Hey there... Just wondering what engine conversions people have done?
I have an a12 gx motor in my vb10 at the moment. It's running but is a bit rough. Not sure weather to get this engine rebuilt or if I should look at maybe fitting something else.
This is a long term project so there is no rush to get it on the road. I have an a15 thats for sale at the moment but am thinking of maybe fitting this in the wagon. Would this be worth doing or could I get just as much power out of the a12 gx with some work done?
Am also thinkin of a turbo motor of some sort.
Mainly thinking about the work thats involved and what would be the best way to go about it.
Any help or info people can provide would be greatly appreciated. Cheers...
Jay

Try a search.

Not many engines fit in 1000s. A15 will put a smile on your face, well it did for me! Im planning on turboing it too. And if you keep with a A series you keep the wieght down and even, afterall thats one of the 1000s best assests, they weigh bugger all!

ive got a mate here in bathurst that has a ca18de in his 1000 2 door racecar with a 180sx 5 speed and ute diff but id doubt it would be road registerable, unless u know the right people
he has trouble with the back stepping out at high speed, but its got plenty of power it does a 30 second esses hillclimb and my a15 1200 coupe does a 32.5 so its pretty quick.
i think ca18detman did it in 28 secs in his turboed, worked ca 1200 coupe so it definatly doesnt lack power
just an option for ya

Suzuki G16b with vitara gearbox or T50 with adaptor the bare engine is 60kg which is 40kgs lither than a CA18DE.
They are narrow, compact, 1590cc that can be taken to 1740cc and will make 180hp up in full race specs, 200hp easily with a small snail or more than 300 with a TO28RS. The main caps are billet alloy, titanium retainers and other bits like alloy pulleys for the cast iron crank one, waterpump and alloy sump can take the weight down to almost 55kgs. With custom bike carbs, 55amp alternator, lightweight flywheel and thin walled ceramic coated extractors you are looking at 75kgs max. If well tuned for boost the cranks have no issues making twice the NA factory 115hp figures.
CA18DE NA with gearbox 118 + 40kg = 158kg
G16b NA with gearbox 75kg + 25kg = 100kg
Also use the lightest diff available a shortened peugeot all alloy diff (housing and axle housing) as used in speedway and Viscous LSD centre available for them from peugeot 505GTI wagons after 1989.

The ultimate though is something like an R6 engine and 6 speed box will do well as it knocks down the a10 (87kg) + box (18kg?) down 50kg also.
If take a standard poor version of the 2 door sedan at 625kgs remove the bumpers, window winders, lighten the bonnet and boot frames, run alloy drums all round from 240z on blubird innards or disck brakes all round with alloy calipers, alloy radiator and 5.5kg gel battery you can go under 600kgs. Lexan side windows, sliding ones like on a kombi or land rover to eliminate winder mechanism, rear lexan windscreen etc probably another 10 or 15kgs.
With an R6 or other 600cc bike engine and box with 110 or 125hp you can be around 550kgs all up or less again with no wheel well ( flat extruded for strength replacement), alloy steering box and composite leaf springs could get a 1k to the under 530kg mark.

4AGE has been done in a 1000 coupe before too.

Good bang for buck!

I like your thinking D.
A teacher I have at Tafe is a bike freak, runs his own engine workshop and loves old Suzuki engines. I don't know anything about them but he was showing me pics of his latest one. It was from the early 80s, and he rebuilt it to run Methanol and ran a supercharger through a 48 mm weber with 40 psi of boost. It's under 1.2L but revs to 13-14 and makes around 495 HP. That's freaking awesome, it's tiny, weighs nothing and would easily fit in a 1000.

Could probably buy 10 worked A15s for the same price though (think he said the crankshaft costs around 7000 to replace) but that would be the top of my list for dream 1k engines. Or a turbo Busa.

I would have to compare say the ca18 is better than the 4age because its a tad lighter in the block and therefore overall, 200cc more and a nissan. The only issue is the hydralic lifters which can be replaced at a price with solid custom ones from one of the big japanese wallet munching tuning houses. Having said that if you are going for boost the ca18 for the iron blocks top of the list.

The 40-50kg lighter brigade is suzuki and forgot to mention daihatsu applause HD or HG detomaso just 5kgs heavier but 125hp and same sohc 16v as suzuki but slighter bigger exhaust valves.

Bike freak fellow of your TAFE teacher here also, I love the Suzuki GSX engines and early Katanas (jap samurai sword) they have quite a history and following in the bike drags world. I used to own one that was very unforgiving with its brutality. I came off it a few times on slippery surfaces and finally hit a car that ran a red light (just managed to clip its rear bullbar) to end it and amost my days.
Im a big bike freak, specially old 20s and 30s bikes but you can avoid todays amazing engines.
A 600cc doesnt sound like much but at under 600kg and a snail they are cheap to setup and you can use a lightweight v8 billet reduction starter for reverse electronically.
One could be setup on the back seats with a 3 inch shaft drive to a peugeot 505 all alloy independent differential instead of the wagon`s live axle type. The leaf springs can be retained to run a shortened trailing arm from a volvo 360glt (took me years to find this setup after heaps of research) and some custom driveshafts to the pug diff. Using a rear halve cage you can fixed mount the engine and diff, use nolathane bushes and setup the starter for reverse on a toothed gog around the 3 inch tailshaft with stater mounted just above on top of the differential. This is my alternative (still budget compared to others) to the chain drive which is a noisy SOB. Reverse you active using a push button that engages only when you are pushing the clutch down and preferably in neutral.
600cc and some 800cc engines are going for a grand these days complete with boxes.

A mad "special K" alternative to a replica lotus 7 or caterham wih the same outlay would be:

3/4 quarter height carbon fibre doors (raised strengthened sill to help with side intrusion), composite leaf springs and mentioned independent setup above with LSD centre & tilt CF front. Non-splintering lexan with various flutes for cooling (bulletproof version stops chatter in accidents thats why Ive been interested in that stuff before as it doesnt scratch either and lighter than glass but few made fun of me when I was told Im not the Pope :) Also rear cage in either cro-mo or highest quality aluminium, a bullet proof lexan halve window to view the engine but seperating the driver to the sealed rear engine compartment this will protect from possible flying pistons, rods or other bits at uncrotrolled boost (you can never be too sure). 2 piece discs all round with alloy hats and dynalite calipers or even late 80s and early 90s pintara calipers (would be enough for a 500kg 1K).
Volvo cast alloy steering box or shortened rack and pinion. Ally radiator mounted on an angle at the front with venting coming out the top of the bonnet section like old Le mans cars or gt40 and slope covering the foamed filled or similar safety type fuel cell with filler in just in front of the windscreen. Ill stop there and face reality like "who would do up a 1k like this when you can have a new 30k golf, wear light pink polo shirts with the neck up and sport a post 99 beckam hairstyle".

I forgot the engine would be a twin small snailed Vmax V4 with twin pipes out the rear cheaper setup than tweaked Busa or zx14.

But Id love the new 1800cc rumored vmax engine even at the front its so compact with the driveshaft setup it will go in as on the bike. with heaps of room for some nice turbos on the sides.

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Complete 20V with T50, as fitted in car minus exhaust manifold = 155kg, thats lighter than ca18de.
Should get 100rwkw from a standard late model 4age and its more likely to be legal if turbocharged. And who cares if its not nissan.

Tyrie the t50 is 15kg lighter than the nissan box at 40kg and much weaker. T50 are getting thin in the teeth now, but If you take away the boxes the ca18de at 118kg is much lighter. When you boost the T50 will make way for a Supra box and then the whole combo is still heavier than the ca18 combo. CA all the way.

4age is 128kg-130kg so its a porker plain a simple but a nice porker of course since its based on cosworth specs. But yet still trails a FIAT/Lancia twin cam which are available now cheaply and can be run without pollution gear as the blocks havent changed for 40 years. Even a 13b rotary is around 115kg dressed (excluding thermal reactor which ends up in the bin and replaced with a set of twin headers).

Steve Newing was making 240+hp from a worked ca18de with more torque than the 4age could ever make and also at halve the cost of an 4age Atlantic 240hp version.

As for not being nissan youre right at least we have choices.

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So did these end up going into production? And how many $$$ for an engine?