a87 head?

[allen dodson]

Is this casting any good?

[datzenmike]

They're all good.

 

The A-87 has slightly smaller intake ports than the comparable U-67. (both have square exhaust ports) It was used on L-18 and early L20B engines. I don't know if it has the 'better' L20-B cam or not but one could be put in and the ports enlarged.

[datsunaholic]

Umm... the A87 was never stock on a L20B. It was used on LATE L16s (my Mom's '73 has one, it's original) and L18s.

 

The original L20B head was a U60, which are pretty rare but are virtually identical to the U67 (same port/valve sizes, the difference is the indentation in the intake ports).

[мг.пιѕмο]

Umm... the A87 was never stock on a L20B. It was used on LATE L16s (my Mom's '73 has one, it's original) and L18s.

 

The original L20B head was a U60, which are pretty rare but are virtually identical to the U67 (same port/valve sizes, the difference is the indentation in the intake ports).

 

My A87 head is off an L20B. Can't say that it wasn't swapped from an L18 back in the glory days, but from what I found out about it I can second they came on 76-77 L20B's.. which would be early L20B's...

 

The A87 also comes open, semi-closed, and full quench (peanut), FWIW.

[datsunaholic]

I've seen a 210 head on a '79. Wasn't stock. Neither was the 210 head on my '74 L18. Blown head gaskets and cracked heads were, and still are, a common occurrance, but in the 80s it was still common for folks to fix them. Parts got shuffled around basically to get the cars running. It is VERY rare to find a Datsun with the original engine in it, let alone all original parts. Out of every Datsun I own, and I have 16 of them, only 3 have the original engines in them. Only one of those is an L-series, though.

 

My 1975 620 which had (past tense) the original engine had a U67 head on it. I would suspect the A87 was a swap-on; A87s were VERY common replacements as they came on over half the "Imported low mile" engines back in the 1980s. They were also the only source of "closed chamber" heads that most folks knew about, as it was the stock head used with SU's in the SSS Bluebird in the late 70s and were a common imported engine. It was later that folks found out about the W53 (which was mostly used on EFI L18s) or the even rarer closed-chamber W58.

 

Almost all L20Bs from 1975-77 had U67 heads on them. I've never SEEN a U60 head but the books say they came on early L20Bs- and "early" L20B would have been in a 1974 610.

 

The 1974-77 L20B was designed to use the "Stovepipe" manifold set, which used the U67 head. I've HEARD of A87 heads that don't have the coolant recirc holes, so it's possible that they could have been used with the stovepipe.

[мг.пιѕмο]

Don't forget the infamouse 219 head. A handful of 510'ers I know have them.

Happen to know the difference between the A87 Closed and the 219 peanuts?

Besides the OEM camshaft, of course. Valve sizes? Ports?

[Gensaiken]

Don't forget the infamouse 219 head. A handful of 510'ers I know have them.

Happen to know the difference between the A87 Closed and the 219 peanuts?

Besides the OEM camshaft, of course. Valve sizes? Ports?

 

 

Might be some good info here:

 

http://olddat.com/html/tech/head_ID_2.htm

 

has some info about the 219 head.

[datsunaholic]

As a note, not all 219 heads have the big 1.50" ports. I have one, but it was the stock head off a L14.

[мг.пιѕмο]

Hmm.

 

Wonder what mine are. I'll have to revisit the internals again and take some measurement, I was in too much of a hurry when I built this thing in my kitchen and got it running in 3 days, 6" of snow on the ground, to ever take the time and check it out. xD

[bonvo]

on the subject of all orginal datsun motors my 610 has the orginal l20b in it it only has 137000 miles on it and has never had the head off of it

[Bugeye]

my 79 620 has the original engine in it, never been apart and has 300k on the clock..it also retains all its original parts too

[jnec510]

i have had 6 datsuns(4 510s an 2 trucks) only 1 had an origanal motor. that was a 620 but it had a rebuilt head(u67). :D

[what]

Allen Dodson. Wish he was still on here. Anybody know were he is today and why he was banned from Ratsun? He was a great guy. He had a ton of Datsuns. He lived outside of timber rose in Oregon.