Hmm convert the whole car to be on the other side just to fit the turbo.....or just buy a nicer manifold...well that's a tough decision! I could actually convert it over to RHD, but yeah there's no desire to do such a silly thing. Yeah there are plenty of top mount manifolds out there, so I'll probably end up doing that. I'd much rather go with something mounted lower and out of sight, but whatever.

Yeah, just to clear the air, it is LHD. I bought it in California 3 years ago and shipped it over to Japan with me in hopes to restore it while I'm here.

The one hard thing I can think of is going to be the diff. I need at least an H190 to hold up behind this engine....does anyone have a list of all the Datsun cars that have 4 lug H190s stock that can bolt into the 1200. Only one I can think of off hand is the 510 wagon....but those are hard to find out here. Any help is as always greatly appreciated, thanks!

-Andy

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Not if he bought it here and shipped it over.

He's a US citizen, in the military, stationed in Japan.

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If hes in Japan his 1200 should already be RHD

I got to see Dave's SR20DET Coupe up close before he sold it. The stock exhaust manifold will put the turbo exactly where your steering gearbox is. You could either convert to RHD while you are there, or have a custom manifold made. Maybe some of the Japanese tuners offer a manifold that relocates the turbo "up"? I'll PM you his email address (I don't think he always checks the one listed on his site).

Also, he claimed the trans tunnel has to be widened considerably to fit the SR tranny. Was yours an automatic car?

Well, as it turns out, I am actually going to buy the whole car. It's a '93 180SX. The left rear and right rear has been damaged, but the rest of the car is primo, and super clean. There are a few reasons why I'm doing this; the first is we can only have one car registered at a time, so this will be my daily driver for a few months as I save up to do the conversion right. Since I plan on basically only working on my Datsun and restoring it while it's in Japan for the next 2 years, there's no sense in paying all kinds of money and jumping through all kinds of hoops to get it registered. Anyway I'm getting it for $1200 and I figure it'll more than pay for itself when I part out the car. I'm gonna pick it up next week sometime. I've never driven a SR20DET powered car before today, and all I can say is the 1200 is gonna haul ass with that engine!

I think I might actually go with a Haltech E6X for the ecu and just pitch the stock one as it costs just as much to tweak/tune the stock ECU as for the Haltech.

I'll try to contact the datsun.com guy and see what he says. I remember trying that before with no response, I'll give it another go. Expect the conversion to start commencing around New Years. I've got to source a lightweight flywheel, 5 or 6 speed, clutch, manifold, bigger turbo, etc etc in the mean time. Talk to everyone later!

-Andy

~$500 sounds like too much

you may need to bypass the neutral safety switch if you are using the auto harness

the oem ecu will go into default mode unless the s13 speedo is hooked up, but maybe you can find a shop to tweak the ecu

swaybar should work since both oil pans are front sump. the problem is with 510s because they have rear sumps

I don't think there's any room on the manifold side, but you should talk to datsuns.com guy about clearance issues on a lhd 1200

I found a guy parting out a nice running S13 here on base and I'm meeting him either today or tomorrow to discuss price. He's a nice guy and buying the stuff from him will also help him out in his situation as well. I'll probably be able to get everything for ~$500. The only problem is that it is an automatic. This shouldn't really be a problem as 5 speeds are easy to find and I planned on putting a alloy flywheel and new clutch in anyway. The car has 60,000 km on it and got hit bad in the rear. Since it is auto and bone stock, I think this engine has not been thrashed and will be a great candidate. It's a red top as well, so a better motor to expand upon later (no VVT).

I need to somehow get in contact with someone that has done this swap IN A 1200 before!! I need some good technical answers, not here say or rumors. I have seen several pictures, but no email addresses or websites to the people who have done the job. Does the oil pan or sway bar need modification? Do I have to do any mods to the engine itself?

I am planning already that I will have to get a different custom exhaust manifold/dump pipe made up, but I'm wondering how much room there is with the stock manifold/turbo to the firewall and side of the engine bay in the 1200.

If anyone knows an email address of someone that has done the swap, or knows a lot about the swap, please let me know! Afracer78@aol.com