BRAAP

Yes, he does still sell them. I am building/porting/machining “preiths” head right now and installing those valves. I even ordered another set for another Maxima N-47 project from them earlier this week, delivered NEXT day as they are just across town from me. As a side note, for you guys running up to 2mm over bores on your L-28 blocks, that 38mm exhaust valve WILL crash into your block! In mocking up Phils head on a block, those 38mm exhaust valves hit the block deck at only .340”-.350” lift. Options are to either have the exhaust valve turned down to a smaller diameter, or extensively “eye-brow” the block. Depending on how much lift your cam has and how far up the bore your rings sweep, will dictate if that is even feasible. Typically, Turbo pistons have the ring pack further down the piston which allows for little deeper eye-browing as compared to N/A pistons. For Phils head, I turned the heads of the exhaust valves down 2mm to 1.42” This will clear a 1mm over bore L-28 and leave just enough clearance to make up for any shift that may happen between deck dowels and the head as they will shift up to 1mm and that also keeps the head builder from sweating bullets when the owner turns the key to “start” for the first time….

Ok guys, Yes “1fastZ” did buy at least one of the curved designs, not sure if it was him or not that won the second today, (I took the bid up to $403, it sold for $466 and change). In talking with Bryan via E-mail, it seems his plans were the same as mine in regards to using that intake on a Z car, i.e. weld on injector bungs for EFI use and fab an air box so that it will fit under the hood of a car. Those intakes were designed for Race boats running the Datsun L-6… What the heck are race boats doing running Datsun L-6’s?!?!?! I had no idea, but apparently it is fairly common in that class…, (see picture below..) In fact, the guy selling those odd ball FI intakes was also selling a straight version of that curved intake, which I did happen to get my hands on, (luckily). It arrived just a couple days ago. I couldn’t resist so I mocked it on the race car. Looks pretty tough. This season we will run the OE style intake that is sitting on the fender in these pics, then next season I should have the injector bungs on it and we hope to be running that IR intake for next season with Mega Squirt.

Both of the maps on that page are only a couple lines of gibberish code. Is there another link? We are also setting up an N/A L-28 running MSnS-E with EDIS-6 and would like to see others N/A maps to hopefully shorten our dialing-in learning curve…. Of course we will be sharing our MSQ for others as well… http://www.msefi.com/viewtopic.php?p=98702

We are currently setting up our MSnS-E utilizing the EDIS-6 Distributor-LESS set up for our N/A L-28 project. As you mentioned, the coil pack stuff would be a nice step up for the L-series, (get rid of the distributor all together), as well as getting rid of that Air Flow Meter!!! You can follow along with our progress here… http://www.msefi.com/viewtopic.php?p=98702 We currently have a few EDIS DIS systems running on our EDIS test bench, pics of the finished modified intake, etc…

Yes jeffp, you are100% correct. The OE EFI intake manifold, (even if some have slightly larger runners than others), is not ideal when trying to get maximum performance from the L-6, but for 90% of the guys out here, the ideal is out of reach financially as well as practically. Not all of them have a machine shop on their property or the funds to purchase one of those more ideal intakes and have someone finish the custom install. The OE intake is a restriction, but what slight HP loss they will suffer for their typical “mild street” engine vs the money they saved not purchasing the ideal intake and paying some other shop to install it and tune it, the OE intake is a pretty attractive option. For a “mild” street engine, the loss incurred with the OE intake would be "just" measurable on a dyno, but by no means an extreme loss of power on a “mild” street build, and when building a mild street machine, "extreme" is not the goal. For those trying to achieve the extreme, those aftermarket IR set ups are ideal, and will help. Again, for mild engines, those cool intakes will help just a little for that big expense, and for extreme engine builds, those cool intakes will offer an even greater percentage of gain for the big cash outlay, it’s all relative.

Nice work Pete. Definitely built very sturdy. Keep us posted...

So did you cut the plenum apart so that you could reach the runners from both ends?

My “checking” that I did was also with my machinist snap gauges and I checked from approx 2” till I couldn’t reach, +-5” or so, and the Turbo intake was consistently noticeably larger by approx .100” in that entire region that I checked. I did not measure the head port area as both intakes I used for the comparison have been port matched. Now being as you measured no difference between the Turbo and Non turbo intake, (which non turbo intake did you use for the comparison), this begs the question; Which intakes did Nissan, (or Hitachi) cast with these larger runners? My comparison was an ‘82 Turbo intake and that gray ’75 N-42 intake. I have a few other intakes around and at some point I just may go out and pull them off my parts cars and get a little more serious about investigating this intake runner size thing. (For the life of me I can’t believe I didn’t do this in the past).

Yes. I had to open up the bores for the injectors in the manifold slightly to accept the new style injector O-rings, I went ahead and punched that bore all the way through so that I could bury the injectors till they come almost flush with the head mating surface. I then countersunk a slightly larger hole to clear the injector body itself and cut that counter bore just deep enough to give the injectors the penetration I wanted. FWIW, The injectors I’m using have the 14 MM O-rings, so the fuel rail injector bores were machined out to .540”, and the manifold injector bores are a little oversize at .550”, (I was testing one of my valve guide reamers for this purpose), though it should seal just fine as I still have .025” O-ring crush at that size.

Here is a picture of the bottom. Nothing special here. No customizing other than the addition of three vacuum ports. One for the brake booster' date=' (has the 90 degree fitting already installed), and 2 small 1/8” NPT ports at the rear of the plenum, one for the EFI MAP sensor, the other for the fuel pressure regulator. [img']http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/BRAAPZ/Pearl/DSC_7693Medium.jpg[/img]

Mike, Yes, that fuel rail is machined for the O-ring injectors, not the barbed Datsun style. I bought the bare fuel rail extrusion in bulk, (8 foot stick, enough to do my L-6 race car, my V-8 Z car, and few others as well). If I were to build a fuel rail using this extrusion for an L-6 that would use the OE style barbed injectors, I’d charge $100. That would give you the fuel rail itself, cut to the customers length, both ends tapped for 3/8 NPT fittings, and 6 injector ports drilled and tapped for either 1/8” NPT, or ¼” NPT whichever the customer so desires, lined up to the OE Datsun manifold injector spread. I would even include another drilled and tapped port or even two, if the customer needs it for a fuel pressure gauge, extra injector, etc. This price does not include machining/modification, etc for mounts. (If you supply dimensions, specs, I could machine whatever you need for mounting into the fuel rail, price based on time needed to machine). This also does not include any of NPT fittings, just the fuel rail machined for those fittings. Add another $20 for six 5/16” barbed brass injector fittings. I could also supply the 5/16” or 3/8” barbed brass inlet/outlet fittings in straight or 90 degree, add another $10. This fuel rail has a pretty thick section across the bottom which allows for some creative mounting solutions on the part of the installer. You could build a pillar style mount, “C” channel style, what ever your imagination can conjure up. Now for an O-ring style injector, like what I did for the race car, it would cost a bit more as the injector bores have to be VERY precise and smooth to get the O-ring to seal. Also, The customer would have to have his/her manifold modified to accept the O-rings as well, then getting the fuel rail mounted exactly perfect so as to locate the injectors “straight” and get the O-rings sunk to the proper depth within the fuel rail and manifold, is bit of work as well. In short, to build a duplicate the O-ring fuel rail to what I built for the race car, easily $200 and that is only the fuel rail, no mounts or manifold mods.

Ok, this is the last set of pictures of this intake for a while, I promise. I just installed the injectors and fuel rail and was pleasantly surprised at how well the over all appearance came out that I took a few more pics and just wanted to share. Thanks for letting me bore you all to death with all these pictures…

I agree Jon, crack kills!! LOL In my opinion it would be MUCH easier and cheaper to double the displacement and not really gain any weight by switching to an aluminum headed SBC V-8 or better yet, the LS-1, but that has been done and as such, lacks that certain WOW factor that a one of a kind all aluminum straight 6 running only a few actual Datsun parts would have. It boils down to who has the most WOW factor at the Z meetings and cruises, I think that is what makes this project so attractive. It does sound cool, especially if you can keep as much of this creation as possible Datsun, or at least Nissan. If you are going to use Toyota or other manufacturer’s parts to make it work, i.e. complete heads, etc, why not just swap in the entire power plant, it would be MUCH easier and cheaper for sure…

My guess would be between 100-200 lbs between a 240 and 280, (L-series equipped cars). This does not include those Living room sofas that Nissan calls “bumpers” that the 280 received, I don’t feel those bumpers really count in that comparison Weight differences comes from R-180 vs R-200, a little more frame rail material in different locations throughout the cars, more wiring, etc. The ’77 and ’78 280’z also gained some more weight in the doors, but the window actuators have a smoother action as a result… Someone on here has to have more accurate data for this question… FWIW, my V-8 280-Z weighed in a 2750 lbs, ½ tank of gas, no driver. With the driver, 2950 at a 49-51 weight distribution, rear bias. ’75 280-Z (Had a 240 front bumper only), full interior street car with Auto Power roll bar. Iron SBC 350 block and Iron 041 casting heads Aluminum Edel Perf. intake, Holley 650 4150 carb, iron water pump. Gear reduction starter, W/C T-5 trans, Aluminum driveshaft, R-200 diff. Ron Davis Aluminum radiator, 3 gallons of coolant, dual 2 ½” exhaust all the way back. Stock brakes front and rear, (what was I thinking with the stock brakes?) Car ran 12.3 @ 113 MPH, 8.0 @ 92 MPH at the 1/8th, 2.0 60ft times.

ROFLMAO… Good one Mike… Pete & JBC starting a support group for overweight Z cars… LOL I can see it now… the Zone diet, maybe AtkinZ, LOL, Start you out on a NO CARBurator diet… LOL… by eating more Honda’s and less of those Iron laden american meals of Ford, and Dodge that are high on CARBS.. LOL When I read how much your car weighed, I conjured up images of Jerome Bettis, a little portly guy that stops for NUTTIN!!! He may be a little chubby, but rest assured, like your 11 second Z, it’s all MUSCLE!!!! Any Z car that runs 11.4 @ 120 N/A is doing something right even if does resemble miss Piggy.. Just think what she’ll do if you enroll her in Zenny Craig, LOL, and get her down to say 2700-2800 minus driver….. Could be knocking on the door of 10’s N/A!!!! YEE HAA!!!!

AK-Z, There are a couple ways you can handle the EGR. My preference from a cosmetic approach is to, like you said, just cut off the whole protrusion that holds the EGR valve itself off the back of the plenum. Then on the bottom of the intake, I’ll tap and plug the little ports between the runners and the EGR plenum with ¼” pipe plugs, under each intake runner, being careful to only penetrate the runner with the plug, as little as possible. I have to machine off a large enough chunk of the EGR plenum that runs the length of the air plenum so I can get my tap in there, but that goes pretty quick. In this picture you can see the little transfer ports that go between the EGR plenum on the bottom of the Intake into the runners themselves.

Did I read that right, that you would possibly be doing those mods with the intake “in” the car? I sure hope not, boy oh boy would that be a project, -15, with a DREMEL!!! DOH!!! (That would make a great form of Torture for prisoners… Hmmmm…)… Here is brief run down and how I tackle cleaning up these intakes. With the intake removed from the car and ALL the ancillary parts removed, I jet wash the manifold, (just take it to your local automotive machine shop and ask to have it jet washed or tanked, they’ll take care of it from there). Now for the aggressive removal tactics. Mark ALL the bosses that you won’t be using and wack them off. You can use a Saws-all, hack saw, cut off wheel, or you can just gnaw them off if you have really good dental insurance. I prefer to clamp the intake down on the table of our milling machine and use a ¾” end mill and just GO FOR IT!!! (My oldest daughter enjoys performing that machining operation for me.) Then I use the die grinder with assorted non ferrous carbide bits to “rough in” what’s left. Then I use a finer carbide bit in the die grinder to smooth out the scallops left behind from the more aggressive bits. Then I’ll use a sanding roll in the die grinder to smooth out all the grinding marks. Now, mark all the holes that will be getting filled in, i.e not used any more. Now, depending on whether the intake is getting polished or painted, that will determine how I tackle the holes and divots left behind. If it is getting painted, I will tap all the holes for SAE pipe plugs and thread in solid brass pipe plugs into the holes and then carve the protruding remnants of the plugs down flush. I have been known to use JB Weld as filler in the divots left behind, but I won’t 100% admit to that. If the intake is to be polished or the customer prefers the intake to be all aluminum, I’ll make small aluminum plugs from scrap billet that fit the larger holes. Then I take manifold down to a competent welder and have him weld the plugs in their respective holes and also fill in all the remaining divots. When I get the intake back, I then get out the die grinder again, and start all over on the welds till the entire intake is somewhat smooth. Then I attack the intake with a D/A, then it gets a final cleansing and paint. If it is getting polished, I get it “roughed in” so to speak and take it to a polisher to let him/her finish the job, (I’m not a polisher). Oh, before it gets painted/polished, I will set the intake up on the mill and “surface” the throttle body mounting surface and if the head mating surface received any damage, I’ll surface that as well. The Throttle body surface ALWAYS needs resurfaced if the cold start injector boss was removed/plugged, especially if the cold start injector boss was welded shut. When filling the holes that used to house the cold start injector, whether I use the pipe plug method or have it welded, the throttle body mounting surface will distort. Welding severely distorts it. Better off to just resurface it so there is no chance of a vacuum leak. That about covers it. Each person will have their own techniques that work best for them, so use what works best for you if you so choose to do this on your own. Here is the intake pictured above just prior to paint. Note the Brass plugs and if you look close, you can make out some of the divots left behind from the old boss holes, grinding divots, etc.

The N-42 intakes are the only NON webbed intakes that came without the EGR and those particular intakes came only on the ’75 and ’76 Federal cars' date=' (the NON California cars). There was also a webbed, sloped/necked down, intake that didn’t get the EGR as well, but it is webbed, and it is the sloped plenum. A matter of personal preference there. I prefer the N-42 non webbed intake myself as I have yet to see a sloped, or necked down late model EFI intake look as nice as a well prepped N-42 Non EGR intake, again, personal preference. I’ve modified several of these N-42 intakes, and a few of the EGR webbed versions as well, (LOTS of work there), for myself as well as some of our customers. The Federal N-42 intake pictured below is going on our SOLO-II 240Z that I just finished painting today, note the “still wet” paint…. Modifications include removal of the throttle linkage towers as the new throttle valve is cable actuated, and the injectors are the modern O-ring style, C-4 Vette injectors. This intake is not a good representation of the quality of our intakes as it is for our race car, function first, cosmetics second, (and truthfully speaking, there is LOTS more left in regards to “function” with this intake, as well as aesthetics…). Not a whole lot of attention to aesthetic detail was taken into consideration for this particular intake, but it is a good example of the NON webbed, NON EGR N-42 intake that came on the ’75-’76 Federal cars. [img']http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/BRAAPZ/Pearl/racecar1Medium.jpg[/img] This picture of the intake prior to painting with the new fuel rail attached. Here is a Non Webbed “EGR” intake that we modified for a customer recently. Lots of work went into removing the EGR in such a way that it would be difficult for the casual observer to notice that this intake was originally an EGR intake. I’d prefer to not do this again, but…. for the right amount of $$$.$$, sure it can be duplicated….

Wow. That makes the alluvium L-block more of a real possibility. Sure there is lots of work that goes into what design changes over the original L-block that can and will be made to take advantage of today’s technology… i.e. you could cast it as a taller block, equivalent to the L20-B and use the L20-B front cover and timing chain, so that you can run even longer rods with those custom pistons with the really short pin height… Cast alternate oil galleys for shorter galley ways… The list of “wants” or “must haves”, I’m sure is endless… Heck, if you can cast a new block, why not cast a V-12 that utilizes Datsun internals… Ooops… sorry about that tangent…