rcwidower

I ended up tapping the hole and putting in a plug with some sealant on the threads.

Makes sense, probably was a plug in it and got removed. Thanks Mike

I’ve got a port in the passenger side of the block, near the front-bottom that goes into the oil pan. This is not the dipstick port, which is closer to the rear and higher up. Not sure what is supposed to go there, maybe a “blind plug” listed on the parts manual? However, I did not remove a plug from there, maybe the machine shop did? It’s not a port going to any kind of galley, so not sure why they would have. Can anybody help shed some light on this? Thanks

It’s fairly common on older V8s from various manufacturers to have head bolts passing through water jackets. In those cases you would use a thread sealant on those particular bolts. I had assumed not but wanted to be sure. I’ve gone through the entire engine, and have the long block just about finished. Thanks for the answer

I’m putting together an L20b with a u67 head, does anybody know if any of the head bolts go through a water jacket? I want to make sure they’re sealed if they do. Thanks

Doh! I got the wrong cam!! I obviously wasn't paying attention and picked up this nice 252/422 cam, which is for a Z series motor 😒. When I pulled it out of the box I realized that the journals were way too small. Oops! So, after some sleuthing I found an Isky cam that's pretty good, although a bit more aggressive than I had wanted to go. It's a 270/475 that also required springs/retainers/lash caps that worked with it. Oh well, it'll be nice to have all those new parts to put in 😐. On Monday I was able to get the L20B off to the machine shop. They're gonna check the block over and give me a call before they start boring it, so it'll probably be a week or two before I get that back. I also got the distributor out to Advanced Distributors for a rebuild/recurve, thanks distributorguy! And lastly, I pulled the engine and tranny out of the '73 so I can get the pan off of it and start working on cleanup and front suspension stuff. I really need to fix up my cherry picker or buy a new one. I just doesn't quite lift high enough, very aggravating!

I'm quite curious about how they are removed, it's the one thing I haven't done yet. The book says to drill/tap a bolt in and pry, is that your method as well?

I've been working out what kind of build I want for this L20, and still have a couple of decisions to make. I had wanted to build something like the long-rod 2.1, but sourcing z20 rods was proving to be difficult. So, with the stock rods I decided to get some 280zx flat-top pistons .020" oversize, bring my bore to 86.5mm. After some back of the napkin math, it should net me about 10.05:1 CR. I like that, 10:1 seems to be a decent streetable compression. Got those pistons coming to me so that I can bring them in when I bring the block in for machining. Next comes the valvetrain, which I haven't quite settled on yet. My stock cam looks like it might be pitted, so I may have to get a new one. And with the higher CR it probably makes sense to get a bit more cam in it. It's a lot of added expense, the rockers/lash pads/springs in addition to the cam is a bit of coin. But if my cam is toast anyways, then it's something to look into. My setup: - Flat-top pistons (10:1) - U67 Head - L16 Exhaust manifold - L20 Intake manifold - 32/36 Weber (currently) If I want more torque, or rather as much as I can get, what kind of cams should I look at? The one that initially caught my eye was a Comp Cam 252/422. I think this is close to the stock cam, but I'm going by advertised specs. I've read that high lift is better than long duration for torque, but I don't know enough about cams yet to be sure. Also, if I do get a cam like this should I get some higher performance springs? Any thoughts?

I've been posting pictures on instagram for a couple months now, but I've come to realize that I like how much the community here at Ratsun helps everyone out. Moving forward I'll be documenting my build here in the hopes of gleaning some wisdom from all of you. Thanks in advance! When I was 18 I got an 73 620 as my first real truck, and it was a jalopy. For $500 bucks I got a truck that was used to haul firewood, had 250k+ miles on it, and no back window. I loved it! I wrenched on the thing every day I had off from delivering pizzas in it. Lowered it a couple inches, unwound the torsion bars, and got some old aluminum rims from a friend's friend. I drove the living tar out of it for about 3 years, and while it never really ran great, I still loved that thing. Funny how we can become attached to something so un-beautiful. Eventually I got better jobs and needed something more reliable, and so I traded her in at a dealership. Ever since then I've always had fond memories of her, and hoped one day to get another one as a project. My original 620: So finally, about 2 months ago I bought a 1973 Datsun 620 off of craigslist from the Denver area. The engine runs, after a little bit of fuel pump and carb work, but it's still a tired L16. I shortly found a donor 77 620 KC with a L20B and a 5 speed tranny in it. Got them both into the garage: I've pulled that motor and tranny out, stripped the motor down, and am about ready to take it to the machine shop: U67 Head: Along the way, I've read hundreds articles here on ratsun.net, as well as anywhere else on the net that I can find. I do have the "How To Modify Your Nissan & Datsun OHC Engine," the rebuild book, and the Haynes manual (still had the one I used 25+ years ago.) I used to race super stocks (F Body) at Altamont Speedway, a short circle track. As such I have experience with small block chevys, but not a ton with Datsuns (except for years ago.) I Ultimately want to build this as a street/project truck with some performance increases and some weekend fun. Instagram link in case anyone is interested: instagram.com/208datsun620