At last, snow-free roads. Took the car for a drive after dialing in the carbs for this weather, checked timing and topped up coolant after my heater core failure. Car ran really well, let cool down completely and checked valves. Only one needed to be tightened up a little. Pretty well 0.008 to 0.010 throughout at the tip. Adjusted all to 0.010", checked plugs, changed oil (now on Penn Semi 10W40). Ran the same, advanced by 3 degrees and lost significant pull below ~3500 rpm. I think I'm in the sweet spot, nice light brown plugs and tires that won't adhere after 3K in first gear, what a torque monster! Still sounds like a diesel under the hood though waiting on the release of the DLG-1 for an AFR gauge to see where it sits.

Any progress worth your engine?

great to hear you got her out for a spin.

not sure i'm reading your post correctly, but valve lash isn't "all 0.010" - cold it's .008 for intake and .010 exhaust, hot is .010 intake, .012 exhaust.

hot adjustment is much more accurate because you're at a predictable temp range. if you're really at "all .010" then that may explain why she sounds like a kenworth...

After many months of behind the scenes effort, acquiring another Z and some dollars in paint i made some noticeable progress:

As per Dave Rebello. 0.010" at the valve tip, cold for all valves. Whereas 0.008/0.010" is the Nissan factory spec for a stock valve train IIRC.

Looking good Kirby. Burnouts in no time.

I don't understand the same lash adjustment for both intake and exhaust. Did Dave offer an explanation? 

Not really.

Pros:

1. It will give more overlap.

2. less tools for adjusting ()

Cons:

Since the exhaust valve will heat faster than the intake, it will elongate faster and lose lash faster. This effect will be more significant on a cold motor at start up.

The aluminium head will elongate more than the steel valves (at the same temperature) but the coolant inside the head limit it compared to the exhaust valve that is not cooled. When the engine comes up to temperature, the head and the valves will have elongated to their equilibrium states thus a valve lash adjustment on a hot head is somewhat more "real world".

By having a greater lash, like stock, the exhaust valve will experience more "slamming shut force" so this will help to deal with carbon build-up than a valve with a tighter lash.

Edited March 9, 201510 yr by Blue

Uhm, it's only because the exhaust valve tends to get hotter, so they keep some more play in it ( hot expands )

But 0.10 for all valves works fine.

I put the motor in with some help from my friends last weekend, here's some motor porn for you guys.  

 

And here is a sample of some of the shiny bits getting installed with it.  I also cleaned and re-wrapped the entire wire harness in the engine bay and then replaced almost all of the fasteners with stainless (and Never-Seez)

sweet!