For street use the U20 is fine , I beat the hell of the motor and it holds
up ...yes things go wrong ,
once I bought a fancy shift knob , was behind this 914 , came to a strait
away , went to dumb it into 2nd and floored the gas, only to have the knob
in my hand and not on the stick , I broke the tac, and there was this
tick after works , burnt out a few Wrist pins..
once I had the oil filter blow of, too much revving with engine cold and a
high pressure oil pump blew it off noticed it just in time as the oil ran
out ....
then had a problem with the wrong "C" clips had to sleeve that cylinder
....
blew the clutch up getting on the though way trying to get ahead of the
semi coming down the road , was at 8500 rpms in second gear..
not all this happened on the same motor , and have many other stories much
the same .. but overytime it was my driving or wrong parts that was the
real cause not the design.. also U20s have a too small a radiator, and the
stock carbs are crap, and then add to that the smog crap nissan put on them
that caused them to over heat, and the factory parts are high price so many
cut corners...when working on it .. also it has 40 % more HP and many have
more that that over the R16.. I have had customers get 150,000 out of the
U20 motor but drove it like a normal car... If you keep the rpms under 7000
the motor will hold up quite well.......
Mike Kerr
Restoration Products
3730 todrob Ln.
Placerville, CA 95667
Ph# 530-644-6777
Fax# 530-644-6777
E-mail mikekerr@innercite.com
Web; innercite.com/~wolfgang
-----Original Message-----
From: datsunmike <datsunmike@nyc.rr.com>
To: Victor Laury <vlaury@earthlink.net>; Pam and Paul Bauman
<plhbauman@earthlink.net>; Datsun List <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, June 01, 2000 4:52 PM
Subject: Re: U20 Questions
>I guess it's 50/50 about why 2Ls break or have more problems than 1.6Ls,
but
>to me the design of the 2L does leave something to be desired. It's too bad
>they didn't get the development of the L series engines done sooner.
>
>'66 Mike
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Victor Laury <vlaury@earthlink.net>
>To: Pam and Paul Bauman <plhbauman@earthlink.net>; Datsun List
><datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
>Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2000 2:15 AM
>Subject: Re: U20 Questions
>
>
>> Paul,
>>
>> With all you hear from me, you might think my opinion is crazy, but I
>think
>> the U-20 is a very reliable motor.
>>
>> Ok, Ok, The 60,000 mile timing chain is a weak link (oops), but it's well
>> known. I think anyone on this list, running a 100k timing chain knows
>better
>> and it will be no surprise when it jumps out of the hood!
>>
>> Blown head gaskets seem to be well distributed within our population, 1.6
>or
>> 2.0. Same for dropped valve seats, well, except for the cast iron head
>> 1600's :-)
>>
>> My melted piston was my doing. I'll bet I can meltdown a 1600 given half
a
>> chance and my former ignorance. When I say "my car is my daily driver",
>I'm
>> saying "I'm too dam cheap to buy another car" And I really do drive too
>> hard. It's a failing of mine I've had my entire life and seriously, I
>really
>> do ask myself "What's your dam hurry, boy?". So don't be too quick to use
>my
>> adventures as a reliability study. If your speaking statistics, I'm the
>> skewed datapoint that should be thrown out as an outlier.
>>
>> My respect for the R-16 has grown by leaps and bounds every time I get to
>> drive one. You've got to respect the package Nissan put together, The
>> gearing of the 4 speed and lower rear, makes our 1600s right quick! But,
>> Dam! I love my U-20. It provides a certain guttural satisfaction for me.
>One
>> day soon, I'll own a 66 SPL and I'll keep that R-16 intact and then
you'll
>> hear how I blew it up as well.
>>
>> So buy a U-20, or keep the R Motor or drop in a KA24 or get creative with
>a
>> SR20 or a FJ20 if you feel up to it. You can do what ever you want. What
>> you've learnt on this list gives you that freedom.
>>
>> My suggestion is that you toss a coin. No matter which way you go, you
>win.
>>
>> Your friend, on the correct side of the "Orange Curtain"
>> Victor
>> 70 SRL 31113136
>> Los Angeles
>> http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=123073
>> SoCalROC http://www.ameri-eagle.com/datsun/
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Pam and Paul Bauman <plhbauman@earthlink.net>
>> To: Datsun List <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2000 8:45 PM
>> Subject: U20 Questions
>>
>>
>> What's up with this U20 thing?
>>
>> After several years of going through turns sideways, and generally making
>a
>> Roadsterass of myself, I refuse to believe that 2000 drivers are that
much
>> harder on their cars than 1600 drivers. Yet, some of the predominant
>issues
>> I see on the list regarding U20s are: 'I melted a piston' or 'chewed up
>> another timing chain' or 'there goes the head gasket'. Come on. guys,
even
>> the AEC has rules to guard against frequent and unexpected meltdowns!
>>
>> Are there that many more U20s on the road that it skews the statistical
>> average, or are 2000 engines just an 'event' waiting to happen? What am I
>to
>> expect if I buy one of these SRL fixer-uppers as my next restoration
>> project? Maybe It was blind luck, but I had 96K miles on my car before
>> rebuilding the engine, and that because it had started to put out smoke
>and
>> use a little too much oil. Didn't throw a rod, didn't suck a valve, it
>just
>> wore out!
>>
>> I may still buy a U20, if the price is right, but all this talk is
>beginning
>> to sound like a power on the road versus hours on the road thing to
>> me...help me out, here.
>>
>> Paul
>> 67 1600
>> http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=881168
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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