Hi all. I am considering fitting a L series motor to my coupe. Thinking of the L20B Bluebird motor. Question is how do i go about doing this, whats needed and will i have to butcher my car much to make it fit? I have sort of had it with the standard A12 and was thinking of putting in a A14 or A15 but then heard that its possible to fit the L Series motor in the 1200. Will this be a better option than any A series motor worked or not? Have no idea what it would cost to hot up an A14 or A15. Will it be a costly exercise to fit a L Series? Any pics or step by step on how to do this will be much appreciated. Anyone who has done this can you tell me how much better is the power delivery? I want more power but don't want to go to the expense of fitting a CA18DET or the like. Thanks!

from memory the l20b is to tall to fit under the bonnet of a 1200 cheaply, an l18 does but I think you get a 180B crossmember and reverse it and bolt it in that way and it bolts up like that, do a search to find out all the info on this conversion.

Cheers
Damo

well a mate of mine was going to fit an L20 to a 1200 but came across a couple of issues, first being that after he bought an L20 and we'd tossed the A series, we put it in the eng bay sitting on the sump put the bonnet on for a test fit and couldn't close it. so i had a dead L18 sitting at home so we plonked it in there and the bonnet closed, so we did the conversion to that instead. the hardest part was making the brackets for the eng mounts, also be aware that you'll need a forward facing sump, and the only ones i know of are bluebird, 1600 and stanza, also don't forget to grab the oil pickup with wichever sump you get, cos the L18 has a mid mount or rear sump depending on model. or the other choice is to pick up late stanza motor and box in one hit. cos the bluebird, 180B, skyline box is waaaay to big for the small 1200 tunnel. if your lucky you might find a 5spd in your search. also L18 crank, rods, pistons fall into L16s. the reason L20 not fit is cos it's taller than 16/18 by bout quarter inch or more. the only other option if you don't want to manufacture eng brackets is to try and find a 1200 cross member in japan from the sunny excellent, as they had an L14 in them. otherwise if you do buy stanza motor, pinch the crossmember as well then cut the brackets off neatly then graft them to 1200 member after removal of the originals. hope i've been of some help. also that mate just had L20 crank mains machined down to L18 size and special rods and pistons to make a 2.2l. hope you have fun building and driving it.
tony

p.s. late stanza motor can run on unleaded as they already have hardened valve seats in them. also stanza and 180B crossmembers are too wide to fit in. k
tony

The L18 and L20b engines are very similar in size. If you want to go the L18, you'll need a L20b sump (that is the forward one). Theres a pic on my website with the L20b motor in the engine bay. It is reasonably high, but it does fit.

Was your coupe originally a auto?? if it was the tunnel is wider, and you should be able to fit the 5 speed in there. My car should be (hopefully) back on the road by christmas... If ya don't live too far away I could drop in for a chat...

the only reason an L20 wouldn't fit under a 1200 bonnet is the standard carb/aircleaner.

I've run L20B engines in my 1200 (with sidedraughts), and the conversion was originally done with an L16 block.

L20B block is roughly 20m taller

180B x-member only fits 120Y, not 1200s.

the conversion has been described here a number of times - try the search function.

Datsun L16 Engine

Bore - 83mm
Stroke - 73.7mm
Conrod - 133mm
Block Hieght - 207.85mm
Displacment -
Power - 96 - 105hp

Datsun L18 Engine

Bore - 85mm
Stroke - 78mm
Conrod - 130.5mm
Block Hieght - 207.85mm
Displacment -
Power -

Datsun L20b Engine

Bore - 85mm
Stroke - 86mm
Conrod - 146mm
Block Hieght - 227.45mm
Displacment -
Power -

Out the TECH section

i have done the l20b conversion although not completely finished yet (painted it wen eng out). it will fit hight wise with sidies or custom inj. if you dont mod the crossmember. i cut approx 25mm out of it and welded new plate on top this will give more clearance to work with, used bluebird eng mounts on custom brackets and choped and welded crossmember. Sump needed no mods, this is from a bluebird series one. also used bluebird trx 5 spd, this will fit in manual trans tunnel with trans lugs groung off from tunnel, used bluey clutch master cyl for clutch conversion, custom gearbox mount, easy as to do, used nolothane bushes to stiffen it up, standard exh manifold and bluey exhaust will clear fire wall, dunno about extactors havnt found any info on that. So far i havnt come accross anything that you couldnt do at home without basic skills and a mig/ block an tackle, maybe a third hand. Anyway suk it an c, have fun

Thanks all for info. have tied to search site for x member mod but cant come up with much. Will keep on trying. From what i've read it should'nt be too hard. Any idea what diff i'd need? Can i use the original H145 or is it better to use maybe Ute H165? What about connecting speedo for L series motor to factory gauges etc..? I think i will go L16 Stanza plus gearbox? Will this fit? I have a manua coupe by the way. Sounds like this i a better option and can up stroke it with L18 parts which i like. Anyone know of places that make L series x memeber for 1200? Thanks all once again. By the way dazzasute im in morley.

Hey L18_B110 do you make up x-members for engine plus gearbox for the 1200 to sell? If you cant or dont want to can you post a pic of what the finished x-member looks like for both engine and gearbox. Maybe the original and modified ones side by side for comparision. Thanks!