N42 Shaving thickness

[mikemerkury]

As some of you already know from previous post, my 73 resto/refresh winter project is going pretty well and the resto shop doing the work is now addressing the mechanical part of the Z.

Car was motorized by previous owner with a stock L28 (76, 280z) with standard N42 head. 5 speed trans. from the 76 was also put in by po. There is some oil leaking and gasket needs to be replaced and head to be shaved. Car will be my weekend driver next summer and I do not plan present or future to race it in any form (no stroker).

Questions: What is the generally recommended shaving thickness and type of gasket in order to obtain maximum performance and reliability from my L28/N42 combo ? Being at it, any other low cost modifications to the L28/N42 that I should do ? Anything tricky that I should be on the lookout for before doing the shaving/gasket ?

Edited January 26, 2009 by mikemerkury

[rdefabri]

If you plan on shaving the head, you must shim the cam towers or there will be slack in the timing chain.

I am not an expert on this, but I think .080" is about the max you'll be able to go.

See here for details: http://www.datsunzgarage.com/