rjgilligan

hainz - Sorry, I wasn't clear. The L16 that I'm taking the peanut from of has the flattops. The L20b is the engine that was in my truck when it blew. I was wondering if I could get those flattops INTO my L20b, but it's looking like they are a different bore. Will check later.

Hey Mike - Thanks for your input! This A87 is the peanut head, the picture is bad and it still has the gasket still on it, but it's definitely not a round chamber. Its good to hear you say that about the chain. I never was convinced the chain had jumped, but I couldn't decipher what else it could be. Now that I'm thinking about it, there were a series of bangs, maybe 10-12 that were evenly spaced and got quieter as they went on. Then, no compression. I was in 4th and had to merge quickly, but never downshifted when it happened. If the chain COULD jump, the bangs probably wouldn't have been evenly spaced. However, I can't find any issue with the head gasket that came off. What makes you think the head gasket went? And what could have caused those bangs? The lower block of my engine is an L20B. The "race" engine that has the flattops in it is an L16, so unless they bored out the L16 to exactly match my engine, which I doubt, there's probably no sticking those flattops in my L20b. I'll go out and measure later for the hell of it. kelowg - I'll probably end up pulling the pistons next weekend and will be able to see what, if anything, happened on the bottom end. There's no metal in the oil pan and no scoring on the cylinder walls, though.

A few years back, the chain on my 79 620 jumped and left me stranded on 95 north outside of Philly during rush hour. Heard a series of large bangs and the engine had barely enough compression to get me to the shoulder. I assumed there was most likely damage to the valves. By some miracle, a few weeks later an L16 with an A87 head popped up on craigslist right in the area for $250 so went up to Yardley and strapped it down in the van. I stripped down the old engine on a stand, but despite more than normal oil residue buildup I can't visualize any issue with this l20b head. Everything LOOKS good. Is it possible that the chain didn't jump enough to bend valves? Or can you just not visualize this sort of thing? Regardless, I had this other engine, so I pulled the stripped l20b off the stand, put on the l16 and pulled the head. Cool. I knew the guy was racing it since it had an oil cooler hanging off the side of it, but this is what I ended up with. I'm gonna put this peanut head on the L20b, but can I get away with putting these flattops in the L20b or will I run into issues that can't be remedied? I don't mind running the truck with better gas or tuning carbs or whatever. This is my fun vehicle, I'm not about to throw dual side-drafts on it or anything, but it's not like I haven't already spent some time/money replacing nearly everything on it and repainted it turquoise.

More photos on the way... It looks sharp with the hubcaps back on.

by tomorrow, she'll be a different color.......

Welcome to thursday

The '68 buick special in the pictures, then the 68' 280se benz and 66' continental in the garage are next. Shit I've got a lot of work ahead of me..

I'd like to keep this thing as stock as possible with some various cosmetic upgrades. It's gonna be two-tone: datsun roadster turquoise/cream. Already pulled the whole engine apart and went over that, so it runs great... new timing, electric, hoses.. I'd like to upgrade the exhaust with something more substantial, get a more desirable manifold, and pull out the emissions. Already upgraded starter and alternator. Repainted steelies cream. Rear bumper will probably stay off. It's got 66' Mustang side mirrors. KEEPIN THE HOOKS. Would like to get a front bumper guard and a pre-78 grill but damn if i can find one. Rubberizing the whole underside, bed, and frame. Brakes completely gone over. I will beef up the suspension a bit, but not much. More pictures to come...

Hey Mike, I don't think I ever overfilled the oil. The rear main seal has been slowly leaking oil since I got the truck. It started getting worse after I drove the truck across the country. :thumbup: But anyway, I have the truck up on jack stands now and the new seal sitting in my garage, waiting to go in. I'm also doing a bunch of other things to it while it's up, but that's for a different thread. What plastic breather are you referring to? One on the valve cover? The valve cover isn't leaking (although it was at one point in the past, maybe this is old oil from that??), looks good up there now. I guess I worry if this could be trans oil coming up from the case or is that out of the question? Something else like that? Trans oil level is fine... I'm going to pull the transmission out tomorrow anyway..

Hey, maybe it's supposed to be that way ... but it looks wrong. Truck is a 79 4 spd. I took off the inner boot to tighten up the linkage (Sloppy play up and down as well as side to side / rattles while driving) and it's really oily down in there. Oil kind of running down the side out of the hole, and oil all on the inside of the boot. What busted? Oh just thought of something. My rear main seal leaks and needs to be replaced... maybe oil is running down the transmission and into there? Could it be coming from some other place?

Sure I'll get some photos up in a few weeks.... truck is on jacks & bed is off right now. Doing a little east coast winter rust prevention.

Just drove this thing to Pennsylvania from Olympia... this should be fun trying to find a set of springs out here for it. Man, times like this I wish I still lived in Washington. Datsunaholic, you mentioned 5 springs for the later models?? Mine has 2 and a helper on the bottom. Did some PO goober it? Looking at it again, there is some space between the spring clamps...

With a full load in the back the springs lay flat, almost bending the other way. Has anyone used a helper spring on these? This, in particular: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1133186&cc=1210150 Is this a bolt on item, or am I going to have problems with my shocks? I just bought some KYB Ecel-Gs for the back.