J Taylor Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 I called up top-end performance today since they listed motor and headwork, etc for nissan engines. Got a quote of $1600 for a full head job, oversize SS valves and all kinds of **** I can't name at the moment plus a new cam...seems like it was 490 lift and 270/274 duration. It was alot of work but seems like an awfull lot of money for it. Does this sound right to anyone or overpriced? Can anyone recommend another place to do headwork that is good? Thanks, JT ------------------ 1978 280z with 280zx turbo motor. Big turbo, big intercooler, and alotta boost. 8.4 @ 90 1/8 mile with a bad bad traction problem. 1994 Mustang Cobra with a few mods..... http://turbotaylor.homestead.com/files/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 Well my first reaction is that that is a hell of a lot of dough. But that said, I have no idea what the SS valves would go for. I payed around $250US to have a stock rebuild done, valve job, surface plane, etc. Sorry I can't really offer much more advice. Try asking 240z Turbo about it, I believe that he had all that done on his head and more. (And I also think that he had a lot of problems with TEP too) ------------------ Richard Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 J, That price seems ballpark, provided the work is good. I paid a guy in Colorado almost $1300 for my turbo head -- thats a new camshaft and lifters, resurfacing, some mild valve unshrouding and stock valves. Maybe I paid too much, but I'll tell you the job was done right. If you pay less and it's not done right, you paid WAY too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 Oh, and by the way, new lifters for that P90 head are d@mn expensive (almost $20 each)-- and you have to get new lifters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Speaker Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 wow man thats a lot of money... goin that big eh? sounds cool... i just planned on buying the Z motorsport 280zx turbo camshaft... the one with 264degree and .460 lift... (i think thats it) and getting the head ported by someone in town... like the place that did the heads for my Z32TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clint78z Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 I have heard alot of bad things about top ends service, try rebello or sunbelt . Likely SS are not needed for your application, other than a quality valve job and some minor port work is all that is probably required . Spend the money on the turbo, intercooler or EFI system where it counts . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Speaker Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 trouble is; he's got a BIG turbo it just spools slow; and lots of us here in Mobile think its because of some bottleneck its prolly the head design or something is what we think.. anyone got an idea why the turbo spools so slow? we're talking 4000rpms... i need to know the source of this too; because i can now drop some money into my own car and i plan to run a very similar setup to Jon's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fast Frog Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 I agree with Clint78Z!! I've had dealings with Top-End P several yrs ago was not impressed. They took me to the cleaners on a Elecetomotive Tec-I setup I purchased from them but wouldn't allow me to trade it in on a more advanced setup after just 2 days of struggling to get the Tec-I to work. Remember, you're not building a naturally aspirated set up where you're trying to coax every bit of air flo possible with all sorts of flo enhancements. With forced induction, you've got volumes of air just sitting there waiting at the intake. Some head work helps, but all and all, spend most of that $1600 on the things that Clint mentioned. Regarding cams, I went thru 9 diff cams with that turbo setup I had and found very little diff in performance above the stock cam. I found the "D-1" from Bill Gude Performance of Calif to be a touch better than stock and The "C" cam, from what used to be Datsun Competion, to be a touch better than stock. The thing about using a cam with a turbo setup is that you want little to no overlap between valve opening and closing. That means shorter duration and modest lift (.480-.490) Good Luck!! [This message has been edited by Fast Frog (edited March 13, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clint78z Posted March 14, 2001 Share Posted March 14, 2001 The P90 is a fairly good flowing head, use a little cleanup around the valve guides . It could have a bit better design for detonation resistance, but is good for an older design . Any cam other than stock is probably a waste of time for most people . If get a higher lift cam it will tank your low rpm and make it worse. The turbo shoves all the air the engine can use at high rpm . You can shave the P90 to give 8.5:1 compression which will give you more low rpm punch . You have the Vtrim, with Bell intercooler, and 3" exhaust . Perhaps your wastegate is not closing all the way, or mabey tuning is off. You don't have aftermarket EFI do you, more than likely low rpm A/F ratios are not quite on giving poor throttle response and spoolup . I would suspect poor fuel managment from the Bell FMU is giving you the problems . There are more than a few stock P90 heads pushing +300hp . [This message has been edited by clint78z (edited March 13, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted March 14, 2001 Share Posted March 14, 2001 J.. $1600 is reasonable for a head, Dave will charge you similar (Rebello) but he does Top quality work, have had no problems with how he's treated me. SS valves are good for intake but not needed for exhaust side. he has all sorts of stuff he can do depends on $$, one of my heads has been milled for larger chevy springs , Ti retainers etc.... (race car) for the street car i would just freshend the head , mild porting, new intake valves , and try it out. OH and get the SDS ------------------ Mike mike@fonebooth.com http://www.outlaw-brakes raceparts and brake upgrades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Taylor Posted March 15, 2001 Author Share Posted March 15, 2001 SCCA: Yeah, since the headwork and stuff is going to cost me that much I will probably go ahead with the SDS next. Going to throw a 9" in there somewhere as well. I am ultimately shooting for well over 450+hp at the wheels with this car so when I do the head I want to go ahead and do everything now so I don't have to have more done later. Planning to build a bottom end maybe the first part of next year to hopefully handle that kinda power. Just trying to figure where to put the extra money from selling the 18" wheels at the moment. JT ------------------ 1978 280z with 280zx turbo motor. Big turbo, big intercooler, and alotta boost. 8.4 @ 90 1/8 mile with a bad bad traction problem. 1994 Mustang Cobra with a few mods..... http://turbotaylor.homestead.com/files/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clint78z Posted March 15, 2001 Share Posted March 15, 2001 Here would be my picks 1. Aftermarket EFI 2. Forged Pistons, ARP rod bolts and head studs, HKS gasket 3. Headwork if you want that much power, also I would recomend a good engine builder for the entire assembly. 4. New clutch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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