i think there is too many negatives compared to the ca18det or something similar. the weight, power capabilities etc, unless you just want to be different.

I've seen a 1200 ute that had one in it. he's local around here. bought the car from over east with no motor. it had no firewall mods, the tunnel was just about twice the size. I think it had the holden banjo diff in it (It has that at the moment anyway)
apparently ran 9-10 seconds...
now its getting the sr20det treatment, and it should do similar times... Its still reg'd with a v6

Quote:
It seems to be a pattern. People build these really good cars with dazzling engines, some are well built, & some are not, but a large number seem to be offered for sale not long after they hit the road. Often within the first year.
If i had built a well engineered, sensibly balanced car, that cost several times what it would fetch on the market, then i would want to keep & enjoy it.

Is there some reason why so many want to get rid of these things so quickly? I could hazzard a guess.

You probably wont get too much feedback fromthis site about such a conversion. Because of the following reasons:-

1) The V6 commodore engines are crap
2) They are too heavy and have now power (ie try getting 450hp out of one like you can out of a CA18DET...I know formula Holden have them but it killed off the series cause the block couldnt handle much more than 300hp)
3) Why go wreck a perfectly good Datsun with a Holden Motor?

No power? 190kW is a lot more than an a-series will put out ... and the older GM 3.8 V6 is a good engine, reliable, and has one of the best flowing 2-valve heads every made (it way outflows the Chevrolet smallblock head). If you can get one cheap (or free) and do the conversion work yourself, go for it!

But I agree you won't find much info here. It seems like most (if not all) of those who've done this swap are not members of this club. True 1200 fans are using other engines.



V6 in 1200

Holeshot put a GM 3800 in a toyota hilux.

When the Twin #1 120Y had no motor in it we shoehorned a 3800 and auto with transfer box in to have a look, pulled it out real quick and tosted it back into the corner.Still thinking of how to put a diff in the frount and up the springs all round.

I'm a little surprised that the V6 engine is regarded well in the US. It does not really have such a good reputation here.
They would vibrate at low speed untill they fitted that bent 'evenfire' crank, & the rear seals still leak a lot. They make reasonable power, but are not really the sort of engine that most datsun enthusiasts would use. It involves more butchering of our beloved Datsuns than it really is worth for most of us.

At the end of the day, all you got is a screwed Datsun with a foreign engine that you would have great difficulty registering, so enjoying it on the road will be more of a dream than a reality.