When I purchased the car, I had noticed (and was subsequently told by my mechanic) that there was a small, external headgasket leak in the engine. It was not a big deal because it simply meant a little oil was seeping out of the crankcase and there wasnt any risk of catastrophic engine failure. I simply added it to a running list of projects that I needed to tackle.

Well, in April of ‘04, I decided to do some tackling…

It was time to do some routine maintenance and “while I am in there” upgrades:

• Tune-up (new spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, etc)
• Replace the headgasket
• Replace the timing-chain tensioner with an updated version (from a newer model M3)
• Strip/paint the valve cover and intake plenum

The big project was the headgasket. However, thanks to a great number of resources, including the excellent E30 M3 Repair Manual CD from Koala Motorsport, I didn’t feel too intimidated.

  The start of the project. I didn’t have the luxury of a garage at the time. Or alot of daylight!

Alot of people made fun of me for “painting the engine”. Besides the fact that a quality paintjob adds 40HP, what they don’t seem to understand is that there is a level of pride with this engine. And I don’t mean personal pride; I mean a heritage and history that should be honored and sure as heck isn’t represented when the engine bay looks like this:

 The engine deserved better than this.

So, the valve cover and airbox came off…

And the camshafts came out…

And the cylinder head came off. (Note the headgasket leak in this picture).

In hindsight, with the cylinder head detached, I should have done a complete valve job and had everything sent away to a professional to be spec’d out. Unfortunately, at the time the M3 was my one and only daily driver, so it simply wasn’t an option…

Anyway, after a little bit of elbow grease and hi-temp engine paint……….

The way an S14 deserves to look:

     

I was very happy with the results and it only took about three times as long as I had planned :). Of course, the other parts of the project only took about 2 hours total.

Since this project was finished over 3 years ago, the paint has held up quite well and looks almost as clean as the day these photos were taken. Somehow though, I still get made fun of…

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