to sydney members,today i found an a14 motor & 4 speed in a sunny at gary rush pick & payless at tattersall rd blacktown.it's in a green sunny wagon.careful,the gearbox is sitting on a jack,as i grabbed the crossmember myself.there's also a 1200 coupe worth saving,& some automatic sedans for anyone after large transmission tunnels.

what sort of a sump do you have on the girl.is it an a15 with the scallops(not seafood or potato cakes) on the side for rod clearance.i've got an a14 sump on my a15,which seems to do the same thing at revs,so while the clearances might be right at idle,the crank might be rubbing against the sump.also,what about the front pulley,was it balanced with the motor when you built it.

no worries phunkman,do you want garlic bread with that.ok,best example of engine direction was the land speed record car built by norman 'wizard' smith,a little known competitor today.he used a napier areo engine,but because it spun in the 'reverse' direction to normal,they fitted a transfer case behind the gearbox to get forward direction.as the rearend was hand fabricated,the author asks why they just didn't turn the ring & pinon gear over,thus saving a lot of weight.all this took place in the thirties,& the record attempts took place on the north island of new zealand.also,ask a volkswagen mechanic about putting the diff in backwards in a beetle,this produces the same mayhem.by the bye,any new zealander's may know him as 'windy' smith.

heya ricardo,how are you.the only supercharged nissan engine i can remember is the ma10 from the nissan march,which,i think,was supercharged & turbocharged.this was a twincam 16 valve 4 cylinder in a very small car.but then you're talking south africa,so i can't say.

don't know if this applies to 1200's,but with the sunny's there is an insulated nut & bolt which connects the wires for the 2 lower speeds which breaks,then you only get the highest setting.there maybe something similar in the utes.this is where the power wires go into the heater body.i just got a normal steel nut & bolt,say 4 mm size,& it worked.also,check the power lead to the heater switch hasn't come undone,this is a bullet connection coming from the fuse box.this happened to me,& old bull-at-a-gate went & bought a new fan switch.it was when i was installing the new switch that i found the disconnected wire.laugh,i nearly died laughing.

i've seen a 1200 ute in sydney with a 4agze motor in it competing at a supersprint a while ago,so it's been done before.as for dropping the supercharger & using a turbo,that's also been done,so it shouldn't be hard to duplicate.by the bye,doesn't the honda s2000 motor rotate in the reverse direction to 1200 engines.so,1 forward,6 reverses.anyone up for an attempt on the world reversing speed record.or just unweld all the mounts off the diff,spin the housing through 180 degrees to get the crown wheel on the other side of the pinion gear,then weld all the mounts back on,easy peasy.

i'd give the 5's a go first,the difference between 5's & 6's doesn't appear to be much in bp_es',so try the hotter plugs first.if there is a problem,then try 6's or maybe even 7's,i used to use bp7ev's in my engines,with no fouling problems,except when a leanout chewed the side out of number 3 piston one time.i cheated my way round that by swapping plugs cylinder to cylinder,so the fouled plugs cleaned themselves up.it got me from tamworth to sydney,which is what i needed.

hey andrew,did you get that timing problem fixed on the day.got to say that looked like a problem you'd like to find before the engine went into the car.also,that wasn't john 'frog' boston you let loose,was it.yes,john is a VERY good racer,so it musta been fun.i've gotta say that i definitely enter next year,cause i hate going to racetracks to watch,i get itchy feet to have a go myself.but first i'm going to try to do the bathurst speed weekend in december,should be fun.seeya,paul.

michael,i've called the man in question,& it's been added to the list of things to do.have actually been driving the car the last 2 days here in syd(tempting fate with double demerit points) & it needs something to get traction.it's actually the second next thing to do,if that makes sense,after getting bigger sway bars for the thing.am trying for 24 mm front & i think 16 mm rear gazelle bars.body roll - who needs it.also the 1200 wagon was sold for about $300 a month or so ago.

sounds like the clutch plate isn't centred,so the spline on the input shaft won't go in far enough.if this is the case,you can get universal fit clutch alignment tools from most auto places,or fluke a fit with some doweling or such.thats where my old blown up a12 4 speeds ended up,as clutch alignment tools(or land fill).