Hello,

My first major work on the car and I'm having trouble identifying the head. I noticed the car had a rebuilt engine since there was a tag saying so on the block. Attached is a few pictures. One of the head and another of the intake manifold. There is a N42 stamp on it but looking at other pictures of an N42 head this one appears to be different. HELP?! I don't want to purchase the wrong headers.

As you can tell this looks way different than the pics on this auction item: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Datsun-Z-240Z-260Z-280Z-ZX-Rebuilt-N42-Cylinder-Head-/400244055278?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item5d30679cee

Last, I included a few pics of some damage to the head I noticed while pulling it off.. How bad of an impact would this have on my car? Would it cause abnormalities? Smoking? Funny, this all started with a head gasket replacement :/

I'm not an expert on identifying the various heads, but that definitely looks like a round-port head to me.

As for the damage, I'd bet that was the cause of the head gasket failure. You'll need to have that head repaired, or replace it with a different head.

Lastly, do some research on that particular ebay seller before sending him any money....

Edited October 17, 201113 yr by Arne

Yeah, it doesn't seem like an N42 head. Any ideas what it actually is? It's weird but it's stamped N42... Im not looking to buy the head, just wanted to post it as a reference. I'm unsure if I should buy rounded headers now

Did you also post over on Hybridz? I saw a similar N42 head over there. It's definitely different from the stock domestic square port exhaust N42. My N42 head looks like the E-Bay head.

That looks like water passage rust damage in Picture #5. There might be more in other water passages. I've read of rust eating all the way in to the exhaust port. You might look a little deeper in to how much rust damage is there.

I can't post on HybridZ for some reason :/ I know it's stamped N42 but it's really starting to look like a N47 the more pics I look at. Ahh

I've read that square port headers will cover round or diamond head ports without leaking. that triangle 3 bolt plate up front by the timing chain is on my n42 but cast over on my original n47, your picture #6 shows it. it was for a mechanical fuel pump.

Edited October 17, 201113 yr by siteunseen