Zordmaker’s Datto Project

History

This Datto 1200 started life in August 1972 with a middle aged woman living in Rooty Hill west of Sydney. Originally an automatic, it was basically the classic lady’s car used for the weekly trip to the shops and the occasional long distance trip to her son’s place on the North Coast.

It came to my attention after I decided that my original Datto (which I had since 1985 and had undergone numerous complete rebuilds since - but that’s another story) was finally due for replacement after 12 years and around 400,000km in service.

The “new datto” (as it has become known) only had 83,000 miles on it, had been garaged all it’s life and had been resprayed once (from light blue to white). All the mechanicals were original and rust was almost non existent. It was snapped up in an instant!

Through 1997 it went through a slow process of rebuilds which included a new 2 pack spray job and general body repairs. When the “old datto” finally met it’s end in January 1998 (it was rolled after avoiding collision with a wayward motor cyclist) it was immediately stripped of all parts in preparation for the mechanical upgrade of the “new datto.”

This included a new (well, second hand) motor (an A12A Japanese import) and conversion to manual using the equipment salvaged from the old datto. Motor wise it was nothing outstanding and pretty much bog stock 120Y standard with the only under bonnet upgrades being electronic ignition and a bigger alternator.

The suspension and rear axle was also replaced as at the time I used the datto for work which meant it ran with heavy weight in the boot and back seat. Long ago I had upgraded the old datto with a Ute suspension Kit which raised the rear and made it far more drivable over Sydney’s bumpy and speed hump riddled road system.

A new Kmac front end was also added. All this was transferred overf to the new datto in 1998. All my dattos have run 120Y gear underneath for decades and use the ute diff and still use drums all round. The other unusual (for a datto) addition was the towbar. At the time I was required to regularly tow fairly heavy trailers full of sound equipment with the datto, the laden weight would often exceed the weight of the unladen car (p.s. the car never travelled unladen – it always had at least 400kg in it as well.) Heavy loads and non power assisted brakes is something I had become quite used to with both feet needed on the pedal on a regular basis to bring the whole thing to a stand.

In March 1998 the “new Datto” entered service and remained faithfully replacing the old one in “work service” until January 2000 when it met the end of it’s “old life” on a trip to Canberra. Charging up a particularly steep hill around the back of Bungendore with the motor at around 5k rpm in 3rd gear there was an almighty bang and then nothing.

It turns out that the car had been the victim of a batch of bodgy Sydney fuel, probably heavily mixed with Ethanol – a problem around Sydney at the time. The result was a sizeable crack in the inlet manifold. Try as I might, it was impossible to track down a replacement manifold anywhere in Australia as the bolt pattern on the A12A is very different. Wreckers only had the original style in stock. I was stuck, and needed a car fast for work.

Sealing it with “silicone sealer” got it working enough to get the thing home again where it was reluctantly put into storage up the back of the factory unit while I went madly hunting for a replacement vehicle. (This ended up being a Hilux dual cab ute which remains in service today alongside another newer one).

The Datto was since transferred to another factory unit when I moved units in 2002, and then transferred on trailer again in 2005 when I moved to a semi rural area north west of Sydney and the datto was stored right up the back of the shed and essentially “buried”. And here in January 2011 it’s finally come back out – 10 years later – and ready to start it’s next phase in life.

The Zordmaker Datto Project

The project about to be undertaken is a slow 1~2 year project with an estimated cost of around $25k. Basically this will be a “back to original condition” street legal project not intended for racing use.

First step will be a complete body rebuild, repair the right rear damage (caused by reversing into a tailgate loader at work back in 1999.. I donna wanna talk about it), replacing the right front guard (bent) and drivers’ door and hinges (cracked). I also need to replace some of the ill fitting door rubbers which were “rare spares” ones fitted as part of the rebuild in 1997 but have never really fit properly and prevent the rear doors (in particular) from closing properly. A new enamel 2 tone repait in Red and Blue and removal of the (no longer needed) towbar will complete the outside.

Inside, all seats (which thankfully are still in good mechanical condition) wil be re upholstered. The dash (likewise in very good condition) will be retained and just polished up. New moulded floor carpets will be needed as the old floor was merely painted black steel (in keeping with the work nature of it’s previous use). The roof is in good condition and only needs a polish and the door panels will probably be re upholstered to match the seats.

Next step will be a running gear rebuild with brakes, transmission and steering dismantled and fully overhauled. The datto will retain it’s current 13” wheels and rubber although I’ll be looking for something more suitable than the “blue” painted rims it currently has.

The A12A motor has been started and appears to still be in excellent shape after 10 years, remember it had only done about 50,000k in Japan before it was imported and only did another 25,000k here before it was mothballed so for a 75,000k original stock motor it’s really “just run in” and unless I want to bore it out or mess with the cams it should suffice for the time being.

I have sourced a replacement manifold direct from Japan and noted that there are also now two throat versions available which bolt directly on to this motor. The two throat option seems the best as it will be compatible with the radical step detailed below. Initially the completed car will be readied for the road and re-registered (as basically a stock standard datto) once this is all done.

Then comes the radical step. The fuel tank will be removed and the car converted to “LPG only” operation. It is planned to do this using two “donut” converters bolted to the top of the dual carby setup. Then comes a bigger exhaust to get it breathing plus a few other naturally aspirated goodies to see how much can be squeezed out of an A12 on LPG on the dyno.

Whilst the project doesn’t have a “ready date” as yet it certainly has a sizeable budget set aside for it and that should see some progress soon. At present I’m just rebuilding the existing carby to get the car running so it’s easy to move around the yard and on/off trailers to/from body shops etc over coming months.

Help Needed

I’m open to suggestions form all Datto 1200 enthusiasts regarding this project. In particular I’m keen on securing details on worthy parts suppliers and Sydney based shops who might be interested in some of the (particularly body) work.

Long live the Datto!

Zordmaker

Welcome to the forum!

Plenty of knowledge here so check out the Techwiki and feel free to ask your questions.

Looking forward to seeing the transformation..

i went straight lpg on my a15 back in 2008, with a twin su carby set up. I dont advise it really and neither did revhead001 who is a lpg trained tech and Jmac, and lpg master of all things information based.

Tried it on my L series conversion with much faileure too (nothis changed on the set up except L16 not a15 engine.

A single set up with a larger throttle body adaptor (r31 throttle body with adaptor to the stock manaifold) to the manifold yeilded musch better results and driveability and power than the twin system ever did , and not issues with the lull in the paower range the su set up always had. Think it was issues with the signal draw and the pistons dropping slightly in the sus.

Good luck, i have my stwin su set up still as would like to nut it out one day but not really worth it when the single set up is easier to work with and drive.

You should fit a 66lt tank between the rear arches on a bracket too. no dramas there.

Thanks, good advice there about the twin set up, I just assumed the twin would get more air in there and thus work better but if not then I'm happy to stay with the single as I'm more familiar with that set up (both my other utes are LPG)

Need to work this out first because I need to source the new manifold and I don't want to get the twin set up if there's no point to it.

I converted the Toyota to LPG soon after I got it in 2000 and since then have been a solid LPG fan. Tuning is tricky and you need to make sure the converter is top notch but I've got a good tuning guy (Hi Comp Performance in Minchinbury) who has lots of LPG experience and (importantly) also a dyno in his work shop. Ive found a lot of LPG converts suffer from running too lean because the conversion shops spec converters that are just too small for the job. They run fine on idle and the highway but when you want that extra kick grunt the mixture starts to run lean which causes all sorts of hassles and inevitably - backfires and explosions. This only ever shows up on the dyno and since we upped the size of the converter on the Toyota ute, reworked the head, re tuned it and added extractors it runs better now on LPG than Petrol, IMO. And the mileage is incredible - 650k to 100lts - and that's loaded!

I just love how all the power is right there cold as soon as you turn the key, no matter what the weather, and no worries about dodgy fuel either. All the fuel burns, no mucking about with kickdown pumps in the carby (the bane of if the original Hitachi carbys on the Datto 1200 as far as I'm concerned).

Happy to hear about anyone else's opinion on this, would like to lock a direction down nice and early!

Zordmaker

Update:

I've taken out the fuel system now (that 10 year old bodgy fuel really was awful.. made a big mess of the tank, will need to replace entire fuel sys).

Ive decided to restore basically to stock then register and get it on the road and then play with the LPG after that.

Now I just need to find a replacement manifold for the one that cracked (see Classifieds)..

ZM

yeah i though tthe same about the twin su set up, but just not enough draw for the signal.

plan on making a plumen for the L series su manifold and apadting the r31 tb to the front of that.

but if it back fires... boom!

OK just thought it might be time for an update on this one..

Good news is that I have been able to track down a new manifold of the correct bolt pattern (came with a free motor!). Been busy on Ebay too, now I have got replacement front and side lights, door panels and kick panels, carpets, tracked down a drivers' door and right fender and a rear right light. A new carby is on the way, as the three I currently have all show signs of significant wear and a new one isn't that expensive.

I've decided to upgrade the front drums to disks, and tracked down some. Basically now it's waiting for me to get the damage at the rear repaired, strip the body ready for a respray and then get on with the restore.

ZM

got pics of you lpg set up so far?

Naah, not yet. It's a sloow project. Was going to do body first but now decided to do drivetrain first. Just collecting bits, need those front disc struts and a new carby..

UPDATE Aug 2011:

This project has unfortunately ground to a halt for the time being. Due to various reasons one of my other vehicles required sudden major attention (new motor and now external repaint) and so the Datto project has been postponed to commence in early 2012. Still collecting parts, looking for a new Hitachi stock carby for it next, the $250 ones on Ebay seem a bit steep on price but worth it I guess.

I have found a replacement inlet manifold to suit the A12A motor (actually I found another complete motor..) and started stockpiling internal trim parts.

More in early 2012..

ZM

OK all thats done and now I'm back and it's time to kick this project off the ground. What I need right now is the name of a few good body / trim shops in Western Sydney who would like to take on the body side as I clearly don't have the time to do this side of the job but as with all time poor people, there's a considerable budget to pay someone else to do it as long as I can find the right person who'se not going to rip me off or do a crap job.

Definitely good cash waiting for the right restorer out there.

Any names, people?

ZM