I would just like to add a few thoughts on other suitable engines.
FJ20, a short stroke 2 liter engine with bore and stroke that's
close to the U20 but equipped with a 16 valve head. Was used
in many saloon and single seater racing cars in the 1980's. Strong
as a brick s**t toilet. The connecting rods in this engine is
known as the "King-Kong" rods among Nissan engine builders.
Not available in US market Nissan cars.
FJ20DE 145 hp/DIN and with turbocharging a lot more.
SR20, the Primera GT, 200 SX, Sunny/Pulsar GTi and others...
engine. Squarish bore and stroke engine with a 16 valve head.
Still in production and used in saloon car racing across the world.
Probably the best Nissan four with good tuning potential.
SR20DE 150 hp/DIN
Long stroke fours usually have crankshaft vibrations over 5000 rpm
that makes them unsuitable for sportscars, unless you get them
balanced. The Z24 came in the pick-up's and was later replaced
with the KA24 in the early 1990's. The KA24 in the 240 SX was
replaced with the 16 valve KA24DE in the early 1990's.
There is plenty of room for a large engine in the Roadster where the
engine height being the primary problem.
Thomas
Ronnie Day wrote:
> I must have deleted the original message asking about a Z20 in an
> SPL/SRL. Then again I may have dreamed it all, but here goes since no one
> else jumped in. The Z-20 was pretty much a slight modification of the
> L-series block on which Nissan dropped the NAP-Z head. Even though this
> was a crossflow head there are a number of reasons it was never
> performance developed like the R, U and L series top ends. It's pretty
> simple to adapt an L-series head to the Z-block and that combo has been
> popular as the basis for building 2200 and 2300 cc L-series motors. The
> Z-20 block are reportedly stiffer and have more cylinder wall material
> that the L-20, but the L-20 is probably more common.
>
> The Z-series also came as the Z-22 and Z-24. Deck height on the Z-20 and
> Z-22 are the same, but the Z-24 is about 3/4 inch taller than the L-20
> and Z-20/22, which were already 3/4 inch taller than the L-16/18. In
> other words, if you want to use an L-head on the Z-20/22 you can use an
> L-20b timing chain, but there is no off the shelf OEM or aftermarket
> chain the the Z-24/L-head combo. You have to cobble one up on your own.
> Folks who've tried this have had widely varying degrees of success. With
> an L-series being a tight fit already, the taller Z-24 could be a real
> challenge in a roadster and there are better alternatives, IMHO.
>
> The Z-motors use basically the same motor mounts and such as the L-series
> but mount the engine at a different angle so you'd want to get a Z-series
> trans, too, or have to fabricate an adapter for either the roadster or
> L-series trannies. A follow-on to the Z-series swap is the KA-24, more
> often with the 12 valve since that's how it was imported in the US,
> AFAIK. Bill Kenyon can be more definitive on that and comment on how the
> KA works in a roadster since he has one. It really scoots and I imagine
> is a lot of fun to drive hard or more calmly since I'm sure the KA has an
> abundance of torque compared to the R motor, somewhat less to the U-20.
> Most of the KA powered street cars I've seen, Roadsters and 510's have
> EFI which help driveabililty a lot I'd guess. Dropping any of the L, Z or
> KA motors in a roadster is going to require quite a bit of fabrication.
> At least motor mounts, oil pan, exhaust, maybe some steering linkage.
> Doable, but far from a bolt-in.
>
> FWIW, Ron
>
> Ronnie Day
> ronday@home.com
> Dallas/Ft. Worth
> '71 510 2-dr (Prepared Class Autocrosser)
> '73 510 2-dr (Street Toy)
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