S54 Engine Rebuild questions and journey

[Darbshaw]

Also if anyone was curious what the wpc treated rod bearings look like at roughly 50k miles here ya go

Honestly pretty happy with how these look. I dunno if I would personally run these over the price difference in ACL bearings but an impressive result nonetheless




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darbshaw]

Also, cylinder 2 was my previous problem piston and showed the most damage. All in all very happy I went to check the head gasket when I did. Cylinder 2’s compression ring was shattered on removal, along with a pretty heavy crack in the piston.

Also I’ve been uploading all the pics to the google driver fold I shared at the opening post


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tnord]

that ring land where the crack is is shiny.....is it protruding and did it score the bore in that position?

those bearings look good. i need to replace mine, maybe this winter, and that's a pretty strong endorsement.

[e46mpwrd]

Good to see WPC treated bearings last. I thought I read somewhere, someone had experienced more wear and was not impressed. Good to see them proven though. I have a set I have been holding on to since the M3Forum GB that will go in during my rebuild.

[Darbshaw]

that ring land where the crack is is shiny.....is it protruding and did it score the bore in that position?

those bearings look good. i need to replace mine, maybe this winter, and that's a pretty strong endorsement.

From what I can tell there was no significant scoring into the bores. Although you can most definitely tell the piston was spreading out and making contact at the crack. The top ring maintained its shape and position up until it was removed from the block. Broke into 3 the second it cleared it.

Honestly I think this was a very good endorsement for the longevity of the rod bearings. Although my current mindset is to go with the ACL bearings due to the lower cost and no real escaping the rod bearing issue. Since they’re going to need to be replaced anyways, I just can’t really justify an additional 500% price hike for a wear item like that.
Maybe I lose an additional 20k miles on life but that’s justifiable IMHO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darbshaw]

I dropped the block and crank off to the shop yesterday as well. Shop recommended a oversize so we’re going to take a step up to 87.5mm. Trying to find a torque plate to rent. Found a fella on Facebook off an e36 page but his is only 87mm so trying to work a deal there do get his expanded. Hopefully that will be a cheaper route.

As for pistons I’m currently set on the weisco 11.5:1 CR found a really good deal on them online and I’m just waiting to pull the trigger.

Really tossing back and forth the idea of needing new rods, or just reusing my old ones. With my current goals I wouldn’t need new rods and could stay in a safe range for the engine.

My reasoning here is because if I ever were do go super power hungry I would need/want lower compression pistons and then at that point I’m planning to replace the rods anyways. I’m set on arp studs either way.

Any input on the rod debate? I understand it’s a while you’re there type thing, but with my above reasoning is it really worth justifying a 25-30% price increase over the entire build?

Thanks again guys!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tnord]

looking at that piston that came out, and seeing the wear on the skirt where it looks like there's some kind of anti-wear coating/plating, and having just dove into the M96/97 bore score issues.......do the Wiseco or other aftermarket pistons come with an anti-wear treatment on the skirts?

[Darbshaw]

looking at that piston that came out, and seeing the wear on the skirt where it looks like there's some kind of anti-wear coating/plating, and having just dove into the M96/97 bore score issues.......do the Wiseco or other aftermarket pistons come with an anti-wear treatment on the skirts?

To my understanding the wiseco pistons do come with skirt coating. Compared to the je pistons which appear to be bare

Edit: Took the time to run through Wiseco’s parts catalog. These fall under their sport compact series, which have the Armor Glide skirt coating.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[digger]

i'd get a set from Mahle MS 4032 alloy pistons and get a nice middle of the road $$$ wise rod like ZRP I-beam or Molnar H-beam

[Darbshaw]

Any reasoning to this digger? I don’t have much of an issue spending the extra cost of it comes to it but I’m not just really in the market of spending more to spend more. I’ve been in the process of cleaning and inspecting the stock rods and I haven’t seen anything to cause an issue to warrant a replacement.

These rods are the weak point at like 600 wheel or so. Although that’s not my plan as of now with this car. If I decided to go that route I’d need/want to reopen the engine anyways.

I just was seeing if there was any real justification to spending that extra money besides it being a “peace of mind” or a “while you’re there” type thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[digger]

Any reasoning to this digger? I don’t have much of an issue spending the extra cost of it comes to it but I’m not just really in the market of spending more to spend more. I’ve been in the process of cleaning and inspecting the stock rods and I haven’t seen anything to cause an issue to warrant a replacement.

These rods are the weak point at like 600 wheel or so. Although that’s not my plan as of now with this car. If I decided to go that route I’d need/want to reopen the engine anyways.

I just was seeing if there was any real justification to spending that extra money besides it being a “peace of mind” or a “while you’re there” type thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They come with reusable ARP bolts and big ends are properly sized with the those bolts, better margin against tuning issues etc, iirc its not a stock rebuild

[Darbshaw]

They come with reusable ARP bolts and big ends are properly sized with the those bolts, better margin against tuning issues etc, iirc its not a stock rebuild

Are the arp bolts used for the oem rods not reusable? I figured this was a good middle ground for what I intended. Also according to someone who previously posted here they were able to get the straightness checked and corrected with those bolts.

My end goal with the engine is going to be 400-500 wheel. As of right now that is going with a supercharger kit. Although this would be a whole down the road budget wise.

If the arp’s for the regular rods aren’t reusable then that’s a good point. What do you mean as for a better margin on tuning issues? Is this just because of a “tougher” material or creation process?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[digger]

Are the arp bolts used for the oem rods not reusable? I figured this was a good middle ground for what I intended. Also according to someone who previously posted here they were able to get the straightness checked and corrected with those bolts.

My end goal with the engine is going to be 400-500 wheel. As of right now that is going with a supercharger kit. Although this would be a whole down the road budget wise.

If the arp’s for the regular rods aren’t reusable then that’s a good point. What do you mean as for a better margin on tuning issues? Is this just because of a “tougher” material or creation process?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ARP on stock rods you cant resize big ends properly (bore goes out of round and needs resizing). next time the bearings are out with ARP you never have to worry about which size bolts to get they reusable unlike some OE

the rods are better material, stronger and have not accumulated 80,000 miles of fatigue damage and if the tune is off and you have a bit of knock youre less likely have issues.

if youre opening the engine its a no brainer to future proof and a bit of insurance.

also with the pistons you want a custom set specifically for FI which will be beefed up in particular areas (crown, ring lands, skirts, pin ID etc), choice of ring and pin materials etc

[Darbshaw]

ARP on stock rods you cant resize big ends properly (bore goes out of round and needs resizing). next time the bearings are out with ARP you never have to worry about which size bolts to get they reusable unlike some OE

the rods are better material, stronger and have not accumulated 80,000 miles of fatigue damage and if the tune is off and you have a bit of knock youre less likely have issues.

if youre opening the engine its a no brainer to future proof and a bit of insurance.

also with the pistons you want a custom set specifically for FI which will be beefed up in particular areas (crown, ring lands, skirts, pin ID etc), choice of ring and pin materials etc

Thanks for the input digger, it’s much appreciated!
Okay, well I guess it’s settled and sadly I’ll add that in to the budget. I’m really not looking forward to that price hike but if it has to be done.

Still going back and forth over trying the max speeding rods because I mean at this point someone has to try it.
I understand if it’s too good to be true it probably is but like the price is very tempting. Along with successful use in other brands and groups.

If I decide to not be adventurous, I’ll be going with the molnar rods and will just have to eat the extra cost with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darbshaw]

Okay so I went and ordered my 87.5mm Wiseco’s at the 11.3 CR along with that with much hesitation went and ordered the maxpeedingrods connecting rods.

As for ring gap, would I still follow the manuals recommended ring gaps or would different pistons call for different gaps etc?

I’ll go through and most likely do a full examination of these to a tee. I’ll even let my shop examine the rods themselves and test the straightness of the big ends at torque, along with the smalls. I ordered these with the intention of returning them if they don’t check out, or give me the slightest indication of not being legit.

I’ll most likely create a separate post with all the information as in depth as I can go for any others out there that were curious about these. I just don’t feel right not even checking these out because of the old school mantra of “I’m not using Chinese crap”.

Honestly after coupon codes a total of 293.25 shipped with supposed genuine arp hardware (I’ll verify this as well myself). Is an extremely hard price to beat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk