Sick of seeing ugly dorky Rice-boys in their newer Hondas, Nissans, Toyotas, Mitsubishi's...tired of not having enough streetable power from my A-15 to keep up with the big boys in Mustangs, Camaro's, Vettes, even once a new Turbo Lotus (and paying an arm and a leg for hard to find performance parts)...it's time for something new...
Okay then, here's my dream: to stick a Nissan Silvia SR20DET engine into a 1972 Datsun 1200 automatic coupe (just like my red one on the other page). This engine was offered only in Japan in the Silvia K's and 180SX, and some other models too. It is an all aluminum 2.0 liter inline 4 cylinder with dual overhead cams, and an intercooled turbo. My fairly stock 180SX with the SR20DET puts out 215 rear wheel horsepower! Anyway, I want to build a car capable of being a daily driver that will look nice, be reliable, get good gas mileage, be pretty damn fast (12 sec quartermile or faster!), and handle and stop excellent. Basically, I'll make myself a new car rather than buying one. After college I notice all my friends wasting money buying new cars. As much as I would like to "fit in" and get a new Z or Mustang, it's just not my style, and I'd rather do something fun and rewarding. Why this combination??? I love 1200's, and it would be a total sleeper. The SR20DET is a great engine and responds VERY well to modification, even though 215rwhp is plenty for a 1500 lb car. An L28 is too long, a VG30DE/TT is too heavy, expensive, and finnicky, and other 4 cylinders just don't do it for me. Besides the SR20 is getting very popular in the US now so it's not hard to get parts for! This swap as far as I know has never been completed on a left hand drive 1200. IF YOU HAVE DONE A SR20DET SWAP INTO A 510 OR 1200 YOUR HELP/ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED EMAIL [email protected]
Engine
The engine is a SR20DET, EFI DOHC 4 cyl Turbo. Stock it produces 215 rwhp! I'll be using an engine out of a 1993 180SX with 70,000km and a jacked up body. There are a lot of performance parts available for this engine, +300hp is easy to accomplish but can get a little pricey.
Engine Upgrades:
Greddy style intake with 90mm Q45 throttle bodyZ32 MAFS on an HKS Power Flow intakeAt least a 3" exhaust w/straight through mufflerEnjuku tuned ECU w/Apexi SAFC2Blitz DUAL SBC Boost ControllerWalbro 255 lph inline fuel pumpNISMO 555cc injectors and adjustable regulatorS15 T28 ball bearing turbine on a equal length Stainless steel Jet Hot coated headerTomei 256 PoncamsLarge Front Mount IntercoolerLightweight flywheel (10lb) and Spec Stage 2 ClutchAll accessories removed from engine (power steering, A/C, fan) The 180SX weighs ~2700lbs, the 1200 would weigh ~1800lbs . . . I'll be in the 12's if I could get traction.
At this point the SR20 should be putting out around 300rwhp and if the car still isn't fast enough there's always bigger turbos out there!
Driveline
The Lord knows that a stock 1200 drivetrain won't hold up. Because I'll be using a 1200 automatic body, I'm told that there are few modifications needed to fit the 5 speed. I am thinking of using a new Limited Slip rearend from either a Sunny Truck (H165), or a Nissan truck (H190). The plan right now is to use the H165 for a little while until I return to the US, then I'll go with something bigger that can hold up.
Suspension/Braking
I will be using shortened 280ZX struts and vented brakes on the front along with Matsuoka Engineering's adjustable pillow upper mounts and springs. Addco swaybars are on the front and rear. The rear will use Matsuoka's competition drop leaf springs, and possibly some 280ZX disk brakes.
Body/Appearance
I plan on painting it up really nice, but the color/combo is secret until it's done. The mods to the outside hinting that its fast will be a Hakosuka style front air dam, a fiberglass GX hood, GX style fender mount mirrors, steel fender flares, and a factory GX rear spoiler. I will probably stick with 15" wheels, but I may go for a different style than current, I really like the chrome lips on new wheels that have been coming out lately. For strengthening the body and safety I will have to eventually put in a 6 point roll cage ($250), and will attempt to make some subframe connectors.
Total Cost
Of course the prices aren't dead-on accurate, I will start off with only a few engine mods. But here is what I'm figuring.$7,000-8,000 should cover just about everything I've mentioned here.Cheaper than any new performance car on the market, unique, and probably faster than anything in the showroom in 2001. It will put out less emissions than my A15 ever could, and I can't wait to see the look on people's faces when this car MOVES.
Pictures of VG30 Installations:
VG30 510 The 510 has a similar engine compartment to the 1200A-15 in 1200 Take a look at the stock engine compartment to see how things compareVG30 1200 Compare and contrast, fits nicely in a RHD 1200, hope it's feasible in a LHD like mine!VG30 1200
My SR20 Sunny is running!
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