inline6

Crankshaft should be arriving any day now. Can't wait... In the mean time, I've learned from reading the forums that combustion chambers should be polished - not glass beaded! So, I did that. You can see the undercut on the side of the chamber here. I was copying a 510 head I had done by Malvern racing long ago. I also learned from the forums that the N42 block is the one to use for 89 mm bore. Wow. I was going to use my F54 block. Luckily, I still have my N42 block from an earlier motor. How about this casting flash??? I spend a couple of hours with an air powered hand held belt sander... belts are 3/8" wide by 13" long, one of my latest tool aquisitions. Going through belts rather faster than I had hoped. I am using Norton 60 grit. Looks like it is going to take about 5 to do most of the inside of the block. Anyone have some left over Glyptal on the shelf? I don't think it takes a full quart to do one block, but that is the only quantity I can find for sale.

Are those carbs modified (tapered bores)... or standard bore? The openings look bigger than original. Also, why did you make an impression of the pistons? That was just to get an idea of the volume of the pop up?

I'm no engine builder, but I think it is somewhat common that bores are out of round by .001" even when freshly machined. At least, that is what I recall a performance L series engine builder telling me once. I recall him saying something about his cylinders being rounder than many because of his equipment (and something about honing technique) and that because they were rounder, engines he bored would break in quicker than some. So, I'm sure one of the more qualified will weigh in (and their comments should be worth more than mine), but I'm thinking all you may have to deal with a slightly longer break in period. Other than that, with fresh hone and new rings, I think you will be fine.

Yeah, he doesn't have what I need. I'm in no hurry. I've got 3 carbs that will make a good triple setup. Just need a couple of parts to finish the rebuilds. Will consider whatever people have. I could use a usable main body... Have two side feed float covers with one top feed... Anybody have some with age, heavy use, etc. just kicking around, let me know. G

I need a couple of Mikuni parts... I believe these are the same for 40 and 44. 1 float height/support spring - number 16 in the Mikuni manual. 1 throttle shaft spring - not labled separately in the manual (goes on the throttle shaft between the two bores. Could also use left side (when face bore entrance) throttle bracket, spring, etc. Could be interested in some 39 or 40 chokes as well (these are for the 44's)

I don't really think I need a full quart (which is how it is sold) to do one block. Just wondering if anyone has some usable Glyptal on their shelf that they think might outlast them before they ever use it again. Let me know.

I have a bunch of LD28 parts I'm looking to get rid of... and I'm in Barboursvile, VA. Let me know if you need anything (the crank is gone).

Nice. That makes for a really nice rod to stroke ratio. Pin height on those pistons is going to be what... about 25mm? G

$928 including shipping. The website has seriously cool parts for z cars... but most are way overpriced. http://www.rhdjapan.com

So the box is £160 plus shipping - which is currently $261US plus shipping. He sold me a cosmetic blem for a few dollars less... Here is the website: http://www.mjpshop.co.uk/product_info.php?id=113&pid=437 I paid by PayPal. Here is the contact info: Mike Feeney at MJP (Eastern Auto) Brentwood, Essex Here is a thread on zclub.net with lots of info about the box: http://zclub.net/forum/240z-260z/16484-air-box-fitting-tips.html

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that if I don't lick them, I'll only knock one year off my life. But, they are so pretty, I am thinking about licking them.

Kameari parts arrived today from Japan. Only took 4 days for delivery! No customs or duties...

Interesting combo. How long are the FJ20 rods? I'll be using some Eagle aftermarket rods from a Toyota Celica. They are 5.428" long and weigh about 565 grams. Here is a link to some of my engine build info. These numbers have changed just a touch, but I'll update the info at the link soon: EngineBuild The air box I have is a direct copy of the TWM box by the way. I confirmed that - contacted the guy that originally made them. Now they are sold by someone else. Don't know if you plan on using a TWM box with the TWM manifold... Anyway, this one is much better quality than the TWM box (I got one of those with the FI setup I bought on eBay). This one is made of fiberglass. The walls are a bit thicker also. I think it was around $250 with no customs or duties. Let me know if you would like the contact info.

I believe I have one of those also - I saw it a couple of days ago. I think you got the injection pump from me? Garrett

How about this? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1968-70-DATSUN-ROADSTER-2000-U-20-WATER-PUMP-PULLEY-/330547935555?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4cf6313943#ht_500wt_1182

No crankshaft yet... getting antsy. Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the in air box (from England) and filter arrangement. I had to cut a hole in the firewall for the 3" inlet. Not sure where I am going to put the air filter yet. Probably will cut the pipe a bit shorter and move the filter out of the air stream for the radiator. Radiator is a crossflow unit from Jags that Run.

The first round of work was done by Citizen's Machine Shop - Richmond VA. I did not go back to give them a chance to correct things. With the type and number of problems I discovered when I looked it over, I decided I'd be more comfortable just taking it elsewhere.

I got in touch with Bryan at Maloney Competition systems and had him fix the head. The level of detail is incomparable. Bryan determined that the head (already milled by the previous shop) had a slight bow to it (flat edge on original top surface showed this). L series owners should know that having warped heads is common and something that the machine shop should look out for. Before any remachining is done, the head needs to be checked for straightness, and then corrected via heating, if at all possible, on a perfectly flat surface to get any warp out of it. If your shop doesn't have experience doing this and the head is warped, IMO, you are asking for trouble by proceeding with machining. Since my head had already been milled on the head gasket surface, (and the head was still bowed on the top surface, that meant that the cam towers were out of alignment. He meticulously milled the cylinder head surface where the cam towers touch the head (not the whole top of the cylinder head, to account for the warping, which realigned the cam tower holes. Though I could turn the cam by hand before, now it turns with very little effort. That frees up some horsepower... Additionally, he fixed the seats by recutting them, took out all of the intake guides that had just been installed (one of them was cracked by the way) and machined the ends of the new ones like I wanted, and installed and sized them to fit. Finally, my combustion chambers were cc'd, and 1,2 and 4,6 were modified to match 3 and 4, as they were larger (thanks to the slight bowing/warping of the cylinder head (see, I told you that you should have it straightened before you machine any surface!) He also determined necessary lash pad sizes and then cut oversized lash pads (the only ones that were available at the time) to the sizes needed in a mill, and did final assembly. We're about to start on the bottom end now. I hope to have that done by June. Thanks John for the recommendation. If anyone is interested in having Bryan look at their stuff, he is interested in more L series work. As John stated, he is in Martinsville VA. Next time I go there, maybe I'll take some pics of his shop and put them up here.

I replaced my stock steering shaft ujoints, and I notice that my Delrin steering coupler has some cracking going on. I like the feel of it just fine, but I don't see a source for them. I do see a couple of poly versions available. Anyone have experience with both? If I go poly, am I going to loose some stiffness? Anyone know of a source for the Delrin ones? Garrett

For years, my steering ujoints have had some slop in them, and it has been bothering me. I looked several times for replacements, but until now, I couldn't find a solution. Then I came across this thread on classiczcars.com: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25012 Well, I called the place mentioned, Simmons, that is in Tucson. They had them in stock. I paid about $38 each, I think, plus shipping. I bought them a couple of months ago, but I just got around to taking the column out, pulling the old ones, cleaning things up, installing the new ones, etc. I was told to reuse the old clips, so I did, but I think the new ones would have worked also. They may have been a few thousandth's thinner... Anyway, they worked great. So, rather than post the part number and have everyone source them at will, I figured I send them some more business as a reward for having done the work to search through their inventory and find a match. Here is there contact info: Simmons Driveshaft Specialists www.simmonsautorepair.com *FIXED per post below* Simmons Auto Repair 3743 S. Country Club Tucson, AZ 85713 520-884-0217 Finished assembly

After I have the motor together, this TWM 45 setup is going on to replace the Mikuni's. I plan to use the Electromotive FI for ignition with both setups... get the Mikuni combo dyno'd and then switch over to see how much more I get from the FI. TWM 45 mm throttle body FI set up: Electromotive tec FI/ignition:

The head is a late style E88. Here is what the combustion chamber looks like stock (taken from the pinned post in this forum which identifies the heads): The combustion chamber on this head is certainly not the most ideal, but I'm hoping it won't hurt things much with my combination. The cc's are 45.6. Mine has been milled about .017" total. With flat topped (forged) pistons, the compression ratio is going to be about 10.7 to 1. If I put a dome on the pistons, I can get some quench back, yes?

I'm finally going to be building a full custom engine. I hope to have it built over the next couple of months. I worked all winter on the cylinder head... Porting, unshrouding valves, porting intake manifold, rebuilding Mikuni 44's, refacing intake manifold etc. The crank is at the cam grinder. It is being offset ground for more stroke, lightened, balanced, and NPT plugs installed. It should be coming back across the country to my engine builder this week. I'll be certain to get some pics before it goes in the block. For now, here are some pics of the Mikuni setup and the cylinder head and cam. The cam is a Sunbelt grind.

You are probably right Pete. I really don't have any experience with building motors. I have had a couple of heads done and put them on myself, but that is about it. I've been wanting to build a really nice L series motor since I was 18... So, I have arrived at this combo after spending a bunch of time in the forum and am basing it on other's comments. The motor is going to cost a bag of money, no doubt. But, the rods are in hand, and the crank is at the crank grinder... I guess I will start a motor build thread soon and will follow it all the way through to dyno sessions to see what all this extra effort is worth (or how little it is worth).