NISMO has been busy reissuing heritage parts for RB26-era Skyline GT-Rs, but recently they dropped a bombshell by building something completely new and unexpected for the previous generation of Nissan straight-sixes. In honor of the 40th anniversary of their founding in 1984, a NISMO race engineer designed a twin-cam head to replace the single-cam unit on classic L-series motors.
The engine is code-named TLX, which likely stands for Twin-cam L-series eXperimental, and was unveiled at the Nos2Days car show powering an S30 Fairlady Z. It caused quite the stir, because although the L-series has been out of production since 1986 — almost 40 years — it remains hands down the most popular motors for classic Nissans. Nearly every big Nissan, from the Bluebird U to Laurels to the Cedric/Gloria twins and pre-R30 Skylines, can receive an L swap.
The TLX is based on an L28, but stroked from 2,753cc to 2,949cc. Nissan says that it’s capable of pushing out 296 horsepower and 217 lb-ft of torque via a 12.5:1 compression ratio on its way to a 7,500 rpm redline. NISMO also modernized it with multi-port injection, direct ignition, and appears to replace the L28’s traditional timing chain with a silent chain design. The result is quite a bit more than the 153 horses and 170 lb-ft found in the final iteration of the naturally aspirated SOHC L28, but not beyond what tuners have been able to extract from single-cam L-gatas.
This isn’t the first twin-cam L-series conversion. OS Giken built their own version decades ago with an incredible gear-driven timing system, but it’s very rare and costly. In the US, Datsunworks has created a version based on Honda’s K-series motor.
As of now NISMO says the prototype is for reference purposes, meaning there are no plans for production. However, as always, it is using public appearances at car shows to gauge customer demand. If they can manufacture it for a reasonable price, this will likely become the de rigueur mill for Japan’s tuners of vintage Nissans.
I was in my garage last night looking at two used L24 engines that should go into my 240Z project. I had both valve covers off trying to decide which one was in better condition.
This came up in my email this morning – it’s a sign that I should be putting this into my car! Of course, they say it’s not in production, but I feel that Nissan is going to make the right choice here and start making them. Right?
Oh Man!
Honestly it is meant to be! Go do it!
If Nissan can build and keep the price in this atmosphere I am sure they can sell some of those to very happy customers.
I currently have 280 turbo with a 5 speed trans but I have been looking to do an RB26 with a CD00A trans swap in my 1973 240z. It would be nice to have a up dated period correct 432 engine . I personally would like see two options for this engine, the other to be a single turbo with a 9:1 or 8.5:1 compression ratio.
I currently have 280 turbo with a 5 speed trans but I have been looking to do an RB26 with a CD00A trans swap in my 1973 240z. It would be nice to have a up dated period correct 432 engine . I personally would like see two options for this engine, the other to be a single turbo with a 9:1 or 8.5:1 compression ratio.
That looks so hot. There’s something about the two-lump DOHC valve cover that makes the engine look so hearty. AND, both indirect AND direct injection? that’s just all sorts of modern technology. I wonder what the chamber roof geometry is, and how they went about optimizing the mixture swirl with the existing piston design. For sure that’s going to be an expensive product.
This is not direct injection. It’s port fuel injection. There’s no high pressure fuel pump running off the cams or high pressure fuel lines. Or any space for a direct injector. The post says direct ignition which is just one coil per spark plug and that is shown in the picture.
It’s still going to cost a lot but it’s not crazy exotic. Your average tuner will be able to get this to work just fine unlike GDI which is bonkers complicated.