That theres sum ser-e-us culture Matt , er on second thought maybe Frontiers with factory gun racks are not such a good idea.
And I thoguht I lived in a hillbilly state, just cuz we still had cynanide stip mining not to long ago. Of course we can still Ride our dirt bike most places..........maybe the design team could move to Vegas , then new Maxima's would come in colors like hot pink , purple passion and powder blue. All with mirrors on the headliner.

Tom
PS I'm thinking they will head to Hyundai/Kia

Some simple things you can do: header/extracter two inch exhaust , weber 32/36 carb. If you take the head off you can put in the A14 valves and add GX daul valves springs which will let it rev to 7800 RPM's . To install a cam will require the engine to be removed. Something aorund the GX spec cam will be very streetable. Horsepower will be 80ish. This is a big improvement over stock.
Much more than this and the stock brakes will have to go....they aren't real good to begin with.

Tom

Well we here in Nevada refer to it as "The Communist Republic of California" and this is a state where the Federal Government owns 80% of the land. Between the rules , taxes and congestion I do not know how anyone manages to say sane there. Seems like a high price to pay for nice scenery.
As for Nissan's design team , well with all due respect. I could have bought a Sentra SER but got a Mazda Protege ES instead. I'm not a fan of Nissan's current cars they look like oragami on wheels to me.Time for a change maybe be it surrondings or people
Nissan would likely save big bucks and Pappa Renault is probably thinking the same.

Tom

Well with a mildy tuned GX A12 I'm getting 16/17 MPG on the track. Car never sees below 5000 RPM's and runs to 8000. By comparison my Showroom Stock Miata I raced got 9 MPG on track.....ouch
When the 1200 was a street car seems like it was 30ish in town and about 35 on the highway.

Tom

Hmmm , 20 years ago when a friend bought our 1200 from a High School buddy it was just an old Japo-crap wagon in the eyes of most car people.........and now whenever I tow the car to the track I get at least two people at the track or on the way who say "cool a Datsun 1200 we/I/friend had one of those"
Amazing how times change so I suspect in time the B210/120Y will get it's due.....they were raced heavily as well.
I'm still taken a back as when I first raced the car in 89 it was still just an old car then.
Now I am jealous of how clean those 1200's are , mine looks good from 5-10ft but up close well it's a race car.

Tom

Ok back up , being a girl makes you no more or less qaulified.....get yourself to a local Community College Autoshop class , doesn't mean you will do the work just means you know what goes into it. Mechanics is not rocket science it is pretty straight forward. 1200's are small and components light which at 135llbs I appreciate.
OR get yourself some books and start reading , you will be a lot happier with your decision if you yourself are informed.
I'm not sure I'm clear on what is in the car but if it is L series engine some basic tuning should make it go or bumping up to the L20 and then some mods should really make it go. At that point like most racers I'd advise you get yourself to a track day as a 1500lb car with 175 HP will be fast.

Have Fun , Tom

In my 1200 I'm using the GX bottom end , cam and flat top pistons. Head is so called H-production with A14 valves and dual springs. Engine currently revs to 8200 before float. So I am wondering what sort of cam lfit duration etc I can get away with and still maintian the non interferance fit. 4 times a year I use the car to take students for rides at track days and well being easily distracted I have buzzzed the thing to 8+ (7800 is normal shift point) while talking to a student.

Thanks Tom

The castor/Radius Rod is the one that goes from the lower control arm diagonaly to the bracket under the radiator.

Worn bushings can cuase this. Also see how many threads are sticking out of the nut at the end by the radiator. If someone has gorrilla torque one side and left the other just snugged one rod will be pulled forward more than the other.
When we got our coupe the bushes were worn and one side was 16mm further forward.
Also put the thing on an alignment rack so you know for sure. 1200's were econboxes and hence not precision built. I used to do alignment work at a Toyota dealership long ago and you would be surprised how far out stock production cars are. You can use a plomb bob to mark spots on the garage floor to see if the car is square or not.

Tom

I'm here most days but I'm really not the 135lb 1200 racer from Vegas. Actually I'm Unbotu Okumbo, a 400lb sweaty blad guy from Nigeria slowly gaining your trust over the next 10 years when I will get you to send me all yer Datto parts and then I will sell them all and live like a king.

Unbotu , I I mean , Tom

I'm 42 , way back in 1983 a friend had this hideous little car , a LB110 coupe , he was driving while recovering from divorce. By 1985 he bought a new car and wanted to sell that awful LB110 , so a motorcycle racer buddy in need of a cheap car bought it. Well we quickly discoverd it wasn't the LB110 econobox it was a beloved Datsun 1200 and 1200's are a blast to drive.We flogged it down gravel roads and took a couple of road trips with it and realized you couldn't kill that car.
1989 I ran at an autocross and won my class with it. Right after that we decided to race it and 16 years later I still have the car known as the Pokey. It was even pictured in Road & Track once. Now when I take it to track days students who ride in the car just love it. Also the couple of my fellow racers who have driven it rave about the handling......of course I was not true to the car , when I had the wazoo fast sports racer I sold the car. As soon as I got the chance I bought it back. The car is part of the family now so it will never leave , my son who is 11 and Autocrosses a Kart is looking forward to us sharing the car at Vintage weekends. I've raced or autocrossed Formula Vee, Formula Ford, D-sports Racer Mazda MX5 Miata , RX7 , B210 , 510 , 240Z and 280Z but the 1200 is really the most fun car ever.

Tom