KAZ24 build thread / compression questions / cam / header / DONE!!

[Laecaon]

Matt, to post videos here, just copy the url of the video page, and paste it here, nothing else is needed.

[datzenmike]

You're a hundred pounds lighter too.

[HRH]

100 pounds lighter than what? A Toyota Corolla? This was an older one. Almost AE86 style. Laecaon, if I just post url it only shows up as a link. Won't do the video embed in the thread.

[LenRobertson]

Congratulations on getting this project sorted out. As lazy as I am, it really is sorta painful watching you do one of these epic adventures. But you must get a huge sense of satisfaction when it is completed. Myself, I dream of a VG30 in my 510, but don't want to work that hard. I have a feeling you wouldn't consider a VG install enough of a challenge to even bother with.

 

Did I dream it, or did you mention somewhere that Joe is doing a new manifold for your 510? Details, or a link if you have already posted details?

 

Len

[HRH]

Well, quite honestly, without the help of my dad and my Datsun guru Joe, none of this would have come to fruition. And really, I thought this was going to be an easier project. The VG30 would certainly be a nightmare in the 4x4. Much easier to put it in the 510, but even that I toyed with before I sold the VG I had, simply due to too much stuff to retrofit. If I was just replacing the L16, I would have done it, but seeing as I poured a bunch of money into the L20B it seemed better to stick with it.

 

The other problem of the VG (which would fit in the hardbody just fine) is the transmission input shaft splines are different on the 4x4 D21s, so I would need an entire trans/transfer case assembly to retrofit. Big PIA.

[datzenmike]

100 pounds lighter than what? A Toyota Corolla?

 

The Z24 is about 100 lb lighter than the KA. Well side by side. You have a hybrid so probably much less. Anyway congrats. I love toolin' down the road in something I built myself.

[HRH]

I'd say about the only difference in weight would be the bracket I left off to hold the bottom of the manifold to the block. Moving the Z24 block and the KA block takes the same amount of grunt. I should weigh it, but I'll bet I'm less than 30 pounds difference. The Z24 would have a much smaller, lighter intake manifold and efi setup, there's one big weight savings. The rest would be in the head. So I'm pretty sure I didn't lose much weight if any.

 

But yes, I'm very, VERY glad I built this motor and it seems to be running correctly thus far. I did however have to tell myself to turn up the radio after chasing a rattle in the exhaust that I thought might be the lifters. I almost went mad this morning. Finally verified exhaust rattle, and with the stereo up, everything was just fine. I need to redo the exhaust, but it can wait for a while longer.

 

Got two more BFG ATs tonight. Good condition, just not the KO style, a little older of a BFG. I don't think they'll look too odd, it's not that noticeable. Much less, I now have a set of 5 (fullsize spare) TAs for less than $300. Considering they're $144 per tire my hookup cost, that's a damn good deal.

 

Anyone want to buy a set of mud tires? I love the RT03 Hankooks. They work great in the mud, but really suck the highway mileage down. I'm expecting a 2-4 mpg increase with the ATs. We'll see if I'm right in a while.

[HRH]

Okay, got the BFG ATs on now, what a difference! Rolling resistance is much less. Love those mud tires, but they're exactly that. Big soft slicks with big fan-like grooves. I watched the gas gauge on the drive to work this morning after switching them out, and it moved a lot less than usual. Not to count my chickens before they're hatched, but I suspect I may get quite close to my fuel mileage goal. I'll post actual number on the next full tank with the ATs on. Really happy about it so far though. And there's a guy coming to look at my mud tires tomorrow, so some of that will go back into exhaust work.

[HRH]

Went to pull and save today, instant sad! Saw my old black 620 in the row. Sold it probably a year or two ago. Definitely mine, at least they had the good sense to take the tires and Weber carb off it before it ended up there. Or at least I hope they did. Of course it may have been through a few owners too.

 

Aside from that sadness, I got another water tube from a KA and a fan switch out of an 84ish-88ish Sentra with an E16. This is the fan switch that comes on at 10 degrees cooler temperature than the top mounted Maxima fan switch. The Sentra one is in the side, almost at the bottom of the radiator on the driver's side. I just took the infrared out and read the top and bottom radiator hoses after a little bit of heat soak. Still cold weather though, got 172 on the top hose and the gauge was a little less than midway (straight up). The bottom hose was like 89 degrees. So I was debating just replacing the fan switch, but having it mounted on the cool side I think will still be too hot to operate effectively in summer, even with a 10 degree cooler switch. We figured the motor is probably getting to 210 or 220 even before the fans kick on with the switch mounted in the lower radiator hose. And of course that's not overheating but it is way too hot.

 

I'm going to go out here in a second and switch the fan switch tube to the upper and replace the bottom with the stock unit and then we'll see at what temp the fans turn on. Should work a lot better I think. And if that's too hot still, then I'll put in the 10 degree cooler switch in the upper rad hose.

[HRH]

Got it relocated, still takes about 3/4 of the gauge to finally turn the fans on. Going down the road, she's resting a little below straight up (in line with the temperature symbol). I don't know why the hardbody does this. I know it has a low thermostat temp, like 170 or something, maybe just to keep it cooler for towing, what not? Seems like it should run hotter, but all my hardbodies have run low, not like the L, where temp is what the temp is. I'm probably going to switch out for the lower temp switch, but I have to change the connector on that and I have some places to go. Anyway, anybody else have any theories why hardbodies like to run colder than L or Z series?

[HRH]

Hooray! Found the right switch this time. Got it rewired tonight, took it for a test drive, this one works just like it's supposed to. Fan switch is the FS156, whereas I was using an FS157 from a Maxima previously. This is also what I'm using in the 510, but the 510 has the thermostat housing for the switch so it works just fine. Though I am tempted to recheck and make sure it wouldn't benefit from running 10 degrees cooler. I think I did my homework correctly and the 200sx efi system runs a bit hotter.

 

Anyway, here's pictures from tonight's great success! :D

 

 

[HRH]

See part number two in the Trucks section. Guess which one? :D The madness continues.

[I'm BLUE]

Matt ,,,

 

I am impressed ,,, and yes I guess I count myself as one of the people that pays attentions on Ratsun :lol: :lol: :lol: ( or at least try to :P ) ,,, until datzenmike "unlocks" the other part of his brain that most of us can't access then I can tend to get a little lost without reading 1 or two more times :)

 

Great Work ,,, Great Job ,,, You did an awesome job on the video's/instruction/narration man

 

:thumbup:

[HRH]

Yay! Someone DOES care! :D Thanks man! You know, I haven't even been updating my website, just been putting stuff on ratsun. And to update the site with all the rest of the projects, shit, I'd need a solid two weekend days sitting in front of the computer and I just don't have the motivation to do that.

 

And just think, if I can get the truck to even 23 mpg, I'll drive it to Canby this year!

[I'm BLUE]

Yay! Someone DOES care! :D Thanks man! You know, I haven't even been updating my website, just been putting stuff on ratsun. And to update the site with all the rest of the projects, shit, I'd need a solid two weekend days sitting in front of the computer and I just don't have the motivation to do that.

 

And just think, if I can get the truck to even 23 mpg, I'll drive it to Canby this year!

 

:lol: ,,, yes someone does care ^^^ ollz ,,, nah I would understand ,,, two days is a lot of time to spend updating the stuff :o :mellow:

 

Keep it up :thumbup: ,,, you'll make it to Canby :pirate:

[datzenmike]

I like the way you solved problems as they cropped up. It's not like you could go back to what you started with. Once committed there really was no way back. Kudos Matt for seeing it through.

[HRH]

Post #40 has also been edited.

 

Was kicking this idea around for the past few days. Cutting off the head retards the cam. Reason being is the tension side stays the same, the slack side (with tensioner) is the only side that can pick up the chain slack from the .030 clearance of head. Thus, cam gear rotates counter-clockwise, and if this is at TDC, then the cam lobes will be further away and will come down after TDC, thus retarding the cam.

 

Consequently, the fix is to advance the cam via the #2 or #3 hole. I had it on #2 to begin with and mileage wasn't that great, though it had plenty of torque and I drove it to Canby that way with no issues. However, on #3, the truck still has plenty of power, but it definitely shifted the powerband up. 3500 rpm and above has excellent pull now. The other good thing is that lessens the hp at lower rpm and lets you take advantage of the torque. As a result, the latest mileage was 22.26 vs 20.5 average on Canby 2011 trip.

 

 

[HRH]

Alright, so it's been about 14,000 miles or so since I've built the motor. Rather surprising actually, didn't think I had that many miles on it yet. Build was 148, I'm at 162 right now. Mileage corrected it's about 15,000 miles. So planning out stuff for this weekend (which for me is now and the sun is shining!) I decided to address a few things:

 

1. Oil change. I'm switching to Schaeffer's 5w40 from Royal Purple. Going to try it in the truck and see how I like it.

 

2. Developed an oil leak I noticed this winter, looks like it's coming from the timing cover up top, not sure exactly where yet. Very, very slight, almost not even enough to matter, but it's slimed down the side of the motor now and I can't have that.

 

3. Oil consumption. The KA pcv system sucks from the timing cover, and has a relatively large area to lessen pressure so oil doesn't get sucked into the intake during high rpm operation. Rather wish I would have been able to use that. I did the block vent around the back of the motor, up into the pcv which is on the bottom of the intake on the KA manifold. What I'm going to attempt to do is enlarge that line with say a fuel filter with the guts out. Basically providing a pressure drop so the gas goes in, but the oil stays out. It's not major oil consumption, but it is noticeable.

 

4. Won't do this today, but I need to have my exhaust fixed where the header attaches to the exhaust pipe. Damn three bolt flanges are junk. Header is fine, just wish they would have done a ball socket joint like the last header I got from them. Oh well.

 

So that's the continued progress on the motor. She's still running strong, no issues to speak of really. Still happy I built her. Thinking about putting in a cam, but don't really need to. Might do one before Canby if I get the Sentra I picked up sold for a good profit.

[HRH]

Okay, after a day of playing in glorious damn near 62 degree weather, I got done what I wanted to get done!

 

 

Tentatively, I'm going to say she was leaking through this bolt hole, cleaned it out with brake cleaner, then blew it out with air, then filled with rtv and put the bolt back in. We shall see if that stops it. Sure hope so.

 

 

Did I mention it was absolutely gorgeous? I actually worked outside in just a tee shirt and jeans today!

 

 

Dat dog.

 

 

Dat dog done got grass all over her! What a shitstick! I took her riding to the Monroe NAPA today to pick up the pcv valve filter thing. She still needs to work off her winter fat. I was cruising on the bike and she was okay for a few blocks, but then started falling back so I had to ride a bit slower. She still had big fun though.

 

 

So when I set up the pcv, it goes around the block, then to a hose which has the pcv valve inline (stock Nissan type) and then a hose on the other end that goes into a fitting on the intake. It's damn near impossible to get at unless the intake is off, so I decided to loosen the attachment where it holds that tube and had enough room to weasel it out of the block hole.

 

 

 

 

So basically, this fits up inside that tube, and blocks off the side tube except for vapor (we hope) which should solve the issue of siphoning crankcase oil out. I was going to try and make a low pressure chamber but literally had no room to work with. It will probably take a week or two to see if this is working.

 

And so far the switch to Schaeffer's 5w40 seems to be a good idea. Less valve clatter on start up, but it was also pretty warm, so hard to tell.

[datzenmike]

Isn't 5 a bit thin??

[HRH]

You know, I usually think the same thing. Funny enough, Mitchell's calls for either 5 or 10w30. After lengthy, multiple talks with my Schaeffer's oil rep and others, I'm fairly convinced it will be just fine. For instance, how diesel oil has traditionally been 15w40, and now is being phased out by 5w40.

 

Reason being it's still a 40 weight oil, it will just flow like a 5 weight when cold. But it still offers the same protection as a 40 weight. Meaning when it's stinkin cold out, it will have a much easier time moving the oil, but the same protection as when it's hot. I've been very leery to go this route, but the more I read, the more I find evidence to support it being a good idea. I'm paying close attention though. So far all has been good.

 

EDIT: Today, cold start up, noticeably quietier lifter noise on startup compared to what I'm used to with the KA.

[HRH]

Bitchin! Been a few days, did a long trip today to go get the asian tranny (as seen in general section), that was another 80 miles or so. So far the leak (knock on wood) has not reappeared! It looks like I may have gotten it! Better yet, the oil level is still the same as when I filled it!! And I had lots of opportunity to push the rpm on the trip down with some severe headwind and passing some slowpokes. May have gotten both issues taken care of. I'll still have to wait and check later, but so far things are good.

[HRH]

EGR TUBE

 

Thread revival! So the EGR tube I bypassed wasn't much of a big deal at the altitude of Spokane. However, I had noticed just a slight little back and forth hesitation on mid throttle (not unlike the separated tires I replaced) which I pretty much drove around. Very, very slight, but still there nonetheless. Not noticeable when accelerating at a good clip, but noticeable when holding steady throttle at 35 mph or so, about 2500-2700 rpm.

 

Went to Canby this past weekend and had massive vibration issues which turned out to be a combination of wheels out of balance, and more probably some bad u-joints I ended up replacing on Saturday. Unfortunately, the hardly noticeable oscillation in Spokane turned out to be more noticeable near sea level. Or maybe it just took that long for me to notice it. I don't know. Seems odd it didn't present itself at last year's Canby since I had finished the motor by then, but perhaps in my excitement, I rather overlooked it. I'm sure people less in tune with their vehicles would definitely overlook it.

 

Short of it is, I hooked the EGR tube back up as I began to think the EGR plays a pivotal role during light-mid throttle application with the stock ECU/fuel injection. As mid throttle is mainly where it operates, I have a feeling the oscillation I was feeling was a lack of the EGR opening. Test runs after hooking up the EGR tube proved to be very positive for improved drivability.

 

The only downside is my pcv system had to be relocated. Currently not running a pcv at all, just a block breather and the valve cover breather. Since I can't use the KA timing cover pcv setup since I'm not using the KA timing cover, I think I'll be relocating the pcv to the upper valve cover, much like it is on the SR20, and that will suck through. Block vent will remain filtered but open.

 

So that's the story. The EGR is a necessary part of the stock D21 wiring harness. Standalone would fix that, but I'm not going to do that unless I really need to. Better to spend that money on the 510.

[HRH]

So we have some interesting information on the pcv system on the KA24E to report. I am currently not running the PCV due to re-installation of the EGR tube.

 

 

While that works fine, there is some odor coming into the cab at idle with the fan on. No doubt this is the block venting and getting sucked into the cowl. So, obviously, the PCV needs to be hooked back up because I'm not dealing with that come this winter.

 

Now, since I'm using the Z24 bottom end, I have the block vent vs. the timing cover vent. Consequently I need to run a different PCV route. Rather wish I would have figured out a way to either use the KA cover or attach the PCV housing to the Z24 timing cover. There's not much room though.

 

My issues previously of the pcv sucking excess oil out of the crankcase are what prompted me to reexamine the KA24 system. In the L/Z system, the PCV goes to the manifold and that's it. Block vent goes to PCV, valve cover breather to air filter.

 

As it turns out, Nissan must have had oil sucking issues with the KA as well. Take a look at the factory PCV unit for the KA.

 

 

Rather large for a PCV system, no?

 

Here's why:

 

 

Not only are there fins on the inside of the timing cover to protect against oil spray, but there's a drainback trough at the start of the unit, and then basically a gate valve minus the gate, which finally terminates into the actual PCV fitting, which then connects to the bottom of the intake. It works remarkable well, but look at the amount of effort that went into this system, vs. the L motor.

 

So my idea is of course to either replicate the PCV housing, or retrofit it to be used in my system. Thought this was going to be an easy re-routing, turns out perhaps I'll have to spend a little more time.

 

And here's the progress of my poor little Eleanor, half torn down and not getting much attention: :(

 

 

On the bright side, here are some cam pictures.

 

 

 

I didn't like the bearing surfaces on my old D21 cam, so I went to the wrecking yard and found a Stanza with a Japanese KA, which had a MUUCH nicer cam in it. Sent that off to Canada, eh, to PDM racing this weekend. Hopefully I'll get it back with a better grind in a few weeks.

 

Oh yeah! I almost have 20,000 miles on this motor! Woo hoo! :)

[HRH]

So here's what I did last night and today. Figured out half the reason my welding was so shitty only after the fact. I should have cleaned the interior of the PCV body, as I think the off-gas from the oil and crap was coming through contaminating the weld. Anyway, finally got it done, pressure tested it in some water, no leaks. Painted it, made a bracket, drilled and tapped the engine lift bracket, and mounted it on!

 

Works well, no more fumes inside the cab! The truck is now set up 100% with all original systems. Should be a good thing. Now if my camshaft would hurry up and get ground and come back to me!