To all the mechanic heads I would like to take a second and try to understand where I went wrong with this cylinder head swap. I am 17 so please don't go harsh I am learning! I am the only person in my family that knows the slightest idea of how an engine works. In other words, I had no guidance other than NAM.

Here were all the mistakes I made:
I used a torque meter which blew the head gasket
The first time putting everything back, Mod MINI stated that the cranking of the engine would engage the chain tensioner; it didn't and the engine went out of time. I was able to drive it around the block but relying on excessive throttle to move. I genuinely had no idea what the issue was until I found out it was out of time. Motor didn't blow. Fixed the timing and then it started fine.
Drove a bit with it overheating and I didnt know because my gauges stopped working.
Than I diagnosed and it was my headgasket. Redid the whole head gasket and retimed.
This time I used an ACTUAL Torque wrench but I did not have the angle measuring tool. I ended up just torqueing it to 50ftlbs. I went up in stages. I put everything back and it was working fine. Not overheating.
But small stuff like I did not bleed well, cracked thermostat housing, bad alternator so fan did not power caused the car to overheat.
All fixed and than I got it tuned by adrian.
There was a couple times where I hit redline when I was revving the car with my friends which threw up a code, but adrian said the code was something about the car reading overboost. He said it was nothing to worry about.
Before he could even fix that code the motor blew.





Showed my nearby mechanic and he said its because I did not change my plugs after everytime the car overheated. But other people that are familiar with r53's say its because of the engine timing? I think they said its something about predetonation. I messaged adrian about it and he said its impossible that his tune caused it. Adrian than stated that its possible that rmw did a bad job installing the valves and springs.

My question is: is this the result of my poor rebuild job? Or is this the result of something that was out of my hands? Also keep in mind the car had 185k stock block and stock rocker arms.

Again, I understand NOW the severity of the mistakes I have made throughout this job. If you cannot contain yourself and respond politely, please leave.

 

what cam? if it was out of time that valve could have touched, these are interference engines and even moreso with a big cam

 

I installed the rmw cam. Dominator.

BUTTTT when the car was out of time, at the time I did not recieve the cam. So i installed everything with the stock cam. ONLY until I took the engine apart for the second time did I install the rmw cam. Also the piston had no marks from any valve from the second head gasket job.

 

If it was pinging / running lean. You'd know INSTANTLY you got into boost.. it would like like paper being shredded almost and just a very very prominent noise and even super loud ticking almost knocking...
I blew one of my supercharged thunderbirds because of it running lean so i am familiar with it..
Can you post a pic of your intact plugs from that engine ? That should tell forsure how it was running.
Adriancl , his 1st tune he will try will usually run almost as rich as the stock tune does when in boost. UNLESS you have a wideband and ask him to tune it more aggressively. But he sets his tunes up to be safe. He doesn't do " kill tune / moon tunes ".. he tunes them conservatively you could say..
if your car wasn't turning on its cooling fans and coolant wasn't burped rite , these things can terminally overheat within minutes AT JUST IDLE. these little things sure make some serious underhood heat..
I hope all is going well with the new car..

 

I would be hesitant to claim knocking if the engine sucked a valve. That would make me think a valve spring or valve retainer issue. Also, for next time, if you start getting codes, stop running the engine hard, find out the code, and get it addressed before moving forward.

 

Just read your first post.
A Few things stand out...
- While possible, I've never seen one of these engines jump out of time from just a stuck tensioner without the addition of high rpm, yes they'll clatter Enough to raise the dead, but they usually stay in time. There's a good chance it moved a tooth from the Head Gasket job itself, not the tensioner. (losing tension on the chain during install, or missing the mark on the cam sprocket)
- If it overheated, that Head needed to be checked, more times than not, overheating will cause these heads to warp and just a new gasket won't do the job.
- Normally, proper torque and basic "rough estimate" on additional angle will work just fine, without an angle gauge tool. (If the book says an additional 90°, 87-92° will still work.)
- Also as stated above, burp and bleed the system many times, and keep checking it, even weeks later, air pockets in little corners of the engine happen all the time.

Good luck.

 

So that meant it’s likely rmw had an issue installing? Got it. Thank you.

 

i did get the head checked and I had no overheating issues other than just stuff breaking within the coolant system and than my alternator did not power my fan.

that same mechanic that told me I didn’t change my plugs, said that I only had a blown head gasket only because I used a very rough angle measurement. What I did was used a torque needle wrench up to 35ftlbs. Than wherever the bolt is I did 90 degrees with that same torque needed wrench. He said it’s because I didn’t use an angle measuring tool and that because each bolt is torque to yield, even the slightest turn can add pressure and create an uneven finish on the gasket creating a leak aka blown head gasket.

now that I think about it I am pretty sure that I misplaced the cam sprocket when installing everything back the first time. I now know how to properly time this motor so whenever I may possibly do a head gasket I will remove timing cover and time the whole motor.

 

@ttawfik3 Recently had a similar experience w the HG. Bought my car in July from an old friend who is an excellent mechanic. He bought the car w a known bad HG which he replaced. I bought the car and had lots of issues with poor running and codes. Tried lots of stuff to address rough running (coil, wires, plugs,etc) but finally had to replace the new HG. The head had already been machined but the top of the block was not as clean as I would expect (which would contribute to poor sealing) I spent hours cleaning the block and head mating surfaces to get a good seal.

short story is the HG probably never sealed that well. Add in the fan issue plus the need to bleed the system and a new HG would have no chance.

If you do it again, make sure the block is as clean and smooth as it can be. I bought a hone from Harbor Freight. The one for sharpening knives. It’s like 2”x6”. I sprayed the block w WD 40 and moved the hone back in forth (90*cross hatch) to get it smooth. Hit the surfaces w brake clean before installation. Do not use any sealer w the new HG

when I refilled the cooling system, I used a tiny funnel to fill the radio and also added coolant through the tank. Basically filled the system on both sides of the thermostat

good luck. Keep us posted

 

I'm going to assume you used new Head Bolts and didn't try and reuse the old ones. And also followed the proper tightening sequence.

Odds are it wasn't the additional degree of rotation being off, but an inaccurate starting point. (In other words, the torque wrench used wasn't actually accurate for the initial tightening force)

OP...
Since you had the Head checked, I'm leaning here as well

 

You know what, that does make a lot of sense because literally depending on how your looking at the needle on the torque wrench, it may seem as a different reading. Since the needle doesn’t make full physical contact with the needle meter so you can never say 100% you have for example 30ftlbs in any given situation. So than maybe, I could have simply done the regular 35 ftlbs with an ACTUAL torque wrench and than the 90 with my eye lol

I can assure all you guys the block is flat. I had no overheating issues after the 2nd head gasket job. Only a matter of the torquing procedure I followed.

 

We've all made mistakes. Some are fortunate to have learned valuable lessons the easy way (no cost/injury) through a close call, and sometimes a mistake will take out a motor or result in an injury. What's most important is that you use this as a learning opportunity. Don't let it dissuade you or scare you away from doing what you enjoy.

Don't feel so bad, some of my highlights:

• I nearly crushed myself under a car by asking my wife to crank it and not taking it out of gear. You better believe its always neutral + wheel chocks now.
• I crushed my favorite Makita light by leaving it under the lift when dropping my 300ZX. Thankfully no damage to the car, and the flashlight withstood ~2000lb with no functional damage. Guess who's religious about checking underneath anything that is about to be lowered?
• I've spent enough hours drilling out stripped/broken bolts to know that time is much better spent up front going slow and applying heat if there's even a hint of trouble. Go slow. Use low torque. Apply heat.

 

I'd argue the torque and 90' having to be spot on.. whon.i did my head the other year we torqued to spec and also just eyeballed the 90' after torqing.
though I am crazy about doing things above and beyond but I'd made sure gasket surfaces were glass smooth. 3x checked that everything WAS indeed torqued and things plugged in and routed correctly.
I haven't had 1x issue yet ( knock on petrified wood ). Even 1st initial startup it had no problems , nothing..
I feel like that head maynot have been decked and made true snd leaking hg caused overheating which fried a valve and took out the plug when the valve Disintegrated from being terminally heated , possibly multiple times..
I'm willing to bet if that head was check , it's warped. And probably warped so bad , with the other damage. It's scrap.
I cross my fingers , toes and my danglies for you.. I can't imagine how frustrating this must be..

 

I understand where your coming from Adam, but I confidently think that due to the multiple overheating cases, ONLY the valves were damaged (or at least showed damage). And I only think so because the second time when I did the hg, it was not overheating! It was not comfortable even driving the mini because I became paranoid from it worried that it might just randomly overheat lol. A bit too much and I did not even enjoy driving the car. I cant even tell you guys whether it felt fast or not because I was just not focused on power at all. I was literally just focused on getting the car running, but after driving a stock s, I can say it was SOOOOO FASTTT. But anyway, when I received the head from Jan, the cam journals were very rough and my cam did not fit perfectly. I had to sand so the cam can sit perfectly. Implying the job was not done well. I messaged Jan and he said, " Machine shop does not touch cam journals." Idk, makes no sense because how in the world did it magically become rough. Let me know.

 

well put..
don't let 1x mess up stop your love for modifying.
Guess what ? I did a compcam and ported pi heads on my cougar back in the day. Lol started it up only to hear the valves impacting the pistons and within seconds self-destruct. to this day , thats my car i let get away.. I shoulda just not let it get ne down and swap in a 32v mark8 engine but i dealt with it wrong and after that didn't work on cars for a few years.. and in those few years , I lost my way...
anyways man , keep ur head up...the darker the nigh the brighter the day !
​I had that front end gap in the wheelwell because it WOULD lift the tires juuuust a bit on hard launches on a 150shot..lol yea , I sprayed it starting at 1100 rpm only.. lol not much higher than idle...
I'm getting tempted to spray in my new mini 😬
here's the cougar btw not much befor I'd ruined it. And my supercoupe that blew up from running lean ON THE WAY TO THE TUNER too..lol.

 

"I swear officer its stock". Trunk is sick!

 

Would just like to say as a disclaimer: I will never stop working on engines! It was an awesome feeling. Really addictive. There was a period last summer when I used to work from 11-6 at my dads restaurant, come home and than start getting my hands dirty! Blast my music and get to work. It was most likely the most fun I had ever had in my life. And I wish I had the money to afford the costs to fully build a motor myself. I wish I can do this. Maybe this summer if the MINI dealer near me hires me as a lot driver...?? Lol

 

Not to be a wet blanket on the love of modding cars, your first pic shows a hunk of a valve sitting on top of the piston. If that valve hit the piston, is there damage to the top of the piston? If so, you will have to replace it (the piston). If not, you will still need to have the head rebuilt. Having just done that, it’s about $800 in parts and labor to replace all the valves and guides and skim the head (to make it smooth). If the piston is damaged, you will need to add another $500-$1000 to the bill to replace the pistons, rods and bearings. The bill will grow higher as you add on miscellaneous items like oil pumps, gaskets and seals.

I would never say don’t do it because the experience will be worth more than its weight in gold, but I would say sell the car and move on if you need a daily driver. You can get a 245hp Infiniti G35 for $5k and add bolt ons to that. Plenty fast w a great sound system and lots of bells and whistles

I’ve owned more than 30 vehicles in my life (probably more than 40 but I can’t count that high). The older Minis (Gen 1) are money pits aka passion projects. Like my old Triumphs. Parts are available, for a premium, but the $$/Hp is low to negative. Example; add a cold air intake to your Mini. Only $200-300. HP??? Nothing. Just a cool sound. Same w exhaust and adding synthetic blinker fluid. All snake oil.

if you need a daily driver, sell the car and move on. If you want a passion project, keep it and stay on the forum for tips, advice, and opinions from curmudgeons (like me)

 

I am well aware on the costs of properly rebuilding the mini and bringing it back to life. I just dont have the money now. I dont plan on selling the car since this is not only my first car but my uncle is the one that gave it to me. So although it is sad to see the mini in shreds rn, I would like later in my life God willing I can fully rebuilt the motor and bring it back to life. My goal for the mini is to make it a full track speck car. So right now I am selling parts of the car that I will later upgrade such as seats, wheels, whole engine, suspension, brakes, etc. But right now I want to know where I went wrong so obviously when I spend EVEN MORE money I dont screw up. Kind of dumb since I didnt know what I was doing and spent all this money on it initially.

 

I love that you’re committed to bringing it back to life and it’s great that you have a story to go with the car. I bought a car from an uncle once but it wasn’t cool. Just an old Chrysler New Yorker.

as for your question about what happened? Probably the engine timing was the issue. If the cam was off a few teeth, it would have thrown the valves in the path of the pistons (just basing my opinion on the pic of the chunk of valve sitting on the piston

now what? I would pull the engine and find a machine shop that can rebuild the head and block. Hopefully you won’t have to replace the crank, rods, and pistons but I would have the block resurfaced, replace the bearings and the oil pump

the head will need a compressor rebuild. I replaced all the valves, seals, and guides. Total including having the head machines was $800

other things to consider is the clutch plate. Might as well replace it when the motor is out.

last thing to remember is the rule of Pi. Take the amount of time and money you think it will take to do the project and then multiply that by 3.14 and you will be close to the actual amount 🤪

and don’t forget to bag and tag your parts/bolts and take LOTS of pics

 

See you say it was possibly out of time, but that makes no sense. I timed it properly. And I can prove that because I was driving it for about 3 days around my town. If the case was the cam sprocket was off by a couple teeth, the first start up would’ve sent in to shreds, but no. After the 4th day of everything FINALLY finished, it blew. Fuel starvation? Retainer clip issue? My skill issue? Old engine? I really can’t figure it out. Next time when I do it, instead of doing it in my driveway, I’m gonna do it in my garage because it’s going to be much cleaner and the job will be nicer. I did a valve cover gasket on my new r53 and it went smoothly!