when i say best i mean the early one that bolts straight in
from my research i think its between 1971 and 1973 . is this wright ?

thanks guys :)

yes that is right.

the one that has the distributor forward and the alternator on the passenger side.

you will only find these in the sedans, wagons and coupe's.

alternatively you could buy a ute crossmember (from post 74) and swap that with the one in your kb10. then you can use a later model A12 or even an A14/15 without any fabricating.
i think the cross members are interchangeable anyway

Ahh the cross members between all the kb10s are the same, so swaping in a later one wont help, and you cant use a 1200 mount cause of the suspension setup.

Yeah its the early one that makes the swap easy, just use the 1k engine mounts and she will go straight in.

early- bolt righ in no mods
late- change the mounts they have to go back about 2-3 inchs (on the x mem) and you have to move the alternator aswell??

Quote:
Well, not quite right.

The 1200 engine was fitted to ALL 1200's up untill the introduction of the 120Y in 1974. This means that the early utes also used this front distributor engine as well as sedans, wagons & coupes.
I don't know where this misinformation comes from .

The B10 series use a completely different suspension system to the 1200 & a completely different chassis, so any suggestion that a 1200 crossmember will bolt into a B10 chassis is absolute rubbish.

The later 1200 ute crossmember can be used to install later A series engines in 1200 passenger models & early utes, but not B10 cars

Ihe simplest upgrade of all is to use the 1200 engine, [up to 1973] but fit the 1000 engine mount lugs to the block.
Fit the 1000 heater fitting to the back of the head.

If using the 1000 gearbox, you will need to shorten the spiggot shaft where it goes into the crank as the 1000 one is a bit longer & bottoms out before the gearbox is flush with the back of the block.

With the 1000 gearbox, you need to either use the 1000 flywheel & the smaller clutch, or adapt the 1200 release bearing to the 1000 bearing carrier.
You might be able to get the 1200 bearing carrier to work with the 1000 fork in the gearbox, but it's a bit of a fiddle.

I fitted the 1000's alternator to my 1200 block & this involved removing the mounting studs from the A10 block & instaling them in the 1200 block, then fitting the 1000's mounting bracket & alternator.

The next problem is that the standard air filter housing on the 1200 will rub on the underside of the bonnet as the 1200 block is a little taller than the A10 & there's not a lot of room under there. I used a GX induction & it fits with plenty of room.

Use the 1000's fan as, from memory, the 1200 fan sits further forward & is a bit squeezy in the radiator area.

Don't worry about the radiator's ability to cool the 1200 as it's bigger than a 1200 one anyway, so as long as it's in good serviceable condition, it'll be fine.

great info
thanks
cleared a lot of stuff up :)

Cheers, alot of info I needed too!

Perthute you got Andy's A15 going yet??

the a15 with the 5 speed is going in the coupe thats getting painted at the moment , so a months time i should be putting the motor in and fireing it up .
but i have a nother kb10 that i wanna put a a12 in, just a quick project

Just a small point, but I always refer to the front distributor A12 engine as a 1200 engine.
I know it's correctly designated A12, but if you say you are fitting an A12 engine, nobody knows which one, ... early or late. [1974 onwards]

The front distributor A12 was used only in Datsun/Sunny 1200 models up to 1973, so by calling it a 1200 engine, it instantly clarifies which engine it is.
I use the A12 designation to refer to the 1974 & later versions. [rearward distributor types] It works for me.