Saving a S54 From Parting Out.

[Anri]

What about slightly thicker head gaskets for blocks that need extra mm removed? That combined with ARP head studs should make a block or head serviceable.

Sideways,

Thanks for your reply. We will get to that stage as well.

Regards,
Anri

[tlow98]

What about slightly thicker head gaskets for blocks that need extra mm removed? That combined with ARP head studs should make a block or head serviceable.

You can definitely do that. I ordered a cometic as I thought I’d need it, but only cut .01” from mine total between the head and the block. So that slightly bumped compression to 11.7. Kept it in that state.

for anything more Cometic makes a ton of gaskets.

[tlow98]

I know very well line2line. It is pretty good stuff and no harm at all.

I work a lot on S38 engines as well this and have seen those with nearly 300k miles
and beaten to death with poor oil etc..and the Pistons to wall clearance stays
pretty much the same....it reaches max permissible and freezes there and that
is it...I also have seen S54s with over 220k miles and the bores look totally in spec
just as this one.

I will post my coating when the time comes around.

Regards,
Anri

love it. Thanks!

[Anri]

The final stage of the block work is cleaning before assembly begins.

It's either the machine shop Hot/Tank/BigWasher or my myself.
I chose by myself because the shops tank/s are filthy dirty...The other
negative side is the freshly loved bores and deck are getting light
rust...I am tired of chasing a machine shop who changes
the solution often and cleans their tanks very often and even then
to be free of metal shaving, sand, gunk and other nasty stuff......
I am done.

The worked out area Bores+Deck these open cast iron metal rust
so fast that by the time one is done washing the rust stains the surface.
So the "Trick" I use is I apply heavy duty grease on the bores
and the open deck. By doing this I can leave the block in tap water
overnight and nothing will ever happen to the bores nor the deck...
I will be worried about the block rusting from outside LOL..

The block is placed down so that all the metal particles come out
from decking the block. I have various sizes brushes which I use
to scrub the block oil pump channel/s, the return oil drain channels
etc...

Attention to detail: The last stop and very very important is to clean
the main block Oil-Galley !!!!!

S54 is an engine from the Era of Fast-Assembly line...so the oil galley have
been closed via 12.5mm pressed fit plugs. Either decking the block
or not it's a mandatory of mine to clean the Main Block oil galley.

Now, BMW sells replacement plugs, but...after so many heat cycles
will the new plugs sit properly ? Out of the 4 plugs only 1 is inside the
engine and let say it does sweat a little then the oil will go back in
the oil pan. But what about the other 3 plugs ? 1 sits between the
water pump and the timing case, the other 2 are behind the flywheel...
and there is a big chance they may sweat/leak and then "Mama miaaaa"
so the reason why you will never see these plugs being touched..

Solution ? When BMW use to care on the old school S38/M30s they
had serviceable plugs so that when the engine is rebuild one can clean
the main galley and put back with thread sealant till the next rebuild.

It is very tricky to do this conversion on S54 because the cross oil channel
is very close to the end of the block and if one pushes the threaded plug too
far it can block the oil passage.

To make short thread it's very tricky! (even I have been told its not going
to work....)The way I created this is via 2 taps. 1st is std and the function
is to "Start" the thread, the other one is to cut to razor sharp depth distance and
stop the thread so that next rebuild the person who is going to clean the block
(if they do) will not be put into a risk. The Second tap I machined flat on the lathe,
and if one suggests they sell taps which are designed for flat cut at the bottom
is not going to work because they are not flat enough...! I need 0 zero.

You will not believe the metal particles, gunk, dirt, shaving came out from the
machining process. The final cleaning stage inside the oil galley is done on the
engine stand with long brush thru the mains and thru the entire channel using
solvent cleaner and compressed air. I use flash light on the opposite so that it
will light up the entire tunnel/channel for visual inspection before I put the threaded
plugs. Ones all is clean like in the picture then I am happy and the plugs are
dressed with Loctite and it also acts like sealant, since they are tapered the
torque is very light by hand and that is it.

Clean assembly is crucial.

All 4 plugs are converted now. Moving forward.

Regards,
Anri

[Anri]

Happy Friday: I found another composite impeller
blade but this time inside the Cylinder head, pic is
from the side cooling manifold off.

Not good at all.

Regards,
Anri

[sapote]

Anri,

Did you consider welding the pitted ridges between cylinders and then machine grind them down to the block top, maybe 0.002" instead of 0.021" , 10x more? They have been doing welding to repair cracked cylinder head combustion, and so I wonder why not on the cast iron block.

Very nice works!

[Anri]

Anri,

Did you consider welding the pitted ridges between cylinders and then machine grind them down to the block top, maybe 0.002" instead of 0.021" , 10x more? They have been doing welding to repair cracked cylinder head combustion, and so I wonder why not on the cast iron block.

Very nice works!

Sapote,

Thanks for your question and reply.

I have tried to death welding cast iron block cracks or build material
and I never ever ever had success in thin/slim areas like this one. Cast
iron does not like to be welded in small areas. An example the Old School
machine shop Hot/Rodders which closed few years back Harry(owner)
who retired they use to weld Cast Iron heads for Diesel trucks but they
would weld so much material like min 20-25mm+ and then he still never
gives you warranty that the moment the engine starts and goes thru heat
cycles will hold up.

Thin areas like this I have tried with pre-heating technic to nearly
red and used special welding rod from camshaft grinding company and
never worked well. The cracks come back right away when the welded area
is cooled down.

Also remember by applying that much heat to the block, the top will
warp so hard then I need to go next size pistons and no guarantee.....it
will work..

So the single choice to save this is what I am doing by cutting the block
and then will make up with the Cylinder head gasket and the engine will
never have any issues.


Regards,
Anri

[Anri]

Were is this going to stop?.....Its one surprise after
another...When I meant from parting out I really meant from
parting out !!! sapote cylinder head is aluminum and
welding a crack is a common practice.

Okay, so the block is now done and on the engine stand
ready to assemble.

After the block was finished I moved to skim the head

I set the head on the stand, put the marker paint and made
a micro pass to inspect if the head is set on the table flat, it
checked like 0.000002mm lol...which is totally fine.

Then set the machine to make my 1st pass at 3thousand-0.076mm,
Ran a pass and what do I see....fucking hidden micro cranks
were the compression was crossing back and forth.....fuck is
what I said loud.

I called local Hot-Rodder chassis fabricator who welds on
daily bases.

He came and ground the cracked area like ~8mm deep in
Arc but in flipped upside down orientation. He welded a bead then
stopped and started forging it with small hummer with half a moon
shape. Ones he forged the bead he started to weld on top and add
material and repeat the process 3-4 times.

Ones he was done then back on the decking machine. With the
welded areas I ended taking 7-8" thou or ~0.18mm which is
not that bad for what I am dealing with.


Regards,
Anri

[tlow98]

Wow. That’s a bunch of stuff. Thanks for the tips on the oil passageway cleaning.

sry to see those cracks in the heads.

The lesson I’m seeing here (and that I learned first hand) is that all used s54s are not equal. The block/head interface is sensitive to blown HGs and delaying that repair incurs a ton of extra time, expense, and engjne build changes.

what HG will you use on this build?

[Anri]

Today's day was nearly ruined.....the composite water
pump piece was stuck hard in between the casting as
can be seen in the picture above.

I started very gently to push the piece but it was not
moving at all. Tried many approaches and was still
not moving, then increase the pressure and all of
a sudden the piece unlocked and ran on me inside
further in the cylinder head and completely got lost.

Then put grease on the seats again and back in the
water bath container. The container is just as big as
the cylinder head filled up with water all the way up
and started to pull the head from the water up in the air
so that the water drains from the head. After I repeated
this several times the piece came out from the Back
tapered water plug.

It felt very good to see the piece came out. I went with my
bore scope camera and checked the rest and seems
its now finally all clean.

Moving forward.

Regadrs,
Anri

[Anri]

The OEM pistons are still in spec. Cyl number 2 piston is replaced with a good one I
have exactly for this kind of situation/s and needs replacement of 1. The new/old
piston is totally in spec.

Every engine I rebuild re-using the OEM pistons with New rings like in this case
I make sure there is not a dot of carbon build-up left anywhere. Few months ago
I started using Aqua-Blast method cleaning parts. I am tired of the old school
rub-rub with a brush in parts washer...

In the picture on the far left is S54 piston, middle is S38-B35, and far right is S14
pistons being cleaned up for current on going engine rebuilds.

It is critically important to clean the ring land areas to be absolute free of dirt,
carbon etc...Each ring land has been closely inspected for potential cracks
after being completely cleaned up.

[Anri]

Again, clean parts and assembly is crucial when I assemble
engine.


A lot/most people have absolute no clue how much time it takes
to clean the parts to a level of how you see it in the pictures.


AquaBlast is knife with 2 edges, it is very physical work when one
is after to clean the engine parts. If cleaning crankshaft main cover is not
a big deal but when you start spending 1 2 3 hours my hand gets
sore because the gloves are hard and the Hi pressure requires
lot of muscle work out. Parts like the cylinder head It takes around
2 hours to clean, wash after its done and dry.

Moving forward.

Regards,
Anri

[sapote]

Great work, Anri.
Q: The high temperature and pressure gas leaked and cut through the cast iron wall between the cylinders, but why it didn’t cut through the softer walls on the head (except one with a hair line crack)?

It is amazing that the old pistons have almost no wear on the side and skirt from touching the cylinder wall. How?

Any measurable on the ring lands by the rings?

[tlow98]

Great work, Anri.
Q: The high temperature and pressure gas leaked and cut through the cast iron wall between the cylinders, but why it didn’t cut through the softer walls on the head (except one with a hair line crack)?

It is amazing that the old pistons have almost no wear on the side and skirt from touching the cylinder wall. How?

Any measurable on the ring lands by the rings?

I was shocked by the lack of wear on my 212k mile motor. The pistons spec’d out to exactly like new. Within the tolerance of a new piston. Every one. I have no idea how. The rings lands were the same.

the bores had opened up slightly, but only ~20% of total allowable wear. The rings were at double the bmw spec. They seemed to be the sacrificial anode.

[Anri]

Sapote,

Great work, Anri.
Q: The high temperature and pressure gas leaked and cut through the cast iron wall between the cylinders, but why it didn’t cut through the softer walls on the head (except one with a hair line crack)?

Remember the cylinder bores are Siamese on S54 engine and the heat is concentrated exactly in that spot.
That material is way hotter than the one on the head were the water sits. Its also the reason why when BMW increased
the bore from (S50B32 Euro at 86.4mm) up to 87mm they had to move to MLS gasket and single solution to
survive the increased heat and even then from age (not damage such overheating etc) they get tired and its time for
service. S5032 never burns gasket in this way in-between the bores. Its never common problem on them,
the older BMW engines the problem is corrosion on the gasket which leads to failure.[/QUOTE]

It is amazing that the old pistons have almost no wear on the side and skirt from touching the cylinder wall. How?

Answer: There are 2 main reasons.

A) Primary key/reason is the OEM pistons do have Graphite coating from new !!!!
B) If you pay attention the side skirts on S54 pistons the lines/groves are very deep and that is very good thing because
retains oil !!! If you take any aftermarket pistons they have those Coarse if I can use this word?, groves/lines.
At last is the expansion rates are very well calculated, I have never ever heard piston slap on S54s engines. Take
an older S38, S14, M30 etc...they have massive piston slap on cold start till they warm up.

The graphite coating+deep groves= to a absolute great lubrication operation and with the great hone from the factory
is the Engineering answer behind your question.[/QUOTE]

Any measurable on the ring lands by the rings?

I work from ages on S38/S14/S54 and have not seen single one with worn out lands, at least the ones I worked
on rebuild re-using the OEM pistons. This is not subject of ware out area.


Moving forward.

Regards
Anri