I finally installed my set of solid lifters after many dramas with interference between the valve cover and lock nut.
Impressions: well, for the 5mins i drove it for today, engine response seems to have improved, although the seat of the pants torque/power gains don't seem as great as i had hoped for.
Noise isn't too bad at 0.004" lash at the valve, i'm still running a hydraulic grind cam. Definetly sounds like a mechanical valvetrain. Next upgrade is a solid lifter grind cam with more duration on my built turbo E engine.
DeviousKA: If you read this, what lash did you set your set of solid lifters to?
KA24E solid lifters
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Thee 240sx Owner
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Thee 240sx Owner
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deviousKA
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Hey SSS, i think .004" is a little tight. I initially set mine to .009 I, .010 E. I now have them set down to .007, and .008 exhaust. It is not a quiet setup by any means. I set mine with engine warm, not super hot or cold. I based my settings on what i have noticed other similar valvetrains run, and set mine just a tad tighter. Ive never heard of any tighter than .006" on a valvetrain like this, dont want to wear out your cam or other parts.
The sohc nissan Z series engines, and toyota sohc engines never run less than .008" clearance with similar setup.
So what did you finally do to fix the clearance problem? valve cover modification?
edit: btw, its a bit off topic but, is your ka24e head an australian casting? I dont think we have any in the US, but i have a variety of older nissan/datsun AUS heads, just curious.
The sohc nissan Z series engines, and toyota sohc engines never run less than .008" clearance with similar setup.
So what did you finally do to fix the clearance problem? valve cover modification?
edit: btw, its a bit off topic but, is your ka24e head an australian casting? I dont think we have any in the US, but i have a variety of older nissan/datsun AUS heads, just curious.
0.004" at the valve lash still gives me 0.0028" clearance at the cam, after all it is still a hydraulic grind designed to run practically no lash. I spoke to my cam grinder about it and he recommended no less than 0.004" on the hydraulic profile.
Valve cover had to be grinded out a fair bit with a flap wheel, particulary on the exhaust side. As i said much earlier in the year i had to cutout 2 sections on the intake side and use aluminium patches epoxied into place to get enough clearance. It worked beautifully.
As far as i'm aware, my E head is a Japanese casting. The markings are definetly there; i am 100% sure the block is a japanese casting.
You're certainly right about it being noisy at 0.008" lash....
Valve cover had to be grinded out a fair bit with a flap wheel, particulary on the exhaust side. As i said much earlier in the year i had to cutout 2 sections on the intake side and use aluminium patches epoxied into place to get enough clearance. It worked beautifully.
As far as i'm aware, my E head is a Japanese casting. The markings are definetly there; i am 100% sure the block is a japanese casting.
You're certainly right about it being noisy at 0.008" lash....
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deviousKA
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One thing i would suggest is to run more exhaust clearance. The exhaust valves tend to run hotter and expand more, they also use a slightly longer rocker arm (technically they are same length > same rocker ratio). The angle from the cam lobe is more extreme so they are longer than the intakes.
I plan to try a few more settings on mine, probably tighten them up a bit. They work well now and i have much better valve lift properties across the board vs. hydros. Im just keeping my engine running at the moment, not much tuning as im finishing up the standalone and itb setup.
A cam designed for solid adjustable lifters will have a more aggressive ramp up of the lobe. The hydraulic lifters need a less aggressive ramp for smoother operation, considering nature of their design (need to keep extended). Most heavy regrinds have a more aggressive ramp anyway (even ones designed for ka24e). So really, these work well with solid lifter change. I was just noting that so if anyone that didnt know and wanted to, now know wtf we are talking about.
I plan to try a few more settings on mine, probably tighten them up a bit. They work well now and i have much better valve lift properties across the board vs. hydros. Im just keeping my engine running at the moment, not much tuning as im finishing up the standalone and itb setup.
A cam designed for solid adjustable lifters will have a more aggressive ramp up of the lobe. The hydraulic lifters need a less aggressive ramp for smoother operation, considering nature of their design (need to keep extended). Most heavy regrinds have a more aggressive ramp anyway (even ones designed for ka24e). So really, these work well with solid lifter change. I was just noting that so if anyone that didnt know and wanted to, now know wtf we are talking about.