Hey unfamilia thank goodness its not the case. They are are not a scaled down version of suzuki at all but as mentioned the SR20 but with the ga16 head design :) even better than the suks!. They are available in the same sizes as the suzuki G series twin cam and actually even bigger.
The micra is available in a twin cam 1.4 litre in the last years where suzuki g series dont have a true G series based twin cam above 1.3 unless you use the sohc g16 block and swap the heads to make a hybrid which is going backwards as the sohc 16v g series is better in valve sizes and port shapes.
Also the only solid crank version (no hollow mains) remains the 1.3 versions.

The micra is a bullet proof engine that as mentioned with xhausts mods will match and even outdo many similar 1.6 engines. With boost now some are almost hitting 300hp and increasing. NA race version hitting over 10k rpm all day and speedway adopting them soon they are special.

The main thing to remember is that datsuns are light and the running gear to be replaced should be the same. At around 80kg dressed and under that in race trim how can you go wrong?.

Whitesedan its not worth to make just guesses. A wedge head has nothing in common with a hemi. You look like an idito to try and clarify yourself even on a sunny day.
The WRC winning escorts always ran with the kent based cosworth engines not all cast iron pinto. I inherited 5 escorts from my uncle who went blind (macular) and who was also blind in love with them even though they where rusty, unreliable, always breaking diffs, boxes, blocks, overheating cast iron heads you name it. Others had the same deal and preferred the lighter more compact kent series. Its a behemoth of iron. Also to make NA 160hp on a pinto is very expensive compared to an L series which will make 30hp more over a pinto and always have in all out rallye setups. The escorts advantage was its almost 1200 datsun-like weight and quick responsive rack and pinion. Apart from that the Fj20 weighed a little less and made more from stock so I put one into an escort and finally enjoyed one of the stupid things. Tyrie Eskys without the boat anchors are featherweights and still lightweight with them, even one of my stock high comp pinto escorts beat factory alfa romeo gtv6 on acceleration but not on top end, The alfas where 300kg heavier. Therefore you cant compare a heavy 720 to a lightweight escort. Also your 120y`s 4agze is well tuned? Does your 120y weigh much more than the eskys? It probably does as the 4agze is quite a heavy engine with all its ancilleries like I said on another post 130kg for a normal 4age vs 118kg for a Ca18de and add another 25-30kg for the supercharger and ancillaries. Most 120y I went up against with their worked L series left me and other Eskys for dust. Even heavier Datsun 1600 and stanzas did the same. Trust me if the L series is in a escort it will outdo an equally tuned pinto not just because of the weight saving. Boat anchors are jealous of the things. Hey there in the U.S. good luck there with the free gift, I bet it will be more pain than gain if the pinto you are getting has a cast iron head and is the same size as the pinto here. I predict an unfinished project or a project that will ruin a good car and will be scrapped due to lack of appreciation. Unless of course you pour big bucks into alloy Esslinger heads or work the internals and boost the hell out of it. Either way what seems cheap at first will drain your wallet faster than any other setup. Good luck to you and most of all good luck to the poor little datsun that receives such a lump or iron.

There are A15/E15 hybrids for sure. Customised head and block to mate each other. 10,000rpm no issues for speedway.

What are you wanting to get out of your engine and what conditions will it run in? Knife edging isnt close to worth it if its just for the road.

Tyrie the t50 is 15kg lighter than the nissan box at 40kg and much weaker. T50 are getting thin in the teeth now, but If you take away the boxes the ca18de at 118kg is much lighter. When you boost the T50 will make way for a Supra box and then the whole combo is still heavier than the ca18 combo. CA all the way.

4age is 128kg-130kg so its a porker plain a simple but a nice porker of course since its based on cosworth specs. But yet still trails a FIAT/Lancia twin cam which are available now cheaply and can be run without pollution gear as the blocks havent changed for 40 years. Even a 13b rotary is around 115kg dressed (excluding thermal reactor which ends up in the bin and replaced with a set of twin headers).

Steve Newing was making 240+hp from a worked ca18de with more torque than the 4age could ever make and also at halve the cost of an 4age Atlantic 240hp version.

As for not being nissan youre right at least we have choices.

I would have to compare say the ca18 is better than the 4age because its a tad lighter in the block and therefore overall, 200cc more and a nissan. The only issue is the hydralic lifters which can be replaced at a price with solid custom ones from one of the big japanese wallet munching tuning houses. Having said that if you are going for boost the ca18 for the iron blocks top of the list.

The 40-50kg lighter brigade is suzuki and forgot to mention daihatsu applause HD or HG detomaso just 5kgs heavier but 125hp and same sohc 16v as suzuki but slighter bigger exhaust valves.

Bike freak fellow of your TAFE teacher here also, I love the Suzuki GSX engines and early Katanas (jap samurai sword) they have quite a history and following in the bike drags world. I used to own one that was very unforgiving with its brutality. I came off it a few times on slippery surfaces and finally hit a car that ran a red light (just managed to clip its rear bullbar) to end it and amost my days.
Im a big bike freak, specially old 20s and 30s bikes but you can avoid todays amazing engines.
A 600cc doesnt sound like much but at under 600kg and a snail they are cheap to setup and you can use a lightweight v8 billet reduction starter for reverse electronically.
One could be setup on the back seats with a 3 inch shaft drive to a peugeot 505 all alloy independent differential instead of the wagon`s live axle type. The leaf springs can be retained to run a shortened trailing arm from a volvo 360glt (took me years to find this setup after heaps of research) and some custom driveshafts to the pug diff. Using a rear halve cage you can fixed mount the engine and diff, use nolathane bushes and setup the starter for reverse on a toothed gog around the 3 inch tailshaft with stater mounted just above on top of the differential. This is my alternative (still budget compared to others) to the chain drive which is a noisy SOB. Reverse you active using a push button that engages only when you are pushing the clutch down and preferably in neutral.
600cc and some 800cc engines are going for a grand these days complete with boxes.

A mad "special K" alternative to a replica lotus 7 or caterham wih the same outlay would be:

3/4 quarter height carbon fibre doors (raised strengthened sill to help with side intrusion), composite leaf springs and mentioned independent setup above with LSD centre & tilt CF front. Non-splintering lexan with various flutes for cooling (bulletproof version stops chatter in accidents thats why Ive been interested in that stuff before as it doesnt scratch either and lighter than glass but few made fun of me when I was told Im not the Pope :) Also rear cage in either cro-mo or highest quality aluminium, a bullet proof lexan halve window to view the engine but seperating the driver to the sealed rear engine compartment this will protect from possible flying pistons, rods or other bits at uncrotrolled boost (you can never be too sure). 2 piece discs all round with alloy hats and dynalite calipers or even late 80s and early 90s pintara calipers (would be enough for a 500kg 1K).
Volvo cast alloy steering box or shortened rack and pinion. Ally radiator mounted on an angle at the front with venting coming out the top of the bonnet section like old Le mans cars or gt40 and slope covering the foamed filled or similar safety type fuel cell with filler in just in front of the windscreen. Ill stop there and face reality like "who would do up a 1k like this when you can have a new 30k golf, wear light pink polo shirts with the neck up and sport a post 99 beckam hairstyle".

I forgot the engine would be a twin small snailed Vmax V4 with twin pipes out the rear cheaper setup than tweaked Busa or zx14.

But Id love the new 1800cc rumored vmax engine even at the front its so compact with the driveshaft setup it will go in as on the bike. with heaps of room for some nice turbos on the sides.

I wish I had a z360 or 600!!!

Suzuki G16b with vitara gearbox or T50 with adaptor the bare engine is 60kg which is 40kgs lither than a CA18DE.
They are narrow, compact, 1590cc that can be taken to 1740cc and will make 180hp up in full race specs, 200hp easily with a small snail or more than 300 with a TO28RS. The main caps are billet alloy, titanium retainers and other bits like alloy pulleys for the cast iron crank one, waterpump and alloy sump can take the weight down to almost 55kgs. With custom bike carbs, 55amp alternator, lightweight flywheel and thin walled ceramic coated extractors you are looking at 75kgs max. If well tuned for boost the cranks have no issues making twice the NA factory 115hp figures.
CA18DE NA with gearbox 118 + 40kg = 158kg
G16b NA with gearbox 75kg + 25kg = 100kg
Also use the lightest diff available a shortened peugeot all alloy diff (housing and axle housing) as used in speedway and Viscous LSD centre available for them from peugeot 505GTI wagons after 1989.

The ultimate though is something like an R6 engine and 6 speed box will do well as it knocks down the a10 (87kg) + box (18kg?) down 50kg also.
If take a standard poor version of the 2 door sedan at 625kgs remove the bumpers, window winders, lighten the bonnet and boot frames, run alloy drums all round from 240z on blubird innards or disck brakes all round with alloy calipers, alloy radiator and 5.5kg gel battery you can go under 600kgs. Lexan side windows, sliding ones like on a kombi or land rover to eliminate winder mechanism, rear lexan windscreen etc probably another 10 or 15kgs.
With an R6 or other 600cc bike engine and box with 110 or 125hp you can be around 550kgs all up or less again with no wheel well ( flat extruded for strength replacement), alloy steering box and composite leaf springs could get a 1k to the under 530kg mark.

kululadotgroen
I really like what you have done to your datsun.
This posts move so fast I often miss some of the good posts and pictures.
As for the E series finding a way to clear the distributor is an issue but it now looks like the oil cooler is another but could be solved with an externally cooler. However is there anything to allow an engine mount? Looks like GA16E and GA16DE are the successors to the E series and could present better value since they are in so many wreckers now everywhere as crashed pulsars or the early 90s. Yet the 8 valver ohc is still a forced to be reckoned with when you look at he work of art rod design (motorbike sized crankpins at 40mm and fat as a miniture sumo wrestler), I wonder if the GA16 have the same rods since the bore spacing are the same among other measurements anyone know? ah I miss Feral

I reckon I could have had an A series version done by now. Some of these companies just love investors.

Unlike the Beare head which the owner/designer has done all by himself with not a cent of investment. Thats another fantastic option for an alternative head for an A series instead of the AY head. Its simpler and give way more torque, perfect for the street or rallying.