Here at EngineLabs, we love engines that are developed using parts and pieces that were never intended to work together – and that’s where this high-winding Nissan bullet comes into the picture.

Built by Les Collins Racing in Warragul, Victoria, Australia, the engine was developed for local father-and-son team Bruce and Grant Gow for use in their Datsun P510 club racer.

The plan was initially hatched to make 300 horsepower from a Nissan Z24 engine, and Collins felt that he had just the ticket. How so, you ask? By topping the block off with a converted KA24 16-valve cylinder head to take advantage of the DOHC architecture.

The engine set up on the dyno.

The block was bored to 89.5mm, and the rotating assembly is based around a 104mm-stroke billet crankshaft that swings Carrillo connecting rods and custom forged pistons.

In this configuration, the 2.6-liter engine makes 11.0:1 compression and simply screams on the dyno.

In order to reach the power goal, Collins and his team invested dozens of hours into the porting of the cylinder head to extract maximum flow potential. Both the four-hole intake stacks and big-tube exhaust headers were custom-fabricated to ensure there were no restrictions – and still fit the engine into the car.

Since the engine was moved lower and further to the rear of the car for better weight balance, a custom dry sump oiling system was also used. Of course, with this change, other changes had to happen.

Collins subsequently engineered a system that integrated the front engine plate with oil pump mount, belt tensioner and idler pulley, water pump, and included crank and camshaft oil seals along with machined-in oil galleries to ensure proper oil supply to the critical components.

Take a listen to this bad-to-the-bone naturally aspirated four cylinder monster as it makes the intended 300 horsepower – plus 1.5 – and hits 8,000 rpm on the Les Collins dyno. Awesome!