Fairlady - More progress on the L28 motor.

It's getting closer!

I am using an LD-28 water pump. The impeller on the LD-28 pump is larger so it does require some small modification to the front cover to make it fit but it was pretty simple. The Nissan part number is: 21010-17SY7.
More info here if anyone is interested: HybridZ link

Comparison:

You need to trim the a little from the front cover. The gasket makes a good reference.

ARP head studs installed:

Head torqued down and cam oiler installed:

Timing chain installed:

Front cover installed:

 

Right now I am waiting on some parts that I forgot to order and a few things that I decided to go ahead and upgrade while I have everything apart.

I dropped the gas tank tonight to clean it out and it was worse than I expected. The gas had to be at least 5 years old (judging by when the car was last registered) and had turned red. The tank will probably need to be boiled, it looked like the inside was coated with rust and I was afraid it was ruined but I sprayed the inside with a water hose and the rust washed away and there was nice bare metal underneath. Hopefully the tank won't cause any headaches.

240Z - LS1 going in the 240z.

I just got a motor for the Datsun 240Z project.

After much consideration of what motor I wanted to put in the Z I finally decided to go with a gm LS1 V8. I have always been against putting an American v8 in Z cars, but here I am joining the v8 club. I was originally considering either the Nissan VQ35 or VH45 but decided against going that route because of how tight the fit was going to be with a DOHC V motor, not to mention that the VQ35 is so integrated into the 350z body harness that you need an entire donor car to realistically do the swap. I also like that I will be able to retain A/C with no additional fabrication.


So here it is. 2004 LS1 crate motor for a Chevrolet Corvette - 0 miles.

Fairlady - L28 re-assembly started.

L28 block honed:

Bottom end assembled using ARP bolts and studs:

 

Fairlady - L28 primed and painted.

Primed and painted the L28 block. Now I can start the re-assembly on the bottom-end.

Primed:

Painted:

Fairlady - L28 rebuild for Fairlady Z.

Got my pistons back from the machine shop. I also got a set of ARP bolts and studs for the entire motor.

Fairlady - L28 going in the Fairlady

Since I have had trouble finding the pistons for the L20a rebuild I am going to use one of my spare L28 motors. I am going to use my built up E31 head and dished pistons to drop the CR down low enough to use pump gas since I want to keep this car streetable. The head has an MSA stage IV cam (290/290 duration .495 lift) so it should be fun when I get the mikuni's fixed up.

The L28 block I am going to use:

I almost have everything I am going to need for the motor. I bought the Koyo radiator from MVP motorsports last year for the yellow Z, but then I decided to tear that car down to the chassis and never installed it. Might as well put it to use in the Fairlady. The water pump is actually from a LD28 Nissan Diesel motor. It has a larger impeller and can be installed on an L28 with very little modification to the front cover. The oil pump is for an L28ET. Pistons are .50 oversized with dished top to drop the CR down a little.

New heater hoses from Nissan:

This is probably the best upgrade you can do for an old Z. I always hated how dim the headlights were on my 240Z so I never drove it anywhere at night. These harnesses will connect into the stock harness without any cutting. It adds relays to the high load circuits such as the headlights and running lights. The 105 amp H.O. alternator is from Z Specialties and is internally regulated. It is a direct replacement without modifying any of the existing wiring, you just need disconnect the external voltage regulator. I got the headlight housings from John at h4lights.com. The housings have modern H4 bulbs to replace the useless sealed beam lights.

Innovate MTX-L wideband:

Fairlady - Triple Mikuni 40PHH

I am having a lot of trouble finding a set of replacement pistons for the L20a so I am going put in an L28 while I keep looking for parts.

I have started piecing together all of the parts needed for triple carbs. So far I have a three Mikuni/Solex 40PHH carbs, six velocity stacks, and an L6 triple manifold. I just need to find all of the linkage parts and send the carbs to wolfcreekracing to be rebuilt.

Fairlady - More work done on the motor.

I got some more work done on the L20a. I cleaned up the block then I used a strait edge and feeler gauges to make sure deck and head are still flat. Other than the piston damage this should be a simple rebuild. The bores are still within spec, but I am planning to have the block bored over just to be safe. Once I source some replacement pistons the block will be ready for a trip to the machine shop to be bored and honed.

Parts from the motor.

Started tearing the head down.

 Rockers removed.

 

Bare head.

After a little cleanup.

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.