Rebuild time...

[Guest Anonymous]

OK- I need to think about rebuilding the 1600. Its tired.

RACETEP has short block kits, there are spare 2 liters out there, soo many options- where do I begin researching the best places for headwork, honing, all that stuff in the Sacramento area of CA? I have also a SK 45 sidedraft I'm itching to put in.. and that aardvark 5 speed conversion looks tempting

any ideas?

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.comptechusa.com/machine.html

There are many mixed opinions about TEP. It's rumored that customer service is not their strong point, and you're a long ways from them.

I had a 2002 block and rods worked up by a company called Comptech up in Eldorado hills. First rate work, they prepare race engines for several teams. They specialize in modern Japanese machinery, but that's just the business focus; a 1600 or 2002 motor is easy for them.

Anyways, if you can afford not to drive the car for a while, my advice is to call them up and find out when they can fit you in, then pull the motor, take all the accessories off, and do one of the following:

1.give the whole motor to comptech, tell them you want it to run like new.

2. disassemble and clean everything yourself. Bring them the block, crank, rods, flywheel, new clutch and new pistons, tell them to set it all up for you, including magnaflux, regrind, polish, bore to pistons, redo the rods, balance, etc. Next strip the head and have them check for cracks, resurface, new valve guides if necessary, add all new valves, springs and rockers, etc.

3. OR...Buy a used motor out of a 320, 318 or 2002 and rebuild that, to get the bump in displacement and more modern parts (crank, etc)--assuming you don't want to keep the originality of the motor.

Anyways, I'd recommend Comptech hands-down. And personally I like doing as much as possible myself--cleaning, measuring, assembly, etc.

Another option is to buy a 'factory rebuild' motor from BMW. There are also popular options from Metric Mechanic, though there will be variable opinions about them; and Korman.

See

www.kormanfastbmw.com

and

www.metricmechanic.com

Personally I like dealing with local places for machine work, it helps to be able to visit the place.

Mike