Hey y’all, I am in the process of building my r53, I got a bunch of new parts I am putting on. I got everything torn down and I have a few questions before I put it all together. 1. When I pulled the head there were lash caps on the valves but I can’t find anything about having lash caps because they have hydraulic lifters. The car does have a big valve head but I don’t think that should change anything. Do I need lash caps and if so what size are they or does anyone produce r53 specific ones? 2. The biggest problem in having right now is tuning, I have future plans for the car and want to be able to change the tune on the car quickly and cheaply. I looked at tuning company’s such as rmw but I have heard some bad reviews and it isn’t worth the cost. Bytetronik was what I was planning on using but it is also pricey and I have heard the software isn’t the best. At this point I think I’m best off running a standalone. However I still want to keep all my creature comforts. I was told that on these cars the best way to do that is to run the standalone as a piggy back. I am looking at using a mega squirt or a aem series 2. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with a diy piggyback system and could send some info/pics on how they wired it all up and how well it worked. 3. The car came with some mods including rmw cam and rmw shorty headers. The build only has 20k miles on it and the cam and one of the rocker rollers ended up having some bad contact with the cam. luckily I already got a new cam and rocker but I want to know what happened that way it doesn’t happen again. I will attach a photo once I get home later, please let me know if you have any ideas. 4.The rmw shorty headers which also only have 20k miles ended up being cracked in multiple spots. I talked to Jan from rmw and he said that he couldn’t do anything for me. I want to weld the cracks up but I don’t know what material they are and can’t get ahold of Jan. Does anyone know what material he uses?
Any help is greatly appreciatied

 

1. Lash Caps, the only reason there would be Lash Caps is if they were required for the specific Cam itself, there are no lash caps for the OEM Cam or valve train.

2. As far as a standalone, the Link G4+ s the only real option, the piggybacks you mention would be an entirely custom setup, including wiring.
The Link is Plug-n-Play, and everything else in the car will still work, but you will use OBDII compatibility and it will negate any kind of plug in emissions testing.

As for using the factory ECU, I used Bytetronik for years, with no unreasonable issues, but haven't spoken to the guys for a few years now, and don't know what they are currently providing.

Many people in the forum use @adriancl for their tuning, but this option wouldn't give you the option of doing it yourself, as far as I know.

3. There haven't been any real issues with rocker contact, but over the years we have seen some bad Cam's (Cam Blanks) which have caused what you're describing


​​​​​​4. The RMW shorty should be Stainless.
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Hope this helps some.

 

Agreed with remote tuning by @adriancl not being easily revised - other than with subsequent remote sessions. Adrian is based in Romania, however communication is prompt with no language barrier issues. Only other aspect is not knowing specifically what attributes were tweaked afterwards. My own session went quite well as reported also by others here and in Europe, however I never determined how close my tune was to OEM JCW ECU specs, which was roughly my objective (tune for efficiency vs peak HP with my specific mods). If you go that route, you'd need to buy (2) adapter cables connected to your OBD port and Windows laptop while he "drives" that remotely using provided software during a live chat session wherein he gives you instructions on those adapters and running conditions.

I've read lots of topics WRT RMW's Jan, with after-sales support not being his strong suit. Multiple cracks in RMW's header after 20k miles seems inexcusable, IMO. The issues with the cam and rocker rollers likewise needs explanation on root cause...

 

Thank you guys for the help so far.
I attached photos of the cam and roller. Im not trying to say it was rmws fault, because there isn’t any way to tell for sure. What I do know is that everything else in the head looks good. The car had bigger valves and a built head according to the last owner. However when I talked to Jan he said it looked like a stock head. I measured the valves and they are over sized, but I think the springs are stock. It looks like there is some light porting done. The car also had a rmw newman cam, which I’m not sure if it needs different springs which could have contributed to the problem. I also am wondering if the Newman cam was why there was the lash caps and if I need to keep them for my cat cam 469?
As far as tuning goes I know that if I do a diy piggyback it will be a lot of work. I don’t mind the work (even though I hate electrical), I’m mainly concerned about figuring out how to keep the stock ecu from flipping out and causing problems. I’m also not sure how to wire it up, I know a decent amount about wiring but this will be my first time messing with ecu stuff. The link is too expensive for me, maybe if I could find a good used one I would buy it but I can’t justify it new. Bytetronik is what I will do if I can’t figure out a piggyback in time. I also was wondering if anyone had experience with bytetronik remote tuning? It seems like a good budget option if they know what they are doing. I might do that until I have more funds for a link.
Also I got an updated style supercharger and I want to port it. I know that on some other cars blocking off the supercharger silencer is common on a lot of supercharged cars and was think about trying it. I know iat’s will be increased but I’m mainly worried about the sound. I don’t want to use jb weld, which means I would have to get it welded. I’m guessing that it could be tig welded without messing up the tolerances. Has anyone gotten them welded successfully?

 

When I replaced the valve cover on my last engine at about 150k miles a few years ago, I found cylinder 1 exhaust cam lobe looking like in your picture and its roller galled slightly - not nearly as much as in your picture. That was stock everything. It seems to be a known thing that R53 cams will show this sort of wear in spite of proper oil change intervals.

I know the Chevy LS7 engine (7.0L V8) found in the C6 Corvette Z06 and 2014 Camaro Z28 had lash caps on the titanium intake valves as a means to protect the titanium from the steel rocker arms which actuate them. I don't know why they would be on a W11. Maybe you have some exotic intake valve material?

 

I'm thinking that may have been one of the bad Cam Blanks that were floating around a few years ago, (I can remember which company had them) and the Cam is what wiped out the roller, not the other way around (since the roller doesn't appear to have seized or flattened, but is trashed all the way around)

The CAT 469 should not require Lash Caps.

I know your thinking that it was an RMW build, but that may be a Thumper stage 1 (mildly modified) Head.
Plus Thumper was using Lash Caps with some Cams to adjust valve opening without changing Cam profiles, which depending on the aggressiveness of the specific Cam, were at times causing tuning issues with the stock ECU. (Don't know if RMW was using them?)
(My first Thumper Cam used Lash Caps on all the valves, the more aggressive one I have now, only uses them on the exhaust valves)

Honestly, with the condition of the Cam and Rocker/Roller, I'd at least pull, inspect and/or replace the Rod Bearings, that's a lot of fine metal to have gone through your oiling system, basically cheap PM at this point.

 

I’m going to ditch the lash caps and upgrade the springs and install new hydraulic lifters. The oil has been changed pretty frequently and most of the metal I found was in the oil filter. So I am not too worried about there being bottom end problems. I am replacing the oil pan so I may as well replace the rod bearings, can it be done without out removing the crank? And can I do main bearings without removing the crank?
also any recommendations on what brands for bearings?

 

Rod Bearings are simple and CAN be done without removing the Crank, and just with the oil pan off.
This is why I suggested it, quite honestly, Rod Bearings can be done in only a couple of hours, car on the ground -to- car on the ground. (Start to finish)
I'd use the King bearings.

Main Bearings NO, the W11 engine is a split case design and the engine has to come out, and transmission disconnected.

That being said, as in many engines, Rods get oiled before the Crank, and in cases with minor particulates in the oil, the Rod Bearings will suffer before the Mains.