Cylinder leakdown higher after engine rebuild?

[digger]

Ok, here it is. All the pictures are labeled which cylinder they belong to. Cylinders 1,4,5, and 6 all seem to have these wide dark spots of marking, while the other cylinders have small vertical scratch like markings. It is hard for me to tell whether those vertical markings are normal, or if they are problems during ring assembly.

Cylinder 5 is by far the worst, and even has what looks like multiple spots of corrosion on the cylinder wall. This alone was pretty disturbing for me to find.

George Hill what do you think about these marks? mind shedding some light on if this is acceptable work by lang?

EDIT: looks like the file names didnt upload:

Cylinder 1: pics 1-3
Cylinder 2: pics 4-5
Cylinder 3: pics 6-7
Cylinder 4: pics 8-10
Cylinder 5: pics 11-15
Cylinder 6: pics 16-21

piston looks like alot of non black buildup / deposits for a few thousand miles? is it burning oil? are you using any additives

[Icecream]

Well, as expected, Andrew is unwilling to take any ownership of the possibility of human error and reiterated there no warranty, and if I want him to look at it that he will, but I will still have to pay for everything. At cheapest, looking at like $3000 for a new hone, pistons, and short block assembly. Not to mention replacement of all the one time use gaskets to tear the motor back down.

I’m honestly super disappointed with Lang. I feel like I have been completely fooled by all the great things I always read about him. He’s very arrogant, very hard to reconcile with, he does not take criticism very well and pretty much was telling me over the phone, “there’s no reason to keep talking about this, so I’m going to hang up”

I truly feel like I’m the only person that has consistently had bad experiences with Lang Racing. And as good as he says he is, he does not stand behind his work whatsoever

Catching up on this, did you reassemble or did lang?

[digger]

Well, as expected, Andrew is unwilling to take any ownership of the possibility of human error and reiterated there no warranty, and if I want him to look at it that he will, but I will still have to pay for everything. At cheapest, looking at like $3000 for a new hone, pistons, and short block assembly. Not to mention replacement of all the one time use gaskets to tear the motor back down.

I’m honestly super disappointed with Lang. I feel like I have been completely fooled by all the great things I always read about him. He’s very arrogant, very hard to reconcile with, he does not take criticism very well and pretty much was telling me over the phone, “there’s no reason to keep talking about this, so I’m going to hang up”

I truly feel like I’m the only person that has consistently had bad experiences with Lang Racing. And as good as he says he is, he does not stand behind his work whatsoever

Unfortunately I am not surprised that VAC 2.0 has stated this.

[Chanman1029]

Sorry to hear Chanman. If he assembled the bottom end, I'm not sure how you would be responsible for that wear in the cylinders. Since you are in SD, have you considered contacting Kaiv? Maybe he can help and can recommend a better machine shop.

I actually did send him an email with all the pictures, I asked him for his input but have not heard back yet.

I’m pretty disappointed, not sure what to do now.

[Slideways]

Well, as expected, Andrew is unwilling to take any ownership of the possibility of human error and reiterated there no warranty, and if I want him to look at it that he will, but I will still have to pay for everything. At cheapest, looking at like $3000 for a new hone, pistons, and short block assembly. Not to mention replacement of all the one time use gaskets to tear the motor back down.

I’m honestly super disappointed with Lang. I feel like I have been completely fooled by all the great things I always read about him. He’s very arrogant, very hard to reconcile with, he does not take criticism very well and pretty much was telling me over the phone, “there’s no reason to keep talking about this, so I’m going to hang up”

I truly feel like I’m the only person that has consistently had bad experiences with Lang Racing. And as good as he says he is, he does not stand behind his work whatsoever

Sorry to hear Chanman. If he assembled the bottom end, I'm not sure how you would be responsible for that wear in the cylinders. Since you are in SD, have you considered contacting Kaiv? Maybe he can help and can recommend a better machine shop.

[Chanman1029]

Well, as expected, Andrew is unwilling to take any ownership of the possibility of human error and reiterated there no warranty, and if I want him to look at it that he will, but I will still have to pay for everything. At cheapest, looking at like $3000 for a new hone, pistons, and short block assembly. Not to mention replacement of all the one time use gaskets to tear the motor back down.

I’m honestly super disappointed with Lang. I feel like I have been completely fooled by all the great things I always read about him. He’s very arrogant, very hard to reconcile with, he does not take criticism very well and pretty much was telling me over the phone, “there’s no reason to keep talking about this, so I’m going to hang up”

I truly feel like I’m the only person that has consistently had bad experiences with Lang Racing. And as good as he says he is, he does not stand behind his work whatsoever

[Chanman1029]

So you didn't look at the newly honed cylinder walls before bolting down the head?

Nope, didn’t really think twice about it to be honest.

first timers mistakes

I only have a few photos that I took, but I didn’t spin the motor to inspect walls. Looking through my photos and few videos I have, its clear that many of these marks were not there.

[digger]

Gotcha, my assumption was based on the fact that blackstone said the chrome in the oil was most likely coming from rings, and lang agreed aswell. But tbh I dont know for sure. We will see how our conversation with Lang goes tomorrow.

Steel ring with CrN coating is also common

[jet_dogg]

So you didn't look at the newly honed cylinder walls before bolting down the head?

That's exactly what I've been wondering this entire time.

[sapote]

I assembled it lmao, and that’s exactly what they will say even though he assembled the short block, I only mated the block and head.
....
Cylinder 5 is by far the worst, and even has what looks like multiple spots of corrosion on the cylinder wall. This alone was pretty disturbing for me to find.

So you didn't look at the newly honed cylinder walls before bolting down the head?

[Slideways]

Didn’t you see the thread where the German fellow measured this and the bores distorted a lot. Even VAC know this and that says something

Yeah, first time I saw a torque plate mentioned was in an old HPF video:

I wonder what the procedure is at the factory or is it just a combination of the pistons, rings and hone that get the engines to last 100k+ miles.

[digger]

Yes, it simulates having the cylinder head torqued down which, in theory, distorts the bores ever so slightly. I would think cast iron does not distort much and BMW didn't do this when machining a new S54 block. The description on the site is pretty detailed, so one would assume they would add that bit about the torque plate.

Didn’t you see the thread where the German fellow measured this and the bores distorted a lot. Even VAC know this and that says something

[Chanman1029]

Yes, it simulates having the cylinder head torqued down which, in theory, distorts the bores ever so slightly. I would think cast iron does not distort much and BMW didn't do this when machining a new S54 block. The description on the site is pretty detailed, so one would assume they would add that bit about the torque plate.

Makes sense, I wouldn’t know. I will try to remember to ask if those marks could be from not using a torque plate. Andrew actually just responded to my email with all 21 photos I sent, his response was, “received, thank you”

I’m really hoping for the best here, I really dont want to sink more money into the motor.

[Slideways]

When does a torque plate get used? During block machine work?
I know for certain they outsource for that kind of work

Yes, it replicates having the cylinder head torqued down which, in theory, distorts the bores ever so slightly. I would think cast iron does not distort much and BMW didn't do this when machining a new S54 block. The description on the site is pretty detailed, so one would assume they would add that bit about the torque plate.

[Chanman1029]

They have a detailed description of their Stage 1 engine rebuild - no mention of a torque plate. I wonder how the factory blocks are machined?

https://store.langracing.com/product...long-block/

When does a torque plate get used? During block machine work?
I know for certain they outsource for that kind of work