hello people,

im looking at an l18 conversion for my 1200 ute. I just want some advice on whether this is a good conversion (is it worth it?), what kind of things need to be modded, and what kind of power output this will achieve. Any comments would be appreciated. I'm getting the engine, gearbox etc almost free, and i just wanna know if it would be more trouble than it's worth.

Thanks, Chris

A good N/A L18 will put out 170-190 hp with a lot of work or an easy 130 hp.

The only disadvantage with the swap is the heavier engine causes understeer.

Compare this with the : -
nimble , efficient , powerful , responsive , light , good looking , environmentaly responsible , economical , smooth , A series engine and you can see where my allegiance lies

I just can't understand why nobody has gone all the way and spliced a Sunny Excellent front clip to their ute.

When you're done, you could call it the "Excellute."

Hey Feral, of the A's, what is your fav setup?

Excellute idea!

[quote="feral"]Powerful...smooth

Also, 2 other things

1) will the l18 4 speed (out of 720 ute) fit in my 1200 ute tunnel (manual) without modification?

2) Will i need to change the standard 1200 diff? will it handle the upgrade in power?

Thanks for your responses

Chris

I have seen L18 fitted into a 120Y it fitted quite nicley they are a pretty tall engine and heavy compared to A series . In my opinion you would be better of with a A15 worked over as errol says they have lots going for them :)
The gearbox should fit in the ute tunnel you will still have to remove the standard mounts as they protrude into the tunnel the A series box is quite thin the L series is a little on the fat side.
The standard ute diff can handle a fair amount of power I would keep it just dont give it too hard a time or lock the center as axles will break.

Cheers Andrew

NO,
My favourite A setup is :-
Dry sumped A13 with titanium rods, short compression height forgies with 1 mm, 1mm, 2.8 mm oil rings. Late A14 NISMO head with stainless 40 inlets, 37 exhausts high ported with Yella Terra 1.6 ratio rockers .

45mm Motec throttle bodies Autronic SMC (Autotune) ECU. Sand bent Facey headers and exhaust. Apart from the dry sump and roller rockers its what I have now. I am saving my hard earneds to buy a set of roller rockers and the dry sump pump and bits at the moment.
$2800 to go

I love it when older technology can beat later hitech (but not as highly developed) vehicles. Makes life worth while
:

I am building an A15 grunter at the moment for a bit of fun and am using the Nismo head on that, to see what it will do on a big block

Quote:

Errrrreeeee hereeee, great comment!