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Engine... |
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BLOCK |
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HEAD |
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COOLING |
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The engine block is from a mid 70s 280z, and was partially cleaned when I got it. It still had a bit of baked-on grime left in the hard to get spots. This wasn't too hard of a problem to fix. There exists a degreaser that works very well - Purple Power... especially when combined with a friggin' HUGE pressure washer. The block has been painted blue, and the engine bay will be getting a few coats of truck bed liner. This stuff is amazingly rigid once it sets up, so it should make a nice, uniform protective coating that won't get scratched up during tuning. Assembled engine pics... |
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I've found an '84 Maxima head in a local junkyard, and decided to take this route since the chambers are only 40cc and it has a very well designed quench. It has been brought to my attention lately on Zcar.com that this head works wonders for hopes of high compression. The head is in great shape, so it should measure up quite well when it's time comes.
I've bought a pretty warm cam @ .480" lift with 270 duration on intake and exhaust. Along with the cam, I've purchased some new rocker arms and new Schneider springs with retainers. Apparently, the cam I've got was ground on the same base circle diameter as a stock Z cam, so the stock lash pads are being used (.120"). The power band should be between about 2000 and 6000 rpms. Check out my valvetrain progress...
The first thing done to the head was a good cleanup. I used more Purple Power degreaser, and the uber-pressure washer to blast almost every speck of grime away from the aluminum.
Next, I took took another head and practiced up my hand at match porting. When I was satisfied with the results of a rough run with the grinder, I started work on match-porting the MN47 to a stock gasket. On went the dye, then the gasket was traced out around the ports with a machinist's scribe. I rough cut the ports to match the gasket outlines with a rough-cut carbide bit, an 80 grit sanding drum, then followed up with a 120 grit sanding drum. Afterwards, I cleaned up the bowls with a medium grit cone-shaped grinding stone, then a 120 grit flap-wheel. The end results look and feel nice and smooth. |
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I have replaced the original clutch-operated radiator fan with a twin-electric fan setup. I found the radiator from my first car, an '86 Toyota Corolla, laying around in a pile of car parts behind my small shop, and both the radiator and air conditioning evaporator fans were still mounted to it and seemed to be in working order. So, since I was bored and low on cash (as usual), I decided to see if it was possible to adapt these fans to my Z's radiator. After some measuring, fabrication, and slight modification, they bolted right up to my radiator. I had to shorten the original 2 piece shroud that housed these fans by about 2 inches to make it the proper width for the Z's radiator. I also had to build a frame to hold the two fans in place, and keep them rigid in the process. I used 1/16" galvanized steel channel which I had laying around in my misc. materials to make a top and bottom rail to bolt up to. The entire assembly, excluding the fan blades and the radiator was re-painted (black) and dropped into the Z. Fits like it grew there. The only problem I ran into was that I forgot to tighten the nut to secure the fan blade to one of the motors, so it backed itself off during testing (no big deal, it has to come out when the engine is swapped anyway).
I've done a complete test with the installed radiator fan assembly, and all is well -- with only one fan running! Japanese cars really amaze me... Seriously, this fan isn't but maybe 8" in diameter, 10" at best. The temperature was allowed to rise until the gauge needle was almost perfectly centered, then I energized the fan. It held the temperature at idle right smack in the middle of the gauge. Props to toyota on a powerful little fan! : ) |
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I've got some flat top pistons from a junkyard '82 280zx, and they were in great shape. These should boast a little more compression than the dish tops that came in the engine. I've found altered pistons which have dome tops for a higher compression upgrade on a stock engine... they are here. |
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I've also found new "stock" pistons available by year from Victoria British. |
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Due to space and bandwidth limitations on this server, all picture links forward to an external site. Sorry for the poor appearance.
You can see the entire photo gallery here. |
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