Jump to content
HybridZ

P90A head with factory solid lifters?


nscason

Recommended Posts

I haven't heard of this or seen it until right now.

 

Ok, so from everything I have known about turbo Z motors, the '81 and 82 zxt's had the p90 head with solid lifters and came only with an automatic. The '83 had the p90a head with hydraulic lifters and the borg warner t5 5speed. Right?! Or is there a blur between the lines? That is what I have come to know for years now.

 

Months back I finally got around to pulling the front suspension, motor and trans out of an '83 zxt at the local junk yard. It had been there far about 3 years and had THE definition of a rats nest under the hood. All you could see was a valve cover. It worked out for me as a junk yard non-die harder deterrent. I got all of it for somewhere in the 300ish dollar range. Not bad huh? haha It helps to take the yard attendant a case of his favorite beer ;) 

 

I just barely got around to building my crazy turbo setup for my Z. I had all the parts I needed except for the different pick up tube/screen for the turbo pan with the rear sump. Figured I would tear the turbo motor apart for later use and grab the tube in the process. One thing that I didn't take much notice too was that the "Nissan Turbo" valve cover wasn't all square and boxy like I have always noticed in the past. This one is rounded with nice rounded corners and had the factory black wrinkle coating.

 

Pulled the turbo and manifolds off. Went to take off the valve cover and.......

 

SOLID LIFTERS!!! what the hell?!? 

 

Was this car a special edition or one of the first off the line marked as an '83 before the started implementing the hydraulic lifters???

 

Has anyone encountered this before? Needless to say, my plans for this motor have changed slightly. worked out for me I suppose. I have the factory Intake and fuel rail that I don't need as well of a set of hydraulic lifters from an actual p90a head. The lifters are in pretty good shape, If anyone is interested shoot me a PM. What do you guys think? Crazy huh?

 

IMG_0919.jpg

IMG_0920.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Negative. I removed the lifter base from the head. There was no Insert or even the oil passage hole for the hydraulic lifter. This head that I have has never had a different setup. There was absolutely no signs that the motor has been messed with. It appears that the motor has never been taken apart, rebuilt or even ran hard. The head had the original factory machining marks on the head mating surface. My machinist buddy that has been building motors for 50 plus years, confirmed my suspicions. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thats the jest of it. I wasn't interested in the hydraulic lifter head what so ever. I needed the other parts and will use the block for a stroker build if all of the rest of my build goes well. But hey, nothing wrong with this perfectly good transitional/hybrid head. So I'm going to save myself some time of messing with a different head and clean and reassemble this one. All I need to do is open up the intake ports to the size of my lonewolf race runner intake manifold. My initial plan was to use the E31 head from a 240z I have with the stock bottom end that I know is good and rebuilt about 8 years ago. The block from my '77, not the motor to the 240z. The condition of that motor is unknown at the moment. It was sitting out in the desert for 20 years. The E31 would have given me a little higher compression from the stock 8.3:1 to 8.6:1ish. I would have had to drill the holes for the fuel injection. Screw it though. I'll go with the turbo head and perfect valve train. hahaha Lower compression means more boost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is old news, the only people persisting in insisting P90A must be hydraulic are internet phantoms that likely haven't touched an L-Series much less any other vehicle.

This is all over. You need to read the second page of Google Results, the first page is generally mind-numbed parrots squawking about the Internet myth in support of whatever...many without ever doing anything but reading Internet sites.

Edited by Tony D
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...