ok i have written down some stuff i need to consider with the L-series conversion, can someone elaborate on some topics? cheers..

180b (610) xmember
Engine (L16/18)
Box (cheapest)
Clutch (hydraulic/cable if hydro what do i need to do?)
Tailshaft
Sump/oil pickup...
anything else???

also i have 200b (710) struts and girlock's are they compatible with 180b lower arms or radius/castor rods...

any help will be greatly appreciated
Cheers Tom

Hey Tom,
have just put an L20 into my coupe and am enjoying the challenge! Can't help with 120y but have a look on www.datnet.org and you will find a fairly lengthy tech article on 1200/L series swap which may help.
Allow plenty of time and patience (beer???) and it will be worth it
Good luck!
Cheers

having had first hand experience in the 180B x member change over - all i can say is don't bother.

the motor sits high and forward - bonnet clearance is an issue. and i have seen another 120Y with an L18 using the 120Y x member using a different L sump ( i forget which one) and custom mounts - sat much lower and rearward.

the only bonus with the 180B x member is the neg camber on the front using the 180B control arms.

the 200B struts are too big at the top to mount inside the tower. use stanza struts with 120Y springs or 1600 struts (easy to find - everyone has swapped them over!). volvo 4 spots bolt up with a tiny amount of hole elongating but you have to use vented discs.

hydraulic clutch is an easy fix - the mount is already there in the firewall from the L14 powered sunnys and it all comes together pretty easy on the pedal side too.

if you use the 180B x member you have to lop a bit of metal off the front of where it bolts up to the chassis (captive nuts are already there for the 180B member), and the gearbox bolts tot he 120Y mount using the 180B intermediate block and a bit of drilling - the gearbox xmember sits further back now and guess what? yep - captive nuts in place for that too. it's a bit fiddly and it's a pain boltiong into place then realising you have to whiop out the angle grinder - but it's worth it.

have fun and enjoy the extra torque!!!

having done a L series conversion, modifying x-member, mounts, and brackets I can tell you that a bolt in x-member swap is definitely the way to go! Especially if you think its such a PITA just to have to trim a little bit off the castor rod mounting brackets and gearbox x-member - Forget doing an actual conversion!

I remember the problems you guys had getting the 180B x-member in your 120Y but I can't for the life of me figure out what you did wrong!

don't be put off Tom - here a few photos i took when I was doing my 120Y L series swap. Have a look and make up your own mind. I paid about $40 for all the 180B stuff I used in the conversion anyway. I didn't have any problems...

mods needed to allow fitment of 180B engine x-member
comparison of 120Y & 180B x-members
closer look at the x-members

the sump is only an issue if you want to fit a L20B or late (Stanza) L16, which both use the same forward sump. The 180B's L18 sump obviously fits if you use the 180B x-member. So does the 1600's L16.

Best box to use is one of the short 5spds - Stanza or R30 Skyline. The Skylines is heavier and stronger but has a big gap between 2nd and 3rd ratios. The Stanza box is strong enough and has better ratios, but it also has the quirky reverse pattern:
R 2 4
1 3 5

there's some old threads around here where this was discussed in some detail.

sweet guys, thanks, anyone else out there with some more info keep it comin, the more the better... oh and 200b struts do fit in a 120y... i have some photos...

what about modifying the pedal box to suit the hydro clutch?

thanks again
Tom

the pedals come together pretty easy - i thought Team_dat used a 180B clutch pedal but now i think about it, i don't ever remember him taking the pedal box out so he must have used the 120Y clutch pedal.

yeah you're right harry - i don't know what we did wrong either. but it was a bloody mission to do it - maybe it was because we used a series one 180B (indicators on guards) crossmember instead of the more common series 2 (indicators as part of the grille)...? either way, it was harder than we thought and we were expecting some cutting and fabricating.

the struts may fit a 120Y but i can guarantee the strut tops would have been changed at some point - or you're using 200B SSS struts which have a slightly smaller spring top retainer.

oh and we used the TRX 5 speed, needs a custom tailshaft though.