Saving a S54 From Parting Out.

[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

[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]

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

[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

[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!

[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.

[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

[Anri]

Makes complete sense AnriHave you ever used something like that with the piston to bore clearance gets too large?

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

I work a lot on S38 engines as well 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

[Slideways]

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.

[tlow98]

Makes complete sense Anri. I also re-used the standard size “0” pistons. They were in fantastic shape with next to no wear and no scuffs on the skirts. Motor had 212k miles on it.

I used standard sized NPR rings. They went in and fit BMW’s specs right out of the box. Didn’t have to file a single one.

About the bore. They removed .0005” for the hone. Told me it was two processes; once for rough hone and then second was plateau. Piston to cylinder clearance was still very tight. Well within bmw specs and still on the tighter side.

fwiw, I was the engjne builder and farmed out the machining of the block, head, etc.

I was thinking of using an abradable coating on the pistons like this https://www.line2linecoatings.com/ but since I couldn’t find any s54 successes with such a product I let it be. Have you ever used something like that with the piston to bore clearance gets too large?

[Anri]

Yeah that looks fantastic. Very similar to what I had done, I believe. Actually, after looking at my build pics your home looks to be finer than mine. Hard to tell via pictures, but really appreciate your advice and experience!

Inspiring. Makes me want to build another one of these.

and boy, you aren’t kidding about the oil control ring being paper thin. I was kind of shocked by them!

Thanks for your reply.

Properly build and long lasting engine is what I offer to Customers.

The reason why your hone was slightly rougher is perhaps
your engine received New pistons ?

In this particular engine I am re-using the std '0' pistons.
dressed with New rings so the base hone "rough" has to be
very careful applied otherwise it may go to overbore....

My 1st base cut was with rough hone and then over is the
plateau pass.

If seen in person is a bit odd like a clear coat final finish but
with cross hatch to retain little oil just enough to lube the
bore. Bores don't need slosh of oil to maintain lubrication.

Regards,
Anri

[tlow98]

Yeah that looks fantastic. Very similar to what I had done, I believe. Actually, after looking at my build pics your home looks to be finer than mine. Hard to tell via pictures, but really appreciate your advice and experience!

Inspiring. Makes me want to build another one of these.

and boy, you aren’t kidding about the oil control ring being paper thin. I was kind of shocked by them!

[Anri]

The bores in the pictures bellow are from S38.

The rough finish is what you get from most machine/shops. This is
a block I received from customer who wanted me to complete his un-finished
engine so I took the project but I had to go thru and correct things per my
liking.

Note: The sharp edges from the rough hone! (Left bore)

One can see how uneven the passes are(Left Bore). It can be done
better. The bore on the right has the Plateau finish. Again the idea is to
sit the rings with mild grit and also ones they sit the CR will not go behind the
rings and create Blow-By as it can be seen in another post here by
a member with freshly build S54.

I was lucky to have the ability to use Profilometer gauge to see the
roughens and experiment with my desired surface finish. After I reached
desired outcome I maintained the same exact finish every time.

Regards,
Anri

[Anri]

The last stop on block work is the bore finish before it goes to washing.

I have tried many cross hatch patterns throughout the years and seems
like I am happy with single option which works wonderful for me.

A lot of Machine shops will roughen the bores with very heavy and
deep cross hatch valleys and the idea is "You need to sit the rings"
yes one needs the rings to sit no argue here but that is very general
statement...

Well, back in 1960s this was the ideology behind and seems like it
is still around now day....Very few shops are out of the 60's design..

In this case I do 2 stage cross hatch. One is to create deep valley but
not too deep were Compression/Blow will by-pass behind the rings !!!
Ones the rough pass is done, the bores are cleaned very well and
ready for the final finish.

Yes, the final finish is Plateau. One must knock off the rough edges
from the first cross hatch or otherwise the piston rings will receive
premature ware and we don't want that !

The S54 oil ring is paper thin and with combination of 1960s cross
hatch design it does not work at all !!!


Regards,
Anri

[Anri]

Wow, that engine was abused. My HG failure and subsequent block pitting was far less. .005” and it cleared up.

question, will you have to remove material from the timing cover as it will be sticking up a bit proud of the block now?

I though about that with mine, but .005” didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

love this rebuild! Thanks for posting.

are the bores in good shape?

Hi,

Thanks for your question. Answer in the picture.

The bores are absolute perfect and in spec.