A couple of people have asked what relationship there is to engine number and vehicle build date

Let us know the month/date of your Datsun 1200, and the original* engine number by posting it here.

i'll start:

A12-148601: Vehicle build: Unknown, 72 model
A12-159772: Vehicle build: June, 1972

*The engine number is on the Chassis plate under the hood. Compare to the engine number stamped on the block to see if your engine has been replaced. For north american 1200s, the build plate is on the driver's door jamb (b-pillar) and is stamped with the month and year.

A12 - 032542: Vehicle Build: Unknown, 72 model assumed.

umm, id be carefull putting chasis numbers and engine numbers on the net, they may somehow make thier way onto someone elses car 1/2 wayt around the world, making another identical datto.
all i know is the latter a12 motors finished with a leteer "a" usually

I am one of those that have writen to ddgonzal asking for info.
My engine number is a reasonably early one & i was hopeing to narrow it down to a month of manufacture.

My engine number is in the mid eighty thousands [080xxx] Anyone able to narrow it down? E-mail me personally if you do not wish to post your numbers on the net.

There's no danger in posting the engine number (which are sequential and can be guessed at), just leave out the chassis number.

If we get enough posts on this, we can hopefully get a feel for the date of a particular engine, without knowing the original car.

Ok, mine is Sept 84 build - A12 220778E it is a B120

Does anyone know what the "E" stands for at the end of the engine no.

I can even tell you what ship it came across on, the Yujin Maru

I also have the original receipt of purchase.

I also found a card in my user manual that is in Japanese and it has the chasis & engine no's at the top of it but it has series of rectangular holes all over it, kind of like an old computer card. Anyone seen one of these before?

so i guess my numbers are the lowest so far?