Datsun 240Z L24 Engine Full Rebuild - Start to Finish Restoration of a 50 Year Old Engine

This is an engine from a 1972 Datsun 240Z that I'm told was long ago abandoned in a field and the car and engine were separated. I rebuilt and restored this engine slowly over the course of 2 years and it's finally at a place where I'd say I'm done! The original plan was to build a metal test run stand for this and start the engine up, but at the moment I do not have a place to work and decided to build a wooden stand for it to sit inside my apartment until I have access to garage again. Maybe someday I'll even put it in a car! For now I just enjoy looking at it, hopefully it is now similar to the day it rolled out of the factory over 50 years ago.
This is meant to be an overview of the whole project, but if you are interested in more detail, I have a whole series of videos that go into pretty much everything shown here in far greater detail.
The VIN stamped is: 147753
P30 Block, E88 Head
The casting code is: 2X161 = October 16th, 1972
"2" = 1972, "X" = October (format is 1-9 then X, Y, Z for Oct, Nov Dec), "16" = 16th, "1" = Batch #1 of the day

[@DavidWhite-ic9un]

This man knows cars

[@zcarguide]

😂

[@hoganzegarelli5123]

Cleanest engine I’ve ever seen

[@jamesblaine4185]

I am going to pick an L24 up soon. I'm so glad you have this documented!

[@christopheradsit7649]

Wow great job. A 1972 Z is a dream car I would love to have one day.

[@macedindu829]

Great job, that thing's a real beaut!

[@funyjudge]

I have no idea what is going on but it is like car primitive ttechnology and I love it

[@JamieBainbridge]

Nice resto. I like the idea of just building an engine for the sake of it.

[@randomname3951]

Great vid, thanks for sharing!

[@ConnieSchreffler-jx5mq]

Awesome job! And great video!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@knowhere4361]

i’ve been waiting for this one.

[@landonmarx4753]

Beautiful job!! The carbs and intake is so next level!!

[@brockjennings]

Great work!

[@matthewviviano3653]

Gorgeous! Looks so mint!

[@Alxg1]

Beautiful🔥

[@davidscott6267]

Beautiful

[@RapMedia]

Ima need you to rebuild my Datsun 240z’s original engine 😂🔥

[@Lelux_1396]

Nice job bro, i love the serie L from datsun ❤

[@EvanJones-px5dk]

That a real purty engine you got there

[@mcmahonatee]

Gonna have to work on those engine deadlifts

[@zcarguide]

If I didn't build the stand I was just gonna have Evan and Clark throw it into my truck

[@randomname3951]

You spelt Aras and Alex wrong

[@randomname3951]

🦍

[@j1nxs52266]

Damn son, I could eat off that engine

[@Gunnl]

that moment at 13:28 ... i little bit of me died ... :(

[@rdh2059]

All those cad plated parts, did you strip them down and replate them or buy new ones? Excellent job on the rebuild, btw! Would very much like to see/hear the initial startup and tuning. Tuning SU side-draft carbs can be a pita... Make sure you have a flow meter...

[@dexterstanley4185]

That is amazing! How long did this take?

[@gchardy]

Did you do the zinc plating and yellow chromate to the select parts in around the carbs? Where did you source the labels on the air cleaner housing? Satisfying to watch your process!

[@zcarguide]

Labels are from ZCarDepot! Yes, I did 2 colors of zinc plating, clear and yellow/gold. Because this always gets questions: they typically charge $150 per color but did not charge me for the clear since it was only a few parts. The vast majority is yellow zinc.

[@joseph.higgins]

I'm glad you asked this question. I was curious how he made those parts look better than new 😂

[@EliazarMartinezPenichet]

hola a que cilindraje biene ese motor

[@davidklauer3422]

Nice job man! Have a Z to go with it?

[@zcarguide]

Hey David, thank you! No car right now. I was told the engine and car were separated long ago and I bought the engine by itself. I am still really excited to build a test run stand for it someday but it would also be really cool to put this in a 240Z after that. I wish the 510 just had a bit more room, as that is what I would really love to put this in.