Ok, atm I'm eating a bit of humble pie (trb012 you may be dead right!). At this point it looks like the SR20DET into any 1200 is not engineerable in Victoria or NSW (not sure about other states but NSW & VIC are the same rules). The first guy I spoke with who is an engineer but not a V.A.S.S engineer thought it would be all good but he was stuck in the past (pre 2009 when it was do-able).
The ruling is that the size of the engine is the tare weight of the heaviest model in the range multiplied by 2.5 for a turbo and by 3 for a N/A engine.
Therefore the highest tare weight of the 1200 range is about 730kg making the highest capacity turbo engine engineerable in a 1200 1.825 litre and 2.19 litre for a non turbo.
The only possible loophole (which would relate to a ute only) is that the rules are different (as in no restrictions) for 4WD, "light truck" (which I'm hoping refers to being a commercial vehicle not an actual small truck) and buses are the other exclusion.
I'm just waiting on this clarification before the SR goes on E-Bay and I start looking for a CA18DET!!
Not the end of the world but would be pretty disappointing as I had my heart set on the SR as the engine to use for years! Should have bloody done it years ago!!
I will definately post the results and the name of the engineer that will do it (if any)!
Anyone got a spare CA making 300kw at the treads???

I found my new avatar this morning. It is a perfect representation of me in my Datto. Being 6'8" (203cm) I'm sure it is quite a sight to see me a) get into b) drive around in me lil Datty! I defy you to find me a bigger freak driving arouind in a Datsun!! I think that may be part of my sick fascination for the Datsun Ute- I shouldn't be driving one!

Anyway, regarding the build, I'm officially annoying the piss out of the engineer I've been speaking with. I've done so much Googling and reading of Government documents over the past few days that I'm sick of the sight of the web!
I've got the engineer from "definately not" to "it's worth a shot" so I'm making progress!
The avenue we're looking down relates to the definition of a commercial vehicle. The Datsun Ute should be classified as a "NA" class vehicle (light goods carrying up to 3.5 tonnes). The only issue is with Vicroads' definition of a goods carrying vehicle. Generally this relates to a full chassis vehicle, not a sedan with the arse cut off it! I'm paying a bit of money upfront to incent him to work a bit harder for me so we'll see how we go.
As I definately intend to put something different under the bonnet I pulled the original engine and transmission out Sunday arvo so I've got a clean slate to work with once I know what I can put in legally.
Ahh it was good to 'get me hands dirty' again after so many years. I forgot how bad transmission oil smells when you get it on yourself!
A couple of boring picks of a barren engine bay.
A bit of rust I'm a bit worried about at the top of the engine bay. It's quite bad underneath where it joins to the firewall.
My new "Costco" Arcon aluminium racing jack, it's awesome! $160 is a bargain. It's so light and goes to full extension in 5 pumps, love it!

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Glad to see your getting some info mate it will make the job much easier in the end. The only 1200 I know of that had a legal sr conversion done was a white one with huge fr17 simmons on it. Im pretty sure it was done in nsw then re-registered in vic but last I heard it was back in nsw

Please update when ylu get an answer on the SR20DET, as I am in Vic and currently have a CA18DET for my ute. Being able to swap in an SR would give me an engine for a new project.

Will do for sure. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but we'll see how we go. My engineer is hopefully getting the information from Vicroads today or Thursday at the latest so I'll be sure to post the results. Be good if I could find out by tonight, whole day to start the conversion tomorrow if I knew!

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Hi mate
I'm the opposite height wise. I am still the only person I know who needs to move the seat forward in a Datsun 1200 ute to reach the pedals.

I'm glad you're making progress with the engineer.

Any info on the jack? It looks the goods.

haha your a giant, reminds me off my 1st datto ute, these 2 old mechanics i knew were both over 195cms took my ute for a spin it was a crack up to see these tall guys rolling around in this tiny ute.

Matty, are you serious? Move the seat!! The only place I move my seat is into the tray so I can fit behind the wheel!!

Yes, I'm a freak Zig Zag! My 105kg frame will be a serious hindrance to a good quarter mile time! I might make my ute a convertible.

Here's some photos of the jack. It's worth the $60 signup fee at Costco just to get it. The cheapest I saw the jack elsewhere was $220 so the Costco signup is free (sort of!) They've got the best roll cab toolboxes there too. A massive toolbox for about $700 or a gargantuan one for $1200. Aaah to have money.
Anyway, the jack photos-

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Cheers for that mate. I will check it out as I recently bought a new ali jack from Ebay but it's pretty ordinary.

im in the same boat as u shoota well not as tall haha me being 6 foot 2 & well over 100kgs , theres not much room at all i cant drive with shoes on haha . Matty has seen me in my ute he may remember what i looked like in it.