So I might be able to trade my 620 pickup for a 1200 minus the engine and tranny. I think i'd like to drop in an L18 I have. It was just rebuilt before I got it. So WooHoo !!

The tech section says to modify a Stanza crossmember and dump it in there. This is where the problem comes up. In Canada the only Stanzas we had were fwd jobbies.

So will a 510 crossmember mount up? Is this useless or should I just find a 1.2L ?

yep a 510 will go under but if u do what i did u have to do a fair bit of mods to it .I moved the camber pin holes in so they where the same distance apart as standard and then u can run the camber adjustable pins if u go this way be sure to get the lower control arms and radius rods when u get the crossmember

p.s ITS ALL GOOD FUN BUT WAY WORTH THE EFFORT IN THE END

The Aussie Stanza is the same as the US Datsun HL510... the late '70's model. The chassis code is A10.

Scott cut parts of that info in the tech section from some messages I sent him, and added his own opinions and point-form process for undertaking the swap. I think it lost some meaning when he 'snipped' parts of what I said for his article. I hadn't actually seen it before today - I always used to get an error saying I didn't have permissions to access that section.

I didn't use the Stanza x-member, I just welded the Stanza engine mount 'saddles' onto the 1200 x-member in the appropriate locations. You could get them from any L series x-member.

Then modify the engine mount brackets that bolt to the block to sit the motor as low and rearward as possible, being careful to allow enough clearance between the drag link and the sump, as it raises when you apply steering lock.

Although I cut the hoop out of the x-member and moved it 1/2 - 3/4" rearward, (x-member, closeup) in hindsight it would be easier to slightly modify the sump rather than the x-member, because it turned out that it doesn't need as much extra clearance as it seemed - I guess I stuffed that measurement up a bit.

The part in there about removing the mounts on the chassis for the x-member was originally in reference to the gearbox x-member, not the engine x-member. I had to remove the drivers side (RHD) mount in the trans tunnel to clear the box and allow me to fit the reverse light switch. The Stanza 5spd just fitted in there if the reverse light switch was removed!

There was a whole lot of other info about various other bits and peices about the swap (like hydraulic clutch conversion, gearbox x-member, castor rod mods etc) but it is all pretty straightforward.

Also on a road car, I would suggest not modifying the control arm mounting holes in the x-member, as the longer Stanza arms will get you around 1 to 1.5 degrees neg which is plenty for the street.

Sweet.. Thanks for the info. Turns out the 1200 is quite rusted around the frame rails. I've heard this from a friend so i'm still going down to take a look but it prolly isn't going to be worth it.

So if I was to do all this and install the 510 crossmember with control arms and such, would I be able to install 280zx struts too ? I just finished doing this to my 510 and love how it feels. And I think it would be sweet to do to a 1200.