New forklift starter and H20 block

Post by **Brad Lustig** » Fri May 19, 2006 1:01 pm

I just got the engine turning in my 1600 this week. Had a little bit of rust in the cylinder that held it up so I took the starter off to get at the flywheel with a prybar. Broke it loose fairly easily. Anyway, went to put it back together and the plastic housing on the starter just crumbled. So, I made a visit to the forklift shop and picked up an H20 starter. The guy at the parts department was really nice, told him what I was doing and his eyes lit up. Told me to bring the starter back for any reason if it doesn't work and he'll find one that will. I asked him about the H20, what I could get one for. Said probably about $1900-$2000 for the long block with everything, about $1400 for the short block. Said the H20 is the best engine Nissan has ever produced (remember this is a forklift guy). But for prices like that, the H20 is moving towards the top of my list if the engine I have ends up being toast for whatever reason.

Post by **dbrick** » Thu May 25, 2006 10:53 pm

If you are friendly with this parts guy, see if you can get a H20 and an H25 head gasket and lay one on top of the other to see if the H25 might be a viable option. If the bore centers and head bolts are the same, a 1600 head could be made to fit and then the fun begins. There's no substitute for cubic inches

Post by **Brad Lustig** » Fri May 26, 2006 7:17 am

I asked him about the H25 and he said it was a pure torque engine. Actually said the H20 was a better engine ("the best they've ever made")

Post by **dbrick** » Fri May 26, 2006 5:56 pm

Torque comes from the cam and the heads, neither of which would be used in a car. The h25 has tiny valves and a cam for under 3000 rpm.

By design, torque is derived somewhat from the stroke length, Long stroke small bore making more torque than short stroke big bore which revs higher, all else being equal. A 25% increase in displacement over an H20 or more than 50% increase over an R16would be VERY noticable even without head work. Bigger valves and ports would be nice too.

As soon as I know it will work, I'd like to start on an H25. May take a while to build, but done right should be wild