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SO I spent some more hours out there today, and lo and behold I completely jacked the threads on the bottom side front fender mount, where there are threaded holes in the rocker panel. Great. Looking through the junk box, I find a handful of M8-1.25 T-nuts, leftover from the pallets of rack cabinets at work. I save them and the bolts from them all the time. So, a quick drilling out of the rocker and some grinding off plating on the T-nuts, hammer the nut into the hole and weld it in place. BAM! Grind down the weld to your satisfaction, instant threaded hole. Worked so well, I went ahead and replaced the threads on both sides of the car. Next point of work is finishing up the passenger's front fender, and stripping and undercoating the passenger's wheel well. Tomarrow should see the fender done, maybe. Depends on how much time with a hammer and dolly I have to spend. Stripping and re-undercoating shouldn't be too bad, though.

Yes, my friends, I too am a victim of "While I'm at it" disorder. First, it was strip the exterior, remove the sunroof, repaint, and call it good till i got more money. Then, it was pull the motor to strip the engine bay too. Then, rebuild the motor to stock specs. Then, I found HybridZ. Thanks guys, I really needed the "While I'm at it" bug. Now, I've got the body half stripped, the roof welded on, but haven't filled the weld lines in yet, half a car of bodywork left to do, a gas tank with a rusted off pickup tube, junky floors to replace, an engine to rebuild, no interior to speak of, BUT the rest of the bodyshell is in pretty clean condition. Due to half of it being replaced after serious damage, but it's pretty clean, nonetheless. So, what have I accomplished? 1. Learn bodywork. I'm not that terrible, but I started with a foundation in sword forging and armoring. Sheetmetal is a friend of mine. 2. Learn how to keep up with all the parts. You'd be suprised what i can still lay my hands on in the parts boxes...there is a very specific order to the chaos. 3. Learn how to drill out bolts. Learn thread repair techniques. 4. Learn how to lay down primer over filled surfaces, how to used spot putty, and how to wetsand. Front driver's fender finished. 5. Learn brake systems, (In progress) install Toyota 4-Piston upgrade. Plan to upgrade to vented front rotors after wheel upgrade. Solid rotors will do for now. (Brakes installed, need master.) 6. Strip, repair rusty spots with welder, and undercoat front driver's wheel well. (DONE) 7. Strip, repair rusty spots with welder, and undercoat front Passenger's wheel well. (In Progress) 8. Repair driver's side dogleg. (DONE) 9. Repair passenger's side dogleg. (PENDING) 10. Get engine bay stripped and sanded, rust repaired, and repainted. (NEXT ON LIST) Durn, that's a long list. Luckily, my pistons and bearings came in today, so the engine (treated as a separate project) can go to the machine shop tomorrow. The transmission is a separate project, I'm looking to do the 240SX transmission swap, so i need to find a shortened drive shaft. Yeah, I've got a long way to go.

Might want to deburr that intersection of the valve clearance pockets...looks kinda sharp and thin to me. How did your shop cut the valve reliefs? that crane valve-shaped tool is just wayy expensive for my tastes. I do belive a properly modified and carefully chosen set of forstner bits could do just as well... My new pressure cast pistons are on there way now...at 27$ per piston, I didn't think it was a bad deal for a NA L28 that won't see over 220HP, and is running SU's. Hopefully i won't have to cut valve reliefs into them.

Yep, my mother's dodge intrepid always got Valvoline SH grade oils when I was keeping up with it, now my little brother, cheapass that he is, puts in the least expensive oil he can get (a store brand SM grade mostly) every time he changes the oil. It's gone from good compression and no tailpipe smoke to uneven compression and blowing a blue cloud on acceleration in a matter of two years. Now, that's not definitive, I know, but it's good enough for me. By the way, he's also totaled that car by hitting a wooden mailbox...we bought it back and repaired it, got it reexamined by the state, and back on the road safely. I still don't know how he totaled a car by hitting a mailbox...

Yeah, you don't see diesel Maximas on this side of the Mississippi. the unopened engine alone would bring 500$ or more, the whole car running and driving would bring 2500 to 4500. It's ridiculous.

But, at the same time it can't be any worse than the K&N filters either. reason i ask is because what you can't see on this airbox is the extreme rust on the top and back corners...and the interior bottom, it just isn't showing on the outside much yet. I think I'll do it. If it turns out badly, I'm sure I can get another airbox.

I have the original orange 1972 with the-winter-summer-flap-thingy on it. I have seen many, many pictures where the old orange airbox was replaced with dual K&N's, or had holes cut in it to allow more air in. Why not retain the original filter, and cut down the airbox to look similar to the old round hat-type filters? you know, the top plate, bottom plate, expose the filter element all the way around type? Something like this: Original: Modified: And then paint it gloss black. What do you guys think?

I am considering the Toyota S12+8 brake upgrade. my wheels are Nissan OEM "Iron Cross" type wheels. I have read the stickies and the FAQ, and have not found the information i need to complete the swap, since i don't have calipers in hand to do the swap. Which of the Toyota 4-piston brake upgrades fits under this particular wheel? Will i be able to run the vented rotor S12+8's, or do i need the solid rotor version? Seems that not many people here have a problem spending large sums of money on new wheels just to clear the brakes...Something I just can't do yet.

Well, I just completed the cooling line modification to my 260Z E88 w/N42 valves, (Geez, the last guy saved me a lot of time and trouble, not to mention money!) using copper water line and flare fittings, I like the way the color stands out against the black and silver scheme I have going on...Might even paint the car a coppery color. (The new GM burnt orange comes to mind...) Photos in a bit...

Heh, quick fix: Valvoline. MANY of their higher performance oils are SH grade, instead of SM or SL, and have the higher levels of ZDDP. 1.2%, infact. You can find it just about anywhere, and it's not terribly expensive. I run it in all of my cars, just because they are not all old doesn't mean it doesn't help.

Yes, that is possible to do. However, there are four different E88 head castings, all are open chamber, even though some are more "closed" than others. I still haven't figured out if the 260Z spec E88 is in any way different, other than possibly greater valve unshrouding due to the chamber shaping.

Ok, so you wanna race. P30 block has a max factory reccommended overbore of 2mm. SO, here's a combo with L20B pistons, L24 crank, L24 rods and an N42 cylinder head. 2.5L with a 7.4:1 compression ratio, boost ready. OR P30 block, Z20S pistons, L28 crank, L24 rods, MN47 cylinder head 2.6L 11.1:1 compression ratio, ready for 93 octane or better. Run triples and a BIG CAM for best results OR P30 block, LD28 crank, L28 rods, Z20S pistons, P90 cylinder head 2.8L 8.4:1 compression, boost at will. Or, same as above with E88 head: 2.8L with 9.7:1 compression, run megasquirt and a MONSTOR cam That's my quick answer, your mileage and results will vary. Check out Ozdat's engine calculator, that's where all this came from.

I'm working on a 260 Spec E88 head right now, and am interested in the spark knocking that you are experiencing. Are you planning to do the coolant mod soon Tony D, or just speculating? I'm going to be adding external flow lines to cylinders 5+6, do I need to go ahead and run one to #4 as well? I'm hoping to run my work-in-progress L29 to power levels of 200-220 horses eventually, so if this is gonna be any kind of issue at all, I want to catch it now.

I have one, with the fully open chamber and large exhaust valve. it is in very very good clean condition, with the intake ports opened up a little to match the gasket. It has a Crane Cams DA-262 cam in it, and had flat tops with valve reliefs cut into them. It has been shaved 0.030", as judged by the shims under the cam towers. The cam has been broken in, but just, as the engine had a header on it that hadn't even had a chance to burn all the paint off...maybe 1 year of driving? This head was used with a triple mikuni setup, and had a 0.6mm fel-pro hard headgasket. When I got the engine, the headgasket was blown on #6, but the engine ran. Unfortunately, two of the water jacket holes are eroded, and it is the FULLY open chamber, i.e., it looks like the N33 cylinder head in the Sticky thread, not like an N42 or E30. ALL the reading I can find on the open chamber heads deals with the N42 styled chamber, and how it has a reputation for pinging when used with flat-top pistons. I plan to drive on the street as my daily, at least for a while until i find another car to drive that's as much fun, then this will become a street beast/track car. I'm trying to figure out all the Bugaboos that could be hiding in this cylinder head, so I don't waste time and money. If the head CC's at a reasonable size, turbocharging is not totally out of the picture, but probably not going to happen immediately, I'm a carburetor kind of guy. What kind of applications would a cylinder head that has been worked like this have? Can I hope to evade pinging on a 9cc dish piston at 9:1-9.5:1 compression? Is it even worth using at all? I know that OTM was using one at 9:1 compression with no ping, but would he be the exception or the general rule? I know we have covered cylinder heads to death, but this one seems to be the redheaded stepchild of them all.

Hmmm... I've pulled 4-5 thermostat housings in junkyards and never once broken a bolt...of course, there were '72 units...age difference?

It is likely the head gasket, leaking from the water port behind #6. Just change the gasket, and you will probably be ok.

"What is this for, and where does it go?" That looks like the PCV tube. Goes on the PCV valve, attached to manifold vacuum

Heh, we have this thing called a flying harpoon here...Sand Hornets. Wikipedia says they are an Eastern Cicada Killer, and don't attack humans. BULLSHIT! They won't usually sting, but if you unwittingly piss one off, lookout. The stinger (as evidenced by stomping one, it causes the stinger to protrude) is nigh on 3/8" long!

You'll make it man. trust me, once you get that L28ET running, get the car derusted and painted up in your favorite color, and adjust the driver's seat to your most comfortable position, you'll never be the same. You'll be...a HybridZ'er. No finer automotive achievement in the world, in my opinion.

Hmmm....so raising the ports, and using a Mikuni-style manifold would help improve flow just as much as moving the valves over. Interesting....having just picked up two SU manifolds, and a complete L24 with complete Mikuni triple carb setup, Maybe a cut 'n' splice on those E88 manifolds to more closely resemble the Mikuni style manifold would be of benifit? ()BTW, the Mikuni stuff is for sale, very dirty but certainly usable.(Plug>)

Who knows at this point...I'm just getting the molds and patterns made up as I have time, maybe sometime in the future it'll happen. Not likely, though. As for the timing system, the whole point of the head casting is to adapt the KA cam and valve system onto an L head casting. The idea is to have the head casting contain two timing chains, one from cam to cam, the other from cam to crank. This hopefully won't end up being too weak, or too hard on cam snouts, while at the same time, eliminate any extra timing cover bits, valve cover bobbles, etc. Really, it probably won't happen in the next ten years. But I'm sure there'll still be Z cars out there waiting.

1 fast Z, How much do you think the valves would have to move in order to make it worthwhile? a 3* difference isn't much movement at the top, but could move the valves over a fair bit, I think. Really, I'm trying to find ways to increase the total flow, and without moving the valves, I think we're just about out of new(rather, new to us) ideas. Also, I'm not trying to say that this is the next big thing, But I did think it was pretty cool and that it seemed like a logical next step, especially in trying to tame the exhaust short side radius. Really, I need to get back to work on that 3xKA head casting...almost got it drawn in solidworks, still working on getting the pattern block glued up for CNC milling.

That compression ratio of 8.1:1 only holds (i think) for a 2.4L engine. L28ET implies that you are running a 2.8L engine. Thus, your compression would be something like 10:1 on flat tops, or 8.5:1 on factory dished pistons.

This looks like a caliper spacer to fit between the two halves, widening them up enough to allow the thicker vented rotors.

Because the head in the photos is producing 245 N/A horsepower from an L-20b...110HP over the best "stock" rebuild I've seen for that engine... And, because you can only raise the ports so much before you run out of room. This would theoretically allow raising the ports, plus helping to alleviate the short side radius on the exhaust, PLUS straighting out the runners even more than possible by port raising. And if you are going to get the chambers welded, larger valves, and new guides, (not at all uncommon around here) it's not that much more work.