Head Gasket TO Suit E88 F54 Combo.

[Gav240z]

Ok so i wanna switch an engine head from one block to the block in the car currently.

Currently I have an E88(240z) head and F54 combo, I'm switching the E88(unknown origin) head from a N42 block to the current block in my 240z the F54.

I need to know which head gasket to use as it's close to new year and if I have to order a headgasket then I'll have no car. Can anyone tell me what is most likely the head gasket I will need for a F54 block and E88 combo. I don't think it would be the 83' block although I could be mistaken which is different again.

Any help appreciated.

[Phred]

Get the head Gasket to fit the block you have. I don't know what years the F-54 was produced, (80 to 83?). I have the same F-54 - E88 setup, and while its not assembled yet, its a perfect match. I have built several engines in the past with this combo, and always used the Nissan 11044-N4221 head gasket

Phred

[Gav240z]

Thanks alot Phred I think 83 was the only difference in the F54's from reading the How to Hot rod and modify your Nissan/Datsun OHC.

That at least narrows it down a bit I'll give that a try see what happens.

Gav,:classic:

[JMT240KGTR]

Gav,

I'm pretty sure the earlier cast E88 off the Z series had the letters E88 stamped larger than what you'd find on later E88 heads off the R30 Skylines.

I think there may be a difference in combustion chamber size or valves.

Check the attached pics, this E88 is off R30 Skyline and stamped smaller than the Z series; this head has 42mm inlet valves and is 41cc standard. I shaved this .030" and fit onto my dished N42 block, got around 9.5 C/R now. Unless you're after a track motor the 42 vs 44 valves aren't a problem.

You may find the earlier Z series E88 is larger displacement head, I believe around the 44cc mark.

Just some food for thought, cheers....

[JMT240KGTR]

E88 stamping off R30

[Gav240z]

Thanks for that won't know till i pull the head off at this stage.

I've got the clutch out at the moment and with new years im in a bit of stink trying to get parts so I can go away and take the Z with me.

Interesting I noticed a bolt missing from one of the driveshaft 4 bolts. No doubt why I was getting so much vibration. scary isn't it?

I should have left it alone gone on holidays and had fun but no I had to pull the Gbox out :stupid: .

[inline6]

So I put up a post looking for info about whether the F54/E88 combo will work for sure-- not getting replies-- and then come across your post.

Tell me, is your car back together? Which E88 did you have? Which head gasket did you use? And what do you think of it?

I calculate it to be around 10:1 CR. I have access to 93 octane fuel here. How about you? Any detonation problems?

Finally got a chance to see and hear the video of your car that you posted a long time ago. Sounded great. If my new combo doesn't make my dual 2"s sound like that, I'm going back to glass packs.

Garrett

[zeiss150]

Hey peopel, I thought all Z blocks used the same head gasket? its the same block with different bores isn't it? Or does it have different water passeges? By the way is the F-54 with flat tops and an E-88 head a good way to go? and what kind of RWHP can one expect. I used my L engine calculator and It comes up with 9.8:1 with a standard gasket. A bit hi with pump gas, No? If you use a HKS 2mm gasket it comes up 9.09:1 that will work on pump gas, won't it? I dont know what I'm talking about so forgive me, but what is the highest compression ration that you can run on pump gas and still have an everday driver with out a massive cam and head work? Also why use the E-88 head over the N-42 doesn't the N-42 have bigger valves? It also has smaller CC's right? E-88 = 44.7 cc's N-42=44.6, not much of a differance but the valves make a differance, don't they? I seek the wisdom of Phred:beard:

Matt-

[Gav240z]

Ok to start with i haven't attempted to switch engine heads. The situation was that I originally saw a carbie fed turbo set up for sale at my nearby wrecker and was tempted to buy as the guy who owned it was doing an RB26 conversion.

Anyway I changed my mind because I didn't want the hassle of a carbie turbo as there just no quite reliable enough.

So the owner of the wrecker who had a 240z himself had just pulled the motor he was running out of his car. It was a N42 Block flat tops installed. A E88 head with porting and N42 valves, 76 degree camshaft, running tripple webbers.

I think someone once told me the motor was 250HP worth.

Anyway my current car has a F54 Block E88 Head(From a 72Z) with port work and bigger n42 valves. The owner said it was 200HP but he was running tripples himself but a milder camshaft.

Anyway the car's valve stem seals well so i believe are shot so she blows a bit of smoke. I was originally gonna replace the valve stem seals and install a larger camshaft at the same time but I was told the one being sold at the wreckers had the top end reco'd recently and to put a bigger cam in my car i'd be up around $700 by the time i've done lash pads etc..

So for $450 I bought the other recently reco'd engine head in the theory that my block is still good. Compression results show 180PSI across all 6 cylinders.

Anyway it's definately possible it's in my garage and I've been driving it for nearly 2 years now. There were some detonation problems I was having with the car at one stage but this was because of poor timing and the old module on the side of my electronic distributor failed. I believe it was causing poor ignition I always run premium and where i can between 95-98 octane. Shell Optimax or better yet Mobil fuel here is really good with this engine.

I have been wanting to swap engine heads but haven't done so yet due to being busy with work and just starting Uni. I also wanted to build a stroker motor so wasn't sure if it was worth investing money in this motor further. Things are all up in the air.

Yep it sounds great alright the dual mufflers are a bit loud but I live with it .

Oh and btw a N42 is probably yes better to begin with but back in the days when the two motors I have were built you couldn't just get a N42 from a wrecked 280zx so this was the way to go.

The high quench design of the E88 small chamber is good also for higher compression.

However I don't know lots about the N42 I do understand there a good engine head however.:cheeky:

[san_maru_zed]

I'm about to put my engine together, R30 E88 head with F54 and the the standard FI. If the E88 chambers are around 40cc (as JMT240KGTR (IIRC) measured them at) then I would be getting around 10.7:1 compression with my flattops (according to Lengine). I wonder how Optimax (98 octane) would handle that....

I really dont want to have to put my dished pistons back in as I would only be getting about 8.7:1

I should probably buy a burrette...

[inline6]

Good luck finding a burrette. After I had my engine together, someone recommended that you can buy syringes from Wal Mart. So I didn't get to measure the chamber cc of my head.

N42 is a better head to go with to start, but my E88 already had a fair amount of work (larger, hardened seats, larger intake valves, some porting, etc), so there was my incentive for using that head.

BTW here is a useful page with engine combo info:

http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/128combo.html

And a compression calculator:

http://www.turbofast.com.au/TFcomp.html

I have the F54/E88 running now and comparing it to my 77 L28 short block, I'd say I picked up a couple of horses. No dyno results, :cross-eye but the car is clearly reving to 6k in 3rd quicker and feels a bit quicker by seat of pants.

Both blocks are in good condition, so it wasn't like the old one is worn out. Carb mixture (original round top SU's with SM needles) only needed a tiny change. Same exhaust and everything else.

The big change was the timing. I was running insane advance with the previous combo-- something like 25 or 27 degrees BTDC initial (Euro distributor with points still). With the new combo, I am running right around 20 degrees BTDC (manual calls for 17 for that distributor, btw). Any more than that and I get some detonation.

I used to run on 89 octane. Now I run the best I have access to which is 93. Not fair that you guys in Australia can get 98!