OK, so I picked up the new buggy, finally, at the weekend, and am after some info on identifiying which Nissan motor is fixed to the gear box - all the previous owner new about it, is that it's a 4-cyl 2.2-ltr (possibly stroked), he'd no ideas on the "model" of engine.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to identify which engine it might have originally been ?

Cheers ... Kimbo

show us a pic. might have a chance of telling you. is it OHC?

Peter, yes, I'm 99.9% sure it is OHC - I'll try and take some pics tonight, but I'm not sure, given the amount of bar work/engine cage that surrounds it, that they'll be clear enough to be of any use, however, you never know. I'll also see if I can find any serial numbers or identifying marks that may exist.

Cheers ... Kimbo

If its a SOHC engine you would be able to tell from the tappet cover. It will have SOHC written on top of it and the carbies and exhaust will be on the same side. Have a look at the engine number. If its an L series engine the eng # will start with L. The first two (2) numbers of the eng # will tell you what engine campacity the eng is (or the orginal eng campacity). If its an L16 the eng # will read L16..... A L16 engine will also have SOHC 1600 written on the tappet cover aswel. An L18 will start L18........ and L20 will be L20....... so you get the drift. If the engine is 'suppose' to be 2.2L, its more likely it will be an L20 with an 88mm bore and standard stroke (86mm) which makes it more like a 2.1. You can not go over an 88mm bore in the L20 unless you resleave the bore (which will only take you to 89mm anyway). The real power in the L series engine is in the heads. Have a look on the drivers side of the head (near the front of the engine) and see whats written. the numbers should be A87, W53, L20B etc. A W53 (SSS 1600 head) or A87 (180B head) are the heads you wont. I hope that helps


[ Edited on 19/6/2007 by bat69 ]

Thanks Bat - didn't get a real chance to look at it last night, but I did notice it has SOHC on the rocker cover, and the carbs and exhaust are on the same side. From what you've said it may well be an L20, and apparently also does have a head from a 1600, so that additional info you've provided on that will give some additional clues.

Much appreciated.

Cheers ... Kimbo

The L series motor is a great little unit. Just a smaller version of the L series 6 that came in the Zeds. Very very strong bottom end. It's more than possible to see 200hp + NA from a 4cyl 2l with the right head porting, some decent compression and carbs. It's also possible to stroke them by using the crank out of the early skyline 4cyl and clearancing the crankcase. A mate of mine knows someone with a 2.4l in a bluebird rally car. apparently it really goes. There are lots of bits available for L series motors. Unless you really don't want it, I'd seriously think about keeping it. If you want to sell it, the rally scene would probably be interested in it. in fact I know a young fella with a bluebird who might be interested.

Pete

From what I'm led to believe this thing flies, so it supports what you said - I've also been told that the engine's fairly "indestructible", but of course that's naturally dependent on how you drive it. I'm certainly not planning to get rid of it any time soon !

It's currently has twin 45 side-drafts with a hot cam of some description, and puts the power out through a 2-litre kombi box full of Albins, can't wait to get some "testing" underway.

200 ponies NA ? Mmm, may have to put it on the dyno to see what it currently has ?

Cheers ... Kim

Well, had a look last night - the carbies, exhaust and dizzy are all on the same side; the tappet cover's got "Nissan OHC" on it; the marking's on the block I reckon are L20 (although the "L" looks more like a backward "J"); the head, though, appears to have U87 cast on it - sounds as though I should be torpedoing ships in the Atlantic - but it was difficult to see clearly due to "stuff" being in the way. Bat, any ideas ?

Did you end up with this one. Sorry for the delay. If the engine has L20 then its prob from a 200B (a blue bird engine has L20B stamped on the side). If the markings on the head has an 87 then its a head form a L18. This is the typical engine upgrade with the L20's.

The L18 head has smaller ports (then l20) but it has heaps better flow and combust chambers then the L20 head. The valve sizes are the same for both heads, buy by adding the L18 head it ups the compression ratio. Thats why people put the L18 head on the L20 engine (ezy upgrade. The best head is a SSS 1600 head - W53).

As far as HP goes, It all depends on the cam, exhaust and carbies. If its an L20 block (which we believe it is - and depending on bore size, although a big bore with not significantly up the power), an L18 head (which is most prob only ported with standard valves) and a hot cam with a good set of twin carbies (webbers, del's etc) then you can look at anything from 100 to 120 hps (At the wheels). It is possilble to get more hps but these are very realasitic figures for your application.

[ Edited on 26/7/2007 by bat69 ]

you'd only get 200hp + out of a very high spec motor. that sort of motor would also have a very narrow power band, probably no good for offroad where you want a broader power curve and some torque, but still, it's quite impressive for a non-crossflow 8 valve head.

Bat sorry for the slow response mate - been out of the office for a couple of weeks, and missed you reply. Still trying to get some info from the orginal owner, but not having much luck. Thanks very much for getting back to me - I'll work on the assumption that it's a 200B block with and L18 head of unknown origin, until proven otherwise - at least it'll give me something to start with when asking for bits when it breaks.

Not necessarily looking for 200+ Pete, just impressed that you could get it from one of these.

Looking to do some testing in a month or so, and will let you know the degree of the pucker factor that occurs.

Cheers ... Kimbo