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nj0z1200ute - 1200 ute USA build


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So I am not sure if I ever explained this but I had another Datsun 1200 ute for a few years. It was blue and it was turbo and it was fast and it was a lot of fun. Eventually I broke it, (the intake manifold blew) and a few other things were a little worn out so I decided to take out the A12 turbo motor and keep it for the Vanilla ice build. Here are a few pictures of the A14 to A12 swap that I did taking out the motor from Vanilla ice and swapping it into the blue ute and vice versa.

I drove the A14 in the blue ute for over a year or so and one thing led to another and I sold it to a family in Maryland who now have taken great care of it.

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Edited by njoz1200ute
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The A12gx turbo motor came with the following spec's:

Quote:

gx1300 high port head, balanced, ACL race pistons / bearings, 
fuel injected, Turbo charger off SX180 Sylvia, SR20 injectors , Microtec adjustable computer



Microtech MT4 ecu is what it came with. I confirmed the ACL race pistons (I think) when I tore down the engine to freshen it up. Turbocharger is not a factory 180sx turbo but an aftermarket turbo that fits a CA18det, I can't recall the exact make at the moment. SR20 injectors never confirmed, no recognizable part numbers on them. 

Some photos of the motor before being pulled. And that time I owned 3 datsun's at once 🙂

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Early winter 2018 I decided to take the A12gx engine and give it a good freshen up. Nothing crazy just wanted to clean the outside of the engine real well and make things cleaner and nicer.

I left the internals of the engine alone as it already had a lot of work done to it.

The plan was to degrease, prep block for paint, clean all the bolt-on parts to the engine, new gaskets and seals.

I ended up getting into powdercoating with the help of a friend. I also purchased a cheap sandblast cabinet and made a DIY setup to get it going effectively. Having this really helped freshen up a lot of the parts.

Here was the engine before cleaning:

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A good friend pointed out that you can see a massive exhaust leak in the middle of the exhaust ports, probably loosing a lot of boost from the turbo :(

Also a big fubar moment came when removing the engine from the trans. A bellhousing bolt broke inside the engine block. eeeek.

First attempt to remove it was to weld a nut onto the end of the bolt, but failed 3 times. The nut kept snapping off due to not getting enough bite into the bolt since it was broken partially and not flush with the bellhousing

After purchasing "easy outs" as called in the USA I attempted to remove the broke bolt but ended up snapping the hardened steel easy out inside the block, dead center of the hole.

These photos were taken just before snapping the easy out.

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That dirty old A12gx needed some new pizzazz. What better color choice to go with for this build than gold? Olds gold in fact. POR15 makes a good engine enamel in Olds Gold. I read an article way back where they used this same exact product and they mentioned applying it with a paint brush. That is exactly what I did. And I was very happy with the results.

Of course prep is everything when it comes to paint. Thorough degreasing, scrubbing, and a whole roll of towels and some solvent to get all that crud off. Ice ice baby.

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Once the engine was painted with the POR15 engine enamel I decided to take off the ancillary brakets and things and give them a good lick of paint as well.

Instead of POR15 I used a VHT gold engine enamel spray found here in the USA

You can see my DIY blast cabinet and it really helps having one of these around instead of the old way of using sandpaper and elbow grease.


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Even though I loved the Rota grids they were just not going to work on my ute. The width in the back was too much and the offsets were not great. I had 15x9 on my previous ute and it would always rubber the inner part of the quarterpanel. No bueno.

Instead I found a set of Longchamps. They are fakes, but good fakes.

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I can't recall exact size but I think they are 15x8 +0

They fit very close to the leaf spring on the back, but still tuck under the quarterpanel.

The front does not clear the struts. Spacers required.

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Exhaust manifold came from Australia. Possibly built by someone on this forum.

I like it overall but the ports don't really match my GX head and are going to need some work.

Also the fitment does not work 100 percent with my intake manifold and will also need some hacking to make it work.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Another build update. DIY powdercoated parts done back several months ago. Picked up the powder off ebay for $15.

Also a photo of the old ute, old bluey going bye bye to the new owner.

Porsche 914 seats acquired.

Timing cover resanded for sealing against block after powdercoat, anyone doing this should try to avoid those surfaces getting powdercoat, now I know for next time.

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These photos were taken 6 mo ago. In retrospect I wish I took more photos of the bottom of the pistons to see if I could confirm these are ACL race pistons.

Timing cover grind.

New seal for crank pulley.

Old goo and crud removed from mating surfaces

New sump gaskets

Installed oil pan and timing cover.

No alterations to timing chain or sprockets, etc..

New airtex water pump from rockauto. Sealed with RTV to timing cover.


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Misellaneous parts acquired.

Found out the hard way there is two different water pumps and fan spacers for the A series. Thanks for Peter Zekert coming to the rescue and later supplying me the right one.

Valve cover paint stripped.

Strut tower plates stripped and painted.

Also found out the USA spec fan belt did not fit.

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  • 4 weeks later...

These images are about 6 months old. Almost caught up to present day.

What we have here as some goodies that I brought back with me from my last trip to Australia. Thanks to Chris from Datsun Parts Shop for providing me this replica stickers.

I also test fit my intake and exhaust and found there to be clearance issues. I will need to drill, cut, adjust.

Lastly I took off the flywheel using a homemade bent plate to expose the rear main seal and found that it looked in pretty bad shape and I replaced it. Also the photo with the bolt is a huge success!!!! I was able to clear the broken easy out drill bill, retap the engine block where the old bolt broke off. It was like in the movies where the person is defusing the explosive. I was sweating bullets!

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Photos of the Exedy heavy duty clutch install the aussies call it "Sports Tuff". Hopefully it will be tuff indeed.

Test fit of the Longchamps. Ran into clearance issues on the front. Wheels hit the front strut. I plan on using longer wheel studs and a hubcentric spacer. 10mm is all I need.

Front and rear brakes REPLACED with japanese fittings. I replaced every single line with a steel brake line with M10 FITTING!!!!! not the 3/8" USA fitting. Still mad about that.

Mishimoto radiator install coming soon.

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  • 2 months later...

The 60a 5 speed has been with me since my first 1200 ute back in Australia.

Curious what the chalk markings mean?

As you can see from the photos, its a filthy unit. It needed a tidy up desperately.

Degreaser was not working well at first. After doing some research I used Mineral Spirits to clean up the g/box. It worked awesome!

Then a coat of the same POR15 engine enamel I used on the block.

Metal shavings came out when draining the g/box oil. Eeek.

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smil49ca0afcd69b3.gif smil49ca0afcd69b3.gif smil49ca0afcd69b3.gif

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  • 3 months later...

Took the differential out because the last person did not put a gasket in the space between the housing and the differential! smil49ca0afcd72e6.gif So when i filled it with gear oil it poured out immediately smil49ca0afcd955d.gif

I don't know what the numbers and letters are in white, any idea?

Also stripped and painted the driveshaft.

Axle gaskets I ordered from Nissan turned out to be a different size and shape. Instead I used RTV for gear oil and sealed the axles to the backing plates. Such is life.

2 steps forward and 1 step back.

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Another update.

Old water pipe was such a paaaaaaain to take off it was not even funny. I spent countless hours heating it with a torch, bashing it, turning it with every tool in my arsenal and finally got the damn thing out.

Next was the engine install.

First try - engine would not go in the engine bay with gearbox fitted to car. Check clutch alignment
Second try - repeat same problem
Third try - repeat same problem

Finally took the gearbox and driveshaft back out of the car. Slid the clutch disk on the splines by hand, works fine.
Thought it was the wrong throw-out bearing collar? Checked the tech wiki - nope
Checked the clutch disc cover from Exedy for clearance. Correct clearance.

Several weeks pass by.

Check the pilot bushing in the engine block. There was a metal burr in there preventing the engine from engaging the splines.

Go figure.

Engine finally in after several weeks of troubleshooting.

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Over the past 9 months very little work has been done until recently since the warm weather has come back and now I am in self-quarantine at home from the virus.

Engine and transmission finally installed. Driveshaft and differential working. Rear brakes replaced.
Fuel tank installed. Float and wire for fuel gauge installed.
Fuel lines installed from tank to pump
Brake lines installed all around (for the 2nd time after I used wrong imperial fittings on everything)
Clutch cable installed
Accelerate cable installed
Speedometer cable installed
Engine bay wiring acquired from Australia and installed
Hood latch installed (such a PITA to get that in there when the factory radiator support was missing by previous owner)
N13 pulsar radiator mounts installed
N13 Radiator and aftermarket fan installed
Dash prepped
Parcel shelf repaired and prepped.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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