Hey everyone, this is my first time rebuilding a head AND owning a mini. I just bought this one for cheap and have been trying to get it going but I have hit some walls I need advice on.

Wall #1 - bracket/cap/journal
I’m not 100% sure what they are called but I was taking the camshafts off and there are numbered brackets/caps/journals that hold the cams in place. On the exhaust side one of those brackets are broken/snapped in half. Where do I go from here? I am having a REALLY hard time finding replacement caps/brackets/journals just to replace that one (numbered with a 1 I believe). I also noticed that the first 3 or 4 brackets/caps/journals were hard to get off, I found some metal shavings around the hole after removal.
#1.b
I also noticed that the the groove/journal the cam sits in (exhaust side still) has signs of something crazy happening? It’s hard to explain it so I’ve included a picture. Basically one of the grooves/journals has a lip of thin metal. It’s like the area go so hot, it melted and started to follow the rotation of the camshaft. Ummm… ya… any advice there?
Tl;dr
One of the brackets holding the exhaust cam in place is busted. Now what? Also the bolts used in those brackets were hard to remove on 0, 1, 2, 3 (metal shavings around the bolt hole). Cause for concern? Also, one of the grooves/journals on the exhaust side got a little melty. (See picture)


Wall #2 - valve lifters
Hopefully this one is easier and more straight forward. I noticed that some of the valve lifters compress (by hand) and feel squishy, while others offer no movement when compressed (by hand). Stiff ones need to be replaced? Or squishy ones?
tl;dr
Valve lifters supposed to be squishy or stiff when compressed by hand? Replace the incorrect ones?


Wall #3 - Bent Valves
I hope this one is pretty straightforward as well. I aligned the cams with the alignment tool for these engines, and at least 4 are bent. Some others seem to have very slight play on them when I touch them. I was planning on replacing the 4 plus any others that felt loose. Is that a good course of action? Also do I need to replace springs, retainers, or those collets? Whether I replace 4 or all of them is it a good practice to use the grinding paste on all of the valves (new/used)?
Tl;dr
Obvious bent valves when cams aligned with tool. Replace the ones that are bent? Anything else?

 

That car looks like it had a rough life. That's crazy try a pick and pull and pick up a used head cheap.

 

The cam caps are line bored to the head so you cant get just one cap and swap it in. So you need a new head. As for the valves, when you put the cam locking tools in for timing the valves are going to be open on 2 of the cylinders since the pistons are at dead center. I would pull the cams so all the valves are closed/flush to the seat then look and see if they are bent.

 

NeonLed is correct, head is shot. Also, cam journals are aluminum and have no bearings, so the lip you see is from the journal itself --- another reason the head is shot. You should also closely examine both cams for excessive wear on the journals.

Lifters --- should be very stiff. "Sguishy ones" should be replaced.

As Yoshimura suggests, find another head and do a valve seating job on it. Between the two heads, you should be able to salvage good lifters and valves.



Any idea what caused this breakdown? Looks like loss of coolant or oil. Piston tops and cylinder walls OK? Do you have engine history --- repairs, maintenance records, etc?

 

That timing chain looks like a recent change so someone definitely was doing some work on it.

 

Thank you NeonLed. I for some reason thought after putting the timing tool on that the valves should all be closed. Oops, newbie mistake. That makes more sense to take the cams off and let the springs seat all of the valves.

 

Thank you oldbrokenwind, NeonLed and Yoshimura. I really appreciate the help.

Things I'm learning:
1. Ok, it sounds like the head is shot BUT some parts might be salvageable. I think my next steps would be to find a salvage head and do what oldbrokenwind suggests and between the 2 heads, I should have a good one.

2. Lifters should be like boners, stiff. haha sorry, bad joke. As far as the journals on the camshafts, is there anything I'm looking for specifically?

3. I definitely don't want to talk bad about the guy that sold it to me, I think he gave it his best and gave me a smokin deal ($1,000 for the car). The story from him was that a shop in town did a botch job on a coolant flush and got oil in the coolant and coolant in the oil. He told me he cleaned everything out. The problem he said he had was he didn't feel confident that the camshaft bolts were tight enough when he did the timing chain. He started the car it ran well for a minute, he gave it a little gas, he thought the timing slipped and so he shut it right off, didn't touch it since and sold it to me. I hear you never want to start a motor dry, do you think he forgot to lube up the head and valve components? which caused the melting?

4. Again, I'm very novice at this. But I looked at the top of the pistons and the walls and everything looks pretty normal EXCEPT it looks like witness marks on top of the pistons from the exhaust valves. What should I do with this info? What should I check for?

Thanks again for all of your time helping me on this.

 

Here's a couple links to some web sites you might be interested in ---
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/select --- an illustrated parts list
https://www.bmwrepairguide.com/category/mini-r56/ --- a group of BMW procedures

Then a very detailed procedure on timing chain replacement, "Premium" because it includes everything from opening the hood to driving it out of the garage --- almost. Don't try to set timing without the special tools, and be sure to follow the procedure. Some of the other special tools can be worked around, but be sure to get advice BEFORE trying it. If replacing fuel injector seals, it might be easier to have a shop do it for you. Labor costs are about the same as special tool costs. Do a little research.

Keep us posted on your progress, and don't be too proud to ask questions, this can be an expensive and challenging job for a novice.

 

If there’s witness marks on the pistons you probably have some bent valves for sure, sounds like the previous owner botched the timing job. When my vacuum pump seized and caused the cam sprocket to be sheared off the exhaust cam I was able to get a complete new head from pick and pull for $70. Grabbing a new head from a junk yard and cleaning it up sounds like the best bet and there’s not much worth salvaging from the old head except maybe any good valves, springs, and lifters. Also would be a good time to replace the valve seals with the head off the car since a set is only $30.

 

That's exactly right. I would go a step further and send it to the machine shop to get rebuilt and checked.

 

If you get a junkyard head and get it rebuilt etc, and reassemble the whole thing yourself, get a head rebuild gasket set from one of the NAM vendors. Get one that contains all the accessory gaskets needed to replace all the "stuff" mounted on the head, including the previously suggested valve stem seals and fuel injector seals. New gaskets all around will help prevent a bunch of oil leaks, which are pretty common on the R56.

Head gaskets are available in two different thicknesses, so aren't included in the head rebuild kit. Which one you need will depend on how much material, if any, the machine shop takes off the head. Go with their suggestion.

 

Where can I see a list of vendors? is ECS Tuning one of them? Thank you for the advice on the Head gasket I was wondering why they came in different thicknesses.

 

As a "newbie" you need to familiarize yourself with the forum and its structure --- header and side bars, symbols, etc. In the meantime, here's a link to the vendor directory --- https://www.northamericanmotoring.co..._directory.php

 

Will do. Thank you!

 

I was told that since the head is line bored with no bearings that once the cams are fitted to the heads at the factory certain sized "followers" are used on certain cam lobes to achieve the proper clearances, and the followers are numbered 1-5 with no indication given as to what those 1-5 numbers represent in values. This would seem to make the rebuilding of N18 heads daunting, to say the least, and the use of used parts to assemble N18 heads a guess, at best. Was I given incorrect information, or has this issue been sorted out by now?

 

This makes sense for an engine with mechanical lifters, or an engine with after-market hi-lift cams. But switching OEM cams, lifters, or "rocker arms" shouldn't make that much difference when the engine has hydraulic lifters. Also, where are these numbers located? And are they stamped or printed or ??? I've inspected my entire valve train a couple times and have never noticed any numbers on either lifters or rockers.

From what I've read in other build posts, valve stem lengths are shortened when adjustments are needed. I've yet to hear about how to compensate for excess valve lash --- maybe new seats?

My comments are for the N14 only --- no experience with an N18.

 

IIRC, the numbers 1-5 are stamped onto the followers. I will try to remember to go out and look at my old 2011 N18 head in the garage tomorrow. I had an overheat issue at 110k miles, resulting in compression gases blowing into the cooling system, and decided it would be better to buy a complete used low-mile N18 head, since the few machine shops nearby that worked on MINI heads only had experience with earlier heads. The 37k mile N18 head sent to me by a Euro wrecking yard in Florida was for a 2013, and the intake cam was for the later HPFP, so I swapped the intake cam from my 2011 into the 2013 head. (Was fun inventing ways to get around the special tool "needed" to remove/install the springs on the valvetronic system!) Now at 127k, seems fine, although I do get an occasional tick at idle that is coming from the top end, confirmed by removing the oil cap and REALLY hearing that tick. She'll go 'til she don't go no more. LOL.

 

I need to correct myself. The "followers" I was referring to are actually called rockers. Wrong nomenclature. I did happen to see just now on MiniMania that they list intake cam rockers for the N18, and they are numbered 1 through 5. That tells me that specific numbered rockers must be used on specific lobe locations on the intake side to maintain the proper clearances. Exhaust side appear to be all the same. Odd.

 

do you guys have any advice on where to get a used head? My local salvage doesn’t have anything currently. Anything new only seems to around $1,700 (Ecs tuning).

 

Find someone parting out a similar engine or car and work with them.

 

Keep an eye on allmagautoparts. I've seen them on there for around $500-700. I'd email them about it as well.

 

Yup, I am with NeonLed....AllMagautoparts. That's where I got my used 37k mile head.