Put it in, grind the Datsun off the cover and drive the F&^%$@K out of it !!!!!! Wave at the haters when you p*** the gas stations !!!
I'd use a Ford 2.3 or Iron Duke before the Nissan, but if it's free and it's got the ****** I say do it. Get a more vintage looking valve cover and roll on.
You can shape a turd into whatever you think it should look like but others will know that you've been playing with a piece of ****. Good luck.
I've had a lot of experience with those Datsun engines, as I had a very built up 1200 for years. There are some speed equipment parts available for them, although more aimed at the road race market. Mine had a single sidedraft Weber carb set-up, a header, and a .444 lift camshaft. Oh, and to upgrade the valve train, Mini Cooper (the old one) inner valve springs are a perfect addition (the valve train already has a machined shoulder for where they fit) and boy did that engine ever rev. Mine saw daily duty, with 7000 to 8000 rpm abuse. It certainly isn't as easy to find the parts for them now but they are out there. Good luck with the swap, and keep those of us that are interested, updated.
I think if you were able to clean up all those hoses & such, put a cool intake & header on it, you'd really have something unique
Any pics of the truck? It might work well in a r*t r*d. I personally wouldn't do it and I love Jap motors.
Zman you make a point....sort of... I understand the gas-hitting-the-wallet problem and I'm the first one agree ya gotta do what ya gotta do to keep rodding. My comment was directed more so, IMO, to try to come up with a more traditional American made engine than a foreign one. That being said, if ya gotta run a Datsun 'cuz that is all ya have. Well run it. Fact is your gonna catch some **** for it. I'll take my sarcastic quip back.
IMHO, grinding the Nissan off the valve cover would be lame. Replacing it with a Ford emblem would be extremely lame. Making a Nissan into a retro-looking Nissan is doing the best you can with the parts you've got; trying to make people think it's an OHV-converted Ford is the rodding equivalent of a potato down your Speedo. -Dave
How about a 4 Cylinder Ford motor 2 Litre ****** (British / Aussie) they look the same as the original motors in Anglias and Prefects and did not change much from the 50's through to the late 70's and you can make them get up and go. Putting a Nissan in it is like telling a Harley owner to ride a Japanese bike. But then I do like the idea your thinking outside of the usual square so what ever you decide I am sure it will look good.
anteek, I say "Go for it !". Use what you have and build your rod. I am doing a '29 "A" rpu bodied Modified. Will be powered by a 2.3 Ford Mustang motor with five speed ******. Will be dolled up with two one bbl carbs on fabricated intake. Exhaust will be old syle header that comes out of the motor about 1 1/2 inch and bach by the rear wheel will be 4 to 5 iches. Dave
Shave off the whole square the Nissan logo is on and polish up the valve cover. Take off any extra b.s from the engine, clean, paint and run it. See what the cruise in people come up with when they try to out guess their buddies. I had a Datsun 620 truck in college, those covers polish up nicely.
The engine he has doesn't have the aluminum cover like the 620 overhead cam engine, it's a stamped steel rocker cover, on a push rod engine that was a copy of an Austin engine.
Hot rodding grew out of the need for those who didn't have the money to buy expensive cars that performed well or just performed at all. My father who was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915 saw much of the berth of hot rodding. As a boy he hung out at a gas station garage and a small airport helping the mechanics as a gofor and parts cleaner. He also helped the older boys who scoured the dump where old cars were just thrown away. At that time junk yards were just beginning to be a place where higher priced cars were scavaged for usable parts. Teeagers and WWI veterans wanted cars but didn't have much money so they often found abandoned cars or $5.00 cars that would run but that was about all that could be said about them. There were 2 ways to attain speed one was to increase hp. and the other was to decrease weight. Decreasing weight was easy. Remove everything that was not needed to make the car go. Increasing the hp was a little more difficult. The very early Model T's had higher compression heads and those became desirable. Milling heads cost money but a head could be milled on a smooth concrete driveway by just grinding it down. Some of his friends then took 6 and 8 cylinder engines, transmissions and rear ends out of larger cars and put them in smaller ch***is to make them lighter and faster. Most of this was done on the cheep with what was available for free. There were of course those who raced on the dirt and board tracks of the day and had some money to buy the various speed parts that are so prized today. Now we have those who want everything to be traditional or in keeping with some rules that are real or immagined. The origins of hot rodding are steeped in a tradition of non conformity. The idea that one can make something to their liking out of what the have or can get for free is much of what started hot rodding. Use the Datsun engine in your car and have fun driving it. At some time in the future you might luck out and get an engine that you like more than the Datsun and then you can put it in your car. Some of us are not interested in selling our cars therefore we only care about the value that the car is to us. I would much more value a Model A Ford that I can drive anywhere without having to worry that I won't get back without a brake down. I have several Model A's and I will keep one that has been restored with the Model A or maybe a Model B block but will otherwise modify the rest of the car to make it more reliable. Hydrolic brakes, Overdrive, Pressure Oil, Open Drive, Suspension and steering. Funny that many in Model A clubs have one or two of these Modifications but if you make all of them then you are changing the character of the car. I guess they are right but I am getting to old and independant to want to always go in caravan with a club to protect my self from being stranded alone on the road. I don't mind being under a car in my driveway but the freeway is a different thing. This is how I see the issue of forign engines in hot rods. You see this issue thru you own eyes and filtered thru your own experiences and ideas. I am putting 3.7 Mercruiser 4 cylinder boat engines in my hot rods, so a Datsun or a Boat engine?. Both are thinking outside of outside of the box, if the box is 350/350, ford in a ford or any other box that you think is the only way to be TRADITIONAL. **** .
Why not? It gets really tiresome with all the ******** that people peddle about what was traditional. Running what ya got is where it all stated and still holds true today. I refuse to have some piss ant tell me what is and what isn`t right. Good on ya!
The early ones don't have NISSAN on the valve cover - they weren't NISSAN yet, still Datsun. i think they can look pretty good
License made A series MG Austin engine but better, see if the intakes and dual SU's will fit, webers and solex side drafts out there also. Go for it. <TABLE cl***=main border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Standard A12 Engine: </TD></TR><TR><TD width=20></TD><TD width=200>Type: </TD><TD>4 cylinder in-line OHV </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Bore: </TD><TD>73 mm (2.874 in) </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Stroke: </TD><TD>70 mm (2.756 in) </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Capacity: </TD><TD>1171 cm^3 (71.5 in^3) </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Compression ratio: </TD><TD>9.0:1 </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Maximum hp: </TD><TD>68hp SAE @ 6000 rpm </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Maximum torque: </TD><TD>9.70 kg/m @ 3600 rpm </TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>A12 GX Engine: </TD></TR><TR><TD width=20></TD><TD width=200>Type: </TD><TD>4 cylinder in-line OHV </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Bore: </TD><TD>73 mm (2.874 in) </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Stroke: </TD><TD>70 mm (2.756 in) </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Capacity: </TD><TD>1171 cm^3 (71.5 in^3) </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Compression ratio: </TD><TD>10.0:1 </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Maximum hp: </TD><TD>83hp SAE @ 6400 rpm </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD>Maximum torque: </TD><TD>10.0 kg/m @ 4400 rpm </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Terrible looking engine aint it
Take it from me contact this guy once you see what he has done you will be sold he did not spend an arm and a leg either
Stick it in, paint it all black with just a set of polished carbs and run a hood on it. No one will know and you'll be enjoying your ride, rather than looking at it still half pulled apart in the shed in years to come like I do with my car. Look at that neat little orange T modified in the June '11 issue of Street Rodder fitted with the Mazda engine. Michael
The Jalopy Journal
