Turbo torque makes non close ratios boxes more tolerable, even sounds like a sleeper on that vid.
Rear tires seem to get a bit of guard lip action - will it ever get the bolt on flares & more track like your old beautiful BRE 1200? or no need.

It's the quietest car I own! And you wouldn't know it was turbo'd to listen to it. No silly blow off valve noises or intercoolers hanging out the front. No turbo whistle. And it idles like a stock L20 so there's no signs at all that there's anything out of the ordinary :)
Plan is to keep it looking as stock as possible outwardly to keep up the sleeper image, so no flares. The 205s fit under there with no scrubbing, and that's all the rubber I'll need for the modest power levels I'm aiming for to keep the 63A box in one piece. I could fit 15x8 under there with 205s, so there's no real need for flares. No lairy paintjobs on this one either. I liked the flared BRE painted 1200 at the time, but I wouldn't do it again. I prefer the original 70s colours these days, and keeping it looking like an old beaten up 120y will make it more fun if it ends up surprising people at the track.

true datto spirit lives here in this build / thread, on behalf of many here thanks Harry!

Looks good!

Harry, would a normal length 71 series 5 speed fit without cutting the tunnel? I know the rubber the gearstick comes through is on a plate, I wonder if the longer box would fit & you'd just have to make a new plate from some flat metal, with a smaller rubber from a 1200. This would avoid the inevitable broken 63a gearbox that'll happen shortly after you 'lock' the diff. I broke the mainshaft of one of these with a stock L18, so with a turbo L20B it's a matter of time. Was the Bluebird an auto or manual? An auto 120Y would be even more of a sleeper.

I had a Stanza 5spd in my old 1200 coupe with locked diff for about 6yrs before it broke, including about 3yrs of abuse at hillclimbs, motorkhanas, dirt autocrosses, even burnout comps. It copped a flogging. I broke a diff and an axle way before I broke the box. At the moment I don't have any more power than that old L16/18, so I'm not too worried about it.

Now that I've said that, it'll probably blow up next time I drive it!

I'll worry about upgrades when it brakes. I'm not aiming for big power, and certainly don't have big power at the moment. I might get it to a dyno and see, but my guess is only about 120rwbhp, which is enough to have a bit of fun with.

Touch wood (taps his head) Maybe mine was at the end of it's life. What do you think about a vinyl roof. Supposedly an aerodynamic advantage from the dimpled surface, like a golf ball. extra speed, extra camoflage.
Any more events at Mt Cotton before the end of the year?
Maybe you could bring it down for Bathurst Speed Week. They'd probably want you to fit a restrictor plate.

You will have to cut the tunnel for a 71 series. I currently have one in my car and its my second one which will soon break like the first one. After next weeks race I will be pulling the motor and tranny and will be doing a GM 2 speed Powerglide conversion.

nah, I'm not a fan of vinyl roofs. Maybe I could leave it out in the next hailstorm ;)

There's one more Mt Cotton hillclimb at the end of Nov - same date as Bathurst Speed Weekend. There's a couple of Lakeside track days coming up in the meantime as well, but I'll probably run the Soarer. I just picked up a $100 pair of secondhand 275/35x18 Hankook Z214s with a fair bit of tread left. It's always been limited by rear grip on 245 Nitto NT01s so these should help a fair bit. I had a goal of running 60s at Lakeside with the Soarer, PB so far is 61.3, so I think I'll take it for another crack at that. So the Datto might have to wait till next season. But that's OK, there's still a bit of suspension work I want to do before taking it back to a track.

I do like the idea of Bathurst Speed Weekend. Mountain straight hillclimb is one of the best bits of track I've ever driven! I'll think about it. It's 1000km from my place so it's a fair effort to get there... Are you having a run at Bathurst?

Drove it to work today in peak hour traffic - didn't even use the electric fan. Never got over 74deg. I know I've said it before, but I'm just so surprised it drives so smoothly! It's a really nice thing to drive.

Engineering tomorrow! Will be removing the intrusion bars and swapping to the stock carb and exhaust manifold tonight - it's only a couple of hours work. Everything is very easy to get to under the bonnet and the other exhaust is all flanged and ready to bolt on. Carby linkage is modified ready for a cable setup too. With stock intake and exhaust no emissions test is required. The turbo would need full testing. I'll bolt the turbo back on this weekend. I figure if Mr plod ever lifts the bonnet they'll see the mod plate with 5 codes on it and not question the turbo. Fingers crossed!