A friend and I have been inventorying the loose parts of his '77 280z prior to paint and reassembly.   He has an N42 engine he says is from an '80ZX. 

The head has the letters "BRE" stamped on the back of it. I have the original N47/N42 I pulled from my '80ZX years ago, and found no such markings.

Any idea what it means?

I see no obvious evidence of porting, and it was said to only be checked for straightness by a local machine shop(Don't know if its been shaved). The block does have Nissan flat top pistons. I don't know if it's been bored out at all, it's currently assembled.  He says it's a .480 lift cam.

Edited June 24, 20213 yr by Reptoid Overlords

The thing glued on with the red goop looks like a heat indicator used for rebuilt parts, to show that they've been overheated.

BRE?  Maybe Brock had a head ready for a race car and somebody ended up with it.

https://bre2.net/the-racing/datsun/

9 hours ago, Reptoid Overlords said:

The block does have Nissan flat top pistons.

So it's a 280zx block with flat top pistons,  N42 (My 280zx has a N42/N42 block/head.)  I would like to know if there are orig. 280zx engineblocks with flat top pistons in it?  

Could be possible there are some on different markets... (Next winter i take my 280zx  engine apart for new seals and hoses, it does not leak but it's 42 yrs old.. then i know if the euro / dutch version has flattops.

Finally found the page I was looking for and I am WRONG. That '79 was a 2+2 with the F-54/ P-79. I don't know if that matters or if someone had swapped out the motor? Anyway here's the write up on all the different blocks and head combos. Great read but hard to find nowadays, they changed something and my old bookmarks do not work anymore.

https://datsunzgarage.us/engine/

 

L24 (1970 240Z)2.4 liter# E31 (flattop pistons)E31

L24 ('71-73 240Z)2.4 liter# P30 (flattop pistons)E88

L26 ('74 260Z)2.6 liter# P30 (flattop pistons)E88

L28 ('75-80 280Z/ZX)2.8 liter# N42 (dished pistons)N42, N47

L28 ('81-83 280ZX)2.8 liter# F54 (flattop/dished pistons, siamesed cylinders)P79, P90, P90a

Edited June 24, 20213 yr by siteunseen

11 hours ago, Zed Head said:

The thing glued on with the red goop looks like a heat indicator used for rebuilt parts, to show that they've been overheated.

BRE?  Maybe Brock had a head ready for a race car and somebody ended up with it.

https://bre2.net/the-racing/datsun/

I would doubt that BRE on that block would have anything to do with Brock Racing Enterprises. Pete disbanded BRE in 72 when he decided to get into hang gliding. The N42 block came out in the 280Z.

However, to cover my bases, I did send the picture to Randy Jaffe. Considering how much of a BRE fanatic he is, he may be able to shed some light onto that.

Yeah, Randy also doubts it refers to Brock Racing Enterprises, but he might email the photo to Peter anyway.

4 hours ago, dutchzcarguy said:

So it's a 280zx block with flat top pistons,  N42 (My 280zx has a N42/N42 block/head.)  I would like to know if there are orig. 280zx engineblocks with flat top pistons in it?  

It's a rebuilt head, probably on a rebuilt short block.  The N47 with flat tops would give a high CR.  I don't think Nissan did that for their factory engines.  Looks like somebody's home project.

BRE probably stands for Big Ron's Engineering and Speed Shop.

Should've been more specific. The factory dish tops are claimed to have been replaced with Nissan flat tops. I can confirm that flat tops are in it. But can't confirm that they are OEM Nissan ones.

I appreciate the time taken for you guys to look it up/research it.

I had a feeling it didn't get put there by BRE racing, but if it did, it would make for some pretty cool history.

Big Randy's Engineering needs to make a stamp that isn't so misleading.

I googled that heat button on the head, "Pioneer cylinder head" and it came up as a parts supplier I'd never heard of for Nissan parts. Learned something new today. That's always good!

https://pioneerautoinc.com/engine/internal-parts

17 hours ago, Zed Head said:

The thing glued on with the red goop looks like a heat indicator used for rebuilt parts, to show that they've been overheated.

BRE?  Maybe Brock had a head ready for a race car and somebody ended up with it.

https://bre2.net/the-racing/datsun/

The little disc glued to the core plug on the head was placed there by Pioneer Engine Rebuilders. Like Zed says, it has a thermal indicator, to show if the head has, or has not, been subjected to overheating. 
 

It also gives a clue about the history of the head, and possibly the engine.

I have an E88 with "Birmingham Cylinder Head" on those. Seems like there's one on each end? From what I've been told it's the glue? that holds them on that gets too hot and releases the button/disc. That voids their warranty if one is missing.