BRAAP

The first thing that popped in my mind was the little carbon nipple that goes in the top of the distributor, contacts the top of the rotor. Is it still there?

Good source of Z-32 info there no doubt, yet they have more than a few yahoos that are pretty closed minded and not afraid to let you know that.

In trying to keep this a budget DIY style build up, I wanted to retain as many OE and off the shelf parts as possible, no brand loyalty, so long as it works, with the crank being hopefully the only one off custom part of this build up. In doing so, the OE SBC heads came in three “basic” chamber volumes. 58, 64 and 72 CC. I choose the smallest, and as luck would have it, the early OE vette aluminum heads are 58 CC and will support 400 HP with a bit of port work, (I also port SBC heads, not just L-series..). As for those compression ratios I quoted earlier, those figures were with flat top pistons. As you noted, Domed pistons would raise the compression ratio and for a N/A build up, that would be the route to take. I feel a little head milling will also be needed as well. The early 302, 327, and 350 hi po engines are available with domed pistons and there are a LOT of over the counter inexpensive domed pistons available for those engines. Being as Chev used only one rod length, (except for the 400 SBC which had a shorter rod length), that means the pin height for the 3” stroke of the 302, the 3 1/4” stroke of the 327 and 3.48” stroke of the 350, were all different by about an 1/8” between each one. Some quick figuring, with a 2” stroke, rod lengths for an over the counter 302 piston could be 6.2”, for the 327 pistons, 6.325”, and the 350 piston 6.44”. Now if you utilized domed pistons for a 350 that are designed around the 6” rod, on the 2” stroke, you could use a rod that was 6.74” long rod. With the short 2” stroke and those LONG rods, the rod to stroke ratio is also quite favorable, yet another plus for this theoretical build… Again, Rod lengths for a 2” stroke SBC crank utilizing OE over the counter pistons could be 6.2”, 6.325”, 6.44” and 6.74”. Depending on the actual lengths of the rods available, we could fudge the stroke either way a smidge to accommodate the piston rod combo being as the cranks is custom made to begin with. So now we need to find some decent quality OE rods from the wrecking yard that will allow the use of SBC writs pins, and in the length we need. Machining the small end of the rod is no issue, as long as there is enough material in the small end… Big end?.. doesn’t really matter as the crank is custom so we can make the crank pin diameter any diameter we need, within reason any how. Update… In doing a quick piston search, finding pistons with enough dome to get us up to over 10:1 for N/A with a 2” stroke is not looking good. Here is a KB Claimer piston, -14cc dome. With 2” stroke, 588 CC head, yields 8.9:1 CR http://www.kb-silvolite.com/claimer.php?action=details&P_id=18 Another KB Forged, -15.2 cc dome, yields 9.1:1 http://www.kb-silvolite.com/forged.php?action=details&P_id=443 This one is the same as above, but for the 383, so a rod length of 6.565” could be used… http://www.kb-silvolite.com/forged.php?action=details&P_id=442 With the engine at a mere 3.3 liters, 9000 RPM will help get the N/A HP up to fun and livable Hybrid levels, even at only 9.1:1, but being as getting a more desirable N/A 10:1+ compression ratio is going to be a bit tricky, (read expensive with custom pistons), adding boost is looking more and more attractive.

When comparing the Domestic V-8’s to pretty much any import, whether it be the Datsun L-series, or Toyota, Mazda, Honda etc, the metallurgy used Japanese engines was, for a better word, better suited for long engine life compared to the domestics. I’ve torn down many L-series with well over 200,000 miles and the cross hatch from the factory hone operation is still present, at least in 80% of the bore, and no ridge at the top. Some domestic V-8’s and at 100,000 miles a huge ridge at the top. Not all of that is due to metallurgy. A huge influence on engine wear is maintenance such as tune ups, air filter and oil maintenance and also owner/driver habits, such as revving the engine immediately after initial start up. EFI has played a HUGE role in engine wear and the ability for oil changes to go past 5000 miles with NO ill effect. Complete combustion with no misfires makes for a very happy long lived engine, no matter what part of the world it was manufactured. The piston rings and cylinders, valves etc will live a long happy life. Throw on a carb that is out of tune, an ignition system that is not up to snuff, now you have fuel wash, diluted oil, rings that don’t seal completely due to misfires, etc. engine wear just increased dramatically. Also, firing up the engine and revving it up immediately after start up adds considerable wear to the bearings, rings and cylinder walls. As for the domestics and metallurgy, a person can acquire over the OE parts counter, blocks, cranks, rods etc that utilize similar and even tougher metallurgy than the imports used. This is through the performance parts divisions of those domestic manufacture such as Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler. Even the Aftermarket has addressed this as well. Any how, engine life is a two part equation. First part being metallurgy, the second part being proper maintenance and care, even if the engine is driven hard, as long as proper tune ups are kept up, air filter and oil maintenance is kept up, the engine will last a long time. It has already been covered that when an engine is modified to work harder, i.e. produce more Horse Power, the lifespan is shortened, depending on how far this taken of course.

That videos is even more inspiration to start research on this 9000 RPM 3.5L SBC.. (Gave me Goose bumps.. )

Most guys on here will tell you that they didn’t install a V-8 into their Z cars to get good mileage. Good fuel mileage is what their Nissan Sentra or TDI Jetta is for. If you are building the engine and still acquiring parts, plan for EFI and taller gearing as you already noted. Also, keep the induction, cam, and exhaust fairly mild. Not too mild or the v-8 conversion becomes a worthless exercise in spending lots of money and time. Now after you get the V-8 in the car, to improve its freeway mileage,. , Tune.. Tune... tune... Lots of tuning... higher tire pressures, narrower tires, lower ride height, close off the grill opening.

Ok, Team Nissan started another thread, and in one of my replies in that thread, the concept of possibly actually doing this concept hit me. Even if it doesn’t produce big power, it “should” run good enough to be fun and have lots of WOW factor at the various Nissan shows and events. (Darn you Team Nissan! This totally goes against what I’ve always preached about always building as big as you can afford. This concept is starting to sound like a fun “do it only because you can” type project and it could end up being financially realistic, depending on how much machine work and parts research one is willing to do on their own of course.. ). First, the idea was a small displacement V-8. I thought why not use the SBC or SBF and just destroke the crap out of it. This would be a VERY over square set up, (I love OVER SQAURE engine designs, for less valve shrouding and because they are generally high winders.. ) Well I did some calculations and here is what I came up with.. If you could use the SBC or SBF block with the 4.030” bore, with the following custom stroke cranks; 2”-------stroke = 204 CID/ 3343 CC 1 3/4”---stroke = 179 CID/ 2933 CC 1 5/8”---stroke = 166 CID/ 2720 CC 1 1/2”---stoke = 153 CID/ 2507 CC 1 3/8”---stroke = 140 CID/ 2294 CC 1 1/4”---stroke = 128 CID/ 2098 CC Compression ratio with 4.030 bore, 2” stroke, true flat top pistons 58 CC head 7.2:1 64 CC head 6.7:1 Just for reference, same set up but with 1 1/4” stroke 58 CC head 4.9:1 64 CC head 4.6:1 1) A SBC block 4.030” bore, OE Vette 58 CC heads, or aftermarket heads, preferably AFR, use OE replacement over the counter common domed pistons for either the 302, 327 or 350, (differing pin heights to more closely match the rods you find), find a set of rods from another application that will work with either of the 3 different over the counter cheap domed pistons, then, with access to a lathe, you could machine your own billet single plane crank with a stroke around 2”, (adjust the actual stroke to put the pistons at zero Deck at TDC). You’ll have a “semi” budget high winding single plane V-8. 9-10K RPM should be doable even with cast pistons with a 2” stroke, add a cross ram ITB like pictures below. Lot so of wow factor with the hood up, and that cool high RPM single plane V-8 BRAAAAAAP with the hood down.. 2) Same scenario, but with flat top pistons for a boost-able 7.2:1 comp ratio, add either an Eaton M-112 super charger or a pair of hair dryers, 12-15 lbs of boost… 3) The lighter weight SBF 302 block, utilize the same game plans as described for the SBC, but has the potential for a bit of weight savings..

Very cool nice ride.. So.. are you planning to fix that list of “don’t likes” be swapping a different body around the LS.. maybe an S-30 body for example?.. J/K Nice ride…

The wire wheel and wire brush combo will do the trick, just lots of work getting around the details of the casting.

I think it was that exact blown V-8 pictured above, (the one being ran), that was ran a miniature engine dyno built just for these engines, and it recorded something like 25 HP. That particular really didn’t run smooth, lots of misfires. Ron Tyler probably remembers better than I.

Ooops. Sorry about that. Just got wrapped in the Miniature Internal Combustion Engine thing when I saw the video. Ok, back on topic, (Hoping the time spent calculating all this out helps make up for thread jacking.. ) Team Nissan, Is it the displacement that you after or the physical size of the engine due to being small displacement? What I’m getting at here is what if you could use the SBC or SBF block with the 4.030” bore, with the following custom stroke cranks? 2” stroke = 204 CID/ 3343 CC 1 ¾” stroked = 179 CID/ 2933 CC 1 5/8” stroke = 166 CID/ 2720 CC 1 ½” stoke = 153 CID/ 2507 CC 1 3/8” stroke = 140 CID/ 2294 CC 1 ¼” stroke = 128 CID/ 2098 CC Compression ratio with 4.030 bore, 2” stroke, true flat top pistons 58 CC head 7.2:1 64 CC head 6.7:1 Same but with 1 ¼ stroke 58 CC head 4.9:1 64 CC head 4.6:1 Now, being as the SBC 305 block can sometimes be had for free due to its not so popular following, it’s 3 ¾” bore with a .030” over bore, (3.780” bore) with those same strokes offers the following displacements, 2” stroke = 180 CID/ 2950 CC 1 ¾” stroke = 157 CID/ 2573 CC 1 5/8” stroke = 146 CID / 2393 CC 1 ½” stroke = 135 CID/ 2212 CC 1 3/8” stroke = 123 CID/ 2016 CC 1 ¼” stroke = 112 CID/ 1835 CC Compression ratio with 3.780 bore, 2” stroke, true flat top pistons 58 CC head = 6.5:1 64 CC head = 6:1 I dint; run the itty bitty 1 ¼” stroke comp ratio as I feel it would just be too low… hmmm// 70 PSI of boost… Hmm…. If it were me, I’d choose the larger bore for a few reasons. 1 being valve shrouding, the other is for a given displacement, it allows for more RPM for a given pistons speed. Sport bikes, F-1 etc are big on over square engine for that reason and others…

Very nice. Clean, uncluttered, well executed power train conversion, 124 MPH trap = incredible street performance. A sports car that any discerning sports scar enthusiast could truly appreciate on many levels. Nice car.

Not production by the definition of the original post, but the same as the last post. Ron Tyler and myself would attend the Pacific Rim International Modeling Exposition every year back when it was held in Eugene. Quite a few of those miniature V-8's, all being scratch built. Many guys casting their own parts, pistons, blocks etc. There were scale air cooled VW, Harley V-twin, Merlin V-12, several radials, etc. All of which ran. Even a home built Turbine. Here are a few examples. Pretty much all of the water cooled variants utilize automotive heater cores for the radiators. Note the Nickel on the pan rail of the 4 bolt SBC. These are the actual molds for the engine above...

Uh.. I can name at least one attribute the L-28 has over ALL 4 cylinders that don’t spin over 10,000 RPM, (not really a good excuse to keep the 6 for your application. The question was raised and I was able to muster but only one answer..), and that one attribute the L-6 has over the 4 cylinder is the exhaust note. With the right mufflers, (glass packs sound wonderful, no matter how wrong they are), the 6 cylinder has an exhaust note that is oh so sweet. Refined, smooth, with a hint of aggression. 4 cylinders spinning above 10,000 RPM sound oh so sweet as well, but typical street 4's up to 7k, the exhaust note really doesn’t stir the soul as much. BRAAAP…BRAAAAAAAAAAAP…..BRAAAAAAAAaaaaaa……….

Ah, so you find favor in that uh.. converion.. Touche..

All pictures taken with Nikon D-70s Columbia River gorge. Bucker Jungmeister Rainbow taken from the front yard, crossing the air strip… Middle daughter Fuzzy, on a bike ride Silver Falls state park... On short final, Runway 7, TTD, Troutdale Oregon, Columbia river gorge entrance/exit in the background Grumman Goose.

3800lbs? WOW! I thought my '93 N/A car was heavy, less than 1/8th tank, me and my 100 lb daughter, 3600 lbs even on the scales. Do I enderstand correctly that you are running an RB engie in your Z-32?

I’d start with replacing the fuel filter. Sounds like it is starving of fuel, hence no smoke.

I finally opened this thread, first one I open is Larry’s Abba, Take chance on me. Brought back lots of memories, Loved that song when it came out, might even still have the LP… Any how, watching that, I was laughing hysterically... Here are a few, (I hope these haven’t been posted before) Boston, More than a feeling.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHV3DSua3DU Steve Miller Band… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RTUkVRoC4U&mode=related&search=

Yeup. It's N/A, not not a TT.

I recently got our race car up and running on EFI and promptly parted it out. The car wasn’t filling the role all that money was going towards. In regards to that 240-SX V8 conversion , I was being sarcastic about the owners claims that the car is a do anything car, Road race, autocross, drag, drift, street car, etc. yet instead of keeping it and experiencing all of those do everything attributes, i.e being a super car, why would he want to sell it? I get the impression you may have taken my ENTIRE post wrong. ALL of my comments were 100% in regards to that car and the choices made during its build and the claims of what is and the parts that don’t fit those claims. None of it was aimed at you in any way shape or form. Your, "Is it a hybridz crime" comment came across as aggressive. So you are clear on this, it is NOT a Hybridz crime to post such finds as you posted. My intentions with the question concerning your affiliation with that car was, if that car belongs to a friend of yours and you were just getting it more attention to help him sell it, I was going to keep my comments tame and friendly so as not to upset you and not deter possible buyers with my comments. Please, do keep posting such finds, just don’t take it personal if someone sees a particular project as humorous instead of informational.

Just built it and now selling? Hmm…. .. But Dude.. that is a SUPER CAR! No really, It says it can do Autocross, Drag, Road race, Drift!!! OMG… It didn’t take long to write a whole list WHY nots for dat dar ride. Sparky, just curious, are you at all affiliated with that?

Stirs many emotions.. COOL….

Happy B-day to Mike Kelly and Mike Kz

V/Z crossram ITB stalker...