Welp, time for another update.
Today Jay and I spent all day preparing a few things for both our cars.
I brought my cylinder head which I had spent nearly 2 hrs masking off in order protect all critical surfaces from powder coat. I left a few studs in because I intend on removing them
and replacing when done. Anyway here are some pictures of that.
This is the head before:
(sorry for soft pic the camera didn't want to focus on the puffy cylinder head... powder has a weird effect when not cured)
Once baked, this is what came out...
Its hard to photograph the reflections from the head, but its a very near chrome effect, looks freaaaaaaking amazing if you ask me. Here are some more close up pics...
Once that was done I was super motivated to do the block. I don't recall anyone ever doing a silver block so I was really pumped to see the out come.
So, I originally intended to just coat the block over the factory finish - well, that didn't turn out to be a good idea because Jay noticed some crap buildup in corners even after
having the block hot tanked. So, that meant I needed to blast the block. Sooo, break out the high temp/high strength masking tape yet again, and prepare to bead blast the most awkward
thing in the world...
Pre- blasting...
Post- blasting - the blackish/brown stuff you see is the original factory baked on paint. Most if all of the grease/oil was blasted clean off.
Fuzzy block...
And then...
So after all that it was only like 1:30p so we still had more time!!!
On to the pistons...
So, the ceramic coating was done with the exception of one piston that bubbled... talked to the manufacturer and they said that the piston might have needed to out gas or perhaps it
was put in the oven before air drying, or too thick of application, etc., etc.
So, blasted the piston again with al oxide, which took the ceramic off with some time (good to know its really on there!). Re-coated the piston, let it air dry for more than ample
time this round, and presto it's done.
But more importantly, Jay helped spray the Dry Film Lubricant on - basically some sort of high temperature teflon coating for the side skirts. In a vacuum this will make more
horsepower but in reality it will definitely cut down on wear. It wasn't the easiest thing to apply but Jay is the skill there, I just aluminum oxide blast and mask - the first
application we had an issue on one or two pistons because, we think, the acetone used to clean the surface after blasting seemed to carry some of the adhesive down from the masking
tape and when sprayed with the DFL1 coating, it didn't sit properly and had runs. I blasted them over again and Jay sprayed it again, and it was good to go. Oh yeah masking on this
**** is really important if you decide to do it. I left about ooh about 3mm maybe down from the bottom ringland til where the teflon starts. This seemed to be the norm on all
commercial coating process pictures I could find, but also it made it easier and more practical when masking off the wrist pin area - nothing like trying to aluminum oxide blast a 2mm
sliver of area with masking tape on either side!
Anyway, we all know what the pistons looked like before but what the hell..
You can see how I masked the tops off (ceramic coated) and the wrist pin inset. I didn't want to coat the wristpin area because it would be quite hard to keep it linear.
Then, baked at 300F for 1 hr (I stayed til like 530 or 545 btw Jay, oh, and the cops did come)...
Nice and uniform!
And final picture, I swear..
There is the region I masked off. Looks really really good and uniform. To be honest I cannot really tell with my hand if its any more "slick" but I am not sure I am supposed to haha
especially with it dry. The manufacturer said when oil sits on it, it's crazy slick and that it will reduce wear and drag, and thus free power and durability. We'll see - same product
all the commercial places use though!
Ok that's the end of the updates.
Update - spent this evening putting the cylinder head together - sort of makes me hate having 24 valves, but then, it'll all be for the best
I used VHT assembly lube to lube the valve stems nicely. Used the custom machined dual valve spring compressor/installation tool jay made, and went just as planned - works great jay
Updatez!!!
Just got back from the shop w/ Jay. He put a 3.5" straight rear section on his exhaust its narly and extremely loud I love it Jay don't change it.
Anyway, I worked some on my motor. The bottom end is done and I got the pump in and the nut welded along with some other little stuff. The biggest issue is that I don't feel like
putting gross dirty bolts back in my new motor. So, I did as much as I could without using gross stuff and I am basically ordering all new hardware for things I think are important.
BUT, anyway, here are the pics. Hope you like it!
Can see the pad ground for balancing.
And you can see I forgot to powdercoat the upper timing cover and the crank pulley, so I did that. Crank pulley is hard to capture but its not the silver I used for the motor. Its
"Stainless Steel Grey" which looks very very cool (has an olive greenish tint...well... you've seen stainless before) and contrasts nicely to the block.
Don't worry about too much shiny. The engine bay has wrinkle black intercooler piping and valve cover, it will look awesome IMHO.
That's about it for now!
The exhaust valves don't have any texture on those discolored areas, I just coulsn't get the carbon stain/mark out with the brush wheel I used. The intake valves look brand new. The
valve are all hand lapped in (sigh!) and the seat is perfect.
So my gf was over and was asking how I kept track of all the bolts that came out of the motor and I told her "well.. I labeled the bags... but... the oil kinda... yeah I can't tell
what's what"
So, I decided eff it. I am not going to spend this amount of time piecing together old grimy bolts and sit around measuring them with a caliper assuming everything is good.
Placed another order with
www.bmw-auto-parts-dealer.com -- they're a dealer in NJ but they cater to online parts orders and give a sizeable discount from list price.
I ordered every single bolt/stud/nut/washer/grommet/plug/pin that is on the motor that I know is either grimy or in a bag somewhere. Basically this entails every timing cover
bolt/water pump/etc. The only thing not in this order, because I can't justify it yet, is the 15 - 20 "acorn nut" things on the valve cover that hold the valve cover to the head. They
are like $3-$5 each, and I just can't see spending $50 - 75 on fittings for the valve cover. We're thinking of blasting the current ones and nickel plating them.
Ok mini update, I ordered pretty much every bolt/fastener/clip/nut/etc., that I didn't already have assembled in the bottom end (basically rod/crank fasteners and piston stuffs), and
I spend tonight looking up each P/N on the bag and labeling the part in something that makes sense.. to me at least!
The only parts not ordered are the acorn nuts for valve cover fastening and a couple intake/exhaust studs (I randomly have a few new ones). All the exhaust nuts are up at jays shop
along with all the oil pan bolts and such. But, if you ever wanted to know what 99% of the bolts that hold your engine together look like, along with some other misc. crap that is
inside it, here it is!
Don't be fooled - some bags have up to 20 parts in them, and unfortunately I had to stack some **** up, but its impressive how little there is to our motors really.
So it's been a bit between updates due to craziness with my thread. Stuff that has gone on since then will follow:
I took some time to ceramic coat some exhaust components for myself and a friend. Here is my holset H1e housing ceramic coated with a 2000F ceramic:
I also did a third valve cover in coating that I received from Robstah - Rob thanks for sending the cover I still owe you $15 I haven't forgotten. Paypal sucks and I keep forgetting to x-fer the money, but I will!
Here is a hint of the new 4" exhaust I'll be running - right now its a 4" section on a 3" straight exhaust and it's ridiculously loud. I am looking for a nice straight thru 4" muffler that does some good:
I also recently purchased a new turbo - I want to eventually go as big as possible with this build. Right now that means stock parts reinforced with such processes as ceramic and teflon coating, balancing, polishing bearing surfaces, etc. But, eventually, if it is necessary, I will be doing pistons and rods to try and maximize output. So, I introduce the Precision PT76GTS - its a .81 exhaust housing with T4 flange and 3" v-band outlet. The compressor is a .75 H housing with 4" inlet and 3" boost outlet - this is the ported H housing which is supposedly/was supposedly back-ordered for a long time. So, I've been told I am lucky to have been able to get it:
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Today I went up to work on the engine - I had to trouble shoot what turned out to be a clutch slave cylinder. But that's neither here nor there. I worked more on the motor - replaced what I had done with the new bolts I bought. A few step backwards but everything is brand new and clean/torqued. All that remains is the water pump*, the head being torqued, timing chain tensioner, and the cams. After that, I should be able to call it finished. I will then use it to mock up a new manifold but more on that in a future post.
The water pump doesn't fit - there is some weird casting on it that is obviously intentional but none the less hits the crank pulley. Not sure how I am to fit this - it does not flip 180* so that's out of the question. Have to call the parts place Monday.
Here are the pics - sorry for the cell phone.
Annoyed that I didn't bring the oil filter housing with me as it would be super easy to just bolt down, but also make the motor look that much better!
Ok that'll do. I will report back with more updates in a bit.