Allrighty guys, just went through standard tuneup procedures on my
newly aquired '76 B210, plugs, wires, cap/rotor, air filter, fuel
filter, oil change and she's running beautifully for something as
old as she is.
I've started looking at motor swapping options and the CA18det is
really standing out for me as far as availability and prive vs.
performance and potential. Thought about the KA24de but would like
to start with a stock motor that has boost already and deal with
turbo/fuel upgrades from there instead of paying to go from N/A to
boosted.
I would also be planning on replacing several systems at the same
time or maybe prior to the power change to cope with the more than
double horsepower gain I would be seeing with the stock ca18det.
There in lies my next questions.
First question involves susepension and brakes, is there an option
out there that will be easier if I am doing the motor at the same
time? Or is bringing in performance susp/brakes going to be it's own
lil monster of a conversion?
Second question lies in the rear end of the vehicle again
involving suspension/brakes but more so the differential and again
the power gain invovled. I have a feeling though I am not sure that
the stock diff. will not be up to the power of the ca18det and will
need to be replaced, again I am wondering if doing this as a one
step conversion may simplify things a bit by allowing me to bring
more parts from my donor across at once and not needing to fabricate
nearly as much as if doing one thing at a time.
I am by no means a skilled mechanic, but I am fairly intelligent
and nearly fearless when it comes to removing anything I can lift
with or without the help of the hoist. I am just looking for
pointers in the right direction.
For however much of this post has been poster before, please don't
bother with responding to the list with things that can be searched
for (I've looked but haven't found much in the recent posts and
would like a fresh perspective) go ahead and respond to me directly
@ gemini_jackal@... . Thank you all very much for your time
and patience with a psedo 210 newbie.


Justin Neuroth
proud owner of a "new" '76 B210
Arlington, WA

Heres a guys site that deals with a little bit of everything and I think its not bad. Do you have the car that the ca18 came out of? or isn't it aqquired yet? If so I would say use as much stuff out of it as you can.

Didn't get that site... second, I don't have a motor yet, but was looking at getting a full front clip from a 180sx, friend of mine is gonna help me out there, I just don
t know if I can swap everything straight across as far as suspension and brakes, etc... I would really like some info on susp/brake conversions from guys out there that have done it already.

If you're going to do an engine swap, my recommendation is not to use the CA18 but rather step up to the SR20. Parts are WAY more available for those in the US than the CA, and the CA's are getting a little old, you'd be hard pressed to find a low mileage engine/tranny that has zero problems and will bolt straight in and run fine for very long. I don't have anything against the CA18, but since you are in the US you don't have to worry about regulations on engine size like they do in Australia and other countries, so why not?! SR20's are much more plentiful in good condition with low miles, and they are much more dependable and hands off than the CA18....I've seen that one first hand! My friends in Japan that had CA18 180SX's were ALWAYS blowing engines or breaking stuff while the SR'd ones would only be in the shop for 'upgrades' and then be on their way. It's such a huge project anyways, go with the bigger/better/newer engine first off and that way you won't feel like you could've done better when it's finished. B210's have way more room than 1200's do too so it'll probably be a lot easier of a conversion than mine was.

Unless you plan on doing a lot of fabrication, you won't use a ton of stuff from a 180SX. The engine, tranny, wiring harness, driveshaft, radiator, exhaust, engine mounts, accelerator cable, and maybe a few other bits you will need, but as far as brakes/suspension it's a totally different design so it'd be way too much work to do that unless that's what you want. The 74-78 B210's kinda had their own thing going on, unlike the 79+ 210's, but I imagine you might be able to adapt some 79-83 280ZX struts/brakes to the front. For the rear I would recommend doing that at the same time as the engine, if not BEFORE the engine swap. You'll need to figure out which differential to use and have it bolted in already to take proper measurements and use the right flanges for the custom driveshaft. My original idea was to use a shortened Toyota truck rearend because LSD's are easy to get and not too expensive, and disk brake kits could be added, however, the cost to do something like that would probably end up costing the same or more than a narrowed Ford 8.8 or similar (domestic) rearend. A bit large for a Datsun, but with the kind of power you want to put down, you WILL need slicks if you want traction and will need a bulletproof drivetrain. That also brings up another issue, you may also want to look at tossing the leaf springs and going with some kind of custom 4 link/coil over setup....you can make it work with the original suspension design but it needs a lot of improvement if you ever want to hook up. It doesn't have to be super elaborate, even if I had the rear suspension from a 79+ 210 (B310) I think it'd be better off traction-wise. Traction WILL be an issue for you if you go with anything around or above the 200 hp range. It's cool at first, but when you are approaching 80-90 mph, shift to 4th gear and start getting squirrely you'll wish you'd done something better with the rear suspension
When I was driving my SR20DET 1200 yesterday I was cruising in 4th gear at 50mph (~2200rpm) and gave abouth 1/2 to 3/4 throttle and the tires (LSD) were breakin loose, the car started sideways, and I had to let off. It's really cold outside and I could use bigger, stickier tires, but still, this isn't fun when you want to race someone or if you actually need to get moving for whatever reason. So keep these things in mind, you will begin to hate not having traction! (I used to love it before the SR20!)
Really you need to build the whole car together with this kind of engine swap, it just wouldn't be safe or reliable otherwise. I did it all at once but not as extreme as I wanted and needed to because I was on a limited time schedule, so I will be going back into it probably next year and redoing some things. It's a big project and you could have yourself one hell of a sleeper (1200's are more suspect so do EITHER swap for all I really care, just have fun, learn a bunch, and enjoy it when it's done....I sure am!
Oh yeah, Drivelines NW in Seattle made my custom aluminum driveshaft for me, they did great work and they're not too far from you.

Later!

-Andy