dumb ass":
I put the BMW outside with a cover over it while I was doing some work on my wife's car on the lift. Because I ran into some issues, I left BMW outside overnight. Then I woke up in the morning to find that we had gotten significant snow, and that my car cover was blown half way across the back yard.
The car was full of water/snow.
Good thing the floor is getting cut out....
Build two motors. If you know that you have a backup motor sitting on a stand at home you'll be much less hesitant to blow it up.
And there lies the problem.
I started talking to Mazworks last August, and Mark had a ton of very constructive ideas based on practical experience. This discussion made my current engine build obsolete, and many of my ideas for future projects were put in doubt. Mark didn't think running 2 cooling systems, (One for the head, and one for the block) was a useful feature. More importantly, he felt that the welding to close the deck of the cylinder head would have caused softening of the cylinder head core in areas where we actually want it to be stronger. In other words, I might have taken a step backwards!
So if I was to start from scratch with stock M54 cores, and had Mazworks do their magic with sleeves, billet main caps, big studs, head porting, and valve train, I'm probably looking 2 X $30k engine builds. I just don't have that budget right now...
Sucks about the car over, a holepunch and zipties on all 4 wheels helps, but hindsight is always 20/20
Perfection is the enemy of progress. Just get another block, sleeve it, put timeserts in it, and a stock head, upgraded valve springs, off the shelf rods and pistons. 1100 hp is not that much, don't go nuts over it.
What about moving to the S54 platform? Wouldn't be necessary to use sleeves, valvetrains for 9k rpm available, etc.
--Peter
You all know that spending the money to have a fully built backup motor waiting in the wings is a sure fire way of ensuring the primary motor will NEVER blow!! It's like spending loot on rain tires and wheels and then it never rains at the track!
Is this for a drag application only? or road racing (TARGA)?
I remember when you first started talking about this a few years ago (I brought it up a few posts back) but I haven't seen you post any more than 2 pics of the cylinder head from a distance.
Did you ever post about this in depth? It would be cool if you'd elaborate more on the reasons why you thought that having a cooler cylinder head would be important and also post some closeup pics. You mentioned that a special jig needed to be built to hold down the head, do you have any pics of that?
Ready:
Set:
Gone:
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I've got to find a better way to do this:
I can count the number of times I've used that cover on one hand since I bought it in 2010.
I have another engine, but I'm debating what to do with it in the long term. Right now, it's the mock-up piece for fabrication while we rebuild my other engine.
Peter,
People keep telling me this. :P
What's quite interesting is the number of block failures I've been exposed to with the S54, where the cylinder wall splits under pressure. So I think to be sure, I'd want to sleeve the S54....which would cost the same as doing an M54 block. The cylinder head is better on the S54, but it's a heavier engine as well. If Mert ever fires up the Billet S54 block he had Mazworx build him, we might have a case for conversion....
Or taking tools to the track!
It's a mix of street car, drag car, and track day car.
I'll comment on the "cool head" later.
Oh man... this makes me want to do something w/ my car again... but at the same time makes me want to not bother... lol.
#dadlife now
Good to see you're still at it!
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