i need some advice on putting a 12A rotory into my 120y sedan, how hard is it to do, and what are the basic things i need to do to get it in there? i was basically given the engine so i was wondering weather im better going with a L20 conversion, what is the difference in power between the two engines? and is a series 3 bluebird diff the best one to go with for bith engines?

rotor conversions are pretty easy due to their physical size. the only troubleis getting the exhaust around the steering box, but if they can do it in R100s then they can do it a 120Y.

you have two options to mount it. either the 12A front mount timing cover setup or the 13B side mount style mounted to the intermediate plate. most people go with the front mount style due to the side engine mounts getting in the way of the exhaust. if you can geta hold of the mounts and bracket of a wrecked RX7 then you're pretty much there. you can either weld or bolt them to your front chassis rails - i choose bolting personally because you can never guarantee the quality of someone else's welding. conrod bolts or old L series head studs are good for this.

the gearbox looks huge (and is) but remember the low eccentric shaft height of the rotary will situate the gearbox lower than a piston box of the equivelant size. you'll only need a little "minor" relieving with a hammer to make it fit.

the gearbox xmember will be a custom jobbie - but some 6.0mm angle should see you there. tailshaft will need shortening too.

you'll also need a rotary radiator and oil cooler. the RX4 rad is the best, but an RX7 one is just fine. and steer clear of series 3 RX7 oil coolers. they're not worth their weight in copper - they absolutely SUCK.

now, if you have trouble with sump dramas, you can swap in a 180B crossmember as the member is reversed from the 120Y one. i can't for the life of me remember if you need one for only the 12A or 13B turbo - it's been aaaaages since ive been involved in a rotor conversion but i'm pretty sure it's the 12A. it's not hard to bolt in a 180B crossmember - ask Team_dat or L18_B110. if you do use the 180B xmember, you'll need to swap the struts from left-to-right and from right-to-left though as the calipers foul on the larger 180B steering arms.

use stanza struts and girlock calipers while you're there too, the 120Y brakes have a pad area the size of my thumbnail - and the H190 should be fine for the application.

power wise with a std 12A, all you need is a downdraft weber and a good exhaust and you'll have 180 flywheel HP on tap. open it up and port it and you could see just on 300hp with a peripheral port. i have a few rotor combos up my sleeve,s o if you're after a specific combo, just let me know.

happy rotoring!

*updated*

thanks pro-240, & melissa, was very very helpful to wet my appetite for my idea of putting a 12A into a 1200 wagon.

Now ive never owned a 120y so basically what are the differences that i would expect to come across while putting the 12a into the 1200 as compared with the 120y?.

so now i've rather got no idea thanks to melissa about mounting the actual engine. we can always get tips of the guys in the workshop, but we want to do a large part of the actual conversion work ourselves, just personal reasons, but we're going to do it right also so there will be alot of consulting other parties. anyway now i ask for pictures, seeing as many a person thinks "rotary powered 1200's are the most common thing" show me some pictures please, they would be a great help, personally ive only seen 2 datsun around here with rotary's in them so theres not many people around here i can ask specefic questions to.

So basically i wont be able to simply add rx7 mounts to the original b110 xmember because the engine will sit to far back, right? if this is right then will a completly new member have to be made up and be place more towards the front of the car and then have the rx7 mounts on this new xmember? what is the timing cover and how is it that people say it can be used for the conversion?
wondering what the mounts here are, and how this would roughly compare in a 1200.
mounts

which gbox would you reccomend?

line the chosen gearbox up and custom make a xmember to fit, would the xmember sit in the same place of the original b110's? bang out the tunnel slightly, or would you reccomend on cutting and welding? the idea of banging seems very rough, but then when you say "minor" how minor do you mean exactly (this being a manual 1200 trans tunnel)

what dramas am i going to face with tailshaft length, in accordance with driveshaft, shortened tailshaft for driveshaft and lengthened driveshaft for diff? which diff to use? use the internals of a hilux diff?

what would be the situation with exhaust? use the original rotary exhaust manifold then custom made all the way through from there?

i would most likely just get a radiator and oil cooler custom made with twin or single electric fans for the radiator, need a tacho and oil pressure gaurges. quad barrel carb will do me fine.

wiring up should not be too much of a mission, an early rx7 manual should help in that department.

for port i would most likely go with a half bridgey or mild,, that way i can have a little bit extra performance with a nice big pulsing sound emitting at idle.

which model would i best be sourcing a 12a from (ive heard twin dizzy models are a pain, which series are they from?)

now i know this is alot of questions and it i have no idea as to what im going to expect but this is just to get some answers to my baisc questions that i have, i very much appreciate it.
also if there is anyone else who has placed a rotary of any kind into a 1200 your information,experiences, hassles and dramas would be very greatful.

also, if you think a wankel in a datsun is "unethical" then please dont bother to reply and could you please click the "x" button located at the right of your browser, thanks.

i love the sound of a rotary, so the reason im wanting to do the conversion, is for the sound not performance at all, the engine internals will be looked at by several people i know who own a workshop that deal specifically with rotarys, if a rotarys internals are done right and properly they function and last, i have witnessed this personally.

thanks again to everyone.

Ok I am no greaser but I have learnt quite alot from just reading on this site.

The 180b crossmember is pretty straight forward to fit to a 120y, But the B110 is narrower so it is a lot more work to fit the 180b crossmember. ( havent read of anyone doing it, but anything is possible)
The reason the 180b crossmember is used in the 120y is because it bends the opposite way the the 120y crossmember and this provides oil sump clearance for various engines.
If you get the 12A engine mount, the engine wont mount to the crossmember. It will mount infront of it on the chasis rails. The 12A mount was suggested as since it is to the front of the engine, there is now more room beside the engine for exhaust manifold/pipes etc.
The mounts and bracket to my understanding are like an engine plate. One plate bolts to the front of the engine and to the sides of this the engine mounts are attached. This is only on 12A's but you can attach this 12A timing cover to a 13B if wished.
The 6.0mm angle refered to when describing a gearbox mount would be 6.0mm thick angle steel. Not to provide correct height or angle, but to provide strength to the mount.

Hope I helped, and all this I found from reading www.datsun1200.com search results.

Melissa.

With regards to sump clearance, It's not hard to run a "drysump".
Just replace the sump with a flat peice of sheet metal (Instant clearance) and run two hoses to an oil resevoir. Due to the rotangs have a lube system different to piston motors, you don't need a scavange pump.

there was an article in zoom awhile ago about this they had a 120y with a rotary tubo it was a bit dodgy but it ran 12s they keept the original x member and cut the a12 mounts out and welded the rotary mounts in they also gave the tranny tunnel a stretch with a 4 pound hammer and oxy orthe other option is to run a 4 speed out of a mazda and not damage the tunnel they also used a 200b tail shaft modified to suit it sound dodgy i know but this was the fist 120y turbo rota somebody had to do it

cheers 120. You dont happen to have the article do you? So it is obviously possiible in a 120y to keep the original xmember and then weld rx3 mounts onto the xmember. This was the road i was thinking for the 1200 also, but will it work for the 1200?

yeah i had a look for the article and only found one page as ihad it hung up in my garage not much info if you want it pm me your address and ill send it tommorrow
i dont know about the 1200 witha rota never had much to do withem .....yeah so chop the 120 mounts and weld the rx3 ones in ,oh yeah is the 120 y registed its going into also make some tramp rods to stop the diff twist this will help when you drop the clutch at 7000 rpm .....

RX3 mounts are front mounts - unless it's a 10A with side mounts.

you can bolt any mount to the intermediate plate of the engine - as mazda do.

you'll need to cut the risers off the crossmember and MAKE mounts if you plan to use side mounts.

otherwise the RX3 crossmember will need a section removed and BOLT it thru your front chassis (don't forget to take the same amount out of the timing cover mount).

OR

put the LH mount on the RHside of the car, and the RH mount on the LHside of the car (so they point on a 45deg angle with the boltholes vertical) and bolt them to the SIDE of the chassis.

this is by far the easiest option.