BMW Cylinder Head Resurfacing

[skwurlking82]

thanks for sharing the video, very informative and didn't miss anything!

[mckinzi1]

love all the machines. folks don't understand the investment a shop like your's has in equipment from the machine tools to the various testers we had a numbered drill index at our shop and we thought we were high tech (G) lawnmower guy in texas who just bought a dozen new #78 bits for lawnboy pilot jets they don't give that stuff away

[fiatnutz]

@mckinzi1 - Yeah, the tools are expensive - the profilometer is right at $2000, and the resurfacer in in the $24,000 range. People wonder why we charge for something that they think should be so cheep. Let them drag it behind their car on a rope, that should be cheep enough - Ha..... Oh, I didn't mention the ability and experience to run the machine, did I?

[ZukefliJohan]

@fiatnutz Yes cars are very high tech these days and as result the test and repair machines plus skill level must also be high.

One my wife friends had her BMW break down, unauthorised repair shop used for all services and repair, she asked me if BMW would help her sue them, haha, I told her she was advised to use only authorised BMW service center and had no recourse, turns out some of her replaced parts were more expensive than original BMW parts hahaha her husband was angry with her

[azrios]

Nice video:

FYI: Checking for a warped cylinder head starts with the camshaft bore, NOT the flat portion first. If the cam bore is warped you just wasted your time surfacing the cylinderhead. Heat straighten first to align the cam-bore then surface the flat surface.

~ Rico - ASE Master Machinist

[bvanderheijden1]

Hi John, excellent craftsmanship you're displaying. not only on the workbench, they way you present the knowledge is awesome as well! thumbs up!

I have a question about the cryogenic treatment you gave some parts in another movie. When you use the hardening treatment, do you machine the parts before, or after the cryogenic hardening, cause im thinking of the shrinkage that will occur after treatment, and its harder to machine etc.. got any good advice on how to approach this! apreciate it.

[fiatnutz]

@bvanderheijden1 - Cryo first, then machine.

[idusclothing]

Do you resurface the head with all the components inside?

Valves, springs, ect...?

[HelloPeridol]

who on earth would dislike this and why?

[iamcocro1123]

@HelloPeridol stupidity

[plkracer]

You don't use the PCD cutters on a steel head do you?

[answerseven]

Hey John, great video! I'm just curious about something. If the center of the cylinder head kept getting missed by the cutter, doesn't that mean that the head was bowed in a little? If that were the case, wouldn't the head need to be straightened?

[fiatnutz]

@answerseven - Yes, if its over .006"-.008"

[playstationRLZ]

im sure it isnt much AT ALL, but since that changes the size of the dome in the head, would you see a minor compression increase?

[StevesProjects]

There is maybe an 8 thou difference in height between cylinders 1&6 and cylinders 3&4 after removing the warp. Is this enough to affect the compression ratio and cause a problem? Good clear video, thanks from the UK.

[Pinups2Showboats]

Whats the charge for this type of resurfacing ?

[ROCKSOLID19]

This was one of my favourite jobs I did when working at Volvo, skimming off cylinder heads especially on the T5's and reassembling them.

[ueoaoeu]

What a wealth of knowledge you have! I hope you are teaching some apprentices or others your craft! 

[fiatnutz]

@ueoaoeu - I have written several books and articles on the subject, plus I was in the classroom for 15 years. I currently write for Sand Sports Magazine and occasionally for Hot VW's. Plus, I do these Tube videos. I'm passing on my knowlege worldwide. Thanks for the kind words. JE...

[douro20]

I've seen this done on a vertical milling machine using a special fly cutter.

[cruiseoveride]

Would you require a new size of head bolts now?

[jeffrey19621]

Great informative VDO . I managed an aviation machine shop for a time with good jobbing machinists from the Phillippines in Saudi Arabia. Yours was fine presentation. A question? Some time ago I was told that heads warped to excess can be reheated to a critical temp (Plastised) and straightened enough to be resurfaced. Is this true ?

Thank You,

Jeff

[fiatnutz]

@jeffrey19621 Jeff, I have a video in my collection here on YouTube where I straighten a Boss 429 cylinder head, check it out.

[ilivensoca]

John it was a pleasure to have met you, and thank you for helping my son and I get his BMW head welded and rebuilt. You do great work and thanks again.

[ralekriver]

The surface looks absolutely gorgeous when you've finished handling them. Top notch work!

[zzztubazzz]

This stupid you suppose take of .100 Stupid mother fucker

[testbooster]

What is the average price for head resurfacing?

[zzztubazzz]

@testbooster Would cost like $1500 to $6000

[angelusblackwolf]

Is it not recommended to remove the valves, springs and associated parts before taking the head in for resurfacing? Just curious seeing as how I took the precaution to remove the aforementioned parts prior to taking my 4G63T head in for resurfacing a while back and wanting to know if it was really necessary to do such a thing.

[bddc201]

Toe clamping it that way is begging for it to warp.

[yeahwotevaman]

Is it good idea to re-surface a head everytime it's removed, or only if you have overheated it? I ask because I am considering removing the head from my diesel van to clean out the ports. The van has done high milage and the inlet manifold has a thick layer of sooty gunk from the EGR (which i have now blanked off). I figured I'd clean the inlet manifold so that the engine can breath better, but there is little point in doing that if the ports in the head are also choked full of crap.

[fiatnutz]

@yeahwotevaman Resurface heads as needed. Are you working on a Ford diesel? I get those intakes in all the time to clean.

[yeahwotevaman]

@fiatnutz Yes, it's the Ford Transit 2.5 DI engine. I don't think you ever had the Transit in the US. It's a very good solid engine, but a bit slow and noisy compared to more modern diesels. The good thing is that it's entirely mechanical and easy to work on being a very simple design, and most parts for it are cheap.

[UptownSport]

#1. Now he's taken .010 off #1 and #6. Next to nothing off 3 &4.

Now you go to bolt the cam carriers back on the head. When it's bolted down the

gasket surface is straight, but the surface the carriers bolt to aren't.

The bores are way off.

#2. Smoother is always better? Really?

Have fun.

[russm8ty]

@UptownSport

Yeah if its to smooth the gaskets dont bite in so well... Yeah thats why ive never surface ground a head... But then I have not done alot of car heads. More into injection moulds and press tools...

[fiatnutz]

@russm8ty - These engines use a MLS (multi layer steel) gasket and require a 20 Ra. or better surface finish.

[russm8ty]

@fiatnutz ...... Yes. Guessing BMW know what there doing when they make the engines.There specs and tols are well and truely worked out.... You have some great vids and Sadly I find them very interesting even though I have just spent a day in a workshop surrounded by machines...

Great vids.... Oh and I hope the head on the bridge port was squared up before the model A Ford head was machined. hehehehehe

[jumpdance24]

Great vids, well shot and well explained. Cheers John.

[TinnieSingh]

great videos!

[seapeddler]

How much can be removed before the head-saver shim comes into play?

[adamlesh]

When you say "modern cylinder heads", what do you mean by that? About what year does it become modern or is make a variable? The reason I ask is because I'm looking at a Ford 4.6L that I plan on machining quite a bit.

[jainza]

This is a pro. I used a wet grinder to surface heads wich was ok . Felpro has a term called RMS finish to identify the end result of surface..Miss working in machine shop.

[frankyw729]

can i work for you so i can use your machines all the time? haha i love your shop man good job

[Qweklain]

I am used to American V-8 cyl. heads and dang, that inline-6 cyl-head is HUGE!!! How much does it weigh? Also, by taking off .010, how much compression does that increase on a Beamer? I am guessing it is minor to null, but there should be SOME increase...

[DaihatsuPWNage]

I am not really into engines etc, so i dont get something. You talk about compression increase, why is that? :S

[Qweklain]

@DaihatsuPWNage The reason is that higher compression = more power. There are quite a few different variables that increase compression, but when you lower the cc's of a combustion chamber, you increase compression. As seen here, this is mainly a repair/cleaning, but a popular method of compression increase is to mill the cylinder head(s) to lower the CCs.

[DaihatsuPWNage]

@Qweklain That is quite logical, thank you for approving my thoughts:)

[rb26dett32]

anyone know what it usually costs a machine shop to do that? I need to do it to one of my heads. Mine is a 4 banger though so I'm hoping it'd be a little cheaper lol.

[fiatnutz]

@rb26dett32 - This head usually costs around $75 to resurface.

[eddohan]

3:58 : that looks almost sexy after seeing the results after the first cut.

Nice video.

[eamh2002]

Fine tuning M-Power.

Cool :p

[NikolasHonda7]

wow it was like pure nikel!!!!!

[Volvo745T]

Great presentation: Clear, concise and informative. Thanks John. Diamond tooling is an intriguing choice ... I didn't think it was used to alum. I've used it to machine resin-impregnated graphite, but that's because it is abrasive.

[Abuck10]

How much would it cost to have this done?

[neemguy81]

that was a pretty kool video. thanks

[joaorp]

you guys rock!!

[MrDhcracker]

Allowing 6 thousands is sloppy work, should be half that.

[matthias2986]

i just got this mint condition 94' e320 (dont laugh, i love the old school mercedes =D) it had a blown head gasket, i just took the head apart tonight, and will be sending it to be machined this week, its cool to get to see what they do here! =D thank you for sharing this video! cool stuff here!

[omarkhamis2008]

Answer some of the questions about speed. the car will not go faster, the uneven surface may lead water and oil to leak into each others. you will notice this only in the radiators when oil can be easily recognized. Overheating of the engine may lead to deformation of the head surface

[marek0086]

HAHA!!.... i like how he wastes his time de-burring the OUTSIDE perimeter of the face!

[Fuzz944]

I'll let you be the first one to cut your fingers off when you pick it up then

[USFmarine]

I like how in this video you show us how you calibrate the machine and got everything leveled. That was a question I had while watching your other videos. Thanks!

[p1on33r]

the car gets slightly faster after resurfacing ... right ?!

[newengland72]

No, but the compression may increase slightly.

[p1on33r]

yes. .. witch will make the car slightly faster ... just a lil tiny bit faster

[newengland72]

Well, provided that you consider that, when you are setting up the timing/ picking the grade of fuel that you are going to run.

Yes.

[mikenw255]

this is interesting! Always wondered how engine work is done. Why didn't he do a valve job and clean them and the combustion chamber too?

[marek0086]

he probably did.

[C1Destroyer]

thats a really nice finish

[Dieselolds]

If the head is warped, woudnt that bend the camshafts inside the head to?

[rasmAn2]

it would, but the tolerance on that is much larger than the warp. the cams run in oil film bearings, so they have lots of play (relativly speaking that is)

[DrMotorDude]

I don't know who gave you thumbs down for that question because it is quite relevant. They are more prone to crack or break than bend.

The answer is "potentially." I say that because when the warp happened is not as critical as when the cams are put back. If the warp is not too severe, the cam bearings will need to be replaced. If it's bad, the cam caps and head will need to be realign bored.

[Dieselolds]

Probably some BMW fans who dont like me...

Yes i have seen BMW heads with cracks and i have always wondered what happend to the camshaft if the heads where warped but as you say, there is maybe a way to rebore the cam bearings to compensate to the warpings. Thanks.

[DrMotorDude]

It's not as big an issue with these heads as it is with cams actually IN the head.

[azxdesertrat]

Great craftsmanship, good video. Thanks

[chewbaca1989]

great informative vid I'm local and looking for headwork thanks I may drive my head down soon.

NO MUSIC

[rps13sr]

no music please dont listen to blakecav. point is to learn and listen to him in the video, not to listen to music

[chipsndukes]

Beautiful, no need for music, speaks for itself.

Thanks!

[blakecav]

Some music in the backgroung would be cool as well as some more clips on engine carnage that has been damaged beyond repair.