yeah i want to know if upgrading the head is worth it? should i just keep the stock head and put in bigger valves? is there a better head that will bolt straight on? can somebody give me some prices on these idea's because i'm still at school so money is the biggest problem. also i would rather get a workshop to do it, because i don't have any experince with heads, and don't want to stuff it up and waste my hard earned cash! thanks, dave

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Dave W

The 1600

Recommended traders: Nissanman, pro240c, 2door510, Datsport, mkyle, Green510, Um_510, jdmdatsun510, Ludachris

also if i want a mild cam with good driveability still, would it be best to get the cam re-ground, or buy a new cam? again any prices would be a great help.

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Dave W

The 1600

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yeah alright thanks sean. how much to get bigger valves on the l20b? i already have some twin su's for it. also how much extra for the cam changeover? thanks, dave

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Dave W

The 1600

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yeah thanks, i sent wade an e-mail, no reply yet. the profile no 487 wade cam seems like a good cam. i am going to get a full exhaust with extractors, as well as twin su carbs.
wat is required to get it into the head? do i need to change (upgrade) springs, lash pads etc.???
wats it cost to get a head modified once i have the bigger valves? ( install them) anyone here able to do it or know of someone in ballarat?
thanks alot( sorry if this is a dumb or annoying question but i couldn't find any info anywhere else)

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Dave W

The 1600

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i personally dont think a head upgrade should be first on your mod list. You'd get better bang for your buck spending money elsewhere...
I think you should invest in some decent weber carbies, 2inch exhaust, electronic ignition, etc for power and reliability. The standard head and cam is a good thing for a street car and modifications can cost a lot when you add up machining, porting, parts etc.

When people ask me about cheap performance mods, I generally tell them the following:

Your car can be:
-Cheap
-Reliable
-Fast

Pick any two.

I tend to disagree about the Webers. A set of webers won't give a standard any more benefit than a set of SU's would. If you already have the SU's, then that's obviously going to be best bang for buck (assuming they're in good condition).

Don't get me wrong: I love Webers, but you need to have other mods to bring out the best in the combo.

I wouldn't worry about bigger valves yet, either. The standard 42mm inlet valves have the potential to flow very well, and the added expense of bigger valves (need to remove the valve seats, machine the head and put in bigger valve seats, as well as the cost of the valves themselves) really only brings small gains, unless you've got a very serious engine.

The standard L20 head probably isn't the best head in the world, but then again, the differences between the heads aren't that big, so no head has a big advantage over others. (there are advantages, just not big ones). Again, you already have a standard head, give it a bit of a massage and you can get excellent results from it.

The standard L20 head has decent sized ports already, so a good street head can be achieved with a slight clean up of ports and combustion chambers (unshrouding the valves yields good benefits). Increasing the compression, and running a mild cam will give excellent, fairly cheap results. Couple this with a mild port job (ie general cleanup, not major surgery) and you should have a very decent street engine.

Totally agree on a decent set of extractors, and exhaust (definitely don't go over 2-1/4", as anything bigger is a waste on an N/A engine of this size, and can actually rob power), and a good electronic ignition system will be worthwhile (the standard Datto ones suffer a bit at high RPM). A good distributoir to use is the S2 Bluebird (last with the L20 Engine). There are a few posts here about that distributor swap, so do some searches, as there are traps.

Hope this helps.

yeah thanks a heap warps. i think i'll take your advice and get a mild port job and cleanup, mild cam and raise the compression a little.
how much should i raise the compression and how is this done?
yeah the car already has a 2inch system, but still needs the extractors. anyone reccomend the pacemaker extractors or some s/hand ones better value for money?
thanks, dave

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Dave W

The 1600

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