S54 Rebuild with Vac Motorsports Parts.

[mleveroni]

Very well done video but can I ask the reason for sleeving in the first place?

[Slideways]

Very well done video but can I ask the reason for sleeving in the first place?

My guess is boost. Back when HPF was still a thing, they were installing Darton Sleeves in S54 blocks because the sleeves were supposedly more durable than the block itself. Turns out those sleeves started dropping out of the cylinders causing headgasket failure since the headgasket was only able to seal a fraction of original sealing surface between cylinders. In his pictures, it looks like the sleeves cracked due to being too thin.

[Nate047]

I hope your VAC experience goes better than most.

Not trying to side track but what are the issues people have? I just bought some seat mounting stuff from them.

[CrookedCommie]

Not trying to side track but what are the issues people have? I just bought some seat mounting stuff from them.

1. Bump steer tie rod snap in T1 WGI, luckily avoided a wall. Bad engineering design, I should have known better, it did not shoulder on the spindle correctly. They have since updated the design.
2. VAC ATI damper ate two belts, clearly not designed to work correctly. Morehead also ditched theirs, same issue.
3. Sent me two left bump steer control arms. One of them had a problem. Took a paypal dispute to get money back two months AFTER I shipped them their shit back waiting for replacements. Glad they are not in the car.
Good luck.

[Obioban]

Not trying to side track but what are the issues people have? I just bought some seat mounting stuff from them.

I think the OP is unlikely to have issue, since he's buying parts from VAC made by other people. They seem to do okay as a reseller.

But VAC parts are often garbage (I've seen seat mounts fail in a crash, the sliders they use are trash, I had their CSL airbox and it collapsed in on itself, etc) and their quality of labor is FAR worse (e.g. they clogged a drain hole on my friend S62 by using too much sealant (on gaskets that required no sealant, btw)-- and their solution was to pop the covers, drill the holes out, and send him on his way-- WITH METAL SHAVINGS AND THE DRILLED OUT SEALANT IN HIS ENGINE!) The same friend had the owner (Tony) use his car to pick his kids up from school-- who ate in the car and left food on the back seat and floor, and scratch the leather. My friend has never allowed his own kids to eat in his car.

The place is a shit show. Being semi local to them, I get to see a non stop stream of their failed work. In my estimation, nobody should use parts made by VAC (or to their spec), or let them touch their car.

[Nate047]

I think the OP is unlikely to have issue, since he's buying parts from VAC made by other people. They seem to do okay as a reseller.

But VAC parts are often garbage (I've seen seat mounts fail in a crash, the sliders they use are trash, I had their CSL airbox and it collapsed in on itself, etc) and their quality of labor is FAR worse (e.g. they clogged a drain hole on my friend S62 by using too much sealant (on gaskets that required no sealant, btw)-- and their solution was to pop the covers, drill the holes out, and send him on his way-- WITH METAL SHAVINGS AND THE DRILLED OUT SEALANT IN HIS ENGINE!) The same friend had the owner (Tony) use his car to pick his kids up from school-- who ate in the car and left food on the back seat and floor, and scratch the leather. My friend has never allowed his own kids to eat in his car.

The place is a shit show. Being semi local to them, I get to see a non stop stream of their failed work. In my estimation, nobody should use parts made by VAC (or to their spec), or let them touch their car.

Wow, wish I had known that like 2 weeks ago.

[Feffman]

My block came back from the machine shop today so the bottom end fun will begin shortly. Well, as soon as the rods arrive in another 10-12 weeks.

Feff

[bigjae46]

I've seen seat mounts fail in a crash

Was this Kaiv? I remember someone had some aluminum side mounts bend in an accident which is questionable why anyone would use aluminum for that.

I believe VAC pioneer the design of the E36/E46 floor mounts which have been copied. IMO, those are a terrible design. The mount is thick billet aluminum EXCEPT for where the bolt/nut attaches the mounts to the floor, its about 3/16" thick at best?. If properly torqued the bolt/nut galls the aluminum which is a super thin piece because the opening is machined to an oval.

I have a great example of VAC's genius - they make a sensor bung/water pipe that goes between the cylinder head pipe and thermostat housing and also returns from the heater core. Great place to put a 1/8" NPT single wire temp sender...PERFECT! Except you won't get a consistent reading because the pipe is electrically isolated from the engine because of the o-rings. So no ground unless the pipe shifts and makes metal to metal contact thus no reading. A single wire sender is always chassis grounded. I'm dumbfounded that VAC doesn't seem to know this. I called them and they said they never had an issue. I ran a ground from the sender to the engine, worked perfectly. You spend all that effort to CNC a nice water pipe that doesn't even focking work. All they would need to do is add a ground lug!

But this is VAC. And TurnECSer Motorsports isn't far behind VAC in marketing non-working bullsh1t.

[OldRanger]

OP - thanks for sharing the videos!

Friends don't let friends use VAC parts.

Estoril - who is the go to for rebuilt heads; is there one East Coast or even in the DMV area?

[Obioban]

OP - thanks for sharing the videos!



Estoril - who is the go to for rebuilt heads; is there one East Coast or even in the DMV area?

I would confidently use Partee racing. Their engine builder built the s62s BMW used in the e46 race cars.

[duracellttu]

I think the OP is unlikely to have issue, since he's buying parts from VAC made by other people. They seem to do okay as a reseller.

But VAC parts are often garbage (I've seen seat mounts fail in a crash, the sliders they use are trash, I had their CSL airbox and it collapsed in on itself, etc) and their quality of labor is FAR worse (e.g. they clogged a drain hole on my friend S62 by using too much sealant (on gaskets that required no sealant, btw)-- and their solution was to pop the covers, drill the holes out, and send him on his way-- WITH METAL SHAVINGS AND THE DRILLED OUT SEALANT IN HIS ENGINE!) The same friend had the owner (Tony) use his car to pick his kids up from school-- who ate in the car and left food on the back seat and floor, and scratch the leather. My friend has never allowed his own kids to eat in his car.

The place is a shit show. Being semi local to them, I get to see a non stop stream of their failed work. In my estimation, nobody should use parts made by VAC (or to their spec), or let them touch their car.

Yikes, heard any issues with their VANOS exhaust hub?

[Estoril]

Yikes, heard any issues with their VANOS exhaust hub?

Why not just go with a known good source?

[duracellttu]

Why not just go with a known good source?

I didn't want a cryo-treated hub and preferred the larger tabs. I haven't read anything negative about the VAC hub and it was recommended by a trusted shop.

[bigjae46]

I didn't want a cryo-treated hub and preferred the larger tabs. I haven't read anything negative about the VAC hub and it was recommended by a trusted shop.

I would stick with the OE hub and get the oil pump disc machined for a slight interference fit. No guessing, no issues.

I used to drill out the oil pump discs when I had access to the maker space at Wichita State. Took 10 minutes...not that difficult with a lathe and some assistance.

[Obioban]

I would stick with the OE hub and get the oil pump disc machined for a slight interference fit. No guessing, no issues.

I used to drill out the oil pump discs when I had access to the maker space at Wichita State. Took 10 minutes...not that difficult with a lathe and some assistance.

Yep— 10 years into redrilled pump disks, I don’t believe we’ve seen a single failure with that done.