z-ya

Update: We went with a new damper on this refresh. We were running an older Datsun Competition unit before. So we ordered a new ATI damper. A few notes on the ATI damper: - Nice unit, beautifully machined pulley, and the damper itself is anodized aluminum with laser etched timing marks. - It's a tight fit to the crank, but that is really what you want for best vibration dampening - Pulley size is much smaller than stock, so keep that in mind when choosing accessory pulley sizes. For a race application you probably want to have a much larger alternator pulley. Not sure on the water pump. We'll find out soon Issues: See the photo below. You can see the washer mating surface is much further from the crank snout than stock. There is about one thread of engagement, so a LONGER BOLT is required! I ordered a few different sizes of 16mm x 1.5 grade 10.6 bolts and found the size that gave me the most thread engagement without bottoming out in the crank. I also used the NISMO bolt washer as it has a groove that allows it to sit inside the pulley hole. See attached image. I used an extra long bolt to in effect press the pulley on to the crank. Like I said it is a tight fit (zero clearance), but it will go on with some antisieze and a long bolt. Lining up the woodruff key is the biggest challenge. Don't install the oil pan until you get the pulley on, Chances are you will knock the woodruff key out at least once like I did. Here is a photo comparing stock to ATI. The pulley lines up find with the water pump pulley. I'll post more photos tomorrow when I get it all together.

Putting it back together Putting the head on and timing the cam tomorrow.

Nice work here. Glad to see that manifold is going to good use ( I sold it through Gnosez). I'm also surprised to see how well this MSD EFI system is working for you. For years these types of systems (Holley) has been poor. Glad to see MSD got it right.

Gavin, I have one that is from an 81'. It is in working condition, but I would have it gone through. I can sell it to you as is, or I can have it rebuilt for you. It just needs a kit put into it (bearings, synchros, seals). I'm in NH.

I have one that worked when it was pulled. It is in good shape. A few of the dash bulb sockets were removed for another dash, but that would be easy enough swap some over from you existing harness.

Missed it

Power wise?

I have not had any issues with Felpro (or any other head gasket for that matter). Did you have the head and or block resurfaced? When I rebuild and engine, even if the head and block are true, I have the machinist machine just enough from the deck and head to clean the surface.

He uses Eagle rods made for a Honda, and flat JE pistons with valve reliefs. I know this because I have taken apart one of his 3.2L engines. The 3.2L has an offset ground V07 crank. The head was an N42. Not a lot of welding done (if any) to the combustion chamber. Basic unshrouding of the valves and intake port work. The cam was his special grind. The advertised CR was 12:1. Supposedly made 360HP on his engine dyno. We couldn't get over 300 out of it on a chassis dyno. PM me if you want more info.

Preferably NOT working. Just need to fill the hole in the dash. Thanks.

Getting it on and off the trailer too. I remember the challenges getting this car on and off the trailer at ZCON 2010:

Just kidding on the Rotella. It's just every time I see it in the store I think of the Nutella spread my Daughter loves... Brad Pen has ZDDP and all the good stuff too. Order some new restrictors from Nissan and drive them into the block. If you drilled out too much material, you can tap for a small NTP plug, and drill the plug with the correct hole. Takes John's advice and get your cooler cleaned and flushed. Also add the extra holes in the windage tray.

Looks good Jon. Talk about a widebody! You can probably weld some Dzus fastener tabs to the metal frame to hold everything on, right?

Here are my thoughts: - Oil pressure is always higher when the engine is colder. I see this on my road race car, and my remote cooler adapter does not have a thermostat, so oil is going through the cooler all the time. I would by pass the cooler, and just run a filter on the block. Do a test and tune to see if the pressure is steady. - When you set the Wolf Creek adjuster, did you set it so that you see max pressure on the gauge? I noticed that I had to play around with it a bit until I saw the max (85psi cold) - I never drill out the oil restrictors. You are probably getting too much oil going to the head now, so flow and pressure of the overall system is now lower. The oil system cannot deliver enough flow with the restrictions you have in your setup to achieve a dceent pressure at temperature.If you were running a dry sump system with a lot more flow, then you can probably drill out the restrictors. - 30wt oil is a little light for road racing (unless you're an ice racer). I would run 40 or 50wt. I don't know about Rotella (sounds like a chocolate spread) , but I run the Brad Penn stuff.

And I thought I was ambitious! Derek has done some amazing projects, but this once tops all the others.

No one is saying the N47 head is bad. I ran one on my track car for 3 years, and the motor made good power. The E31 will give you a bit more CR, and it already has square exhaust ports in case Dave wants to use the stock 240Z manifold, or he has a square port header (Dave, if your header is a round port, then use the N47 for sure). The cost to install new seats is minimal as compared to the overall cost of rebuilding a head. So for the smaller combustion chamber I would always pick the E31. 99.9% of all racers do the same. The fact that he already has one makes the choice easy.

Since the N47 cam is internally oiled, you don't need the spray bar. Can you still run it? Yes. My concern with running both on a street engine is that you are sending the same volume of oil, at the stock pressure, to both the cam and the spray bar. You can play around with enlarging the oil restrictors in the block. I don't recommend this because now less oil will be going to the bottom end. Nissan engineers are really smart , and designed these heads to use one or the other. On the L28 race motor I run both a drilled cam and spray bar. I have had no issues with cam wear. But...., I am running over 80psi of oil pressure, at a much higher volume. So you can use the E31 towers, and an make some little block off plates for where the spray bar mounts. Or, you can just use the N47 towers. Personally I don't like having the spray bar there because it gets in the way when adjusting the valve lash. Yup, looks like the E31 is stock from a valve size perspective. Pete

Hi Dave, Slover will just need the cam towers. They should be able to align hone them if needed. You can send them the E31 cam so they can check for any binding and or fit. Or, you can check that before to send it out. Just torque the N47 cam towers on the E31 head, and make sure the cam spins freely. If it binds, then it will need to be align honed.

Dave, When you send him the E31 head and N47 cam, send the N47 cam towers too. He can mount and then align hone them on the E31 head. All regrinds require lash caps of a different thickness than stock. Isky should be able to at least provide the thickness you will need with the reground cam. If you think the E31 has a regrind in it, then you might be able to use those lash pads. It's worth a shot. This is the cam I used on a recent street car build. Very drivable on the street, and will work fine with stock springs.

Currently refreshing this engine. Stay tuned.

Dave, Looks like a cool project. Questions: what is your budget? What induction (SUs?) I agree with Tony, putting a lot of money into the bottom end for a street NA is probably not a good use of funds. Use that on the head. An L28 with dished pistons, and E31, and a Felpro gasket will get you around 8.75:1. Good for pump gas. There is a cam grind I used on a build from Schnieder (regrind), that worked really well on a 9:1 L28 and used the stock springs. I can look that up if you are interested. Power tops out around 6500RPM. I'd say it makes around 200HP at the crank. Plenty of get up and go for the street in a 2400lb car. Here is what I would do: - Pull head off, and if there is little to no ridge on the cylinders, leave the short block alone. - Take the valves from the N47 head, buy new L28 seats, and have them installed into the E31 head (make sure the assembled height is the same for intake and exhaust, long story). - Have the L28 cam reground and use the N47 cam towers so that you can run without a spray bar. - Have some basic headwork done (unshroud the valves, and some intake port work) For the headwork, give the machinist a budget to work within. I didn't on one of my E31 heads, and $2900 later I have a beautiful, and expensive head. If you want to chat about it, you got my number. Pete

I haven't run the Avons, but I now am running some Hankook radial road race slicks that I got used. I run them on my Datsun 1200 which weighs about 1500lbs. The tires are 8" wide, and about 22" high 13" rims. I can get the exact compound information if you want (sorry, don't know it off the top of my head). They were inexpensive (~$60 per tire), and I really like the compound. Once they heat up, the grip is amazing. This is a road race application BTW.

I used 240Z insulators in the rear of my 280Z because the euro springs I was using had the back of the car too high. The 240Z insulators dropped the rear at least an inch, which gae the car a much better stance.

It's just plain old steel. You can mig, tig, or braze it. You're choice. I chose to braze as I know I could get a good seal. You don't want any air leaks on the inlet side of the oil pump.

Is Jeff using the Z32 ECU? What year? I have an early unit I was going to use on an L28ET build.