austin a-series / nissan a-series compatibility

[josh_t]

i know from recent research that the nissan a-series was nissans modified version of austin motor company's a-series, used in the mini's. that being said, is their any parts that can be used universally on both engines? are there any performance tips and tricks known to work on the nissan a-series that were adopted from mini racing experience? i'll continue to do more research, but i found this to be a new idea to explore.

[datzenmike]

Nissan's mid 60s A series was actually a refined earlier (late 50s) E series motor. The E series was Nissan's first homegrown motor that was based on the still earlier Austin A series motor. Ah, the Japanese. Always adopting something and making it even better.

[josh_t]

well i know the austin motor is commonly modified, sometimes quite heavily, so i was hoping i could do some adopting of my own of methods used on their motors. the most apparent similarity is the heads on the motors. i have heard several times that you can bolt the nissan head on the austin block, and they are both non-crossflow so maybe some methods used in modifying the heads are the same.

[datzenmike]

I hear the MG 1800 head will bolt on. Have to research that.

[josh_t]

hmm. bigger motor almost always means more flow. more flow= moar power!! that would be awesome if i knew where to find one.

[merlin]

you might have read that on my page.. it's sorta true ... early Datsun engines 1954-1960 are based on Austin engines.... after 1958-60, Nissan started tinkering with the heads and doing other refinements. There's a South African guy named Ewold V something that actually beat Nissan factory teams by a year to the Monte Carlo Rally. he rallied Austins in SA, the when they dumped him he saw that all his good parts would fit on the 310 Bluebird, so he started tuning them instead.

[josh_t]

it might have been. i cant really remember to be honest. but it would be cool to have like 2 or 3 different platforms to pull different parts from. kind of like a frankenstein street performance motor. i used to want to do it with kart motors a couple years ago with briggs factory parts. like an aluminum flywheel off of a push mower on to a briggs 5hp horizontal shaft in place of the really heavy iron one. and the head (flat-head) off of a newer smaller engine with a short stroke for a higher CR and a cam if i could find one. or i could get a mild regrind for like 30 bucks easily off ebay. and i already had an ARC billet rod in it that was two races old i got off of ebay for 30 bucks. great deal there. looked brand new and all the bores and bearings checked out and almost invisible yellowing at the small end. now i have a honduh gx140 that i can frankenstein easily. and those 31cc "upside-down" weedeaters i had some fun with too. old head+ new 2-ring piston+ old adjustable carb= a beastly weedeater that can take down small trees with ease. and tons of compression and throttle response.