nissan2ner831 Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 As we all know, the L-series engines are tilted to one side....other than clearance for the hood, is there any other reason for this?? It's not seen in most other motors now from what I can think about, so I was just wondering what is the reason for this?? Sorry for the noob-ish question, I just was thinking about this and just want to know why (it will drive me crazy if I don't figure out why lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 room for the intake manifold. you'll notice most inline motors are canted to allow as long as possible intake runners. the RB series motors are tilted the OTHER way, as the intake is on the side of the motor that holds the spark plugs on an L motor. same with KA's, they are tilted towards the drivers side as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissan2ner831 Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 room for the intake manifold. you'll notice most inline motors are canted to allow as long as possible intake runners. the RB series motors are tilted the OTHER way, as the intake is on the side of the motor that holds the spark plugs on an L motor. same with KA's, they are tilted towards the drivers side as well. haha alright, so its just for clearance for the most part, and to allow longer intake runners? I thought I was reading somewhere that tilting the L-series more has some kind of advantage because of the non-crossflow set up (someone may have been talking out of their ass, I don't know lol) but you tilt it too far and you have to switch to a dry sump system (again according to this random information I found somewhere on the internet....the dry sump requirement would make sense, but I don't see how tilting the engine more would give any benefit other than fitting a taller engine...like an LD28 block I guess). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 If you can find pics of the electramotive 280ZX race cars engine from the early to mid 80's, htat engine was almost on its side, it was tilted so far. I beleive THEY did it for a better, lower center of gravity as well as allowing room for long intake runners and a completely awesome bundle of snakes looking equal length runner turbo header. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rolling Parts Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 I doubt if it's just for clearance since having just one "short mount" (that makes the engine tilt just slightly) does not have any big change the overall engine height. My only guess was that it was done for some sort of torque/torsional reason but that's just a pure wild guess that's probably wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAG58 Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 If you've ever tried to put an L series engine in there straight, before it leans over, it's quite a bit taller, especially visible at the front of the motor where the hood would hit. It also has the fantastic qualities of longer intake runners as mentioned and in the case of the RHD cars, it gives a more even weight distribution with much of the engine on the passenger side of the car. The torque/torsion effects (using the entire body as a lever help reduce the effect of torque on the car) is more effected by the fact that the L series is slightly offset in the engine bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc052685 Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 weight distribution Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rolling Parts Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 If you've ever tried to put an L series engine in there straight, before it leans over, it's quite a bit taller, especially visible at the front of the motor where the hood would hit. /quote] Well, I actually have an L28 sitting on an engine run stand; it uses the crosmember of a 280ZX. The top edge of the drivers side of the engine actually does not lower when the engine is tipped slightly to the passenger side. Basically it remains the same height as it arcs over through about 10 degrees. I'll have an other look tonight and measure it precisely. Of course Nissan could have mounted it nore vertically and adjusted the "power bulge" in the hood accordingly. As far as intake runners, they don't go very far at all in a stock engine. Since the same leaning is in the ZX (and the engine bay is HUGE) so I realy don't think that space limitations are a valid reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktm Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Aligning center of gravityied to reduce induced moment. You can see this when on an engine stand. With just the block and head, the COG is basically along the centerline of the block. Spinning the engine on the stand is easy either side of the COG since it is "balanced". Add the intake and exhaust manifolds, and the composite COG is now towards the drivers side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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