'73 Dato 1200...anyone know ANYTHING about them?!?!?!?!?

[RG]

Since my mrs '94 lancer (rubbish car) was destroyed by a tree (still lol) she is in need of a car for a few months. Her uncle has offered her his old 1200 Dato for a steal and since it is a bit old school it appeals to me. He is a mechanic by trade so the thing runs like a dream. My question is this will only be used a s a daily by her for a few months, after which it will be pulled off the road and replaced with something newer. So I was thinking that a 1200 would make a nice little project for me as either a hillclimber or the like. Anything I need to know here?

[DOC]

A 120Y has 60 less problems than a 180B, ( old school joke from the day ), we owned one for years it was a great car and one i could not kill no matter what,it was a tough little customer that just kept taking everything i could throw at it.

[broken_suave]

Yes but hes talking about a 1200, not a 120Y.

In my experience, they're very good cars if given a bit of love and attention every now and then.

I've owned datsuns in the past, and they have all proven themselves to be reliable transport. Infact, of all the cars I've owned, I've had the least problems with Datsuns.

They are becoming quite popular at hillclimbs and such, so it would make a decent budget racer.

One of the great things about Datsuns, and Nissans for that matter, is the parts interchangeabilty. You can stick parts from other models (including different year models) onto yours without, or with very limited mods. So upgrading is fairly straight forward.

The other thing is that a lot of datsun engines (particularly L-series 4's and 6's) can be made to perform quite well. A well ported head (they love a good head job), decent cam, decent bottom end rebuild, Twin SU's/DelOrto's, nice exhaust and you've got quite a nice package.

Its becoming common now to fit later SR or CA series nissan 4's, which is also reasonably straight forward.

They're also known for their nice handling, once a set of halfway decent springs are fitted.

Its worth having a fiddle anyway, they can be a lot of fun, even if they are short on cylinders.

[cs123]

I'd agree. In that vintage car the Datsuns are pretty good.

[RG]

This is what I wanted to hear, the thing has had a lot of love over the years as her uncle bought it back in the late 70's and takes even better care of his cars than I do of mine. This could be fun!

[Lightning Strike GT]

I use to have a Datto 1200 wagon - nick named the Hiroshima screamer
Damn bullet proof car

[duaned]

My first ride was a Datsun 1200 station wagon in run down condition. The motor didn't even last me a week before I cooked the rings! Once we fitted a replacement second hand motor ( took only 4 1/2 hrs!) we fitted a set of twin SU carbies and a set of headers to it and she used to fly! It was a great car, I thrashed it for the 2 years I had it and sold it to a mate who got a kick out of doing key bangers in the driveway of a neighbour he hated! I don't think you could go to wrong with it as a run around car for a while.

[MOTIV8]

Originally Posted by Russell

So I was thinking that a 1200 would make a nice little project for me as either a hillclimber or the like.

The Wife (Go Baby Go) bought a 1200 sedan last year for track use and it is a great little pocket rocket.

Here is a photo of her coming into Honda Corner at Phillip Island



The best thing about it is like you said a bit 'old school' so it makes it easier to work on. This was fully decked out with A14 engine, roll cage, seat, harness, suspension and the rest of the stuff when we bought it including the trailer so towing it behing the ute poses no problem at all due to the total weight of it being around 900Kg (incl. trailer....). although it is having a bit of a makeover at present and needless to say that the 'Werribee Tan' color will be replaced....

I say go for it and even at 6'2" I can still drive it even though it has a fixed seat!!!

[Wally]

I'm currently building an L20b for my daughter to use in rally. Although not the same engine as the 1200, Datto engines from that era get very impressive power with fairly easy mods.

[BlackLS]

What would you transplant into it? FJ20, CA18 or SR20?

[whales]

Great little car to do up, They won their class at Bathurst in 72 an 73

Have fun

[Fev]

get it, throw in a Sr20det or Ca18det, put some light weight wantanabe rims on there with a nice suspension package and you will have a pocket rocket!

[toyocharged]

mate used to race a 1200 coupe in Improved production out at Mallala, an absolute weapon :
http://www.iprasa.mx.com.au/cars/12%20allan.htm

[RG]

Originally Posted by Fev

get it, throw in a Sr20det or Ca18det, put some light weight wantanabe rims on there with a nice suspension package and you will have a pocket rocket!

This is starting to sound really fun, don't worry it will be gotten and thoroughly molested lol.

[gregaust]

I had a Datsun 1200 Ute for years ,top little car . Great fuel economy and go ok for a 1200.. 13" wheels gear them up a little too for highway use ..

[apolloxbgt]

Originally Posted by gregaust

I had a Datsun 1200 Ute for years ,top little car . Great fuel economy and go ok for a 1200.. 13" wheels gear them up a little too for highway use ..

I've had a couple of 1200 utes,the 4.11's and the 12's don't make for interesting hwy driving,as you said the 13's make a difference.

[Fev]

it would be cheaper then going for some big aussie muscle car as some fun! just head to the local wrecker for parts lol and Sr20's have billions of parts eiher aftermarket or original on the market which are fairly cheap too

[nb_351]

there are plenty around with transplants in them...
try the nissan forums and have a dig around there, theres probably a thread or two on it... they are a great little car...
you can keep them under 1000kg even with cage etc... throw some semi slick rubber on, some more power and youll be right...
try and find an s20 engine out of the pgc10 gtr, the skyline of the xw/xy era... they are a 160hp 2l inline 6... with triple webers, or later ones had lucas mechanical injection... they also had a 5 speed behind them... i dont know how hard they would be to source over here though...

[Go baby Go]

Originally Posted by MOTIV8

The Wife (Go Baby Go) bought a 1200 sedan last year for track use and it is a great little pocket rocket.

Here is a photo of her coming into Honda Corner at Phillip Island



The best thing about it is like you said a bit 'old school' so it makes it easier to work on. This was fully decked out with A14 engine, roll cage, seat, harness, suspension and the rest of the stuff when we bought it including the trailer so towing it behing the ute poses no problem at all due to the total weight of it being around 900Kg (incl. trailer....). although it is having a bit of a makeover at present and needless to say that the 'Werribee Tan' color will be replaced....

I say go for it and even at 6'2" I can still drive it even though it has a fixed seat!!!

Yeah..... but your knees dint my dashboard !!!

Hi Russell,

The above would be me.........................

You cannot go wrong with them.... ones in quite good condition are pulling thousands (especially coupes). Most people are looking for relatively unbutchered ones so they can stick a turbo in it........
Mine was set up for Hillclimns and Winton - small tracks. It regularly did Rob Roy and MT Tarrangower.

With very little work, hillclimbs will be sensational in it. Tinkle with a few little things and she'll be ready to go. Brakes, stiffen the suspension up, lower it... and take out the heater !!!I reckon the heater was a good 20-30kgs, so if in doubt- rip it out!!
My car weighs 700kg, so whilst i have stuck with the A series engine and carbs,being so light she still gets up and boogies.....

Seriously you will find it very easy to work on, a bl00dy strong engine (it's a Datto - the engine won't break) an parts interchange from a heap of the models..........a lot of little bits are 120Y's and there's always thousands of them at the wreckers.

The old school appeal - it's a winner. MY suggestion is stick to carbies my friend..... yes you can whack a turbo in them (they slot in with minor adjustments - toyocharge can probably give you some pointers there) and you will get more horsepower etc......but I will take the sound of my Webbers ANYDAY....





There was mention of the S20 from the Kpcg10 - they are rare as... and it was the whole package that made them (skyline's) good - the engines are okay, but considering the $$ because they are hard to find, not worth it.

There's a few forums - www.datsun1200.com is the main one- most guys mod them heavily and turbo them, but there's still a few of us "real old skoolies" left.. !!! PM me ANYTIME. I'm in another car club (NDSOC - www.ndsoc.com.au ) and there's always track days/social stuff, meetings you can come along to and suss it out.
The main thing is rust - keep your eyes peeled for it.......

Bottom line? - you can't go wrong............

Cheers, good luck, and I say BUY IT !!!!!! :

[prydey]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

What would you transplant into it? FJ20, CA18 or SR20?

these would be the reliable options! another option is a 13bt rotor. mate of mine had a 1600 with 13bt in it running 11's. 1200 is a tad lighter than the 1600.

rotor's when built properly can be reliable but tend to lack torque and economy probably not their strongest point either, not that you build a project for economy.

if racing in improved production stick to piston engine though, esp if the category runs some sort of parity system like restrictors in the intake. rotors need air and plenty of it to make good power.

[ebxr8240]

In N.Z they produced an SSS version..
http://wiki.datsun1200.com/index.php/Datsun_1200_SSS

Very good little cars and very forgiving handling wise for a suspension thats very bassic..
The biggest problem with them was RUST !! Imo the 1200 was a way better car than 120Y.. It was the auto 120Y that was gutless as !!
I think the story was the 200B had 20 more mistakes over the 180B...
Atleast they are rwd... The Charade is a top car too...Parts second hand are very cheap.

[mattl]

Ohh how i envy you having a partner who also has a passion for cars! I mention the word engine at home and I'm in the shits! haha..

However, back to the thread, me and a mate (mates a mechanic, I'm a panel beater) are currently in the process of restoring one of these bad boys and dropping a SR20DET in! It's a awesome car to A) Do body work on and B) Do engine work on. It's old school so its so simple and basic! So i deff recommend it..it's been awesome fun so far and i've learnt a bit about Panel Beating (being doing it for 4 yrs now) from this one little car and a load about the mechanics side of things as well!

Best of luck bud and if you have any questions just drop me a PM chief!! Let us know how you end up going!

[xe351]

apparently good little cars, in nsw the engine of choice is often a CA18 turbo, i don't think a fj20/sr20 roadregisterable in a 1200, but is in a 1600 apparently. If you dont get the car, a mate is/was looking for a good one

[ebxr8240]

Keep in mind some of those 1200 engines are actually bigger capacity...
http://martybugs.net/DatsunMods/engine.cgi
I think the latter utes are 1400 or so ???

[adxr8]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Keep in mind some of those 1200 engines are actually bigger capacity...
I think the latter utes are 1400 or so ???

Yes, you can get 1400 and 1500's from jap imports.

The first car i built was a 1200 sedan with a 1400 motor, twin su's, severly ported head and 5 speed. This thing would rev to 8000!

Wade have done a lot of R&D on there cams as they were used in the mini sprints in the early 80's.

[AGRO]

Originally Posted by Russell

Since my mrs '94 lancer (rubbish car) was destroyed by a tree (still lol) she is in need of a car for a few months. Her uncle has offered her his old 1200 Dato for a steal and since it is a bit old school it appeals to me. He is a mechanic by trade so the thing runs like a dream. My question is this will only be used a s a daily by her for a few months, after which it will be pulled off the road and replaced with something newer. So I was thinking that a 1200 would make a nice little project for me as either a hillclimber or the like. Anything I need to know here?

Hi mate.
I have a twin turbo manifold with turbo's and twin SU carb's, 1 each suppling each turbo. It hasn't been on a car for over 6 years. Sitting in the shed somewhere. I Built it back in the days when I had plenty of spare time. My brother wrote the Datto off, so I pulled the whole engine out and sold the car. Sold the A15 engine 2 years ago, but kept the turbo setup for some unknown reason. Could probably dig it up if you were interested. I also have a manifold to fit a VL turbo onto the Datto, but once again, it's in my junk shed somewhere. This hasn't got the turbo with it though. That got destroyed when with an engine failure on the old A12 engine.
Ahhhh.... the projects from yester-year

AGRO.

[futura888]

hey there,you've gotta love these little datsuns,they are as bulletproof as and they are great fun...here's a pic of my little sunny i'm doing up at the moment.

what a beast .

[EDXRSW]

Here's a pic of our 1200 sports sedan it weighs 690kg dry.
Still runs the L20 and still holds it own at hillclimbs and sprints.

[ZA-289]

Yep wicked little car, cheap to run, quick enough and virtually bullet proof.

Some of AGRO's bits sounds awesome!

[GTP290]

i owned a 1200 coupe for 4 days and on the fourth day i rolled it,mate of mine stuck a 2 litre turbo in his and he rolled it aswell!