What should I do while I take the head off?

[UFoh]

I snapped a stud off into my block while putting on some headers and I’m removing the head to have it fixed by a machine shop. I have some Schrick 280/272 cams ordered… what else should I do? I’m gonna have my machine shop guy do a valve job and maybe some porting but that’s all i can think of. Should i get some different pistons? Lol

What head gasket does everyone run? I’m looking at the elrig one.

[UFoh]

I have the turbotoy hub and all of the current beisan vanos fixes minus the solenoid coil pack so hopefully I’ll be reusing all the orings. I was thinking maybe I’ll replace my chain tensioner ring thing. Its actually a new chain tensioner already because i was trying to make the startup slap go away.


new valve seals?

I’m editing this as i go
so far my shopping list is:
schrick cams ✅
(oe)Timing bridge✅
head gasket
head bolts
valve cover gasket✅
acl rod bearings
Pistons?
rods?

[UFoh]

Now I’m wondering if i should get some lightweight connecting rods and forged pistons “while I’m in there.” Would this make my engine spin faster or just my wallet

edit:

after doing research I’m checking out Molnar connecting rods and Mahle pistons. Should I bump my compression ratio to 12:5 w the pistons and would it knock on 93 octane from Florida? Would i be able to easily install pistons with the block in the car? I’ve never done engine work besides the beisan timing guide and replacing my rod bearings, so someone needs to tell me if this is a fun idea or if I’ve lost my mind…

i was thinking I could pull the oil pan off and basically do the rod bearing procedure except remove the piston entirely and install a new one. All the head gasket guides showed them keeping the timing chain taught on the bottom end, so i was thinking id mark it and try to keep it together while i spin the crank with a friend holding it taught and spinning it.

[Mr.wReckless]

If you want pistons and rods the oil pan and some other stuff have to come off too? If you're fitting new cams it's highly recommended to fit new followers since they wear together. I think you're onto a good track with lapping valves and porting the head. Apart from renewing sensors and gaskets I can't think of much else at the same time. Obviously a valve adjustment in the end. After I did all the work to mine over winter I kind of feel that it's nice to just try and compartmentalise the work, so if something isn't right when it's back together you don't have to look over the entire engine but just the work you've done to it.

Regards

[UFoh]

I’m going to reuse my followers 😈

[Thoglan]

Now I’m wondering if i should get some lightweight connecting rods and forged pistons “while I’m in there.” Would this make my engine spin faster or just my wallet

Really not worth the cost. OE rods and pistons is the way to go unless its a dedicated track tool imo. Not to mention pulling the rods and pistons makes it pretty much a complete rebuild instead of just taking the head off. Better places to spend your money. Valve stem seals are worth doing while the head is apart.

Im probably in the minority but when I rebuilt my engine, when it came to internal engine parts (aside from rod bearings) I went pretty much fully OEM. The elring head gasket is slightly different to the genuine BMW part, was one of those things I didn't want to chance and just went OEM. I'm sure the elring part is functionally fine though.

[Slideways]

Really not worth the cost. OE rods and pistons is the way to go unless its a dedicated track tool imo. Not to mention pulling the rods and pistons makes it pretty much a complete rebuild instead of just taking the head off. Better places to spend your money. Valve stem seals are worth doing while the head is apart.

Im probably in the minority but when I rebuilt my engine, when it came to internal engine parts (aside from rod bearings) I went pretty much fully OEM. The elring head gasket is slightly different to the genuine BMW part, was one of those things I didn't want to chance and just went OEM. I'm sure the elring part is functionally fine though.

How is the gasket different? Looking at the ECS images, they are identical.

[Cubieman]

FWIW I had the same thing happen in regards to a stud breaking flush, I had a local shop extract the stud successfully and they saved the original threads.

Mine was on cyl. 3 up top so as far as working space went it was a pretty good stud to have broken off. I was absolutely convinced the head was comming off and had that all setup, luckily that did not have to happen.

[02_lsb]

New starter, maybe alternator, pcv.

also. Mail the turbotoy back and put OE back in.

[UFoh]

Yeah after doing some research on how to actually put pistons in an engine I’m over it, looks like i definitely couldn’t accomplish that with the block in the car.

https://youtu.be/FWFf-95i18w That youtube video was why I decided elrig seemed alright

[UFoh]

New starter, maybe alternator, pcv.

also. Mail the turbotoy back and put OE back in.

This is the first bad thing I’ve seen about the turbotoy hub - why do you say that

[02_lsb]

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/604-beisan-s54-exhaust-sprocket-hub-solution

[stash1]

I snapped a stud off into my block while putting on some headers and I’m removing the head to have it fixed by a machine shop. I have some Schrick 280/272 cams ordered… what else should I do? I’m gonna have my machine shop guy do a valve job and maybe some porting but that’s all i can think of. Should i get some different pistons? Lol

What head gasket does everyone run? I’m looking at the elrig one.

Assuming you mean head here, because why would you need to remove the head if the stud snapped off in the block? Are you sure that you can't remove the broken stud w/o removing the head?

[UFoh]

Assuming you mean head here, because why would you need to remove the head if the stud snapped off in the block? Are you sure that you can't remove the broken stud w/o removing the head?

I meant to type head, yeah.

im considering pulling the entire engine and doing a 13:1 compression build 🤔

[stash1]

I meant to type head, yeah.

im considering pulling the entire engine and doing a 13:1 compression build 🤔

Unless it's a dedicated racecar running race gas, I would recommend a more street friendly 12:1 ratio. A 1pt increase in compression is worth around 2-3% more power, and the trade-off for only around another 7-10HP hardly seems worth having to run race gas all of the time.😉