Unleaded Z Options

[Nigel Mulvey]

Has anyone had any successes dropping an engine into a Z that runs on unleaded as standard?

[hmsports]

Nigel,

Victoria Britsh (800-255-0088) sells a set of no-lead harndened valve seats and premium valve guides (total of about $160) which will allow you to run unleaded fuel. You can rebuild your head with these and should be ready to go.

[ZmeFly]

you can get better from www.nismoparts.com and for the same price almost. all your doing is replacing the soft valve seats for something you would watn anyway, harder steel seats. and why not use the best. i dont like vb at all. they know nothing of Z's and if you dont have a catalogue forget it they will not look anything up. just go to that site and be much happier

[hmsports]

ZmeFly,

Thanks for the link for Nismo. I didn't know about them and yes, you are right about VB knowing nothing, but they do have some good prices.

Rick

[2ManyZs]

I agree, I have used nothing but genuine Nissan parts or parts from MSA since the mid 80's. Of course, a lot of parts you get from MSA are Nissan parts in the first place. The only way I would buy anything from VB is if no one else has it. Too bad a buddy of mine who was a parts manager at a Nissan dealer decided he wanted to try his hand at self-employment.

[Royce]

Nigel,

Not quite sure what your question is. In the US, I believe the first Z that came with hardened value seats and guides was the '75 280Z with the N42 head. I know many people have used '75 and newer heads or complete motors in older Z cars with good success. Are you concerned about running an unleaded motor on leaded gas, doesn't AU still have leaded fuels!? I think the only damage in running leaded gas in an unleaded motor is that if it has a catalytic converter it may cause the converter to wear out quickly. But I don't think cars in your area would be likely to run a catalytic converter.

The main reason I had to have my motor rebuilt back in '89 was because of the valve seat wear and damage done to the head and pistons that resulted from it. Most likely this was due to time and a heavy right foot but also may be the result of the previous owner and myself not regularly using a lead substitue. I had the builder put in hardened valve seats and guides and have been running unleaded ever since.

If you swap engines or fix your existing engine, with the age of these cars, either way is going to take some work and cost some money. Working with the engine you have may be less expensive than starting with an engine of unkown condition. I would select the head/engine you want to run and then go from there. Whether that be a L24, L26, L28, or L28T is up to you.

Hope it helps!

[Nigel Mulvey]

Thanks for the responses. If the question was unclear, I'm sorry.

Bottom line is, I want to be able to run an unleaded engine in a Z. Am I right in understanding that the later engines (F54) run on unleaded? For some reason I thought that '81 - '83 was a bit early for unleaded.

It's an economy thing, leaded petrol has been banned here in Australia and the lead replacement fuel is more expensive than leaded. I will keep my 260z as standard, but while I'm umming and ahhing about what engine to put in the 240 project car unleaded has to be a consideration.

[Royce]

I don't remember what year it was when they took away leaded gas here in the US, but I do remember that new cars required unleaded long before leaded went away. As long as your engine has hardened valve seats and guides you should be okay to run unleaded. Datsun/Nissan started building heads with hardened seats and guides around '75-'76 for the US market. Again, don't have specifics for AU market.

Cheers!

[Alfadog]

i dont think you really understand what these people are saying - you dont *need* to put in anotehr engine at all, which is great if you want to keep it more original...

My car had what Royce had done already when I got it - "the builder put in hardened valve seats and guides" - and it runs well.

Unless you dont have a L24 to start with, thats probably the way to go.

Otherwise... an L28T is the way to go

[72240Z]

Ok guys, I don't want to state the obvious here, but these cars have aluminum heads. They came with stellite seats from the factory, which will run just fine on unleaded, but the lack of octane is the problem. I work on Nissans for a living, and rarely see a Z come in with valvetrain problems. Aside from that, my 72 has 267,000 miles on it and just had the first valve job in Jan of this year. The only thing I've done is recurve the distributor for running 91 octane, which is the best I can get locally.

Devin aka 72240Z

[EScanlon]

I'll admit to some technical deficit on my part.

I've been running my Z on Unleaded Mid or Premium and I use a Lead Additive I was recommended. STP brand if I recall properly.

I simply pull up to the pump, fill it with Unleaded Premium, dump in one 8 oz. bottle of the Lead Additive and I go on my merry way. Or at least I have been until this post.

Am I using some sort of snake oil that is really nothing? I've not seen leaded gas at the pumps in at least 10 years if not longer. So, how is it other 240 drivers use their cars and keep them original without a head change? I can see the rework done on the valves for harder seats, but my mechanic has not suggested nor advised me on this.

So bottom line, Unleaded with Lead Additive or park the car and not use it till I can get the valve reseat kit?