cygnusx1 Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Where can I get lash pads for a P90? I am in the process of checking wipe patterns on a "rebuilt" P90 head that I have. Before I put it on the car, I might need to change some lash pads. I want to find a place that can get them to me quickly if I need some. I will try to use the BRAAP method using feeler gauge shims to get the correct thicknesses for proper wipe before I order them. I have an L28 engine complete, and my old P90A head that I could rob parts from. Would they work for a P90? (assuming proper thickness). Is Nissan the only source? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 I will give you the ones off my P90a hydrolic. If you want them. The condition of the engine that I have these parts is old. The bearing search will shed some light. They are yours for free plus shipping (not free:)) I can mic them if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 MSA and Isky Cams both had them. Unfortunately, each place only had 8 of the size I needed, so I bought 16 total and shipped 'em off to Frank280ZX in an overnight UPS envelope so he could set up his engine. They're cheap enough. But ultimately they all come from Nissan... If you have a friend with a surface grinder posessing a magnetic chuck you buy the 'thick ones' and simply surface grind them down to the thickness you need. You can do one at a time if you like... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 When Malvern Racing was still in business, they had them. When I was doing Lseries motors (a decade ago) he was local to me, near Charlottesville Va. I know he died a few years back, but don't know who took over the business... 271 Malvern Farm Dr, Charlottesville, VA 22903-7440, United States Phone: (434) 971-9668 There's still an active listing for the company, so give them a try on Monday and they may be able to help you out... You could also try Dave at: http://www.thezdoctor.com/ Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 Thanks guys. I pulled some out of my L28 which were thinner than the ones that were in the old solid P90A that I found. I am half way through checking the wipe patterns on the P90A and was able to get the patterns pretty close to even with about 1/16" from the bottom edge of the pad by using pads from the L28 motor. Since the P90A still has the factory cam, it's not super critical. The cam only uses about 75-80% of the wipe area. The head that I found was in great shape but the valves were rusty, so I had new valves put in, and 5 angle seats cut. The cam, guides, rockers show almost zero wear. It must have been a low mile 280ZX that was parked for a long time. I am finally getting away from the hydraulic lifters. I think I'll miss the quietness but I won't miss the occasional tapping when they lose pressure. I still think this is a valuable thread as these parts are getting harder to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I am finally getting away from the hydraulic lifters. I think I'll miss the quietness but I won't miss the occasional tapping when they lose pressure. I still think this is a valuable thread as these parts are getting harder to find. Firstly, regarding the second point I quoted.. Yes! That is the only reason I have read this thread. Secondly, regarding solid vs hydro lifters... I was born and raised in 240Zs, about half of them running 2.8L, E88 head, and about half running SUs and half running triples. (no con-incidence of displacement and carburetion, just broad experience) The first car I bought myself (a year after getting my Geo for HS graduation) was my 75 280Z, bone-stock. Other than the whirring of the fan (never did get around to dealing with that) it had just the same, perfect engine sound I always loved, despite the EFI. Not identical, but neither were SUs and triples; heck, an exhaust change CHANGES the sound a bit.. so, fast-forward to after my wee fire five years later, I am driving this POS 87 subaru I have now.. the engine has hydraulic lifters. They tend to have a problem with ticking.. ALOT. There are several causes, but these subaru engines get lifter noise so often, and it is so harmless (within a degree) that it is jokingly called TOD (Tick Of Death.) So, I get a baptism by fire on living with noisy hydraulic lifters. Of course, when I have nice, clean oil and it is full and everything is kosher, no TOD and its nice... ...but in the end, I realized that a MAJOR source of the engine sound that I love so much on the Z is, indeed, the sound of the solid valvetrain. I have confirmed this theory through and through. (By listening carefully to the sounds that got louder when I popped the oil cap off) To me, solid valvetrain is like a timing chain.. If it is at ALL "noisier" it is a noise I WANT to hear coming from my engine!! I cannot say whether or not I have heard a hydraulic valvetrain on an L-motor.. but my dad DID own an 83 Turbo, which "should" have had a P90a, and we never DID get that thing to sound as much like a Z as it should have... we attributed that to the turbo and stock exhaust, but I was a neophyte at the time (14? 15 maybe?) so I never would have known; all I know is all these turbo exhaust clips I hear now are NOTHING like what my dad's car sounded like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 fast z Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Lash pads can just be faced off, on a lathe with 883 carbide cutters, just make sure your lathe is tramed in correctly, so you get a nice flat surface to mate with the top of the valve. I have made my own lash pads also before, just have to know the correct steel and heat treat process to use. When you have a customers head that has to ship in one day, and you dont have the correct lash pad, you cant wait a week on shipping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted July 28, 2008 Author Share Posted July 28, 2008 ...or a vice and a sharp file. Which is what I did last night to get number one cylinder intake wipe pattern correct. I filed 0.002" off the top side of the lash pad with a good hand file and steady hand. It came out really smooth and pretty even across the pad. I don't think these are case hardened so it should be fine. I will inspect it and watch the clearance for growth after a few hundred miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 I'm resurrecting this old thread to see if anyone has any current sources for thicker lash pads? I need a mix of .210 and 220". Courtesy Nissan says that Nissan says they are out of stock and in the process of finding a new source but don't know when that will happen. MSA is in the same boat. I've called a few smaller shops and they all get them from Nissan. I spoke with Ron Iskandarian who reground the cam and he's checking for their source, but right now he only has .180". Any other sources to suggest? Also, I'm using Schneider retainers and want to confirm that they are tall enough to securely hold these larger lash pads. I know the stock retainers are too shallow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2eighTZ4me Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 OK - wait a second. I was under the impression that ALL stock lash pads are .180" - regardless of the motor they came from. I've pulled them from N42's, P90's, N47's MN47 - and they've all mic'd out at .180. Someone correct me if I'm wrong - but all the empirical evidence that I've come up with from experience show this to be true. Have you tried Nissan again lately? I just put in a call to my parts guy at a dealership and he's looking for the 210s and 220s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 OK - wait a second. I was under the impression that ALL stock lash pads are .180" - regardless of the motor they came from. I've pulled them from N42's, P90's, N47's MN47 - and they've all mic'd out at .180. Someone correct me if I'm wrong - but all the empirical evidence that I've come up with from experience show this to be true. Have you tried Nissan again lately? I just put in a call to my parts guy at a dealership and he's looking for the 210s and 220s. Pretty sure my stock pads were .120" (N42 head). Also last I checked (just a couple of years ago), Isky had retainers that worked with taller pads, and they were available in chromoly or titanium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Pretty sure my stock pads were .120" (N42 head). Also last I checked (just a couple of years ago), Isky had retainers that worked with taller pads, and they were available in chromoly or titanium. That's my understanding as well: .120" is stock. I believe some later ones had a depression machined in the bottom so that just measuring the outer thickness would result in a larger value than actual. I was speaking with Ron at Isky yesterday and he's checking if they can source some others. You are correct: his retainers have no problem with taller lash pads. But I'm trying to avoid spending more than I have to since I already have the Schneiders on the car. FYI, I did find an old post where BRAAP suggested JDM Creations for some Kamaeri lash pads. I've got an email into him to see if he can still get them. They're $10.95 each - ouch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Wow, not in April Frank280ZX and I were in Isky and took delivery of a full cam setup from there complete with some 0.300" (or slightly thicker) lash pads. Don't get hung up on a specific size, as mentioned earlier in the thread: cutting down to correct thickness is very easy. Any machine shop with a magnetic deck and surface grinder can do this job a full set at a time...though facing them initially to get them close with a lathe or bridgeport would save time and stone face on the surface grinder. They all cost the same, to when in doubt buy thick and cut down to size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Tony, I wish I had access to the machine shops that you have. Here in the Denver metro area I haven't found those shops yet. If others can recommend one, please chime in. FYI, a few years ago when I wanted to lighten my flywheel I had to drive 50+ miles each way to the only shop that would turn it on a lathe. Then I had to go another 30 miles each way in the opposite direction to get it balanced. "Full Service Machine Shop" is a radical concept out here At times like these I wish I still lived in the Bay area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Denver has those machine shops! For gawds sake it's an OIL PATCH! Any competent machine shop dealing in oil and gas production repairs will have all of these items. Failing that, call your local Ingersoll-Rand Master Distributor (in your local Yellow Pages), ask for the service manager, and ask them what shop they use to do the grinding on their Centac Bearing Shims. They have to be surface ground to a size determined after setup of axial clearance on the impellers. They come 1/2" thick, and must be ground to size---same scenario as Datsun Lash Pads!. They use a magnetic chuck surface grinder, blanchard grinder, Bridgeport Mill, or at last resort a Lathe. This is basic 1800's machinist stuff, there is nothing special about this! ANY industrial machine shop will have this. Hell, I almost bought a small surface grinder for my own use when I worked for I-R. Our guy (laid off) in Oregon has one in his shop for that purpose. Come to think of it, he had a 240 at one time... Maybe Gary wants to do some lash pad grinding? Who knows. But there is no reason you can't get thick pads ground down in Denver. I would lay money were I to fly in I could find a shop 'cold turkey' in less than 15 minutes of looking. I do it for a living, and I've yet not been able to find a place to surface grind shims for a Centac. (And that means not speaking the language, drawing pictures, and doing this work on 6 continents. I will admit to some trepidation upon having difficulty in Antartica if I ever have to go, but feel confident that they would be provisioned with a surface grinder for repairs in one of the scientific stations scattered about...) As for a 50 mile drive one way.... If you want it in your back yard, buy it. Otherwise no matter where you are you will have to deliver the parts. All my places in LA are IN LA. I don't live there, I'm 120KM inland. ANY job requires me to go to places in the south bay and means at least a 120 ir not 140 MILE round trip. Yeah, I got access to everything, and I have no issue DRIVING to get to them. Sounds like your flywheel machine shop is closer than mine! Come to think of it, your machine shop is closer to me than MSA is... And I go there on a regular basis without giving it a second thought! Apparently the bay area is closer and more convienient than LA or Denver. But I refuse to live in the middle of an industrial area simply because my wife would make my life an undending hell. Don't make it sound like I just walk down the street to get my stuff done, nor that I have some easy time of it because it's "LA"---yeah, we got stuff everywhere, but I don't live near ANY of it. That's a choice I made, as did you. WE live with our choices. Complaining about it won't change it, and is really counterproductive. "Get busy livin, or get busy dyin" was how someone put it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inline6 Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 I'm resurrecting this old thread to see if anyone has any current sources for thicker lash pads? I need a mix of .210 and 220". Courtesy Nissan says that Nissan says they are out of stock and in the process of finding a new source but don't know when that will happen. MSA is in the same boat. I've called a few smaller shops and they all get them from Nissan. I spoke with Ron Iskandarian who reground the cam and he's checking for their source, but right now he only has .180". Any other sources to suggest? Also, I'm using Schneider retainers and want to confirm that they are tall enough to securely hold these larger lash pads. I know the stock retainers are too shallow. I am looking for .180" - but just spoke with someone at Isky and he said they only have .175". Bummer. Next size up they have in stock is .263 I think he said. 3 seems odd... Maybe he said 260's Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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