After thinking about it for yrs, drove down to VT to buy a 77Z from its original owner. Driver condition and fair price. Interior rough from California sun.
Will be doing a couple of things that I’ll post as I go.
Fist order of business after importing to Canada ... dreaded provincial MV inspection. Fairly confident so sent the Z directly w/o havin it checked out at the shop. The score...
1- exhaust leak
2- suspensions bushings
3- turn signal switch lever
4- battery
Complete bushing kit and correct the other nicnacs, it’s plated.
Ok now ... don’t know for sure, but my 240z felt that it had a lot more get up and go then this.
Read read... oh it needs to lose weight. Off with bumpers, spare tire and hardware, all interior carpet. Thinking of bedliner interior. what’s the best weight reduction to do ?
Wanted more power. Found motor out of a later ZX. Going to rebuild so not concerned about hearing it run, at long as it turns.
So the seller pulled out when I arrived, dropped in my pickup $250 and drove home w/o checking. When came time to unload, I started checking casting #s . F54 block and N42 not P79 head. Was this a good thing?
Going by http://datsunzgarage.com/heads/
It seems that was a common swap to bump compression higher with flat-top pistons, though hopefully the valve seats were upgraded to handle unleaded.
Essentially has the combustion chamber that's built for dished pistons, but the exhaust ports don't have any liners like the P90 in the turbo models.
So got name of local Datsun specialist for future engine build... turns out had retired so referred me to his protege... who was about to retire... so referred me to his protege. The first gentleman worked at his dads Datsun dealership. The second guy as well, and now retiring from local auto mechanics tech college.... And if you guessed, is passing on his knowledge to a younger professor at the college... well young 40-50ish. The last guy builds and races his own cars... in fact all three guys at one point.
Long story short... «*Open up that 250$ Frankenstein motor you bought and I’ll run out to see and give you quote based on what you want*»
See pics... this motor looks like it had a rough life. Hopefully usable.
Professor picked up motor. Couple of wks for the rebuild.
Once done, I’ll to pull the original motor and keep untouched.
So why not do a dyno of stock 100k++ miles motor vs. rebuild one.
Googled dyno near me... found local shop. Called them up and booked a run. Here are the number. Believe they are high, but at least a reference point to compare with rebuilt motor.
Don’t remember the exact numbers. Was around 155hp each run. Seemed high. But before I could say it, the guys said their unit gave the lowest numbers of all the dyno shops in town.
Want to keep it period correct... if that’s how it’s said. Donor motor is done. Recap... .040 flat tops, reworked N42 head and valves, ported, cam. MSA header and twice pipe exhaust. Stock motor out, started to transfer hardware to donor. Need clutch and fw. TBC
Good day all. Haven’t posted or even been on here for a while.
Last summer, installed a bunch of MSA stuff...
Kameari Race Distributor Ignition Control Kit
Taylor Thundervolt 50 Racing 10.4mm Spark Plug Wires,
KONI Sport Adjustable Gas Strut,
Eibach Progressive Spring Kit
Street Camber Kit, Front+Rear
Pillow Ball Spring Seat & Strut Mount Set,
MSA Sway Bar Kit, Front 1", Rear 7/8"
Four Piston Brake Caliper Kit, Front
StopTech Cross Drilled/Slotted Brake Rotors, Front
Stage 1 Rear Disc Brake Conversion Kit
Technovision dif mount.
Also had the head reworked once more... because dyno numbers where marginally better than the stock motor. +4RWHP
Second round on the dyno with re-reworked head... numbers got worse. This whole engine rebuild issue is disappointing and wearing me down. Its a no brainer, tells me Rick at RDTurbo.com
... the stock intake and FI is holding everything back.
Rick: “ ... how about we rip this untunable EFI and let me set you up with custom intake and software.”
Okay, lets do that.
I’m talking to TopEnd Performance about their ITB FI setup. But
Rick favours a well design intake plenum w/single throttle body pulling cool air from outside the engine bay.
OP, I love those wheels on your car. I kick around the idea of some wider tires on my ZX, but with no power steering, I don't want more resistance when turning in my parking garage at work.
I'm in the parts list phase of doing the Holley EZ EFI, pallnet 14mm fuel rail setup for my 1980. I'd love to do a coil pack conversion and eliminate the distributor, but not sure it's economically feasible right now.
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