Hey everyone so im new to Datsuns and just bought my first datsun 1200 ute as a project car and im looking into either putting a L20 or CA18de into it, more keen to put CA18 in it but im wondering how much of a pain it will be to get it in there legally? not to worried about how to get the motor in there and running etc that i should be able to sort out, But Im in S.A so was wondering who here has done it and got it through legally? and what was involved to achieve this? i know brakes will need upgrading although its already converted to disc brake front end out of 200B to my knowledge ill be putting larger brakes again.
If anyone who knows could give me an idea of what will be needed or who to ask that would be much appreciated!

Cheers guys

Before you start you will need at least $10,000 maybey more, maybey less depends on how fast you want it to go, crossmembers are sold in SA a place called maddat look them up on the net, I've done this swap in NSW, piss easy work if you are mechanic minded n think ahead of the build, it becomes a puzzle of parts that need putting together, mines a CA18DET, well worth the effort

My 2pence

Getting the motor in there and fitting and running isnt whats worrying me, just whats needed to have it in there legally/engineered! yeah i sussed maddat before i even bought the ute for any parts ill need and that will make the conversion easier but i just wanna know what needs to be upgraded to make running a 1800cc motor legal in it, what parts like brakes, diff etc did u need to change for them to pass it?

Your gonna need disc brakes all round, it dose not matter which ones you use, but they have to pas several braking tests so you should aim for big/larger brakes, the other thing that was an issue was tyre track, they did not want my front tyres so far apart, i had to figure out how to bring the tyres in by 6 inches 3 each side, and ride height don't lower it, don't go full on exhaust yet make it quite till its passed, no rust anywhere espesh the chassis rails and engine bay don't go bigger than 14 inch rims either

Oh and don't touch the standard rear suspension leaf springs are all that's needed to pass, if your thinking of 4 link independent or rear coils, good luck getting it through, no engineer will sign off on it, no tubbing rear chassis

cheers mate thats more what i was looking for! yeah i just wanna do basic stuff and yeah standard suspension, exhaust and so on to get it through but why was there an issue with front track? whyd you need to change it? and howd u go about fitting disc brakes to the rear? adaptors?

Reason for my probs with track was I had much larger front brakes, they kinda stick out not stick in under the guards n they want the track as close as possible to the stock specifications, make sure you use the standard ecu, for emissions pass

To keep the front track close to stock as possible, use either 280ZX 258mm disc brakes on the stock 1200 struts, or swap over the entire 280ZX strut/brake.

But check it with your engineer first. That is what counts.

258mm discs: 280ZX Brake Upgrade
252mm discs: 280ZX Strut Swap

What a load of crap! each state is different and consult an engineer on what you need to do in sa.
There is a,national code to file as well as adrs.
You need to choose either L series or ca18de first. This will govern what emissions you need to follow. Ca may need emission testing.
l18 will be easier depending on what year your Datsun is. Post may or Aug 74 was when. Things tightened up. Before that pcv only if engine was same age as car.

Track witdh increase is max 50mm in total. So stanza etc are border line depending on lca selection etc.
Easiest and effective seems to be s13 CA 250mm brake upgrade on 120y struts imho and way better stopping power than stanza stock stuff.

As for 4wheel disks brakes that's crap too here in vic. Low budget new cars still come out with drums. Most prefer rear drums than already disks unless heaps of power. Either engine you state rear drums will suffice unless engineer states otherwise.

You will most likely need collapsible steering column though.

Seriously consult an engineer as most forum info may be outdated or even from only their experience a long time ago. Including mine. But I went through the week before the current rules and even then my car still meets current rules.

I worked in insurance years ago with engineered cars do was aware of a lot of inconsistencies between the states. Nsw was always tight and qld was slack. The new rules July 2011 were to address these inconsistencies nationally

yeah i think ill try and get onto an engineer or someone like that to get a more precise idea of what theyd like done, but cheers for the advice got a few good options to have a think about now which is good