Engine build ideas, need some help (looooong story)

[racerx]

i could be wrong but just the sss grill is like 500.00, obviously that depends on condition and nice sss head.

[flatcat19]

It's a 521 grill with a repopped SSS badge.

 

I'll sell ya one for $499/OBO if interested.

[racerx]

i already have 2 of them and badges

[datzenmike]

Sell the Mallory to someone that doesn't know any better and get a matchbox and coil.

[wayno]

If you find a set of Z20 rods with flat-top pistons attached to them...I'll gladly take the pistons off your hands.

 

You do realize that a lot of the time when the pistons are removed from rods, the pistons get damaged/broken.

[flatcat19]

Not when done right.

 

Or done by someone that knows how to do it right...

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Using a piston press does not usually hurt the pistons. It can, but it's rare. You may have to hone the pin bores to get them to fit again, but that's no problem for most engine guys.

 

Re the Mallory Distributor - If you want to use it for the vintage look, gut it and install L series internals and run a Pertronix. It's a lot of work, but then you get to keep that cool, retro Mallory.

 

I've done this on vintage tach-drive Mallory distributors before.

[G-Duax]

Pertronix - how do they work ?

 

They work  by FM. (frigging magic)

 

Don't screw up the Mallory by gutting it. Pleanty of people will give you money for it.

[Draker]

Also, don't store the head face down like that unless you like bent valves.

[racerx]

shouldnt the head be stored standing up.

[Draker]

It doesn't matter. Just not on the face.

 

Cranks are to be stored standing up.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Pertronix - how do they work ?

 

They work  by FM. (frigging magic)

 

Don't screw up the Mallory by gutting it. Pleanty of people will give you money for it.

Screw it up? No.

 

Make it better. You ever have one of those apart? The adjustable parts inside are known for loosening up and coming apart, destroying the whole unit.

[wayno]

Not when done right.

 

Or done by someone that knows how to do it right...

 

My machinist(AC Nutter racing engines) was unable to remove the Z22 pistons from the rods without breaking one or more when I built my LZ23, and he has been doing it for a very long time, but that is what he told me when I thought I had the wrong rods in the engine, and he was talking about the new pistons that were just installed on the rods, maybe he was covering all the bases.

[bajango]

Sell the Mallory to someone that doesn't know any better and get a matchbox and coil.

I already have one on my L16, so I'll just keep using it.

[datzenmike]

Get a matchbox, better than a Mallroy.

[bajango]

Sorry, I meant I already had a matchbox on my L

[datzenmike]

Good boy. Trust the Nissan engineers, after market stuff rarely offers significant improvement and amounts to basically painting something red. Never is it worth the cost. 

[bajango]

Parts came in! Woot! Here's some pics of the more exciting stuff. I'll have to start an actual build thread soon. Mike, the distributor is optical breaker. Should I still use my matchbox? I kinda like the idea of using an MSD ignition box. I might have to bump up to 45dcoe though.

 

 

 

 

 

[datzenmike]

Try both and do a A/ B comparison. Optical breaker is only as good as the slop in the drive spindle.

[flatcat19]

Matchbox for my money.

 

Less parts in the system means less shit to go wrong.

Last thing I want is multiple things, doing the same thing just to have one in the loop break...then try to diagnose A, B, or C.

 

Put it on eBay to add funds to your build account.

[bajango]

thank you mike. I'll check it out.

[bajango]

Matchbox for my money.

 

Less parts in the system means less shit to go wrong.

Last thing I want is multiple things, doing the same thing just to have one in the loop break...then try to diagnose A, B, or C.

 

Put it on eBay to add funds to your build account.

I was thinking about that too....

[scooter]

The optical dist. Is better if there's no slop. In that case you wanna use an HEI or an msd.

[datzenmike]

The slop is in the distributor to spindle. Take a look.... it looks like a screw driver blade in a screw. Only when they went to CAS did the start to use a spline to eliminate the sloppy fit.

 

My Z24i CAS spindle....

 

 

 

My Z24i CAS.....

 

[scooter]

I was meaning bearing slop but I know what you mean. I wanna try putting this spline drive onto the matchbox dizzy I have.

 

For your webers, if you stick with the 36mm stock throats you will have good torque with the 45's. If you are building an lz you will gain more with 40mm throats in the 45's but you will lose some low end driveability. Depends on the variant of the 45, I have 152's and the progression could be better, some have slightly different progression holes which make a difference on that slight off idle situation.

When I had the 36mm throats in it the slight off idle wasn't so apparent as it is with the 40's. It's not bad, but it is there.

 

 

If it's gonna be a normal l20b I wouldn't bother setting it up with the bigger throats unless your gonna wail it all the time.