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Just finished reading the entire thread...big power, but I'm sure big dollars and big frustration.
The pic of the engine still in the car but with the head off reminds me of mine at one point after I thought it would be a great idea to rebuild it in situ after a bent valve. Couple of wee cock ups later and I ended up pulling the whole thing out and sending it to the rebuilder before getting a bit too nervous and finally electing to just replace it with a used engine with 50k less clicks.
Reading this thread and all its associated downs just validates my decision I think...peeps should either replace their broken N54 with another unbroken one, or if it has to be built, consider ordering a crate one all done from a trusted builder in the US.
Things like running standard head bolts on such a build seem incredulous to me. But then like someone mentioned earlier, maybe that comes back to the poor communication you get from the experts by not fully informing you on the options, or making assumptions like "she'll be right"or "he won't want to waste his money on that." It's not just an auto industry problem unfortunately.
And seeing as the head has to come apart again, get them to tripple check the cam ledges...seems highly unlikely to me they would be wear free after those sort of ks, unless they've already been done and have the Teflon rings.
Sorry man, not trying to dis your efforts, such ups and downs come with the territory of being an N54 pioneer. It's an awesome build and hopefully you'll get the right result in the end. Don't fall in love with the pretty new blue one too much!
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