Hi, has anyone done a 2lt Escort and auto conversion into Datsun 1200 ute before? thinking of looking at it. I am building my son an offroad racer from 1200 ute and he can have up to 2lt capacity and thought an Escort engine might liven it up a bit or an L20 series engine

There's heaps of info on this site for L series conversions and many helping hands, not sure if ppl have chosen the 2ltr ford motor, also another choice is a 4age which has been done, ca18de or sr20de or pending money time ect sr20ve the list goes on!
Welcome to the site but

thanks, yeh I have just started reading about the L series engine and some are saying that they are a good engine but not much has been said as to how they fit. CA18 and the SR20 have both crossed my mind but so far I haven't seen any N/A versions complete at a reasonable price, would be happy to pay around $1500 for a complete engine/auto setup running but most are incomplete.

If you want to know how an L-series engine fits into a 1200, see out tech article L-series Engine Swap.

Buy a Japan import engine, it will be cheaper than a domestic used engine. They sell CA18DE here for $1350 with 5-speed, ECU and complete wiring harness, guaranteed not to smoke or knock - and it is straight from Japan.

Im Datsun Bias and dont like Mitsubishi in any way but except for their 4g63 engine which is cheap found everywhere, bullet proof and stock head flows more than almost any Nissan motor. Parts are plenty full and currently the most powerful 4 cyl production motor on earth with a Greek build reaching over 2000hp using of course titanium inside out even crankshaft! and cams.
There are adaptor kits if you dont want to use a mitsu rwd boxes it has been adapted to the T5 and other Tremec, Toyota W58 amongst others

Stock 4g63 with bolt ons is hard to beat.

Another similar engine is the Mazda FE3 same type of engine cheap as chips and hard to break. RWD boxes plenty.

The nearest engine to the above from Nissan is the Ka24de but its a longstroke 2.4L as in twin cam 16v heads that are cam over buckets not noisey unreliable SR20 rockers.

you could build an L series with Ka24de head though also if you want Nissan.

The latest Zooom(whoosh Kapooow) magazine has an Escort with a Honda F20C from an S2000 fitted, saying the engine had more HP stock than a worked 2l Pinto, plus it was cheaper & lighter. Worth a thought,eh.

everything is lighter than a pinto cast iron head is the main reason, power wise not worth playing with.