What's up everyone, I just got back from Matsuoka again, I go pretty much every Saturday. This week I picked up a brand new fiberglass GX-5/Excellent hood, and a set of Nismo 1.5:1 ratio rocker arms. The hood was 35,000 yen and rocker arms were around 3000 yen each (x8). The hood is very nicely done, it's got the cutout for windshield washer, it weighs less than the stock hood, and actually seems stronger too ...a lot thicker material than a single layer of thin metal. It will probably be a little while before I put it on my car, I kinda want to get the whole body redone at once, and put the hood and new bumpers on then. I haven't thoroughly tested the new rockers, but it does seem to rev a little higher now, it got up to 7400 rpm easily which it had problems getting past 7200 before.

Right now Matsuoka is ordering me a surge tank for the fuel injection setup I'm going to attempt. Don't know if I will go all the way with the whole turbo/EFI A15 deal unless I come across cheap parts soon. The reason being, I'm gonna start gearing up for a SR20DET conversion and would rather throw my money at that. Part of me still burns to see what the turbo A15 would be like, so I may just postpone that until I return to the US. Then maybe I'll just buy another 1200 to put that engine into when I get back. Matsuoka recommended a single Skyline turbo (R32) for the A15, so I'll probably get one when I have some extra money/time.

I also just today introduced the guys (and girl) at Matsuoka to the Datsun 1200 Club website, they'd never seen it before and enjoyed seeing some of the pictures I showed them. They bookmarked it, so hopefully they will sign on and join the club! The language barrier will probably be a little tough though, I hope they get involved with us as much as they can, so more people will have better access to their parts and knowledge. Well enough chatting from me for now, just wanted to let the club know what's been going on and that I'm trying to hook the club up as much as I can! See ya later!

-Andy

Sounds like you are making the most of your time in Japan!

That hood sounds nice, about $300 USD, but as you say stronger yet lighter. The GX5 hood has a slight wide raised section. The Excellent hood is pointed in the front and would stick out past the grille of a Datsun 1200 ... ?



GX Bonnet #862

Excellent discussion

Yeah that's exactly like the one I picked up except I can't tell in the picture or not, but mine's got studs that stick out for the hood latch and hood supports. The Excellent hood just looks similar, I would imagine it'd probably be a little bigger, but they look a lot alike. It has a little more room underneath the bulge, not a ton though. I don't think I'm gonna put it on for a while though as much as I want to. My focus now is passing inspection and then saving for SR20 and body restoration. Hopefully I'll get the car registered within the next two weeks, wish me luck!

-Andy

Buy another datsun 1200 and put the A15 turbo into that no point letting the parts just sit there

just a question does the gx bonnet not fit flush onto a 1200 sedan if not what is involved in putting it on???


Cheers
Carl

I'm pretty sure the B110 GX bonnet is a bolt on-and-go. In other words it is the same dimensions as the standard B110 hood, just only different styling.

I'll be anxious to see if they're are any insurmountable difficulties in an SR20DET conversion in a LHD 1200. Definitely not a conversion for the faint of heart!

Faint of heart is going to be the people who dare to get in the car with me and that engine!!!

I am planning on there being a problem of clearance between the turbo/exhaust and the steering box. For that reason I am
going with a top mount turbo setup right off the bat. I have to expect the worst so that I won't get disappointed and give up while doing the conversion, so yeah it's gonna be a tough job.

You gotta have a ballsy engine to get anywhere here in Japan what with S15's, GT-R's, Gran Turismo's, EVO's 1-8, WRX's, and tons of others (none stock) running around here EVERYWHERE. I thought my A15 did great, running in the 15's like it is, but a stock Silvia will whip me no problem, and well, I just can't have that. I have to save up a good chunk of money, but that shouldn't be a problem over the next 2 years. Also, there are some SERIOUS A series engines out here that I would have no chance with....probably even WITH the turbocharger, they'll even be hard to beat with the SR20DET! You should've seen the A engine in their racing Ute @ Matsuoka..... DAMN! So we'll see how everything goes! I just bought an intercooler for the SR20:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBa ... PageName=ADME:B:EOAB:US:6

Think it will keep things cool enough with a big turbo and lots of boost??? I have to do a little trimming, but not a lot, it will still fit behind the grill and in front of the radiator for the ultimate sleeper look (my fav!)!!

Yeah, being in the epicenter of JDM tuning and all, you've got real inspiration to do a crazy HP 1200.

Oh, I think we've already been here, but where are you puttin' the IC?

I'm going to trim the radiator support away and it will go in front of the radiator. The core of this intercooler is only 1.5" thick and it's 17" high so it will just fit inside the area in front of the radiator and yet keep the radiator from being pushed back towards the engine any. The 1200 has room for only 17.25" high, unless you cut the top support away, which I don't want to do. The width is perfect as well, at the bottom it fits within the frame rails, but flares out for the outlet/inlet so the radiator can fit in between the inlet/outlet pipes. I should be able to find a nice thin alloy radiator from a newer car as well. The end tanks are plastic, so it's nice and lightweight too! I wonder if anyone else has tried one of these huge Volvo intercoolers on a 1200 before???? Seems like a perfect choice! Although I don't know how much it can flow, it still has a bigger surface area than almost any aftermarket one I've seen on Ebay. I'll let everyone know how it fits after it gets here.

-Andy