according to roadside assist, i have a droped valve in my 1200, thank god i thought i had seized it. See its been playing funny buggers recently.
Does any one know what i should do. Will it be cheaper (i hope so:)) to bolt in an a15 or a14 from the datsun wreckers or try to salvage the plagued high strung 1200 that drives
like a dog and farts like one too. $$$ aus would be a nice idea to and somewhere in melbourne if any one knows of to supply.

I don't know what a good engine goes for over there but it has to be cheaper than a rebuild. If you can find a running A-14 or A-15 that doesn't smoke, drop that sucker in and feel the
love. The bigger engine will not rev quite as freely as the A-12 but the bump in torque is worth the effort. Don't forget that the engine mounts don't line up and some fabrication work
will be needed. Have fun!

wasnt a droped valve after all, the no 2 piston decided it was lonelt and feeling amourous and then kissed the head, shattering and everyone knows the rest. Got A nice photo out of
it, A new A12 that needs new rings, bearings and love and A new boat anchor or A nother engine to hold down lump a charcols floor for when the wind gets really bad.
Fanta wont save us now!

What let go, the piston or the rod? Just curious.

Mareo

the piston. the piston mount to the rod is still intact and the rod is not that bent. its like it shatered. there was no detonation present but after reading another datsun site, i
think it had a blown head gasket. bubles in the oil. no oil in the radiator though?
do you think the a14 head will be okay to use on a new block? theres no damage a die gringer wont fix.

Should'a boat anchored mine after all. I got the bill back on my engine and it was almost twice what I was expecting (and first quoted). Guy repairing the head went ahead and did
the work without my approval, and claims he replaced every guide and valve.

Guy who ground the cam stuffed up in my view too. The cam would not dial in without adjustable cam gears - i think that's where he's stuffed up the rebuilding and rebuilt in a
different position.

So much for quick rebuild. It's taken about a month.

Can wait til she's run in though.....

Use your old A12 cam and distributor and shove em in the A14/A15 engine, rather than get a reground cam.

Some A14 engines have a more sporty cam in the depending on pollution controls and previous use (ie difference between a Sunny and a Urvan for instance).

These are the one to go for - but you never know the history of import motors unfortunately.

If you do decide to hot it up, take my word for it and use the A12 cam and dizzy, it will cost you a lot less and probably work better than half of the performance cams, without
the need to try and restrobe/realign distributor afterwards.

Andrewdonohgue,
You CAN NOT use an A12 cam and distributor in the A!4 or A15 engines. The fuel pump and distributor are reversed from the A12 to the A14/A15 motors. The distributor is in the front of an
A12 motor but the fuel pump is in that same place in the A14/A15 motors. To use the A12 cam in the later motors, you would have to use an electric fuel pump and a crankfire ignition. An
appropriate cam would cost much less than a crankfire ignition. There are some other flaws in your facts and logic about the A-series motors but I would have to re-read all of the posts to
come up with them. You are pretty knowlegable about the motors but try to be more factual. Wrong information can cause someone else a lot of problems.

Mareo

i see where your coming from mareo as i think the same way. however, the later models utes we have over here, around late 79 to 85, came out with the B210 motor which in short,
looks like an A14/15. we had both configurations of A12. front dizzy and middle dizzy.
i totally agree with what your saying but we did come with both styles of A-series.

Justin

There was only one A12 motor in the states. I didn't realize until now that there was an A12 that had the mid mounted distributor, I stand corrected. There was the A12A motor
that shared the cams with the A14/A15 but they were quite rare. I guess that the world has a lot of Datsuns that we never got.

Mareo