Blown Head Gasket, Any mods to do while in in there?

I have a 1996 318i with a blown head gasket. Has anyone ever shaved a few thousands off the head to give it a little more compression or am I better off leaving it be. Also is there any routine changes I should make in there while I have the head off? Thanks in advance.

If the head warped you will have to anyway. Cams to start.

Dont chance it resurface the head it cost me $50 at a local machine shop..better than blowing another gasket!

Originally Posted by ReillyM3

If the head warped you will have to anyway. Cams to start.

Yeah I will be checking for warping when the head is off. Are cams really worth the money on a 4 cylinder? This car is a daily driver used for good gas mileage... Now if I could put some cams in there that got me better mileage then I'd be all about it

Just drop an I6 in there...

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Originally Posted by ssbandit158

Yeah I will be checking for warping when the head is off. Are cams really worth the money on a 4 cylinder? This car is a daily driver used for good gas mileage... Now if I could put some cams in there that got me better mileage then I'd be all about it

You wont be able to tell by the eye if it is truely warped..not even with the straight edge, just saying.

Originally Posted by BustedE36

You wont be able to tell by the eye if it is truely warped..not even with the straight edge, just saying.

What does a machine shop use to check for warping? I would think using a machinist straight edge would be accurate enough to seal a gasket right? I'm no mechanical engineer so my answers are pure speculation on my part but common sense would tell me that would suffice I would think. Now checking for cracks on the other hand would have to be done at a shop.

They magnaflux it to check for cracks and have a special machine i would presume to check for warpage, but its inexpensive and it adds compression like you said..just saying most people that are doing a HG wouldent skip that step.,are you doing the whole procedure on your own?

Originally Posted by BustedE36

They magnaflux it to check for cracks and have a special machine i would presume to check for warpage, but its inexpensive and it adds compression like you said..just saying most people that are doing a HG wouldent skip that step.,are you doing the whole procedure on your own?

Yeah I'm doing everything in my garage, I got the intake off yesterday and today am going to work on the rest. My gasket kit comes in Thursday so I'm starting early hopefully to get it all apart and cleaned up and ready to reassemble during the weekend. I'm sure I will have the head shaved to get it straight at a minimum.

Cool i just did my HG about a month ago..heres a tip if you dont know already, dont just take the caps off the camshafts because they are brittle and lightweight and you risk bending and cracking the cams..if you check the pelican guide it says to use the rope technique which is alot easier than it seems when you first read about it, (Placing a few pieces of rope bheind each valve reliving pressure from the camshaft, on both intake and exhaust side then using a valve spring compresser to take them out once the cams are back in.) oh and a 6" x 1/4" keystock and 2, 2" C clamps to hold your cams in place when you are putting your vanos back on and timing.

Originally Posted by BustedE36

Cool i just did my HG about a month ago..heres a tip if you dont know already, dont just take the caps off the camshafts because they are brittle and lightweight and you risk bending and cracking the cams..if you check the pelican guide it says to use the rope technique which is alot easier than it seems when you first read about it, (Placing a few pieces of rope bheind each valve reliving pressure from the camshaft, on both intake and exhaust side then using a valve spring compresser to take them out once the cams are back in.) oh and a 6" x 1/4" keystock and 2, 2" C clamps to hold your cams in place when you are putting your vanos back on and timing.

Awesome, thanks for the heads up. My car is an i4 so I don't have vanos, so that should make things a little simpler hopefully.

Yep no problem good luck it took me about a week to do mine but i only did a few things everyday and took my time, it may seem over whelming once the intake manifold is disconnected with all the vaccum crap hanging off, but it all goes back together fairly easy. good luck dont hesitate with the questions