Engine upgrade

[M1SSI0N]

Hi there I've got a Datsun 120y witha 1500 ATM. Been wanting to change the motor for a while now but I'm bit unsure on what to do exactly. I don't mind rebuild the a15 and boring it out, plus doing all the other stuff too to keep it semi original , or just goin ahead and putting some like ca18dt or sr20dt.

[Bartman]

in my experience,
The cost of building a decent A15, will wind up around the same dollars as buying a used turbo silvia engine.
Of course you'll need to upgrade everything else to suit, but that will need doing anyway with a fast A series.

The real question is, how fast do you want to go?

[Loganw]

Barts is right
If you want easy HP a CA or SR is the way to go, 200hp isnt hard but everything needs to be upgraded. As for an A series 200hp is extremely hard and expensive.
I love the old a series and there is a heap of info scattered around. I hope to do a bit of a write up soon and pull as much info as I can to one area.

[Bartman]

Someone should write a book about the A series. Although the day for that would have been twenty years ago.

[M1SSI0N]

Oh you know enough to take it to the track on a open day and surpise people , making her go sideways too lol same as keeping it my daily... I'm looking roughly round 10 to spend

[Bartman]

For 10K you should easily be able to do a repower with a later model engine. With cert and a few extra goodies.
Best thing to do would be to plan the whole project, and budget out each expense. I think too many people (myself included) don't bother to plan the beginning middle and end. And cars take forever to build.

[M1SSI0N]

Sr20det and just use skyline running gear would work so I got told. But that means a cert for all the new mods eg gearbox engine mounts diff front back stubs and axels etc ??

[Bartman]

sure does.

[classicdat]

Mmmm 10K A Series, now that's a serious motor, and what a sound track! I'd be interested in laps times and car balance between the two. Dave's 1200 would be the quickest 1200 we have had at a track day I'd think, and the best sounding, (sorry Hayden, Bart, Vaughan) and it is a well sorted A series.
That said we haven't really seen a repowered 1200, and the 1600 with an SRs is quick, but Dave's car is reliable and seems easy to live with.
I wonder which would be worth more.
200hp A Series probably wouldn't make a good daily town car. SRDET would be driveable in traffic.
If it was mine, and I didn't have to drive it every day, it would be A Series every time, but I am loyal and love a screaming A series, but if I had to live with it everyday and max Horsepower was the quest? I'm not sure, you can't turn off a lump cam and fowled plugs.

[M1SSI0N]

It's more or lease going to come down to which is going to how much work in the two different motors. Ca18 is always a choice. Not crazy but still enough grunt to have some fun.