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HybridZ

l-series inline 4 swap


olie05

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Has anyone swaped out their L6's for L4's? (l-series nissan of course) I thought of this when trying to find other ways to lighten up the z. Didn't an inline 4 come in the japanese z's? Also, what would be the Ideal inline 4 to run in a z? I know there was one that had a higher deck height... would that be the one to use for the long rod/stoke ratio? Thanks

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Yeah I'm talking about the old school inline 4's. I know the sr20 would be tight, but the l4 would be a challenge to get power out of and would mate up to the tranny (right?), which is one thing the sr20 doesn't do...

 

I'm also thinking along the lines of autocross, if that helps you to understand my reasons for coming up with such a swap...

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that the 4Cyl Z's were ever offered outside of Japan and are probably very rare and hard to come by. IF you were able to get your hands on one you would most likely have a bear of a time trying to find any sort of parts for it. There are quite a few people here running the L6's in Autocross events.

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The one with the higher deck height is the L20B. It can be (and has) bored out to take 240sx pistons, and make a pretty stout 2.3L from it. I'm pretty unconvinced that even this setup would be a step in the right direction over the L6 as far as power to weight ratio goes. Even a stout 2.3L probably makes no more than power than a L2.8 does stock, and the weight difference isn't as much as you would expect either. (true you have 2/3 of the mass of the head, block, etc. but you still have the same mass in tranny, accessories, etc) I'd expect the difference in weight to be in the area of 100lbs, and the difference in potential power being a greater overall percentage. (you might be saving 5% in the weight of the car, but you are losing ~25% in displacement, and likely power as well)

 

Not to say it can't be done or done well, I just think it's likely a performance decreasing modification in the end. Feel free to prove me wrong though. ;)

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I don't think it's a good idea, for the same reasons Drax240 stated. You're shaving 2 cylinders off, and the motor's naturally aspirated. You can squeeze maybe 200-210 crank hp on pump gas if you build it right. Or you can get an sr20det making 205hp in factory form weighing about 50 lbs more at most, and running 7psi. Turn it up to 11 psi without changing any internals, and you're good to go

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Guest ON3GO

I agree with the others and i wouldnt think it would be at a step in the better direction.

i do disagree on one thing. I rather have a KA Turbo then a SR, and would love to have a CA18DET over the SR20DET too.

But i like power and torque and the KA just yells "build me mike!"

 

mike

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IME, and it is very limited with the KA, the lifters in the KA can't handle autox. They bleed down and the engine rattles really really bad for several minutes after a run with a not very prepared vehicle. I'm not sure how much permanent damage that causes (if any), but it seems to happen with KAs and VGs. There might be a fix for that too (I know very little about them), but I thought I should share.

 

If you are really planning on autoxing you might want to consider what class this will put you in. You'll probably go into some really fast mod class with a weaker 4 cyl.

 

A friend of mine just build an L20B with 6" rods, big overbore, and I think the crank was Z22, but I'm not positive on that one. Head was the peanut chamber head from SSS 510 with 1.5" runners. Pretty sweet, but I'd rather have the extra torque and hp from the 6.

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If you were looking to do this, I think the proper way to go would be a KA24DE, the DOHC KA. I dont think those lifters bleed down, and there is a solid lifter conversion kit available for the SOHC KA. I know the KA's can handle abuse, as I knwo quite a few people in a local 240sx car club that drift the shit out of them. I think the way to go would be either a KA-T, there was someone who pulled 404rwhp on a STOCK motor at 18psi, not bad, OR an L/KA hybrid. Ive been toying with this for a while. Use an L20B, bore it out for KA pistons, then put a DOHC KA head on it. the KA crank is NOT fully counterweighted, but the L20B is. It is possible, the only problem would be the timing gears on it, youd have to have a custom crank gear made or modify an old toyota 22R to fit on the L series crank snout.

 

Mack

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Guest ON3GO

well i guess ill say something ive been keeping on the low down.

i have a S14 KA24DE motor and tranny will be putting in a Z. I was gonna do it to this blue Z but im putting in a L28ET for now.

i think ill just build up the KA and turbo the hell out of it then ill put it in another Z ill pick up.

Im not sure what direction ill go with the KA-T car, so far the Hulk Z is gonna be a test mule/street racer, the Blue Z is getting setup for drifting so im not sure what ill do with the KA Z.. maybe drag, not sure.

I love KA motors, i think nissan did a great job on them and they can make alot of power with the right setup!

 

Mike

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