Captain_McBaldo Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 I was looking at building a L16, probably making it a high compression "L18" and was thinking about adding water methanol injection. I figured it would be safer and i could squeeze out a little more power. Have any of you ran water meth on a L series motor? Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 What are your compression ratio and hp hopes ? Are you trying to build a street or race motor ? The gains in power vs money spent is not gonna be there with an L16.... I say this from experience.... I have a high compression L16 that I spent way to much money on just to get to the same horsepower as a stock l20b.... But I do love the L motor..... Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 7 hours ago, Captain_McBaldo said: I was looking at building a L16, probably making it a high compression "L18" and was thinking about adding water methanol injection. I figured it would be safer and i could squeeze out a little more power. Have any of you ran water meth on a L series motor? Well that's making a 7 the hard way. There are limits to the 210 head on an L16 and L18 and L20B heads just lower the compression. How were you planning to raise the compression?? May I suggest an L20B and build that. It begins with a 20 hp head start over an L16 and anything you do to it increase this lead over a smaller displacement L16/18 with similar modifications. If daring, you can swap L20B heads and manifolds on to the later Z22 and Z24 blocks and outwardly they look identical to an L20B, hell at a glance it can't be distinguished from an L16. This would start you conservatively at about 110 HP but realistically probably closer to 130. All these engines would cost about the same in parts and machining to build. I do realize that you may have constraints on the build you plan and added displacement may not be feasible. 1 Quote Link to comment
Captain_McBaldo Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Crashtd420 said: What are your compression ratio and hp hopes ? Are you trying to build a street or race motor ? The gains in power vs money spent is not gonna be there with an L16.... I say this from experience.... I have a high compression L16 that I spent way to much money on just to get to the same horsepower as a stock l20b.... But I do love the L motor..... Probably in the neighborhood of 10:1 and it would be primarily a race motor with some light street duty. My only issue is trying to find a L20b, i was only thinking of building this L16 because its all i could find and its already punched out. Quote Link to comment
yenpit Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Wait it out, find an L20B. The L20B came out around 1975 thru 1980, most commonly in the 620 pick ups & the 1980 only 720, but also the later HL510. From 1981, the engine range changed from the Z20 (NAPZ), to the Z22, then the Z24. Bottom line, locate an engine, but ALWAYS check the engine designation on the block, cuz lots were swapped & retrofitted over the years! I've got two L20B's available, but would have to ship truck freight, which gets expensive! Good luck! TJ Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 2 hours ago, Captain_McBaldo said: Probably in the neighborhood of 10:1 and it would be primarily a race motor with some light street duty. My only issue is trying to find a L20b, i was only thinking of building this L16 because its all i could find and its already punched out. At 10:1 you shouldn't need water meth injection.... I just use 93 octane and I'm at 10.7:1 with my L16..... Quote Link to comment
Captain_McBaldo Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 59 minutes ago, Crashtd420 said: At 10:1 you shouldn't need water meth injection.... I just use 93 octane and I'm at 10.7:1 with my L16..... How much power are you making with 10.7:1 ? Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Increased compression increases efficiency but it's not the be all or end all of power. You still need head work, cam, multiple carbs, a free flowing exhaust. Quote Link to comment
Captain_McBaldo Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 35 minutes ago, datzenmike said: Increased compression increases efficiency but it's not the be all or end all of power. You still need head work, cam, multiple carbs, a free flowing exhaust. I know, i just dont know what a actual attainable amount of power is for a L16. This is going to be my first N/A, first carbureted and smallist displacement build so im a little unaware of whats realistic for such a small motor. Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Well reality is a stock L16 puts down about 70hp to the wheels.... I made a dyno run to break in my motor and at that time it was at 86-87hp to the wheels at 5000 rpm... Engine combo is: 1mm over bored to 84mm with 9cc Wiseco dome pistons. W53 closed chamber head with a Schneider cam and valve springs. I had to open the combustion chamber up 2cc to allow the pistons to cycle. Basically what would be needed to descroud the valves, if not the pistons would hit the head... I even needed a .050 shim on my spark plugs to avoid contact, which ment I had to prep the spark plug area in the head too.... Single weber 40 dcoe side draft carburator on a lynx intake with a 123 ignition digital distributor for a tunable advance curve... no vacuum advance due to the side draft. And I have a header with a 2" exhaust.... I'm actually going back to the dyno next Friday to see if I can improve my hp number since the motor is now better tuned and broken in... I'm hoping to see numbers in the 90hp range, and really hoping to break 100..... And yes it's very street able and alot of fun in a 2200lb truck.... You can see it in my thread in the 521 truck section "A 521 in Massachusetts" I put my dyno run from last year up today to see if I could figure out posting a video.... 1 Quote Link to comment
G-Duax Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 My very first Datsun was a 510 wagon/L16, and I ran just water injection on it, not for power, but for mileage. Allowed me to run more advance than without it. Activated with throttle switch. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted October 4, 2019 Report Share Posted October 4, 2019 (edited) On 9/27/2019 at 3:29 PM, Captain_McBaldo said: I know, i just dont know what a actual attainable amount of power is for a L16. This is going to be my first N/A, first carbureted and smallist displacement build so im a little unaware of whats realistic for such a small motor. Just got back from the dyno... My L16 with the combo I described put down 95hp to the wheels.... I had a little more to gain if I tried but I I needed smaller air correctors to get more fuel in at the top end... Possible edit neccessary..... Just watched the video of the dyno and he was in 3rd.... I think he should have been in 4th so the numbers may have been skewed .. Edited October 5, 2019 by Crashtd420 1 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.