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Make your own Lash Caps?


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So I'm attempting to source .160" lash caps for my '75 280z, however MSA decided to wait several days to let me know they're out of stock (it's 2014, what sort of business doesn't track what they have on-hand!?). They don't have any sort of timeframe for when they might get more in, as they have to source them from Japan. I was considering Schneider, but I know MSA sources most of their camshaft materials from Schneider so there's a good chance they're out of stock as well. Isky has done well by me on my previous cams for a Z31 300zx, but the smallest lash caps they stock are .175", which would be too large.

 

I'm curious, have any of you fellow Datsun enthusiasts made lash cap spacers out of steel and ran the engine with them in? I don't think it'd be difficult for me to find 22ga steel, the only difficulties I foresee are cutting it to the right diameter (maybe use a punch?), and whether or not cold rolled or stainless steel can stand up to the abuse a lash cap goes through. I'd use a steel adhesive to bond the spacer to the bottom of the caps, which shouldn't be difficult since the stockers are cupped on the bottom.

 

On a side-note, anyone know why Schneider Cams shipping costs are so damn high? They want $27 to ship lash caps. LASH CAPS. I spent less getting a set of full tube headers shipped home! :angry: I guess when you have a near-monopoly on S30 valvetrain parts you can charge whatever you want.

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I need a set of .180 let us know what you come up with. I called troy ermish but he told me to call rebello (wich I didn't do), then I found nissanraceshop.com wich advertises them for $5.00 a piece and tried to place an order twice but they never took action wich I was assuming they couldn't get them either

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I need a set of .180 let us know what you come up with. I called troy ermish but he told me to call rebello (wich I didn't do), then I found nissanraceshop.com wich advertises them for $5.00 a piece and tried to place an order twice but they never took action wich I was assuming they couldn't get them either

 

Did you try these guys...?

 

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic12e04/10-2041A

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Thank you so much!! I seen that site along time ago but forgot the name. and only 6bucks to ship to me :thumbup: Nissanraceshop.com wanted $120 to ship them to me from southern California. I was just gona drive the 5 hours to pick them up at there store instead of paying shipping but this is great thanks again

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The Z store is who I tried ordering the .160"s from but are NLA. As for the steel strength, the sheetmetal I was going to use to fill the void is high-strength stuff, but I don't know the AISI grade offhand. I used my digital caliper and found that the stock caps are actually .169"-.170" from the contact pad to the bottom rim, the dished portion brings it down to the stock .118". There's a machine shop nearby that I'm going to visit tomorrow morning and see if they can machine some steel to fill the center of these caps. Otherwise my plan is to use a hole punch on the steel I have and mate the steel discs to the caps using some of the high-strength steel-based adhesive I have at my shop.

 

I'm a little wary of modding the stockers just yet, I may wait to see if Schneider replies on Monday and has them in stock, or see if I can just get a stock cam from a salvage yard and not have to deal with the BS of getting new lash caps. But seeing as how people have made more ridiculous modifications to engines and haven't had issues (like sanding dished pistons into flattops), I don't think a steel shim would pose too much of an issues if worse comes to worse and I have to make my own .160"s.  

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Instead of trying to have them made from scratch, you might be better off getting the ones that are too thick and having a machine shop grind them down on a precision grinder.  They can get the tolerances within a half a thou(.0005) and it shouldn't affect the metal's properties.

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I've gotten lucky and sourced a brand-new OEM cam on ebay. It's stated as being a L24 cam, which according to most documentation I've seen is the same lift/duration/LSA as the L28E stocker. Given that my engine is so new, I'd rather run a stocker back in it until it's broken in well enough to get the Delta Cam I have on-hand back in it. Also, I may have a harder time than previously thought on getting the right size lash caps. Right now I just want a running 280z, I could care less on having a ton of power over stock. The increased price of steel locally caused most salvage yards to scrap any S30/S130s they had on hand which could have provided a stock cam. I'm kicking myself for passing on the opportunity to nab a RHD s30 years ago, before I was really into the import scene. And  given that the combined cost of sourcing lash caps and having local machine shops get oversized caps into specs and heat treat them would cost as much as this cam, so going OEM seems wiser IMHO. Lesson learned on rebuilding/camming an L-series!

 

I've read on how to resurface rocker arms, but since my rocker arms were resurfaced recently and only have some break-in time on them, should I still resurface them with this new OEM cam?

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Looks like I'll tackle that tomorrow then with some extremely fine grit sandpaper. I may just sell the Schneider-spec Delta camshaft I have in the Z currently, if anyone would be interested in a 260-270F .460 lift grind.

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Banzai, Schneider is who MSA gets their valvetrain components from. And since they're (MSA) out, Schneider is most likely out as well. Isky has .175"s in their catalogue, but I'm unsure as to if they have them on-hand. I figured I'd play it safe, and go back to a stock cam. At least then I'll know that the rest of my components will work with it. I could get the .175"s, but by the time I got those, got them milled/heat-treated, and then put in I could've just swapped in a stock cam and hopefully will be on the streets. Plus I may have gotten over my head with the current cam grind, if I do get a cam down the road, it may be a slightly more mild one. When I get the OEM cam I might run it at 4' advanced by putting the sprocket in the #2 position.

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I would call Schneider anyway.  Perhaps they forgot to put the order in from Schneider.  I just added them to the cart at Schneiders, no out of stock came up.  Perhaps Schneider is saving the ones they have for their customers.  Worth a shot to give them a call.

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Lash pads are SUPER hard. If you grind one that is thicker your going to loose the case hardness. I'm just guessing here, but I would think they are made of something a little better than 4340 or 4130.

More like 8620-9310. And case carburized to at least 60-64 Rc. With a case depth of at least .020-.025. I have actually thought about making some, But they are so damn small.

And they sell for $5-$6 So you would have to make a ton of them to make any money. 

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Motorsport Auto (The Z store) has replied to me, and apparently Nissan is discontinuing all sizes of lash pads! Hopefully someone will pick up the demand and manufacture them (afford ably!) but until then, I'm just going to revert to the OEM cam I ordered. I may try and pick up some junkyard lash pads and have them re-sized, filled and case-hardened. I'll let you guys know if I find an affordable alternative.

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