The 2 remaining cylinder head plugs have been made in the evenings this week. These are used to blank the original BMW head oil return to sump galleries. Next week the head will go off to Radtec to be have these inserts welded in and the timing chain area at the one side of the head blanked off allowing the SC conversion to run a dry belt setup. Below are the plugs manufactured from 19mm alloy bar. After welding the head will be skimmed flat to confirm a good seal on the A series block face. These inserts will then be drilled and tapped to 3/8BSP and angled unions fitted to allow the use of remote oil drain lines back to the the mini block via the now redundant mechanical fuel pump location.
Making bath tub shaped inserts by hand is not really the nicest of jobs around. Around 2 hours of test fitting, removing the plug then taking a little material at a time off until an acceptable fit was achieved.
Other small jobs completed this week have been to clear out the exhaust stud threads on the head, removing the exhaust gasket copper rings. Cleaning cleaning and more cleaning…
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