Fairlady - L20a motor pulled from the Fairlady.

Pulled the motor out this weekend and took everything apart. The head has been taken off before since it had felpro gaskets but the bottom end still had the original nissan gaskets and looks like it hasn't been touched.

I still need to clean everything up for closer inspection and measurements but piston #1 will definitely need to be replaced.

L20a on the stand.

Valve cover off - so far everything looks good.

Head removed.

 

Now I can see that piston #1 has some damage.

  

I checked the head and it has the same indention on #1. It does not look like the valves are damaged.

 

Front cover, water pump, alternator removed.

 

Oil pan removed.

Crankshaft and connecting rods ready for removal.

Bare block.

All Done.

Now for the damage - Piston #1 is completely wrecked. The sideskirt and top of the piston are cracked. The second compression ring is wedged tight into the ring land.The top of the piston and the head both have the same indention.The connecting rod is also very stiff. I still need to gauge the block to find out if it will need to be bored. If a foreign object made it into the cylinder I would think there would have been more damage to the head.

 

The two rounded indentions are valve relief cuts. The notch on the right is also supposed to be there. Everything else should be smooth.

Fairlady - 1972 RHD Fairlady Z

Now that I have the car at home here are some more pics.

When I went to look at car it didn't start, but since it hadn't been driven for over 5 years I wasn't surprised it didn't run. I rented a trailer and towed the car home. Once it was finally home I started looking into why it wouldn't start. I put on a fresh battery and spent about an hour getting the 5 year old gas out of the carbs. With some fresh gas and a little starting fluid the L20A was alive again. There are still a few things I need to take care of before I start driving it but I am very happy with the condition of the car. 

Fairlady - 1972 RHD Fairlady Z

I just purchased a 1972 Fairlady Z. I won't get to pick up the car until Saturday, but here are some pics. I will post more details once I have the car at my house.

Craigslist pics:

 

240Z - Tear down started.

I have the car down to the bare chassis. There is some run on the floor pans that was under the sound deadening material, but it's mostly surface rust. There is a golf ball sized hole rusted out of the passenger floor pan under the seat that I will have to cut away. I am probably going to replace the entire floor pan to be sure that all of the rust is gone. Luckily I haven't found anything that I wasn't already expecting.

I will get the chassis soda blasted once I get rid of the undercoating.

 

 

Cool Z cars.

Here are some of the Z cars I am using as inspiration for my project.


Austin Hoke's VQ35DE powered Z: http://www.vq240z.com

Mark Rolstons RB26 powered Z: http://web.me.com/markrolston/NewSite/Z-car.html

  

A few more cool Z cars. (unknown source)

240Z - First post.

I am starting this blog to document my 240z project and anything else that I find interesting.


The car is a 1973 Datsun 240z that I bought back in Sept. 2008. It had the original L24. I have always like the look of the "Devil-Z" from Wangan Midnight so I am going to try to re-create the same style. Since I have already had an 3.1L L28 stroker and a forged L28 I want to try something new. I haven't decided on the motor yet, but I want something more modern so I am considering the VQ35HR.


Here are some pics of the car before I started working on it: