Great to hear as well dat5!

Hopefully the post police wont mind me saying....Another convert!!!

i am on 16 and own a 1200 ute. at the end of the year i will be taking the car off the road stripping it down and clearing all the rust getting it painted. then when its done painted i will then be putting in CA turbs. Maddat have a conversion kit which takes away alot of the f**kin around when putting the motor in. I have just bought r31 struts n brakes for 200 bucks. when i first looked into brakes i was lookng at over 1500. but this site and just searchin the net helped alot. i realise the cost of doing this conversion, but i have alot of mechanics as mates and when i finish school i am going to start a diesel mechanic apprentiship. So learning about cars any shape of form is good. My dad has seen the sparkle in my eye about my datsun and has given me a 10g loan which i am to pay back when i start working full time. So i say go for it mate as when you are finished you can look back and see a beautiful datsun which YOU created.

hope that help

patts

Ahh another convert!

WOW!

Some REALLY informative posts there!

I am 21 and have just sourced a CA for my sedan which, with the help of my dad and mates will be putting in.


Alot of those things you mention dattodude I have thought of, and some i havent, so thx for for your knowledge!

The main positives I considered before I went ahead and bought this motor were;
-The motor was at a VERY good price(no-one wants CA's these days haha)
-The conversion has been done many a time before (Read: lots of knowledge on the subject)
-Alot of the conversion parts are there (Eg. Maddat)
-A stock CA conversion will be MORE than enough fun for quite awhile!
-Dad has the shed and tools to do the conv.

and probably one of the most important positives is:
-I have another car to drive daily! None of this 'oh crap, ive blown (insert major part of car here) and its my ride to work, arghhh!'

So I can build it up, learning along the way, while having the other car to get around!


Sorry for the long post!


PS. I will also be posting many a CA-related post ! haha


cheers
DATSIN

Cozza - there are good ones out there for sale. It's just a matter of looking at lots of cars and deciding what you want and how much you're prepared to pay.
Matty

hey old_school , I am currently undertaking ca18det conversion on 1200 ute and was wondering type of and positioning of brake and clutch master cylinder and brake booster, any info on this would be great. Removes any trial and error on my behalf, photos would be tops if anyone has any of their set up.

thanks heaps

so whats the verdict on cars in the trading post already with ca's in them? are they just pieces of crap and not worth the money or is it worth it?

The tools end up costing a little more than I expected - but if you buy them as you need them you can spread the cost a bit I've found.

But I learned early on that a $20 socket set doesn't do as good a job as a $200 kincrome socket set.

One set rounds bolts, the other set actualy undoes them.

It doesn't have to cost 10K I'd agree (as I am starting to learn) - but there seems to be lots of welding involved....and when you don't have a welder and you don't know how to weld that can get a little daunting.

I'm just beginning a CA conversion - and it's an exciting time....although I'm very glad I tackled the A14 conversion first - just helps put your mind in the right gear. That nothing will "just bolt in" when it comes to a different engine than the car was supplied with. A successful project builds your confidence for the next one.

I hope I wasn't coming on as righteous...smart arse yes - but righteous...wouldn't that have to imply that I'm right?

I gurantee I'll be submitting my fair share of CA questions in the coming months....and I can also bet the Lagwagon and dattodude will step in and answer some of them.

Thanks in advance guys

Gen X is still the best! We've got Wynona Rider and Ethan Hawk....hmmm....that sounded better in my head....

interesting post fellas... some of you do sound a little riteous though (not ddude). i would definately heed the advice of dattodude, having a wealth of actual experience, but on the other hand its not necessary to have to be in your mid thirties with the ability to build arguably the best 1200 in australia before you can undertake a project.

it is necessary to be confident in both driving and tinkering with cars so a "shitter" will give you experience, both of which will give you the ability to save money and be confident in doing the conversion yourself.

for example, my wagon set me back about seven grand, it was very ugly on the outside but all the running gear was bulletproof. ran 12.5's with a few gremlins...

my mate has just finished a "bare bones" CA18det conversion into a 1200 sedan. it owes him $3500 including the car and rego and is about to be engineered. he did all the work himself and used pretty much everything from the smashed silvia he bought.

so if you know nothing about cars its not so wise to undertake such a massive project and you'll also need tools and the ability to use them, but it's not as hard as they make it sound, just time consuming and expensive if you can't do most of it yourself.

good luck mate!

good move Cozza...the force is strong with you...