Tony D

Yes, refusing to concede they may have a valuable point in their core market is just to way to go. After all, they only go where they were by selling selling selling worldwide, didn't they? Oh, waitaminit, who is seeking out whom here? Wonder why? Bonneville doesn't come into this as much as you want it to, my example of the stock bodies car is simply being ignored either through ignorance, or the realization that a 0.465Cd car with 20+ sq ft frontal area might have a tad more HP than one would care to admit. And yes, Mickey Thompson did so poorly based on his unrespectable performance at Bonneville. Great Example. Remember,I'm not the one selling parts here. I have no interest in selling my parts. You can ask me for my profiles and I will tell you the same thing: Bugger Off. I guess that makes me a bad guy too. Or maybe it means I'm interested in somthing more than money with the things I do mechanically on the car. There is more to life than money.

Isky does make VG Cams, it's back to a volume/market thing. Don't waste the ink on a dead engine. Development proceeds on the other item. It will not be made public for reasons floating around on other related threads. Suffice to say if you want something done, you buck up your money and quit whining...get-er done. Thing is, if you don't have access to people with experience in this field, likely the development will be nothing more than idle chat on an interweb site. Money is only one facet of getting the development done. That is in the implementation stage of the work. Ideas and thinking outside the box (or as said before, knowing which applications from which to glean applicable bits of technology) are what has to be implemented before the cam is actually ground. Profile selected, ramp rates and etc decided upon, springs... What about a cam with 'stock' specs as you read the cam card...but produces 10, 15, 20% more horsepower? What about a big cam with idle vacuum like a stocker? All it takes is the right approach and a willing cam grinder who knows his business. Oh, as to different ratio arms, remember that was a big thing in the pushrod set. You change the rocker profile you have to redesign the opening/closing ramp rates to take advantage of the different ratio. You can bolt rocker arms on a VW, for instance and get a power bump, but do it on a hot cam and you run into float problems because the ramp doesn't accomodate for the radically different valve acceleration rate with the new rockers. With Direct Tappet on Bucket designs lift is limited by physical clearance from cam centerline to valve seal and spring binding point. Without complex machining, higher lifts are not possible. Now, if you want to do some spring pocket machining....you can get more lift! Just a graphical aid for this '400HP' discussion. Remember, those guys went 163... like I said, 'do the math' before lauding a stripper big bore drag engine to something that withstands the kind of punishment top speed trials put on an engine: http://www.datsuns.com/Tech/tech_aero.htm

"Sparks hit the nail on the head. Having neighbors with goats, ugly as hell chain link fences, poorly cut, if cut at all, lawns, cars sitting on the lawn going nowhere, boarded up windows in the garage, what have you, is a MASSIVE eye sore. (Those examples are not directed at you, BTW)." What's wrong with the occasional Goat mowing the lawn? And chain link fences are the only thing that works against roving packs of dogs... But what works best is Sea Containers in the back yard to keep it all locked up tight and dry! My $80K SoCal Doublewide is worth far more now than when I bought it, my profit will be the same as someone in an HOA whose price of admission for their postage stamp lot and minimcmansion was 4 or 5X that and who's appreciation, while looking good on paper still only nets them $400K when they sell. All the while they burned $3200 a month instead of $900 a month. NOBODY lives in those houses for retirement. They sell them and move downmarket. All that fancy crap does is soak your pocketbook for the 20 or so years you pay for it till you sell and move where you WANT to be. I prefer instead to spend the difference on Lakefront Property back East (second home for less than 2/3 the price of one 'fancy' one here in SoCal protected by an HOA... Though recently some HOA's been getting sued due to radically dropping property values. Seems a sows ear really IS a sow's ear, no matter what CCR's come imprinted on it!

"Personally speaking though, I still hold on the regards to if you make very few sales per year, you better cherish the opportunity to grab a customer whenever you can regardless of how I phrase my email or call" From the Seller's Point of View: Not if the guy is an incompetent boob who will use your part in a misapplied way, then trash the results all around ruining your reputation. Is this YOUR case Josh? Who knows? Would YOU take the chance at your reputation being smeared by just ONE incompetent person not getting the results they wanted and then started badmouthing the product you KNOW works IF APPLIED CORRECTLY? OS Gikken sells their heads (reference the SEMA Thread) but you got to buck up $100,000K for the engine that goes under it as well. Why? Same reason: we put our name on it, we won't leave it to you to muck it up and blame us. Be offended or don't, I don't care. You just don't get it, this is NOT a volume business, it's a reputation business. One joker out there can ruin it for your operation. Prudent conservatorship of a business knows when to refuse service. Not giving the store away enmasse to try to make a volume margin profit. Sadly, your attitude is endemic of American-Educated Business Majors: Sell Sell Sell.Sell at all costs. Never consider some sales aren't worth the negatives they present. In Japan, the model for doing business is different, and there is a reason there are shops around still doing this stuff 20+ years after the last engine went off the production line. Selling is not a panacea. Ask GM / Chrysler what happens when you base your business cash flows on continued volume sales...

I already informed the hapless honkeys who left my place last Saturday without a lock set about the auction. They need what you got, now if they can only figure out how to work a computer....

I just had a 45 foot High Cube container dropped in my back yard. What do you think the Homeowners Association would say about that? Oh, I don't have one... Sucks to be you. Join the military, then you can have regular lawn inspections as well. I knew a guy who parked his truck OUTSIDE the housing complex on the street, and WALKED to his house, because he wasn't allowed to park cars in the driveway, only in the garage. But it was a three car garage, but you could only have TWO cars. He liked the rules. He said it helped keep the property values up. I think he stayed within the lines as well, because he knew 'the lines are our friends'... Been there, done that. Never again!

I recently related a story about my first exposure to Gene Berg Enterprises for a technical call. I got the man himself, the Guru, Gene Berg. When I asked about setting up ratio rocker arms his first response was 'Invoice Number'... I didn't have one, because I was on a fishing expedition for free knowledge and information. I said I bought the parts secondhand from someone and didn't have an invoice. 'Sorry, without an invoice number the best I can do for you is recommend you buy our series of technical articles for $5 and figure it out on your own, we reserve our technical advice for our customers.' (This would be the pre-internet post equivalent of 'SEARCH THE ARCHIVES' or 'READ THE FAQ!'...) Thought he was an arrogant old man as well. But I bought his technical articles, and indeed it told me everything I needed to know about setting them up. It also gave me the story about how other companies in SoCal were continually ripping off their designs and having them made as cheap knock offs in Taiwan. And how some actually mimeographed Berg Instructions (with their logos covered) and included them in the rip-off parts. He also in the technical articles differentiations in quality and WHY you should buy his parts---explaining their quality checks and how they design, select, and procure parts. And why it was important to keep your invoice numbers so they would be able to give you perpetual technical advice, and how you should transfer your invoice nubmers to anybody who buys the parts off you later so they could get the same free technical advice...for the lifetime of the part. It also explained in there how people were continually buying cheap rip-off parts, and when they couldn't get them to fit, or when the Big Superstore Coutner Monkeys couldn't tell them technical details about how to install, modify, or alter the part for their specific application they would call Berg Enterprises looking for answers. And to put it like Gene said "We will be damned if we help rip off artists and the people who patronize them undercut our superior products. If you buy it some place else, go THERE for advice on how to install it, don't bother calling us without an invoice number!" Rockers from Berg were $105. Rockers from SCS were $39. So I bought the SCS rockers, and using the Berg technical articles installed them perfectly, making sure to note all the pitfalls GEne spelled out quite clearly in his great technical sheets. In less than 10,000 miles, the SCS rockers lost a swivel foot, and trashed my #2 intake valve. Pull the head, repair valve and buy a set of Berg Rockers. 65,000 miles later, they still function flawlessly. Oh, and SCS? They were 'big'. A 'superstore' with a lot of volume. They are also bankrupt and long out of business, with a Mexican Cantina Girly Dance Parlor in their old building. Same for good old Johnnies Speed and Chrome. BIG volume seller, and bankrupt. Berg? Gene passed away years ago, the counter is still manned by his trusty #2 man like it always was, and his wife Dee is still present. And they still sell the best damn VW performance parts in the business. They are not the 'least expensive' up front, but when you realize Berg Component Engines routinely run 4-5X the stock HP and run for 150,000+ miles on an engine that rarely goes 50K even on stock parts from Germany you start realizing that a $2000 crankshaft may be better than one that costs $850. Or pistons that go for $400 everywhere else may be worth the $200 extra they ask for theirs. And in their catalog it clearly states on some items: "We reserve the right to restrict sales of this component to customers buying X, Y, & Z components at the same time." Wonder why they do that? I know why... While all the rip off places have gone belly up (good luck on warranty there, kiddo!) Berg is still going strong and developing new items as the situation arises. Before you knock someone for not 'supporting' your request for free engineering courses, realize they are in business, and it gets OLD spoonfeeding hard-learned lessons to someone you know won't spend a nickel on your products, reimburse you for your time, or likely even say 'thank you for your time' after they have milked all your knowledge to then buy a cheap e-bay rip off of your product and install it. Put yourself in their shoes and realize what that feels like to know your on the phone with a time waster. A parasite. Someone looking for valuable information for free. Keep that in mind...

I recently related a story about my first exposure to Gene Berg Enterprises for a technical call. I got the man himself, the Guru, Gene Berg. When I asked about setting up ratio rocker arms his first response was 'Invoice Number'... I didn't have one, because I was on a fishing expedition for free knowledge and information. I said I bought the parts secondhand from someone and didn't have an invoice. 'Sorry, without an invoice number the best I can do for you is recommend you buy our series of technical articles for $5 and figure it out on your own, we reserve our technical advice for our customers.' (This would be the pre-internet post equivalent of 'SEARCH THE ARCHIVES' or 'READ THE FAQ!'...) Thought he was an arrogant old man as well. But I bought his technical articles, and indeed it told me everything I needed to know about setting them up. It also gave me the story about how other companies in SoCal were continually ripping off their designs and having them made as cheap knock offs in Taiwan. And how some actually mimeographed Berg Instructions (with their logos covered) and included them in the rip-off parts. He also in the technical articles differentiations in quality and WHY you should buy his parts---explaining their quality checks and how they design, select, and procure parts. Rockers from Berg were $105. Rockers from SCS were $39. So I bought the SCS rockers, and using the Berg technical articles installed them perfectly, making sure to note all the pitfalls GEne spelled out quite clearly in his great technical sheets. In less than 10,000 miles, the SCS rockers lost a swivel foot, and trashed my #2 intake valve. Pull the head, repair valve and buy a set of Berg Rockers. 65,000 miles later, they still function flawlessly. Oh, and SCS? They were 'big'. A 'superstore' with a lot of volume. They are also bankrupt and long out of business, with a Mexican Cantina Girly Dance Parlor in their old building. Same for good old Johnnies Speed and Chrome. BIG volume seller, and bankrupt. Berg? Gene passed away years ago, the counter is still manned by his trusty #2 man like it always was, and his wife Dee is still present. And they still sell the best damn VW performance parts in the business. They are not the 'least expensive' up front, but when you realize Berg Component Engines routinely run 4-5X the stock HP and run for 150,000+ miles on an engine that rarely goes 50K even on stock parts from Germany you start realizing that a $2000 crankshaft may be better than one that costs $850. Or pistons that go for $400 everywhere else may be worth the $200 extra they ask for theirs. And in their catalog it clearly states on some items: "We reserve the right to restrict sales of this component to customers buying X, Y, & Z components at the same time." Wonder why they do that? I know why... While all the rip off places have gone belly up (good luck on warranty there, kiddo!) Berg is still going strong and developing new items as the situation arises. Before you knock someone for not 'supporting' your request for free engineering courses, realize they are in business, and it gets OLD spoonfeeding hard-learned lessons to someone you know won't spend a nickel on your products, reimburse you for your time, or likely even say 'thank you for your time' after they have milked all your knowledge to then buy a cheap e-bay rip off of your product and install it. Put yourself in their shoes and realize what that feels like to know your on the phone with a time waster. A parasite. Someone looking for valuable information for free. Keep that in mind...

Yes, some of the Chevy Pickups I have rented from Enterprise have had the 'factory tow package' with a class three hitch receiver mounted. I wouldn't go asking about that specifically outside of the context of 'wanting to attach my bike carrier and it goes in a class three 2" hitch receiver'.... That should get you what you need.

You are absolutely wrong there. Isky has a specific section in their catalog with parts and all valvetrain components listed. Not only for L6's but L4's as well. Paeco in Birmingham Alabama also lists the U20, roadster, A-Series in their catalog as well. Like I said, most of the 'revolutionary developments' being 'discovered' in this thread are not that at all. They are simply one person's REDISCOVERY of what is known (or what has been known, then moved on from.) Ignorance plays a big part---people don't ask simply because they don't know who to talk to. History is always a poor subject by kids in school, and as a result with no respect for history, they foster a culture of 'latest is greatest' ignoring what was obviously done and left as good years ago. And to reiterate, you are dead wrong about Isky, they have full L-Valvetrain componentry listed. Valves are not their specialty, you get those someplace else. But cam, rockers, retainers, springs, lash pads, caps.... they got em all. What is in their catalog is what most people ASK for, so that is what is listed. I know, I just did a counter sale last Thursday and came away with a dozen brand-new looking (not rusty as hell like posted someplace else as supplied by another 'specialty vendor') 0.330" Lash Pads... Now as to what 'development' is occurring....I'll lay money there is more actual DEVELOPMENT going on in the USA than in Japan. Show me a 0.750" lift Datsun cam. Chevy's got em. Most people are saying their ports show no increase in flow after 0.620" lift---was that because they have a physical limitation, or is it simply because nobody grinds a cam larger than 0.620"? And be clear here: Kameari is refining and existing part. They are not developing something radically different than what preceeded it (or Wakos, or Isky). What if I told you there was development of a cam with lift of more than 0.620" that would allow more flow? As the saying goes 'there are things going on you don't know about'... and it's not major manufacturers doing this work. It's people who are still using the L-Engine in COMPETITON. Kameari actively campaigns an L-Engine. So they develop their own stuff. Because that is the nature of hot rodding. It always has been. The big manufacturers, like Ben said, are after the largest volume unit market they can have. It's EASIER to make a profit there. This is why Kameari and Tomei parts are priced the way they are: the lower volume market you have, chances are the pricing has to be higher per unit to justify even production much less R&D Efforts, and profit. I'm sure there will be box-thinkers who will give me the old saw about why there is an arbitrary lift limit on L-SOHC Camshafts. They aren't the ones developing a higher lift cam, either. And to be clear on something else: when Isky was apprised of the DEVELOPMENT of a cam for the Datsun as described above, eyebrows were raised, and an enthusiastic 'I'd like to help in any way I can on that project'... Same went for some people at Erson... INDIVIDUALS will have to spend their money if they want something different than what the majors offer. Kamerari will give you what they grind. So will Tomei. Isky has stock grinds, and they can tailor them to an individuals setup with alterations in timing, etc... But there are exciting things being DEVELOPED totally different than anything previously attempted on the Datsun SOHC L. Not that it hasn't been done on other applications. It's just getting the knowledge from one application, and properly adapting it to work elsewhere. And on the subject of Racer Brown Assymetric Cams, I stand by my statement: NOBODY (in the context discussed here, the L-Engine) was grinding an assymetric grind at the time, neither here or in Japan. Nissan did, no aftermarket manufacturer did. Save for Racer Brown. And that was because that was what his 'thing' was, and he did it for Mopars and Chevys as well. Like I said, taking one application and properly adapting it to another process. Adaptive Engineering.

0.016" is a major warpage. If this guy is saying he can clean it up to 0.007-0.008", do the following: 1) Very calmly, go to his shop. 2) Get your head in your hands, and then ask "How much do I owe you for the service so far?" 3) Pay the man, and RUN AWAY TO A SHOP WHAT KNOWS THEIR STUFF! Seriously, this guy does NOT know L-Heads and with his statement, I would NOT let him risk butchering my head into something totally unusable. With 0.016", straightening would be preferrable before decking, and in either case the cam towers will have to come off to check the top surface for straightness as well. If he's asking about cam binding, he's trying to shortcut the job and not go through a cam tower removal, and is trying to just deck one side. If you want this head, get it done correctly. It does NOT sound like your current 'machinist' knows proper procedures. Get your head back, thank him for his evaluation, pay him for his 'inspection' and take it someplace else!

That Weber Manifold looks hand fabricated. Back in the Day, a Japanese Company called 'TBO' had a triple 44IDF manifold that situated the carbs similarly, looked much like the IDF setup on a Ferarri, very close spacing on the manifold, centered. They were very popular at the time to stick a blow-through plenum on and go to 2+ bar boost...That's not a TBO manifold in the photos, though.

"Technology has moved on since the BRE and Electramotive days, how their achievements can be compared with current developments I do not know. " The point being that Racer Brown in the early 70's had asymetric cams. Nobody else did. Then in the early 80's Isky redesigned their original offerings after reverse engineering and coming to the same conclusion Race Brown did 10 years previously. Now, 10 years hence, Sunbelt's claim to fame is a special camshaft with asymetric profile which allows lower spring pressures blah blah blah... By saying just because something was 'developed' 10, 20, 30 years ago must somehow be 'outdated' is a fools errand. Good engineering is timeless. If it's done properly from the start (and I will attest to standard NON-assymetric cams being offered in the 80's in Japan, I owned some!) there really is little to 'improve upon'. I'm simply stating that the engineering and technology existed from the START, just that it took some people years to either figure it out, or rediscover what was once known (but kept as a proprietary secret). Face the facts here: Most aftermarket cam grinders ARE NOT Mechanical Engineers with a specialty in camshaft or induction dynamics. They are technicians for the most part. As far as 'an equivalent' of Kameanari in USA, no, likely not anywhere in the world will there be other than Japan. But for camshafts? Hell yes there is, and that was also the point. Engineering is engineering. It's just so much of the aftermarket for vehicle hard parts is NOT engineered properly, if at all. When you come across something that IS properly engineered, you will find usually it is at the top of the heap when it comes to pricing, and quality.

so that is why my WEP says skynet... I asked my son, he had no clue either...

Enterprise Car Rental will have full size trucks available for daily rental, with or without a daily mileage cap. Usually the bumper hitch they posess will not be sufficient for U-Haul to let you rent an auto transport. But Pep Boys sells a flat towing towbar and mickey mouse lights to drag it on it's own wheels if they are up to it. Been cross country several times with a Z like that! Hell, around the yard I use my Fairlady Z 2/2 with the hitch on the back and my Tow Bar to move 'the hulks' when required! Once you buy that tow-bar, you will be amazed how your vehicle collection grows...

My renting of a U-Haul Auto Transport in San Jose got me for three days at $158, when I could have rented it locally and towed it with my truck up and back in one day (At a cost of $58!) I thought running without the trailer would save time (it does, 80 instead of 65...) one-way. Remember renting trucks usually entails a 0.58 cents per mile charge. What car do you normally drive? Is it larger than a "Z"? Why not put a bumper hitch on it, and simply use a Tow Bar to flat-tow the Z back home? I mean, what is your plan, to FLY out there, rent and tow back? If you're flying, just bring a set of tools, spend the time to get the car running, and take it easy on the way back. 300 miles a day is not a big push at any speed, and the closer you get to home, the easier it becomes to get a local rental to come get it if necessary. "Have tools, will travel!"

Other than ARP Bolts and standard Electronic Balance of the crank, it's how we got it from the junkyard. My thoughts on the stock rod bolts are known already. But this really wasn't the point of the OP. The cast pistons will not handle what the bottom end is capable of doing, so that it 'can' rev to 8000, it's likely not recommended on those cast pistons. If one of them comes apart, it can be 'spectacular'...

Methinks not.... Methinks you are attributing to me someone elses mythology... I believe Chris from BHJ also posted something very nice on how the affected nodes and peaks are effectively dampened by the use of a proper 'pulley' on the snout of the crank. I guess we haven't hit the 12,000 rpm point to see what a 'prepped' stock crank will do, but as Frank280ZX can attest...we have been pretty damned close! Remember the Japanese Scene is invested heavily in DRAG racing as well. The loads encountered there are seriously different from a road racer, or even a Land Speed Competition. VW Guys found running an 8# Damper on the front of the engine made their engines not pound out the case as much when drag racing... What is done to one specific application is many times not something directly applicable or even wanted in another form of application. I would not talk about Crank Breakage as 1) it has NEVER personally happened to me 2) in every case I was privy to a broken crank it has been in Drag Racing, and usually attributed to bad flywheel attachment when investigated. 3) I have several engines running well over 7500 on what I would call a stock unprepped crank, without ever having any problem (other than one incident where the overly-thin snout washer induced a loosening of the bolt and trashing of the snout...and that happens stock. 4) I have consistently said the issue with 'harmonics' is way overblown, especially the "7500 rpm limit" of the VO7 Crank, and have consistently posited that this is a legendary hold-over from the first generation L24 Cranks which were not counterweighted properly. Same as saying engines need an overhaul at 100K miles because that was the standard on a 1956 Chevrolet V-8. "Tain't True, sez I! Tain't True!" <EDIT>15# Flywheel/Clutch assembly 10,500+ rpms at the Dyno Facility used by another person on this board with another rusty old Datsun. No shortening done at all. Hell, the crankshaft holes still have burrs in the balancing hole. TRUST ME when I say, my personally assembled street engine has more crank and block prep done to it than the engines we run in competition. It drives me nuts to see that, but the rationale is 'we have spares' and if something blows having the ability to go to a local junk yard to harvest major component assemblies and install them has GREAT appeal when you don't have a full race trailer to stock prepped shiny spares in!<EDIT>

Apparently Woldson gets it, unfortunately only age and experience will teach what I'm trying to tell, and then, only if someone is willing to keep their mind open to the possibility. Nobody is as blind as someone who refuses to look. I can rationalize all day long on why societal taboos against pederasty should not interfere with my purely self-interested self-gratification with an 8 year old child as well. Or my sister and cousin. Or of buggery of a Sheep. It doesn't make it right. (Sheep commment only applicable outside NZ, AU and other Commonwealth nations not enlightend to the extent they are down-under.)

The old story of the S20 being the preferred competition choice as it was a 9K+ engine, while the L-Gata was not seen in that light (in Japan). There were eyebrows lifted when BRE came back with L24's that outperformed their Japanese Counterparts... As for working with distribution networks, remember I'm an OEM rep, and I deal with customers saying they dealt with XYZ Company all the time---when in fact they NEVER talked with ME, only our DISTRIBUTION. Don't mischaracterize Ron's statements, he is not claiming he taught the Japanese anything, he simply voiced frustration over being a competent engineer, putting questions to the engineers in the racing programs back in Japan regarding the assymetric profile in the L-Engine and getting the typical stonewalling from an OEM. This is nothing new, I do it all the time. Some of this may have to do with face, and not wanting someone to 'show them up'... but at the point Ron was involved the L-Gata was ON THE WAY OUT! There was absolutely no reason not to disclose engineering technical details. So, like I said, they shadow-profiled it, worked the calculations backwards, and with a proper engineering background it's not rocket science to understand what they were doing. The SADDEST part of all this is that I can only think of THREE companies who have done this to the L-Cam in the USA. Racer Brown (who wrote a series of EXCELLENT technical articles on it in the early 70's), Isky, and Sunbelt. Most others still use a symetric cam, and it can be traced back to, in many cases, the original adaptation of BMW Grinds produced by Isky to 'offer something'... When it doubt, fake it. They made power, so people were happy. But there was more to be had. Oh yes, much much more... There was a team at Bonneville in an F/GT 240Z last year, they went 163+mph. By class rules the body must be aerodynamically stock, as offered for sale on the showroom floor. No taped seams, no streamlining...that big open maw... Do the horsepower calculations from the Cd and frontal area on the Aerodynamic Forum and tell me what a bone-stock 240Z needs horsepower-wise to go an honest-to-goodness VERIFIED and independently FIA Certified 163+mph. Then realize the car is under 3.0L, and Normally Aspirated running on Petrol (by class rules). Now, what was all this hubub of Japanese drag racing engines making 400HP again? Do the calculation. Those guys didn't buy a cam from overseas. They found one here in the US of A. "I Wonder Where?" (wink wink, nudge nudge...) It's not that they're not out there. It's just where you don't look, you won't see. And any Bonneville Engine that holds up can make much more HP when cut down for drag usage. Realize those engines are torn apart measured in 10's of miles, if you're lucky. 20 passes on rod bearings... But hey, they make 400HP. A Top Fueler still hasn't reached nor surpassed the Turbo F1 Specific Outputs of the early 1980's. Meh! <EDIT>Let's remember there is MONEY to be had racing L-Gatas in the home market. It's the Small Block Chevy of Japan. There was no such displacement indexed drag racing availabe in the USA until recently. The Best an L could do was maybe 8 seconds in an equivalent Funny Car S30/S130. Not even close to competitive in NHRA competition in the USA. So remember that unless you are looking at places where displacement-limitations rule the classes, in the USA (or Australia, for that matter) Datsun was not much of a competitor in 'quickest down the track' competitions. When you can get contingency money for winning or placing in a drag race, then development will occur, and this is the case in Japan, same as here. They just run the classes differently, and it promoted continued development. At this point, it's more NDRA equivalent (Nostalgia Racing) than anything else. Soon the N/A L Engine will be toast in SCTA where I race as well. It will just take someone to figure out which Toyota can compete in our class and bust our records. It's going to happen. That's the way it is. But we are still hoping to 'wake up' some of the RB Boys with that old L-Gata one more time... in turbo form. We know our benchmark. And yes, these engines are built at home, in our garage. Do we expect to meet the power levels of E-Motive? Possibly, it would be nice. But don't think these engines in Japan are some backyard hobby garage setups. They are full-on racing engines with their life measured in RUNS or HOURS. All competiton engines are. If you have an 8 or 9 second Z Car with an L Engine (or 9-10 second N/A L-Engined Z Car) you are not driving that home, or to the local chemist. And you are pulling it apart regularly doing augury on filters and internals like the Romans in Ancient Times waiting for the telltale sign that the pin has fallen out, the spoon flown off, and the fuse almost to the charge... Don't fool yourself!

"IF any of us were to do something like that. Would you honestly try to go about selling it at $1300. HONESTLY? Obviously if you're entering into the business with the preconceived thought of stealing somebodies work, do you think you would really set the price way high?" Honestly, that's why I don't sell parts or deal in the commercial side of the business in the USA. I do in Europe and Japan, where respect and support are the watchwords. There are few bottom feeders and leeches left in those places simply because the only people who can afford the cars are those who respect the time and dedication it takes to produce parts of high quality. Chinese Rip-Off stuff is popular with Americans stationed in Japan. But not with Japanese. Similarly in Europe. Show me a Joe Schmoe selling Kameari Quality parts before you start using him as an example. When's the last time you priced a full-on Race Head? Think the $300 one you get will perform at the same level as the $3000 one? Sure, a camshaft is a lump of iron. There can't be much to grinding one. There are plenty of cam grinders out there, too. El Inca Racing Cams at the old PCH and Alameda intersection would do one heluva rip-off grind of the original Isky BMW Profile for only $25. Lots of street guys went there for a $25 grind. Beat paying $100 for Isky's stuff. Then again, Isky didn't offer it any more. He developed another profile. If you profile a lot of the cams on the American L Engine Market, you will see many that are simply mirrored copies of Isky's original BMW Regrind. And this goes back to the V2 example. There are plenty of people who can make something look like it. It may have all the 'specifications' spot on, but the two cams will perform RADICALLY different when evaluated. If you don't have a brain in your head, and knock off a copy, don't be surprised when it doesn't work they way you thought it would. The best engineers in Germany for the life of them couldn't figure out why their V2 wouldn't fly! NEVER flew! What you fail to understand about the market is volume. You ASSUME there is a market for a cam at $250. Why would I buy an E-Bay CWC Core for $250 when I can get a properly designed, properly ENGINEERED cam for my specific application for less than HALF that from Isky? Now, if you're saying you can undercut a Cored $105 out the door price for something that works just as well, I might be interested. For $50 I might give up on ElInca for the Lemons cars... For them A BMW grind from 1970 is fine. For real competition I'll stick with Isky. Perhaps one of the reasons Kameari's distributor won't sell to you is you keep mentioning road-racing, and that is not what that cam is really meant to do. Isky wouldn't sell you one either... But back to volume. Perhaps the reason Kameari can still do R&D on these cams is because they price their parts to support the market they are in---pricing to not leave money on the table is a basic tenet of setting up a soul-less MBA in business. You don't work on a volume model when there isn't any volume to be had. You better spend a bit more time in business school. You could sell Yugos for dirt cheap, it doesn't mean people will buy them in enough numbers to support an expansion into this country. Especially after word gets around about how 'well' they work! I'm not at all getting what your shocked comment is about. I'm not shocked, I'm sickened. That someone even puts the idea into print for others to consider is distasteful. I'll support my vendors. The people that have spent years and in some cases decades refining a product to work just perfectly. You put more emphasis on saving a few paltry dollars? Money? You would undercut and copy (EVEN FOR PERSONAL USE) at a lower cost simply to save some money, while at the same timedepriving the vendor of the reward of his years of work? You know, we used to give seminars for our customers on how to rebuild turbos. Sales guys thought it was a stupid idea because they thought that we would loose sales. But the smart people knew it was just the opposite: by educating the customer they would soon realize they don't have the facilities to do it properly and would come to us instead. Many Japanese companies still operate that way today. You can persist in your fantasy, but hopefully you will soon come to the realization that you will grind what you think is the same thing....and you will be sorely disapointed! Oh, and BTW, you might want to do some basic calculations on the bone-stock aerodynamics of an S30, then realize a couple of guys from somewhere showed up at Bonneville in a bone stock (F/GT) 240Z and went 163+mph. Calculate the horsepower required to do that before you poo-pooh American Engineering, and realize their cam isn't from Japan...

I can see it now, me and a few choice friends leaving LA during the apocalypse... Went cheap, $15K. I had the space, it is the ultimate 'urban escape vehicle'!

I wouldn't poo-pooh Ron Iskendarian. The fact that Japanese have their SBC in the L-Gata and take the time to dyno it regularly for numbers is a matter of 'it's their engine'... Dave Rebello is claiming 360+HP on his engines, and admittedly they are not as radically cammed or as high-revving as some cars with Isky stuff. Same goes for Sunbelt. Or older Racer Brown Cams. I know for a fact Iskendarian worked WITH Nissan (though they weren't forthcoming on technical details) so they had to shadow profile the cam and totally reverse engineer it. When you do that, you gain the underlying engineering basis for why ramps are what they are... Perhaps the guys in Japan should try Isky. They can buy 13 cams for the price of one. Surely after that amount of swapping and switching they can find something that works and have some yen left over for a bento or two... The dogma of 'it has to come from Japan or it's shite' is ignoring basic competent engineering principles. Engineers work in all countries. Competent ones at that. This cam work may be 'black art' to some, but when your Father's Name is on the Business, and he paid your way through advanced engineering degrees grinding arguably the best cams in the US Market for many makes and models.... You might think there is a dedication to excellence there that may be worth something. And like Frank said: "There are bigger cams from Isky" but not in their catalogue. Some dunderhead will go grab, in the best 'Dukes of Hazzard' form, the biggest .620" lift, 320 duration, 98 degree overlap cam and put it in his 'high compression' 10.5:1 street screamer and wonder why the stock car performs better... In some cases, it pays to 'call the source'---believe it or not, the people that make the cams DO know their business. At least Ron does. So did his father, Ed. When you do it for 40+ years, and grow up around it, osmosis is a powerful thing on top of a focused engineering course of study in university. Remember, the cams from the USA were the deal breakers on the L24's because the Japanese said they weren't going to be reliable at 9K+... They may make it, but sometimes independent thought works wonders to a conformist attitude prevalent amongst some car manufacturers...

Bonneville engine peaked originally at 7500. Hung there at 7500 for four seasons for minutes at a time... I don't know what 'prepped crank' means, but if it's cleaning it off with solvent and having it dynamically balanced before installing it, then I guess we 'prepped it'. But really, my street car has more work on the internal bottom-end components than what we run at the Races.