The Nissan L-series is one of the most popular engines at any car show for Japanese classics. Installed in everything from Datsun 510s to Z-cars and Skylines, the tried-and-true SOHC motor is beloved the world over. Earlier this year NISMO showed an experimental head that converted the L-series to a twin-cam. Now it’s officially going into production.
Originally called the TLX, which stood for Twin-cam L eXperimental, it was shown at the Nostalgic 2 Days show in February. At the time, representatives said that it was for “reference” purposes only, not for sale. The display gauged customer reaction, which turned out to be quite positive because NISMO has announced that the conversion kit is reaching its final stages of commercialization.
The SOHC, two-valve-per-cylinder L-gata has always been kind of old school and lumpy and not much of a revver without tuning. By the time NISMO was established in 1984 the engine was already two years from end-of-life, replaced by the VG and RB. If the production version stays true to the TLX, it will also gain multi-port injection, direct ignition, a silent chain design and up displacement from 2,753cc to 2,949cc. Power is said to increase from the stock L28’s 153 horses and 170 lb-ft of torque to 296 horsepower and 217 lb-ft with a 7,500 rpm redline.
So far it looks to only exist for the straight-six L-series andthere’s no mention of a 4-cylinder version that would fit on an L16. But given Nissan’s current financial state it’s impressive that a project like this is forging ahead at all. It’s likely made possible by small-batch production techniques that have produced several of the heritage parts programs that have sprung up in recent years. NISMO hasn’t revealed any details or pricing, but says that the kit will go on sale in fall of 2025.
Back in the day, dropping a standard L18 motor into a Datsun 1600 (P510) body gave me a good power to weight ratio for rallying, but it wasn’t until a mild cam, porting and polishing and a single side-draft Webber were added that it started to hum. That said, along with reduction of weight all over the vehicle, the FINAL touch, advancing the cam 3 degrees, ripped off any semblance of sheep’s clothing and turned it into a real wolf.
Great fun on the tracks and very competitive. The fuel gauge went down almost as quickly as the speedo soared, but who cared at that time? It was the mid to late 1970s – and sooo enjoyable!
Hmmm… I have an old L18 block somewhere in the shed…..
While reading the article I was thinking, “How much improvement would DOHC add to such a dated engine? I literally did a triple take on those power numbers, that is insane.
Ben, you share a good point about how it’s even possible for Nissan to fund these extracurricular activities give their financial situation. Their NISMO business unit that focuses on the past is strong, and maybe Corporate is trying to not taint that success with their current woes.
Great idea, but, how does a twin cam cylinder head conversion also bump a 2.4 or 2.8 L series 6 to 3.0? this sounds like more than just a cylinder head swap, and only gains 500 rpm over the original 240Z’s 7000rpm redline.
Combustion chamber size increased?
Size of the combustion chamber has nothing to do with the engine capacity size. That is only derived from the bore and stroke dimensions, here is the formula: 0.7854 x bore x bore x stroke x number of cylinders.
Increasing combustion chamber size only serves to lower the compression ratio.
It’s called the LZ6. Spoke to the guy making them last week.
There has been a 4V head available for both 4 & 6 cylinder L series engines from Datsunworks for some time. Datsunworks Blog page – http://www.datsunworks.com/Blog/faq-for-twin-cam-cylinder-head/
This is not a bolt-on assembly but primarily a casting that requires a competent automotive machinist/engine builder to assemble. It is based on the Honda K20 valve train. Engine builder Dave Rebello has built 3.5L 6 cylinder NA version that puts out 492 hp at 8000RPM.
OS Giken makes one but it’s gear to gear timing $$$
Fabulous news, just fabulous!
It even looks good…along with the car. *A caged Z is a happy Z.
Now, if they could only promote NISMO president, Takao Katagiri to Nissan CEO they’d really be off and running.
Instead of using marketing spin to turn every newly-minted CEO into the “car guy” to save the company (as they’ve done twice now starting with Makoto Uchida)…they could actually install a car guy (without parentheses) with a track record (pun intended) to prove it!
Clearly, he keep his finger on the pulse of their products and can manage to turn a profit with them. HELLOOOOOOOO