Quote:A-series and L-series both debuted 1966...

DD, I thought the U20 was Nissans first OHC motor and was introduced in 1967, with the A series design dating from the late forties , first being used in the Austin A30 in 1951, and later licensed by Nissan.

Think about which engine came in the first Datsun 510...it wasn't a U-series engine.

The first 510 was announced August 1967, with L13 engine. But the first L-series -- the L20 -- debuted...whoa! 1965

The engine in the Austins that Nissan built didn't use the Nissan A-series engine, it was an Austin design (see Cusumano's book). After the Austin-Nissan era, the Nissan E-series engine came out, then the J-series, and after that, in 1966, the first Nissan A-series engine -- the A10 -- debuted. If you look closely you'll see it is not the same engine as the BMC A-series engine. There are many differences.

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and doesnt that bmc a series motor remind you off the nissan j series the j is just a slightly improved version off the bmc a series (right??) and then the nissan a series is a drasticly improved version of those 2 engines

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The following is pirated directly from a post by Eddie Rattley [Ratdat] on Automotive Helper.com He was responding to a question about the J18 engine, but it relates to the A series engine in the big picture.

{quote}
The J18 is an overhead valve four cylinder engine that's the last development of the J series engine. That first appeared in the Datsun 411 in 1966 in 1300cc form (J13). The J series engine is devoped from Datsun's earlier E1 engine fitted to the Datsun 312 and 410.
The E1 is basically an Austin/ Morris B series engine but Japanese built. Datsun built Austin A40 Somersets and A55 Cambridges in Japan under licence from Austin and continued to use the engine in their own cars for some time afterward as they did not posses the funds to develop their own engine.
The J series comes as a J13,J15 and J16. The J18, I believe was only used in Mexico to my knowledge although I could be wrong.
{unquote!}

The Nissan A series was a clean sheet of paper design.
The Nissan A series has an external oil pump, a cam on the right side of the block. The timing case extends down the front face of the block & forms part of the oil pan sealing surface, the cylinder head is an 8 port design & the ports do not weave between the pushrods. The fuel pump is on right side of the engine.

The J series has two stamped steel covers for access to the tappet chambers under the manifolds. [see picture]
Only the British could design an OHV engine & still manage to put the fuel pump under the exhaust manifold to ensure that it vapour locks. [The fuel pump is driven directly from the cam which is on the manifold side of the block.]



The photo shows an original J series in a P510 instalation Note that the post initially refers to this as an A series but this is corrected in a subsequent post.
Those of us that are familiar with the BMC engine will recognise the thermostat housing arrangement immediately.

There is no similarity between the Austin/E1/J series engines & the Nissan A series design, other than the basic OHV, upright, inline, 4 cyl configuration.

Getting back to the original post.
Most people buy/build an old car for the character then they go and try and modernise it with a new motor etc. Then it becomes just an old car with some modern bits. loses a lot of its character. It's very hard to make an old car be as good as a new car and still look like an old car. I recon if you want to modify an old car then you are better to use period bits from a similar age.
That's what I recon anyway
olboy

yeah i agree with that.But i also believe that that is best reserved for really original,rare or immaculate examples.I would rather see a half decent car modernised than sent to the crusher which unfortunately has been happening.I also feel that the ability to make these cars perform widens the appeal for the old dattos and attracts people who may not ever own an original version.They may own other cars but you can bet they will always look back and smile when they remember the car they once had.only my opinion of course but it seems like the jury is still out on what engine is best but what it does show is the passion that drives people who own,race and work on these cars and thats what makes ownership special.

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Which was: Quote:Considering all these posts, the answer is: A-series. It's newer, lighter, easier to work on, and bolts right in.

In all these posts, the only advantage of the L-series I picked out is that some versions of L have more displacement. And that is a huge advantage, not knocking it. That alone is a good reason to choose an L over an A.

look datsun's have a good reputation for power/weight ratio...yes displacment is a major factor BUT so is weight!!! time,money and trouble wise the a15 is alot better option!...my suggestion is send a a15 to jts...3200 dollars later the thort of an l-series probley wont exsist!...is it really worth the trouble to go hunting for a few extra cubes when also weighting ur little car down?...i gota mild a15 and it makes modern v6's look stupid

If you want your car to be 'Excellent', you should go the L-series.