Update on L14 rods and Valve Cover Polishing
Well I finally got 4 more L14 conrods to help with the build of my L31. Mike a member of ours (aka NZeder) came over from New Zealand with them after changing his engine build plans. They still have the original Nissan performance pistons installed with valve reliefs in the top of them. They will need to be removed to make way for the lighter shorter unknown pistons I’ll be using.
I’ve also been working on the polishing of my valve cover. At this stage I still have to remove some pitting and get into those hard to reach areas between the letters on the top of the cover. I think I’ll need to look around at bunnings for a tool that will reach in those areas at this stage it looks like a dremmel piece will do the trick but I don’t have one of those yet. My step father has an air compressor which I can probably buy an attachment for. I’m considering buying a compressor myself (a more expensive one) that can handle the demand of spray painting. I’m looking to get some time off work at the end of the year and wouldn’t mind doing some body work and paint work on the Zed.
On other news I’ve also bought a polished aluminium oil cap to suit my soon to be sparkling valve cover. It should look pretty trick when it’s finish, I’m considering power coating the inner section where the block letters are in a nice red, however I’ll see how the final product looks first. I also bought a 240z side stripe vinyl sticker incase I do paint the entire car again in red. It’s very 70’s and very cool in my opinion and really suits the Z.
Till next time!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:55 am
any ideas on where I could track down a set of L14 rods? Im in the U.S., btw.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Hi mate,
Well I have 2 sets now (12 L14 rods in total) but it took me the good part of 2-3 years to track them down. The UK, South African, NZ markets received vehicles with the L14 engine (Datsun Violet) and 140J, Australia and the US seems to have missed out. This makes them even rarer. Apparently you can obtain them new from Nissan but they cost a fortune. Alternatively you can see them on yahoo! auctions japan but you will probably need help getting them.
Depends on what you want to do, but I’d suggest considering aftermarket rods in L14 spec. Companies such as Kameari http://www.kameariusa.com/ stock this kind of rod. Its not cheap, but at least they are high quality and very strong and not 30 years old. I’ve even considered selling my L14 rods to buy a good set of aftermarket ones instead.
Otherwise the next best thing is L24 or L20a (L20A and L20B rods are different). Only problem is there was an L20A rod found in an injected L20A and these have different bearing sizes (or so I believe) and won’t work with the LD28 or L28 cranks.