mslevin's S52 build

[mslevin]

Machine Shop costs:

Includes cost for all machine work- even the block that I'm not using. Basically remove the first subtotal to get the 'actual' machine shop cost.

Quantity	Item	Description	Price Each	Amount	Detail
1	Labor	Boil Block	$80.00	$80.00	S50 block
1	Labor	Check Piston Clearance. .0035"-.0045" and found one cracked piston.	$30.00	$30.00	S50
1	Labor	Check out cylinder head, check guides (OK), Vaccuum test (OK), Install new seals.	$150.00	$150.00	S50 head
1	Labor	Boil, mike, and polish crank. Crank measures good and is std rods and std mains.	$60.00	$60.00	S50
			Subtotal	$320.00
1	Labor	Disassemble and assemble short block	$400.00	$400.00
1	Labor	Boil block	$80.00	$80.00	S52
1	Labor	Boil, mike, polish crank	$60.00	$60.00	S52
1	Labor	Boil pan and front cover	$75.00	$75.00	S52
1	Labor	Basic valve job	$380.00	$380.00	S50 head
1	Labor	Remove and reinstall intake guides and size	$144.00	$144.00	S50 head
1	Labor	Bore and hone 6 cylinders	$240.00	$240.00	S50 block
1	Part	Rings Std 11-25-1-405-783	$360.00	$360.00	S52
1	Part	Freight	$20.00	$20.00
24	Part	Valve stem seals 12-31306-05	$2.00	$48.00	S50 head
12	Part	Intake guide B657	$10.00	$120.00	S50 head
12	Part	Rod Bolt 11-24-1-739-729	$6.60	$79.20	S52
1	Labor	Clean 6 pistons	$42.00	$42.00	S52
		CA Sales Tax 9.0%		$56.45
			Subtotal	$2,104.65
			TOTAL	$2,424.65

[magnetron]

Amazing thread!

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G950F met Tapatalk

[mslevin]

Now we're getting somewhere! (not really)

The engine is back home- finally! Two months into this build and I haven't actually put anything together yet. First step is getting it onto the stand, which was much easier to do with the engine in the back of the Yukon. Roll engine stand up to the trunk, bolt it on, back it up. Nice.


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


First step is painting the block. Might as well make this thing look nice, with all the money I'm putting into it! In hindsight, this would've been a lot easier to do without the shortblock assembled, but oh well. Masking took a while, and it wasn't 100% perfect but definitely good enough.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Wondering what the garbage bag is for? Here's mslevin's life hack #45: Instead of trying to mask off the whole crankcase, turn the motor over, put a trash bag over it, bolt on the oil pan, flip the engine back over, and pull the bag down. Boom! Bottom end masked in 2 minutes!

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


I used Duplicolor engine enamel primer and then gloss black, following the instructions on the can. A few light coats, then one medium wet coat. Everything within an hour. Of course, because nothing in my life is easy, I chose to paint it at night when it was cold and kinda raining. Thankfully I had my dad and a large umbrella to help out. I'm a man of action.

First coat of primer:

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


All primed and looking good!


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


I can hear you all shouting, "But mslevin! It was cold! The paint won't dry properly! Your engine block paint won't be concourse-ready!". That's where you're wrong kiddos!


These halogen lamps get super hot...perfect for curing paint.


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr



And NO I didn't paint it inside next to the 911. I took it outside, painted, and rolled it inside to let it dry.



ooooooo shiny!


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Really happy with how it turned out. Yes, I probably should have covered over some of those mounting holes on the block, but I plan on chasing every threaded hole I can find anyway so I'm not worried about it. If you're concerned, please call 1-800-build-your-own-engine.


Okay time to assemble this bad boy!


haha just kidding time to talk about more setbacks. Three small ones.


1) Damaged timing chain sprocket. No idea how this happens, but whatever. Probably should've replaced this anyway as its kind of a wear item. Ended up accidentally ordering two.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


2) Remember "BIG MISTAKE #1", where I ruined the oil pump? I thought that was all resolved as I had a whole new engine with another oil pump. Well, looks like either the PO (unlikely) or the machine shop (likely) made the same mistake. The shaft is threaded and I can't get the nut off. Gotta find a new pump now, ugh.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


3) Timing chain guides are different for S50 vs S52. This one was annoying, just an oversight on my part. I ordered all new guides a while ago for the S50 block, based on part numbers from RealOEM. If you look at RealOEM and click on the part # for the chain tensioner rail, part 11311726503, it shows that part 11311703717 supersedes it. USUALLY on RealOEM, this means the part has been revised/updated. Its true, the revised part is a fully plastic rail, vs metal with plastic on the older part. I didn't think much of this and ordered the new one, but when I was inventorying parts, I tried it on the block and it didn't fit! The S50 block has a different mounting design than the S52. S50 uses a cylindrical post with a circlip on it, whereas the S52 part has an updated post that the plastic guide clips to by itself. Hard to explain, unfortunately I don't have any pics. There's no way to swap mounts between the blocks, so I just ordered the original S50 part. Out another $35, but oh well.


In other bad news, I haven't made much progress. I have the windage tray on, and the oil pickup tube bracket. The machine shop didn't install this, which I kind of understand as it isn't super obvious. The surprise fourth setback is that this bracket mounts under the #5 main cap. Had to pull the cap, install the bracket, and reinstall the cap with new bolts. That was kind of exciting.


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


CURRENT STATUS: parts everywhere. Currently trying to source a new oil pump, so hopefully I have another update by the weekend.


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions!

[pbonsalb]

Looks good! Some loctite the OPN to the shaft. Maybe that is all you are fighting?

[mslevin]

Looks good! Some loctite the OPN to the shaft. Maybe that is all you are fighting?

My plan is to use red loctite and a safety wire nut from Turner.

The threads are actually stripped. I can turn the nut by hand on the shaft and it doesn't come off.

[pbonsalb]

That is too bad. I know you started out trying to do a budget build and are probably way over your estimates already, but VAC and Achilles sell upgraded oil pump shafts.

Also, there is an updated oil pump pickup that is reinforced and less prone to cracking than the original.

[FiberFast]

That is too bad. I know you started out trying to do a budget build and are probably way over your estimates already, but VAC and Achilles sell upgraded oil pump shafts.

Also, there is an updated oil pump pickup that is reinforced and less prone to cracking than the original.

Word, I tried the budget build route. Works for some things, others not so much. Your oil pump troubles sound like my pilot bearing woes. As for the reverse thread fuckup, everyone does it, even experienced mechanics apparently. Just sucks that you got hit twice by something you already understood, but someone "more experienced" did not. Frankly, ever since Les Shwab failed to tighten and set one of my hub king nuts I have been less than agreeable about other ppl working on my car. Machining though, you are kinda screwed there unless you happen to have a few hundred thousand dollars of equipment sitting around.

[mslevin]

Lots of progress over the weekend thanks to my friend Shan. Will post an update later today.

[mslevin]

THINGS ARE HAPPENING!



Got a new (used) oil pump from my buddy Erick last week. Installed that, with the sprocket and a safety-wire OPN with some red loctite as well for good measure. New chains all around of course- the oil pump chain is IWIS 'Racing', which apparently is slightly tighter. This was a little tricky to put on with the sprocket already attached- if I had to do it again I'd put the pump on, put the chain around the sprocket, then put the sprocket on the pump.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

I wanted to be a little fancy with the safety wire and twist it properly. You can see in then pic above my first attempt, just using a set of vice grips. Not great. My buddy Shan (ME, Formula SAE experience, etc) came over a few times during the weekend to help me out, and he managed to do a much nicer job. I bought safety wire pliers from Harbor Freight and they were GARBAGE! Truly useless. Most HF tools are good enough, especially for the price, but these were basically only good as a paperweight. Thankfully we managed to get it looking pretty good. This is also when i started going crazy and marking every nut/bolt with a paint pen once they were torqued.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Front main seal in. Don't have a pic of it, but I used an old crank hub to install it. Pushed the locating pin out the back, and used a soft mallet with the hub as a die (right word? idk) to push it in. Worked well!

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Aforementioned NEW timing chain guides and timing chain sprocket installed! The left side guide didn't want to slip onto the dowel nicely, so I used some fine sandpaper to juuuust take off enough to let it slide on nicely. Little bit of grease helped out too.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


It was at this point we realized that it was almost time to put the head on. Scary! I took some quick pictures of it. Surface wasn't decked as it was clean and flat and straight- no need to. The head was hot tanked, new intake valve guides, new valve seals, 3 angle valve job, pressure checked. Basics.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Dropped the head on! ARP studs are installed in the block.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


I bought a new Behr 88 deg thermostat to put in (same as I have in the M50 currently). I've seen some discussion around bleed holes in thermostats, and this one didn't have one. I figured it can't hurt, so I drilled a tiny hole before putting it in. I also installed the new aluminum thermostat housing. Put in the two gaskets, but didn't RTV the actual housing. Going to pull it off tonight and do that- I've seen arguments both ways, but I don't think it'll hurt.


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr



You KNOW I had to mock up the motor with a valve cover and the headers. Couldn't wait to see what it'd look like. Headers are being sent out to Jet-Hot this week!

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Torquing down the head. The tape has the torque sequence written on it, which makes it a little easier. Followed the instructions- clean/lube/incremental torque. Also waited a while in between torque sequences, and checked at each level before moving to the next. Thanks to Andrei for the tip.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Once that was done....its cam time baby!


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


More details to come. I have a life to live so I can't just sit here and post engine pics all day (unfortunately).

[Thrifty S50]

Nice, Cant wait for it all to come together!

[FiberFast]

Awesome job! I hate the plastic valve cover, but everything else looks top notch.

[mslevin]

Awesome job! I hate the plastic valve cover, but everything else looks top notch.

This one definitely isn't very pretty. Most likely going to use my OBDI cover currently on my M50, which is wrinkle coated black.

[mslevin]

Progress has been made, update coming soon!

[FiberFast]

Progress has been made, update coming soon!

How you gonna do me like that? Now I feel like a kid two days before christmas, hurry up with them pics lol.

[mslevin]

Note to self: don't leave so much time between updates. The most content I have to be posted, the longer I put it off. The longer I put it off, the less details I remember. If you think I've missed any important details please let me know and I'll add as much info as I can.

Anyway, CAMS!

I used a massive amount of assembly lube though this process, specifically Permatex Ultra Slick. Its great stuff, but is pretty liquid, so it flows off of things like cam lobes. Before the motor is started, I'll be pouring a bunch of lube and oil on top of the cams- probably 1 or 2 quarts of the 7 total. Not too worried about it, but just want to make sure everything is well lubed before first start.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


First step was installing the lifters and cam trays. There are a bunch of methods for doing this- it's tricky because you install the lifters into the trays upside down, then have to flip the whole tray over to seat it onto the head. The assembly lube was super helpful here, as it's tacky enough to actually hold the lifters in the bores pretty well for a few seconds. Install, get everything lined up, flip, done.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Once they were in, it was time to drop in the cams. This scared me a little, as at first I didn't think the cams fit! When you put the cams into the trays, they obviously won't sit flat due to the lobes of the cams sitting on the lifters of at least 1 cylinder. Not sure if stock cams are like this, but these Schrick cams have a very tight clearance at the front edge towards the cam sprockets. These two factors made it seem like they wouldn't go in. This is what I was looking at:

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Worried, I pulled the trays out (letting the lifters fall all over the place, whatever).

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


I put the trays down on the table, made sure everything was well lubed, and tried installing the cams into the trays without the lifters. Thankfully, they fit perfectly and span beautifully!

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Crisis averted, everything went back in. Make sure you install the cam caps the right way. There are markings on the trays ("E" for intake and "A" for exhaust)- the marks (A1, A2, E1, E2, etc) on the caps should be towards the intake side of the motor. Actually installing the cams is tricky- you have to hold them in such a way that only one the cylinder 1 lobes acting on the lifters. This is done with a large spanner, or in my case and adjustable wrench, on the cams. Between cylinder 5 and 6 there are two flattened sections to accomodate this. I didn't have a spanner the right size, and I had to grind down the sides of my crescent wrench to fit onto the flat sections of the cams. Sorry I don't have more photos of this process- I did it all at once pretty quickly. Hold the cams in place carefully, and install the nuts for the cam cap of the lobes acting on the lifters. Tighten these a quarter turn at a time until that one cap is hand tight. Install the other caps, evenly turning all the nuts a quarter turn at a time. Finish off at 11ft-lbs. Repeat for other cam. Be careful and take your time. IMPORTANT! The lobes of cylinder 1 should be acting on lifters, and the motor should be slightly before TDC so you don't smash the valve into the cylinder. Yes, make sure the motor is at TDC and then turn it backwards a little. DON'T do what I did and totally forget to do that and somehow just get lucky with it.

Next up is chains and tensioners and timing the engine and omg.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

I'll say upfront: this took me a LONG time. Maybe 3 full sessions of working on the motor to get everything cleaned, installed, checked, oiled, reinstalled, torqued, blessed, etc. I fully installed the timing assembly as a sanity check, then uninstalled it and did it again properly.

New lower tensioner installed. Ignore the weird stuff on the screw holes in that cam lobe- I think it was old threadlocker. I cleaned it off before final install.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Laying out all the cam sprockets parts. Got everything nice and clean. There are two versions of this as described in the Bentley manual- this is the one with the spring washer and extra thrust plate. RealOEM and Bentley are critical here for proper assembly instructions and diagrams.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Timing chain and sprocket installed on exhaust cam, trigger wheel installed on intake cam, and tensioner installed.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Intake cam sprocket and assembly installed. Pros will see the issue with this photo. Any ideas?

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If you said "the cam timing chain ins't installed!", you're right! The chain has to be installed on the sprockets, and then the sprockets are installed together. No way to get it on after they're installed. Like I said, this took a while...

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


All assembled now, but not ready to be timed yet. We need the VANOS to do that.

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There are tons of writeups on how to do this, so I won't go into tons of detail. It really isn't difficult, once you have the VANOS off it doesn't take long to rebuild it. A lot of people use the Dr.VANOS rebuilt units, which is great! The added cost gets you a professional job and polished piston or something. I decided that wasn't worth it and bought the piston seals and anti-rattle ring from Besian Systems for about $60.

A few notes:

• It is really important to have a way to hold the unit in a vice. I used Harbor Freight C-clamp jaw pads, which fit perfectly on my bench vise and kept the unit undamaged and in place.
• Use lots of brake cleaner and get it as shiny as possible- shiny parts are faster parts.
• If you're rebuilding it, get the seals and the anti-rattle ring and do both
• I used a bunch of assembly lube when putting it back together. Not sure if you're meant to, but I did
• Read the full Besian Instructions for BOTH the seals and ring install- if you follow all the instructions for one and then do the other, you'll have to disassemble everything twice
• Be careful with the tiny needle bearings
• Soak the seals in hot water or they'll be impossible to install
• Get everything as clean as possible.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Once that was done, we were ready to time the motor. Again, this took FOREVER. Lots of reading, asking questions to friends, YouTube videos, testing, etc. Too many small details here for me to really say much about it. There is a TON of great info on the web about this process.

Long story short....it's done.

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Bonus video of me turning the motor over by hand. Sexy!

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That's all for now. Headers should be back from ceramic coating this week, and here's a teaser of what's next:

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

[FiberFast]

Hell yea, thanks for sharing your experiences. Especially have to do shit 2 or 3 times to get it done right, better than doing it once incorrectly. I just had to yank a rear trailing arm back out because of lack luster bushing install directions. That oil filter housing looks hot...

[mslevin]

Sorry for lack of updates. Car is running and is fast as hell. Will try to post pics and a writeup soon!

If anyone is wondering, final cost (from running car to running car) was just under $8000. I will post a cost sheet at some point in the future.

[FiberFast]

Vrooomm! Hell yea mslevin. Enjoy it.

[mslevin]

Hey everyone! Back from the dead! Car is still running strong. It was dyno'ed at 238 a few weeks ago. This is less than what I was hoping for, and I have a plan to resolve that:

1. Fix exhaust leak. Had some issues with the SS headers and midsection which has caused a leak where they join. Solution is likely a custom exhaust.
2. Move to OBDII. Data logging and better tuning.
3. New tune
4. 24# injectors
5. Possibly BBTB

I took the car to thunderhill in Dec and beat my previous time by 8 seconds (2:16 -> 2:08). The new motor definitely helped

COST

This is a copy of my master cost list. To be really accurate, add $500-600 to this for some little things. Put a new clutch in it. Had to replace OPG and RMS as they were both leaking after final install. Etc.

Item	Price	Detail
Machine work	$2,100	Clark's Machine Shop
Top End Gasket Kit	$232.50	Elring
S52 Head Gasket	$77.25	Elring
Block Gasket Kit	$61.25	Elring
ARP head studs	$172.66	ARP 201-4302
Oil pump safety wire nut	$14.00
Conrod bolts	$0.00	ARP 201-6102
OEM Main Bolts	$90
Rod bearings	$140	Bimmerworld
Water pump	$166	Stewart
Thermostat	$19.50	Behr 88C
Headers	$500	SuperSpring Longtubes
Tune	$350	22rpd
Thermostat Housing	$20	Aluminum
Crank bearings	$172	Bimmerworld
Timing chain, Primary tensioner, Top Chain Guide	$106.75	Febi
Secondary tensioner
Upper/main chain guide
Chain sprocket	$74.00
Cam to crank chain	$52.00
Oil pump chain	$15.00
Lower chain guide	$14.50	Febi
Chain tensioner rail	$34.50	Febi
Cam sensor
Crank sensor
Knock sensors	$160	New Bosch
Belts		Owned
VANOS rebuild kit	$65	O rings and anti rattle thing
VANOS feed line	$38
Spark Plugs	$31
21.5lb S52 Injectors	$50	Used/rebuilt?
Rear main seal	$10	Elring
Crank bolt	$21.25
S52 Bottom End	$400
Valve Retainers and Collets	$318	New OEM. w/ shipping
Exhaust stud nuts	$28	28, need 24
Exhaust studs	$9.20	4
Coolant pipe adapter	$35
S54 OFH Vanos AN Line	$95	Achilles. Incl shipping.
Pilot Bearing	$7	F.A.G.
Throw out bearing	$50	Sachs
Header ceramic coating	$220
Alternator	$0	New refurbished from Oreillys
Power steering pump		Use M50 (hopefully)
Oil Temp Sender	$30.34	VDO 323092
Fuel filter	$12
Valve cover grommets	$9.50	Amazon
Dipstick O-ring	$3.25	S52
Oil Filter	$21	(x2)
Clutch and PP	$177	eBay. Same kit as before.
Transmission
Flywheel bolts		Proprietary from Gripforce?
Pressure plate bolts
Bolt Ons
Cams	$800	Schrick 264/256
3.5" MAF	$150	Bosch.
3 -> 3.5" adapter	$26.00	x2 (RETURN MAYBE)
3.5" boot	$76	BW. W/ shipping
Oil Pan Baffle	$166

​TOTAL: ABOUT $8000

I have a ton more pictures which I will try to post in time. Very happy to answer any questions and provide details or part numbers as needed!

[XnWarden]

Why did you get a head gasket in addition to a top end gasket kit? Should be included in the kit yea?

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[mslevin]

Why did you get a head gasket in addition to a top end gasket kit? Should be included in the kit yea?

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Good eye! The top end gasket kit I bought was for an S50. I ended up building an S52, so bought an S52 head gasket. Bore diameters are slightly different.

[gsanvi]

Just read the whole thread. Content like that is what got me to subscribe to this forum in the first place. Awesome work. Keep us posted, I am really curious about the power gains

[golgo13]

How's the car, dude?

[mslevin]

How's the car, dude?

So good. Getting ready for Laguna Seca w/ SpeedSF on Sunday and hoping it stays dry. Did a 1:50 with the old M50, hoping to go a little faster than that now!

[mslevin]

For anyone interested, here is the complete album of pictures from the build: https://www.flickr.com/photos/151870...57703898297692

I will try to post and narrate photos here in the near future!