Preparing to send for restoration....Group B Nissan 240RS BS110

Prior to sending for body and drivetrain restoration.

A Group B Nissan 240RS BS110 Rally Car

Originally prepared in the UK by Blydenstein Racing Ltd is the following Nissan 240RS Group B rally car. It was brought in to Malaysia, I would guess, in the mid 80s.

This particular car has had a long history of truly earning its keep as it was designed for, a rallying life in the hands of several well known local drivers. It was even campaigned outside of Malaysia going up to Thailand.

Car was sold to me in around 1994-1995 if my memory serves me right. Came with two sets of spare wheels, an engine manual, a spare diff and other miscellaneous equipment that I don't remember where now. This particular car is the dry sump-ed version versus wet sump models. It was known that Malaysia had a couple of these 240RS in the 90s and common knowledge then that a wet sump model also existed.


Car had been sitting in storage(under shed) for almost 2 decades now after initial use for the first couple of years. It was completely operational in 1994 and today in 2015, due to improper long storage preparation, rust in the body(caused by rats!) and accompanying drivetrain means it's time I take a look at this retro era Group B masterpiece! Time for restoration!


I'll let the pictures do the talking....

The UK company commissioned by Nissan to prepare the Nissan 240RS to Group B specs.

The airbox and ignition module was stolen whilst in a workshop. Fortunately, all other equipment remained intact!

Kameari's metal head gasket available today in the new millennium 2015...160J Violet Turbo and 120Y B210

I think Japan's Kameari engine parts manufacturer is a real delight to any retro car enthusiast bent on restoring their performance Datsuns or Toyotas. One of their engine components that has caught my attention is the metal head gasket for both the Datsun L and FJ series available in varying thicknesses and less so bore diameter.

Try looking for a metal head gasket that will suit the LZ18(4V)'s 89mm bore today! Assuming a fresh block is used without use of the Z-ring seal/gasket combo. No one else today in 2015, AFAIK, makes a performance orientated head gasket with a 90.5mm bore diameter for the Datsun/Nissan L other than Kameari and much less so the LZ.

Kameari's excellent and available in 2015 range of metal head gasket for the Datsun L and FJ series engines. According to their catalog, these are the bead type design metal head gaskets.

This being the t=1.2mm thick 90.5mm bore gasket. My thoughts were to prepare a fresh L18 block to a bore of 89mm without use of the Z-ring seal recess of the past. This would be for the LZ18(4V) of the Datsun 120Y B210.

A t=1.5mm also of 90.5mm bore dia. which I believe could be used in a freshly prepared L18 block to replace the turbocharged LZ18 (1st Gen)'s 89mm bore Z-ring sealed block.

A t=1.5mm of 93mm bore dia. metal head gasket for the FJ24 engine. I have a unit belonging to a Group B Nissan 240RS Rally car! :-)

Formula Pacific L14-4V engine, An old brochure back when one could still buy it!

The following are the 10 pages of a very old Japanese brochure back when the L14 Formula Pacific engine could be purchased new.


Brochure was copied for me by a warm and friendly Australian Nissan Motorsports parts supply shop back in the 1990s when I had enquired for LZ parts with them. By then, this engine was already of historical value and the best they could do for me was this brochure :-)!

There are many precious bits of history and information that one could glean from these pages by looking closely.

I have uploaded these elsewhere but just in case you, the reader, haven't seen it.


Only for the Nissan racing engine enthusiasts would the following pages be of any value :-).


Clicking on the photo will bring up a clearer view if needed.

Yummy option of both downdraught and sidedraught Webers! Even when the Solex/Mikuni were the favourite Japanese equivalent at that time.

Z-Ring seal/gasket combo used then.

Exhaust manifold of the LZ18(4V)...Datsun 120Y B210

The Cosworth BD series has a 4 studs per exhaust port version that came out with the 2-litre version of the BDG. This Nissan LZ18(4V) shared the same exhaust port design with that BDG in a very similar way. Exhaust path a little longer and joins the manifold flange vertically versus the inclined 3 studs per port version of the BDA.

Stud nuts were easier to get access to!

Construction of the 4-2-1 manifold is all stainless steel but rusty from long storage.

The Datsun 120Y B210 runs an unsilenced megaphone exhaust exiting from under the passenger side typical of most race Datsuns of that era. The megaphone exhaust was made from mild steel and had gone missing after a muffled exhaust was fitted that exited from the rear.

Some ugly repair may have been done to this exhaust manifold before I had purchased the car back in the 90s. Probably not from a TIG machine but an arc welder! :-(

Pipes look to be high quality stainless steel with mandrel bends and flaring at oval ends of the flange appropriately strengthened by reinforcement pieces top and bottom.

Will need to fabricate a set of exhaust flange gaskets!

Nismo Sealing Ring/Gasket....160J Violet Turbo and 120Y B210 LZ18(4V)

There is only one thing about owning a Nissan LZ18(4V) engine today and that is the lack of off the shelf parts. Fortunately, the resourceful owners of today can get most items custom made albeit at a higher cost. Some performance parts can still be sourced from Japan for the L-series that is suitable for the LZ.

A bit of history (Wikipedia would have more...):

There is another famous engine that was the inspiration for the Nissan LZ18 and it is the Cosworth FVA which eventually found initial production life on the Ford Kent 1600 block of the 711M later type as the belt driven BDA in the forever loved and most famous Ford RS1600 of 1970. This BD series with the A replaced alphabetically by B,C,D,E,F,G,H,J,M,N,R,T,T-E, etc by ensuing later types were developed till the late 1990s.

One could still, today in 2015, buy parts for the BDA, BDR, BDM, BDG, etc off the store shelf in the UK brand new!! This being a purpose made racing engine that started life from the late 60s!

One such important part is the cylinder head gasket of the right thickness and bore diameter.

No longer available in 2015 are the Nismo sealing ring/gasket combination used for the L series engines back in the 70s and 80s. I had a set of 4 brand new Z-shaped cross-section rings as spare with 2 set of the L inline 4 gaskets of thickness 1.2mm. Today, in 2015, I would attempt to find a good used L18 block and have it prepped without sealing rings but instead I would use Kameari's L4 metal head gasket of t=1.5mm and bore 90.5mm. The use of L inline four gasket requires cutting the chain cover portion to extend it out for the LZ due to the extra layer of gear plate.

For the 160J Violet Turbo:

Now I know that the t=1.5 designates head gasket thickness....Not boost as initially thought. This LZ18(earlier model) turbo engine did have a shallower groove for the sealing rings and an asbestos gasket thickness of 1.5mm.

For the 120Y B210 LZ18(4V):

For the Datsun 120Y's later type LZ18(4V) engine, head gasket thickness was measured at 1.2mm. Cylinder head was taken off one time for servicing in Australia.