hi guys im new to the whole datsun world, my last car was a mitsubishi evo 7 which i still have. Im 19 and new to the whole idea about motor swapping. recently i was given a 1200gx as a project car and im very interested in installing a ca18det motor into it. Could anyone help me on how to remove the old gx motor and how to install the ca18det im really interested to learn how to do this ,i do have a lot of knowledge about cars so i can understand certain aspects, anyone's help will be much appreciated. even if you could refer me to a guide on how to do this. thanks

welcome to the club ! ,firstly when you undertake such a conversion the stock brakes, diff ,fuel lines ,suspension setup will all have to be changed/modded to suit

its alot of work! but if your willing to pay the 10g (or there abouts) to do it then its worth it

first the old motor will need to be pulled out ,easy to take out with the box attached ,just remove tailshaft ,gbox mount and then all the wiring ,and plumbing and stuff off the motor ,unbolt the engine mounts and bang itll lift out ,to make working on a ca powered 1200 easyer ide sudjest chopping the rad support ,then motor and box can go in alot easyer and less chance of damaging stuff

next either make your own mounts on the stock crossmember or just buy a maddat kit ,itll make the motor bolt in and isnt too expensive ,then its a matter of upgrading the front discs to a bigger model datsun(stanza/180b/200b) and fitting the struts to suit ,then the rear will need doing ,if you run a skyline diff itll need to be cut down which can be pricey but then youll have r31 rear brakes ,next is tailshaft ,get a shop to do it ,cost around 500 balanced and all

then theres fuel pumps ,radiator ,exhaust ,intercooler piping ,intercooler ,hydro clutch setup ,and the wiring on the motor aswell as all the fiddly bits that are needed to get it all to work ,and be reliable

cheers

where are you located GX there must be abundance of them where you are, here in australia there a sort after model and keeping it original worth more than convo,
yeah if you gotta few coins to waste ca is a good convo...BUT I'D HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS

same here, a GX 1200 is rare as hen's teeth and worth a lot in stock condition. Worth less with a CA18DET in it.