After six months of owning the full fat, it was time to do the rocker cover gaskets as they had developed a slight leak.
Unsurprisingly, drops of oil were falling on the most inappropriate place, that is the right hand side exhaust manifold.
While the covers condition was more or less as (crappy as) expected, one thing I did not quite anticipate was the brown gunk of dried oil covering the camshafts, cogs and innards.
I am considering Liqui moly engine flush to use with existing oil (I have had it changed late November, shortly after I got the car, some 8500 km ago) and I would have the oils changed again after the cover gasket job anyway.

Tomorrow the covers will be sent for bead blasting and powder coating. Hope I can have them back by the end of the week.

Any recommendations for getting rid of the unsightly oil residue from the engine and indeed for anything else to look out for, from members who have successfully been through this, would be appreciated.

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Your engine innards look fine, that is the normal look for vehicles with a few years under their belt and a few miles on them, it does not, and indeed I would argue should not, be removed... You will cause damage to the engine by trying to get it off...

IMHO don't bother with oil flush on an engine this old either...

Just give it an oil change with good quality oil and leave it alone...

As the saying goes, if it isn't broke, don't fix it...!!  Pete
I now have permission from the boss to use Y.O.L.O. Enjoy life
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Dear Pete,

Thank you for your reassuring comments.

The engine has 180000 km on it. I am not planning on using anything else but the chemical in it. Do you think this could do more harm than good actually?

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Oil flush is basically paint thinners, it will strip off some of the gunk and suspend it in oil and take it around all the oil ways and force it into the big ends, little ends etc, IMHO this does more harm than good... just use a good quality oil and a genuine or branded filter and it will be fine...  Pete
I now have permission from the boss to use Y.O.L.O. Enjoy life
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Thanks Pete, this makes perfect sense.
I'll schedule another oil change a bit sooner too.

Modern fully synthetic oil will still be good at 20,000+ miles but they recommend replacing at manufactures intervals because they sell more...

Save your wallet and the planet and change it at the correct intervals or time....  Pete
I now have permission from the boss to use Y.O.L.O. Enjoy life
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Duly noted, Pete

Covers came back today. Some pitting here and there (as expected) but otherwise, very, very fresh

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Great improvement, they will look good fitted...  Pete
I now have permission from the boss to use Y.O.L.O. Enjoy life
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

i watched a wheeler dealer recently and they made sure they didnt powder coat the inside of rocker covers cos the heat build up over time could dis-lodge the powder coating and damage the engine.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Haylands wrote:

Great improvement, they will look good fitted...

Indeed

stan wrote:

watched a wheeler dealer recently and they made sure they didnt powder coat the inside of rocker covers cos the heat build up over time could dis-lodge the powder coating and damage the engine..

That's true and thanks for the heads up, Stan. We've actually intentionally powder coated the gasket channels and not the undersides, which remained for the most part bead blasted. But the color is so matching

Looking good.

Did you have them carborundum grit blasted or did you use a less aggressive medium, e.g., plastic grit or crushed walnut shells? EDIT. I just saw you latest missive posted whilst I was typing. Bead blasting.

I'd like to do my 2003 covers. I did my P38A rocker covers with wrinkle finish spray paint and have considered using it on the L322 covers

I read somewhere that the BMW M62 covers are a magnesium alloy and don't take paint very well and that's why the original finish fails. Ron B. VK2OTC
2003 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

Last edited by p38arover on 12th May 2020 11:30am. Edited 1 time in total

 ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

p38arover wrote:

Looking good.

Did you have them carborundum grit blasted or did you use a less aggressive medium, e.g., plastic grit or crushed walnut shells? EDIT. I just saw you latest missive posted whilst I was typing. Bead blasting.

I'd like to do my 2003 covers. I did my P38A rocker covers with wrinkle finish spray paint and have considered using it on the L322 covers

I read somewhere that the BMW M62 covers are a magnesium alloy and don't take paint very well and that's why the original finish fails.

Thanks for the reply.

I bought the gaskets for mine some time back but haven't done the job yet. Ron B. VK2OTC
2003 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

Worth changing the rubber grommets too, if you haven't gotten them already, of course.