Japanese stock engine

[christ0ph]

Hi all.

I'm still in the process of looking for a Z to buy. I found this 73' 240z with the Japanese 2.0 dohc engine. Excuse my ignorance but is this a good find? The first time I test drove it I fell in love with it. The car is in decent condition. There's a little bit of rust right above the hatch...and other than that I couldn't find anythign else. Now, both door handles are broken and the gauges don't light up inside. I know all of this is vague but I can't think of anymore. I'd like your guys opinions on what I should do, and if you think the repairs for this car will cost a lot? The price that the guy is asking is $1695 usd. If you need more information, reply and I'll respond with the best of my ability. I look foward to your replies. Thanks.

Chris

[HS30-H]

Originally posted by christ0ph

I found this 73' 240z with the Japanese 2.0 dohc engine. Excuse my ignorance but is this a good find? Chris

Hi Chris,

Unless you have accidentally hit the jackpot and found a real Fairlady Z432 ( PS30 ), I don't think that the engine in the car will be a DOHC .

Its much more likely to be an L20 - essentially the same as the L24 but with a smaller capacity.

You didn't mention that the car was RHD, so I would assume that you are talking about a US-market "240Z" that has had an L20 engine transplanted into it. That would not be considered an upgrade by most people.

However, if it is in fact an RHD car you may well be looking at a privately-imported Japanese-market car. Many of these were brought home from Japan by American servicemen ( I've got one of these too ).

Check out the VIN number to make sure ( best place to look to make 100% sure is on the firewall metal above the brake booster - and you may have to push away some tubes and wires to see it clearly ).

We have discussed similar subjects here in the past - so use the SEARCH function ( try words like "Fairlady" or "S30" or "VIN" and you should find some interesting info ). Good luck.

Alan T.

( ps - If it says "PS30" on the VIN code then all your Christmases will have come at once ).

[christ0ph]

Hi there Alan.

I appreciate the reply. Sadly you are correct, not the jdm ps30. I was wondering how do you tell the PS30's engine apart from the regular 2.0... and where did the 2.0 come from...? Has me mystified at the moment but I'll continue to read up on it. Thanks once again.

Chris

[Ben]

The 'regular' 2.0L is just an 'L' block with a (very) small bore & stroke. Externally identical to the other 6-cylinder engines of the same family.

The S20 on the other hand - twin-cam, triple mikuni's, factory extractors - I wish someone would mistake one for an L20 & sell it to me cheap.... :love:

[Gav240z]

Gotta love the uniqueness of it all.

[2ManyZs]

What I would really like to see is someone that would just make the head to put on an L-28 block, now that would sell.....

Shame no one has ever just done the top end of that engine in the aftermarket.:disappoin

You would think with all the millions of dollars spent developing parts for the aftermarket, someone, somewhere would have had it done by now...

[HS30-H]

O.S.GIKEN of Japan made the TC24-B1 twin-cam 24-valve head conversion kit for the L-series back in the late Seventies.

This was quite a comprehensive kit, rather than just a bolt-on accessory. New pistons were required, and machine work on the front of the block to mount the new cam drive chain system. The whole front timing cover was different too.

It actually worked very well - but its complexity ( as well as the fine engineering quality ) made it rather expensive..............

Alan T.

[2ManyZs]

Back in the late 70's I would imagine it would have been quite expensive to do.

With today's billet aluminum heads and cams, belt driven cams, and the wide array of pistons available it's kinda sad no one will give it another shot at a conversion kit. It could probably done quite easily and fairly priced.

Especially when you see how many millions of dollars that must going into R&D and manufacturing of all the aftermarket pieces for the 350Z already....not to mention all the other cars on the market.

[christ0ph]

Hey guys thanks for the pics, they really helped me out. And Alan, I did as you said and looked up on the L20... mostly reading your old posts...how can one man know so much?? Anyway, anyone know what the L20 is pushing bhp wise?

[Ben]

I'd say that it'd be a shade over 120HP with twin carbs or the EFI & ~110 for the single carb version. BUT, I don't have any SDS books handy, so I can't be sure.

It's no beast anyway :classic:

[Gav240z]

Hey Alan,

Is the kit very hard to get a hold of? No doubt it's expensive.

I think you've mentioned this before but the L Series engine shares no similarities with the S20 does it??? What i mean is you can't just slap the twin cam head onto a L engine???

Chris! Alan is our little Guru or bible or database. We just love him :classic: .

I hope to know as much as he does one day :classic: .

[Gav240z]

Before I leave it at that for others reading I think I should also mention that the S20 had different engine mounts is this correct??

Also are the gearboxes compatible?

And is the weight of the engine any different? more less <>.

THanks.