2016. The year of the engine???

pmac

Well-Known Forum User
Well it looks like 2016 is shaping up to be the year of the engine at my place.
Skiddell, Zbloke and myself all have engines at some stage of build or rebuild.:D
And as soon as one of these is completed we have agreed to do a rebuild for another long standing friend from the S30 world.

Skiddell is in the middle of a rebuild for a friend of a low mileage engine that A N Other engine builder screwed up.
So first thing this morning I received a call to say that the replacement crank that was required was ready to be collected .
One trip to Northampton and back and we have a fully measured, polished ,straight and dynamiclly balanced crank ready to restart the assembly line after Chrimbo is done with.:thumbs:
As the engine is now going to be run on standalone mapable mangement I also sent the crank damper with its newly installed trigger wheel to be balanced with the crank.
You can see the metal removal marks on it to compensate for the "lost tooth" on the trigger wheel.;)
Virgin unground L28 cranks in good useable condition are not so easy to come by as they were and do merit some TLC being applied to them IMO.
Here are a couple of (slightly boring) pics of the detailled work .
Of corse its not boring to the three of us as its part of a hobby that we enjoy.
 

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richiep

Club Member
Good stuff. Once I've sorted current engine issues and reworking, I may get back around to the engine project you are familiar with Pete. All those nice bits need to start sharing the same space at some point!
 

datsfun

Club Member
It's always nice to see the L series get the love it deserves....even though it loses on bhp \ £ grounds to modern units like the 1JZ, RB, LS.

I believe there are now 3.4L and 3.6L stroker kits available for the good ol "L" which produce upwards of 350bhp. And not on R#llo dyno I hasten to add :)
 

SKiddell

Well-Known Forum User
It's always nice to see the L series get the love it deserves....even though it loses on bhp \ £ grounds to modern units like the 1JZ, RB, LS.

I believe there are now 3.4L and 3.6L stroker kits available for the good ol "L" which produce upwards of 350bhp. And not on R#llo dyno I hasten to add :)

They will do if they have spinny things attached but this is about skilled tuning not turning a knob

If you consider that skilled tuners are getting over 100hp/litre from a single cam non crossflow 2 valve thats nearly 50 years old, it remarkable and in todays world of 4 valve quad cam multi turbo units thats even more outstanding.

Weve seen evidence that even lowly 3.1's can produce close to 400 in the right conditions and for the right purpose

BMEP anyone
 

johnymd

Club Member
I can see a growing market for l series engine rebuilds by known club members so good luck to you. May have to talk about engines for some of my projects.
 

SKiddell

Well-Known Forum User
Datsfun, You don't see too many NA 1JZ's or RB's
And a large displacement V8 will always be a challenge due to the torque they can produce.

A quad valve will always have the edge due to surface area of valve(s), the angle of the inlet tract and the cross flow nature.
 

SKiddell

Well-Known Forum User
Incidentally Datsfun, I think with a slightly larger exhaust valve, a slight raise in compression and a little more cam lift I could hit 315 or maybe even 320 on a 3 litre.
 

pmac

Well-Known Forum User
Very nice. Even balanced the oil slinger!

Thanks Jon.
I always like your little comments:thumbs:

Some of the purpose of the thread is to show to members who are not familiar with 21st century engine building processes just what is involved.
Balancing is now an integral and important part of a modern engine build.
All the rotating components are balanced in the final stage as a built up assembly.
The oil thrower has no significant part in the balancing process but is present as it puts the other components in their correct alignment on the crank.
The flywheel and cover plate are not present as they were done (allegedly) by the previous builder.
Lets hope he did a better job on that than he did on grinding the crank:eek:
 

johnymd

Club Member
They are impressive numbers for an old 2 valve engine. I've been looking into na RB or JZ and it's difficult/expensive to get that sort of power out of a technically better engine.
 

johnymd

Club Member
I thought ballancing had always been an important part of building a high performance engine. Well it was when I used to build mini engines in the 80's.
 

pmac

Well-Known Forum User
I can see a growing market for l series engine rebuilds by known club members so good luck to you. May have to talk about engines for some of my projects.

The engine I am working on is "unallocated" at present.
Its an L28 based unit overbored(of course). Final top end spec is flexible and could be tailored to you or anyone elses requirements/budget. It isnt/wont be an "exotic" build and therefore will have a modest price tag on the finished article. Im still looking to produce over 200hp tho.
We have done some stock 240Z and 260Z rebuilds in the past but they are a bit dull and uninspiring to build.So... no fun = no build as its a hobby not a business.;)
 

pmac

Well-Known Forum User
I thought ballancing had always been an important part of building a high performance engine. Well it was when I used to build mini engines in the 80's.

It was ...in the seventies when I was building and rallying minis too and still is;)
However the vast majority of cars on this forum do not have high performance engines so some of the info is aimed at gentle education. But if you think its unneccessary or patronising Ill stop now.:unsure:
 

vipergts

Well-Known Forum User
It's interesting stuff

I'm only recently into building engines....built my 4.2 Etype engine as my first ever a few years ago and just finished an Essex V6 whilst helping out with the Ratsun lump

So.....I will read with interest
 

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
200bhp from an L28 ? Did I read you correctly Pete ?:confused:

Of course, it's all about power vs. cost and then for a select few they MUST have an L-gata.

Personally I did a full circle and came back to using a N/A L...however my voyage opened my eyes and I became more tolerant of swaps and certain L-applications (EFi for example).

Bravo chaps - can only advance the Z-scene within the UK.....what else are you going to reinvent ?:thumbs:
 

status

Well-Known Forum User
Keep it coming Pere,interesting stuff for some of us peasants that are not into it as much as you and Skids,read and learn
 
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