now that many of our fellows are preparing new overpowered engines for their coupes, i am still keeping myself stock here is then a project to be completed little by little, no rush, just enjoying the road as much as the finish... it is the pending job on my car, to prepare an engine from zero, nut and bolt, there is no need for this, as my actual engine was recently rebuilt and runs smooth and beautifully, but i didn´t perform the task by myslef, so i was thinking of this as a challenge, an entertainment and a hobby,..and finally when completed, cover the openings and keep it warm and dry for the future, or place it in a stand in the middle of the diningroom, who knows ? ;-) i had a complete engine, from a 1975 CS, at hand, the owner had long ago decided that there was no use for it as far as the carriage was badly rotten and long ago found its way to the scrapeyard, the block is in very good condition, but i wanted a newer head (>83), with proper water passages, so i hunt a 1277358 head from an e24 or e28, fortunately i have a proper camshaft in my stock,... here is the dirty block, yes, it is dirty, but sometimes is better to have a dirty part, than a badly reworked one, i have checked all the threads, and aluminum covers, they are all ok, we have meassured the cylinders, and they are within admissible deviations, there is no need to machine them, but anyway i have decided to go to new pistons, so i must go for +0,25 as there is a little time now for preparation of the block and head, and time for buying or finding parts, some questions will arise and thus i will be asking for help, help that i will highly appreciate...
i am now in the process of buying the pistons (at +0,25) and the new valves, which are the first parts needed for doing the machining job additionally i found a guy capable of doing the tricky job of producing a hole for the mechanical fuel pump, see what i mean: 1975 head: central 8mm hole, and two M8 studs 1985 head: (not easy to make the 8mm hole as that M6 stud is already there, we will use a bushing)
some little preparation, the banjo bolts on the oil spread rail inside the cyl head are known for their ability to unbolt and cause terrible issues there, so i prepared the bolts of the new engine this way, in order to prevent the unbolting action i want to place a securing cable around, so i need to make a hole in the hexagonal head: done, easy and convinient
continuing so the head is ready, easier than the block, i found it through the help of generous DerSchwede, it belonged to a 1985 e24, reference: 1277358 it is a reference of cyl head that at least has the base shape for the mech fuel pump, but usually the hole for the mech pump is not present so you have to do it afterwards i have solved the problem that represents the existence of a stud in the vincinity of the mentioned hole required setup: work done, inserting a bushing: ready for the mech pump and two M8 studs
raw head work done: new valve guides, regrinding of valve seats, and smooth flattening of seat surface with front cover installed: here with a nice picture on the wall, hey Duane, remember this ?
engine block and bits some more parts ready block, ready, set for 89,22 mm diameter, finally only change the rings
pretty little jobs just preparing the head prior to assembly, i had a pending issue, thread the holes that support the fuel pump, the thread made was too short, i have to complete it until the other side of the wall love to do it sloooowly after doing this, i cleaned the head with gasoline and compressed air during 15 minutes, every hole and corner checking the fuel pump rod with the camshaft in the head they did a nice job, perfectly aligned with the camshaft lever
pistons and rings i will reuse the pistons, and place new rings, easy operation, but some care must be taken, set of rings, these are the right ones for +0,25mm place them in order, first one the bottom one, you will see it identified by the drawings in the plastic bag, this one is tricky, it is composed of two pieces, you must remove the inner one first place it in the piston in one position, lets say "zero", now the other piece, the outer one must be placed 180 degrees from these one: just take care of the upright position is where the letters TOP can be found: first one is ok now: second one, no special tip but to place the letters TOP correctly: the third one needs a tool to place it and you are done, another five are waiting for you remark: there are more mounting tips when these pistons go for the assembly in the block, as the rings had to be positioned in a certain direction
lets go read the books to remember the assembly order use engine oil once all rockers are placed on the shaft use the bolts to block them clips this part is done
cleaning the block using compressed air and gasoline, despite the block was steammachine cleaned by the shop i found a lot of debriss inside, so i openend all the caps: coolant passage bottom cap, two front and rear oil passage caps, and i used a compressed air tool that allowed me spraying gasoline inside the cavities through a long hose ended in nozzles, you name it, a lot of particles, rests of mud, corroded bits and so on prepare the block for painting, and covering areas paint in black high temp
pistons and connecting rods my brand new, woopy doopy copper mallet, straight from the UK, thanks to the unvaluable help of John first check each piston and connecting rod, they are identified with numbers (1 to 6), each piston with each rod please check this, a finished set, number 3, the connecting rod oiling hole must face frontwards see the hole here to assembly one set, first introduce the shaft, for that gently oil the shaft and the piston with engine oil, and using only your hand introduce the shaft in its hole slightly balancing the shaft while introducing it, you will be able just to intorduce 1 or 2 mm, but it is enough and very important, when this is done properly, you can hit the shaft softly with a copper hammer made in the UK (not less) place the connecting rod as explained previously, all connecting surfaces oiled, and gently tap the shaft to continue the mounting process the last few milimeters will need the help of a spare wrench rod piece then the circlips, introduce one end use a thin screwdriver done
y preguntareis, como se mete el arbol de levas ? ein ? pues asi,... the PITA !!! never again !! it was time to introduce the camshaft, so i prepared the head for it, a stable surface, my carpenter table with a wonderful opening in the middle, the head was over two thick long wood pieces to let the valves move freely, and i strongly fixed it with two vices to avoid tilting when using the screwdriver method yes, i decided to try the screwdriver method as the haynes explains it, just pressing the valves to provide free space for the camshaft to pass through the rockers starting was not a problem, here you can clearly see the two lateral 10mm thick long wood pieces, that avoid the valve heads hitting the table underneath when you press the springs sequentially a view of the screwdrivers placed to press the springs: i used three of these as a basis, and an additonal one occasionally i used a steel plate that lays underneath the table to support the cables that fix the screwdrivers, an additonal problem was that as all the parts were covered with oil, you can imagine how slippery was the cable, so grabbing it was a real problem... it is impossible to explain the process, you have to check the way in which the camshaft is going to move, and see the rockers that will provide obstacles to that movement, but the degrees of freedom of the system are really a lot, because you must take advantage of the lineal displacement of the rockers too, so there is not a unique solution it is a pain to advance every centimeter, rotating, moving the rockers, tensioning one, then the other, placing more cable to support the screwdrivers, watching your face realising the big tension that is bending those screwdrivers,... a pause for dinner, and when i returned it seemed easier,... done,...yes, but, never again !! i do not have 12 screwdrivers, but that would have been probably the solution,..., maybe for the next car,...who knows ?
how to block the camshaft to do the big nut, solved ! hi, i used this setup to block the camshaft in order to be able to do the big 41 mm nut to the appropriate torque it is 150 N.m torque, so a strong blocking system was required, i was aware of the fragility of the camshaft so i did not wanted to block any part of it using any strange force or other odd methods it went very well, strong enough and stable once this is done i am able to finally check the axial play using a micrometer gauge: once the camshaft is moved frontwards, set the gauge to zero, now using a long screwdriver force the camshaft backwards and read the gauge result = 0,13 mm, so within tolerances (from 0,03 to 0,17mm) then include the oiling bar and the head is ready i placed the camshaft so as the valves are ready for the 1st cylinder to be at TDC
