hey ive had a little bit of a look and cant find very much on this but I just need to know how much work/time/money goes into putting a 1600 L series engine into a datsun 1200 ute eg. cutting of the firewall (if any), engine mounts, cross members, gears box's etc. any advice would be awesome!

will need to mod x member- possibly notch it if you want the L to sit nice and low. Find a blue bird sump with the bowl at the front of the sump, and get the matching pick up.

also the auto tailshaft may not be a bolt in for you. and will need to be cut down to fit (approx 30mm)

also you having a ute- will need a larger trans tunnel as all the utes i have ever seen are manual and have manual tunnels. thats the big mod- so get a 120y tunnel.

need to mock up transmission xmember and mounts as well as a hydraulic clutch set up.

Radiator will need replacing with a larger one to fit, as well as a fan. stock one wont fit really, so you will have to trim the front rad support to fit a 10 or 12 inch thermo- i have a 10inch, 12 would be better in hot weather.

im using a 63a dog log sss 5 speed in mine and works well with the l16- keeps it on the boil through all gears easily.

might need a rear axle upgrade- h145 wont last long, im using h150 and reckon its marginal, h165 or bw conversion would be best.

there are lots of little things pigdog did like rotate the brake spliter 90 deg, etc to make it more practicle and easier.

where are you located?