So the great debate begins
Do I want the orange coupe or the white sedan to be my great auto?

Don't listen to 1200rc, he'll try and say neither because he has big plans to drop in a CA18 and turrrrrbo

But I'm inspired.
I'm in the mood to palm off my barina to a good home and becoming and datto driver.

So does anyone have any grand ideas for an auto? All the cars have auto tunnel so thats not a stress. Pretty much looking to go stock looking if I can. If i drive the sedan I'll probably go mint stocker... albeit with an a14 maybe

Or should I stick to the sexy coupe and become an outcast with an auto CA?

Hehe. No horribleness allowed, only sensible suggestions taken on board.

Why auto? because it's different.
And i don't drive manual, for the safety of the general public

you think you can get your hands on my sedan......

Go the coupe.

yeah i second to sidedraught go the sedan

Quote:

Don't you mean "our Sedan"

I guess Dattogal needs to wait until after the wedding to get her hands on your Dattos

I'm wondering if she's even discussed these grand plans with you yet.

A14 auto sedan is a good combination, especially if the A14 has had a little work and good tune. It'll be fun to drive, and definitely safe for the public. A12 Auto is not even worth talking about. The auto is really is only any good after you get above 60kmh.

It's good to see that Dattogal is still interested in Dattos. I'm sure Michael doesn't shut up about them most days.

Surely the sedan would be the more appropriate auto car - with the coupe being a kick ass 5 spd turbo.

Go the sedan.

Go the coupe. I currently drive a 1200 coupe with auto & I love it, but of course with a stock 1200, it really needs some more beans, so I have almost completed a conversion kit, consisting of
A15 engine.
Complete A12 GX induction & exhaust.[exh. manifold yet to arrive.]
Later type 1200 ute cross member.
Correct engine mount brackets.
Alternator bracket to mount it on the left side as per original. [OK, so I'm too lazy to change the wiring.] Still working on this part.

I recomend the A15 as auto's like torque & the A15 has more of it than the others. The twin carb GX induction is both efficient & smooth while still producing plenty of vacuum which these Jatco transmissions need in order to work properly.

I will also be looking to see if I can use the Jatco 4N71B four speed box. The one I checked out was in a Pintara, & the selector was set up as a regular three speed with a press button selectable overdrive. It has a button on the gear knob for this overdrive selection, so I could possibly keep my original selector mechanism & console, but I would need to incorporate a switch somehow. Just a minor problem.

So there you go,
Plan 'A', Coupe, with an A15 & auto.
Plan 'B', Sedan with the same deal. You'll love it either way.

Dodgeman's got it right. The A15 is the way to go. The A12 with auto is functional but not performance minded at all.

I had an auto equiped sedan many years ago with the same setup that Dodgman is building now. Was an A15 with a mild cam and had a GX head with the SU carbs and GX exhaust manifold. This car was lots of fun but still slow off the line. Didn't get going untill you got over 20 Mph, then it went great. You could power break the car and get the right rear wheel to spin. Kind of silly but fun.

In that time frame the 16V Volkswagon GTI's had just come out. From 30 Mph up to maybe 80 Mph or so the Dato could keep up with the 16V GTI's and pull away from the 8V GTI's. Opened quite a few eyes...

I had looked into the 4N71B trany also. Looked like it would work with the exception of having to have a short tailshaft made. In the larger cars the 3 speed autos came with the long tailshaft housing. When the 4 speed came out the over drive unit was the same length as the difference between the short and long tailshaft housings. The 4 speeds came with the short tailshaft housing so they were the same length as the 3 speeds. In the 1200's the auto already has the short tailshaft houlsing so the 4 speed is longer...

Have fun!

Gary

i think that she made a typo, i have an "a15" for her car, and alrady have a standard 1200 auto, the a15 has a 32/36 and i have GX exhaust or extractors for it, probably go with the extractors. or for the truely original look i could fit up the gx carbs and gx manifold, i even have a gx head... but probably not worth changing from an a15 one

i was wondering about the cam, i have a sporty cam spare, as the a15 has the original cam, but with the auto im trying to decide which would be better, the stock cam will deliver some low torque, where the other will give some reviness, i guess low down torque would be better, and maybe rely on the non-stock carbs, exhaust and a thermo fan to free up the higher revs

hmmm, getting inspired to start putting this one together, considerably easier than some other projects i have on the go...

a15, 32/36 and auto.... let her drive it in the sedan, after all that is the family car of choice :)
leave stock cam in for now as you dont have to touch anything...