L20b Cody's Goon

[SteveJ]

And Mike McGinnis has it: http://www.zzxdatsun.com/catRequests.php

[mailnome]

I sprayed Chrysler Corp Blue engine enamel on a couple of pieces. I’ve read that it’s supposed to be close but I’m not sure.

To me it doesn’t look like it has enough green in it, but if you google the color some do look greener.




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[dutchzcarguy]

Nice block, only the freeze plug just on the right of the oilfilter is a bit outside it's hole.. normally they are just in the hole with the edge of the lid IN the hole.. On a L24-28 they have a edge were the lid sort of clicks in..?  I always use a bit of sealer. (don't know these brass ones i use steel ones with a sort of 85 degrees edge. they catch the edge in the holes..  if you know what the ... i mean haha)

[Patcon]

So I have a question. I have heard that the rod bearings can lack sufficient oil because one main bearing feeds two rod bearings. There was a hack I came across to rebore the galley feeding the main larger. They suggested 1/4" but it looks pretty close to that. Thoughts??

[Namerow]

Considering only the math, increasing the oil passage diameter from 0.239" to 0.250" would increase the cross-section by just under 10%.  I suppose that's worthwhile, but only a Datsun engine expert would know.  It would seem to be a lot of expense for a street-use-only engine.  Have you checked Tom H's book, 'How to Modify your Nissan & Datsun OHC Engine'?

[Patcon]

I have the book but have not checked it. I probably should.

I thought I would call Rebello too for his thought, since I need a recommendation on a head gasket too. I'm not sure the standard L20b gasket has a big enough fire ring to cover our punched out cylinders

[Patcon]

So spoke to Rebello

We need to use the head gasket from  a Z24. It will need some modification to provide all the water access ports.

On another point, should we Glyptol or not? Is it worth it on a motor that is not an all out effort?

[grannyknot]

20 hours ago, Patcon said:

 

On another point, should we Glyptol or not? Is it worth it on a motor that is not an all out effort?

Other than on a race engine it's probably just a feel good thing but nothing wrong with that. That is what these cars are all about.

[Patcon]

So i went to my local paint shop and had some single stage made up to match an alternator bracket that still had some factory blue on it. Cody got the block all taped up last weekend but ti was too cold. S o I sprayed it this weekend.

It's much darker than it looks in the sunlight. Much more like the paint in the can looks. He is planning on working on the rotating assembly next weekend

[dutchzcarguy]

Just on the right, that spot with some sun on it tells me you just hit the jackpot i think.. thats the tippical blue NISSAN engine color! 

[Patcon]

So let’s see about a little update:

Cody and I started working on his motor maybe a week ago or so

We had to decide if we were going to drill the mains out or just slot the block side of the main cap and add a feed hole in the bearing. I looked in Honsowetz’s book and he recommends opening those feed galleys up to 5/16 or 0.313”. Which if I calculated it right is a 62% increase. So Cody and I discussed it and felt more comfortable with drilling the mains. Partly because we’re not making a lot of grit in the engine block.

 

We started by getting the end plugs out of the main galleys. That way we could properly clean and wash the block later. They were stouter then I expected…

 

A little homemade puller big enough for the plug to pass through it

We didn’t want to drill the supply mains and realize we couldn't get the main galley open to clean it out.

Then we worked on tapping the ends of the main galley for brass plugs

We may have to make these deeper but I didn’t want to make them too large since the 3/8 NPT tap is tapered.

On to drilling…

So this is really sketchy because the metal drills pretty easily but only the very edges of the bit are cutting. We used 3 different sized bits to work up to 5/16”. They didn’t need to be special because you’re not drilling overly deep. We were concerned we might break a bit but with a little cutting oil it went pretty good.

 

We were going to clean the block up and get ready for setting the rotating assembly but I can’t find the main bearings I bought! I went by the machine shop last Tuesday and he didn’t have them. Even though I’m pretty sure I took them, but I can’t be sure I didn’t pick them up. The problem is, right now they seem to be unavailable everywhere. Neither Clevite or King. I found some vintage TRW’s on ebay I have coming my way and I have an order in for some Kings from another place. Hopefully one of them will get here soon. Cody would like to have a running car by Zcon. He will have to hustle! It’s doable but he will have to focus to get it done.

 

[Patcon]

So I received the vintage TRW bearings yesterday. We may end up using these. We'll see