Hey mate, does it have to be Nissan? I put a Suzuki swift GTi engine in my 1000 coupe. I didnt drive it with the a10 in it but it handles pretty sweet now. In Australia we have strict laws with engine capacity to weight. But with you being in Thailand, I'm sure it's very different. Have a read through my build thread. What ever engine you chose, it will be a simular path.
http://datsun1200.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=37873
 
Best engine, ca18Det is a good choice if it needs to be Nissan, you could also look at sr16 and turbo charge that. I spent 4 x times my original budget so be careful


Pro's - it's awesome
- more power
- fuel injection
- newer technology
- more power


Cons - it's unbelievably exspensive 
- you will have cut your car to pieces
- everything needs to be upgraded fuel system, brakes, diff, driveline ect.
- in Australia it's hard to make it legal


Brakes and suspension, as above, it's all got to be upgraded. My 1000 handles good but the Suzuki engine is an alloy block and very light. I can't speak for the ca18.


Got to be manual, auto's are for girls and plus they are bigger gear boxes.

There is a guy over here that races a 1000 with a ca18, you could try to contact him with questions about his conversion. He has a YouTube clip of him self racing which is really sweet.
http://www.datsun1000.com/TopicView.asp?TopicID=613
 
With my car, the engine is a g13b. It's out of Suzuki gti swift. You can use any model gti from Mk1 to Mk3, make sure it's twin cam, mine is a mk2. The gear box is out of Suzuki Seirra. You will need the Seirra flywheel as well and have it lightened.
 
You need to make sure you have the resources to complete your project over there. I had so much help here and it still cost me a bomb. You will need people to fabricate mounts, crossmembers, transmission tunnel, custom fuel systems, radiotor, pipes for water and the list goes on. I spent over $500 AUD just for a custom distributor to be made. I don't want to talk you out of it, but I just want you to realize what your about to get yourself into.
 
If I had my time over again, I would go for an A15 or A14. It's a Datsun engine and people are getting massive power out of them. It will cost a 1/4 of what my conversion cost and with all that money you save you could be quicker than me. You would still have some mods to do but it would be minor compared to a G13b or a CA18. You can always add fuel injection later on if you wish. A15 is the way to go.

thanks for the detailed replies Gav and D,
D, your right about the the cheap labour, iv got a pretty good michanic now he was pretty optomistic about
apgrading the engine, they do do heaps of conversions here so mounts and such wont be a problem...,
 
he actually said we can bring engines to try for size lol and if it doesnt fit bring another pay once youv found one lol. actually think he mentioned honda, i guess there could be many options then....
 
gav your gti engine is awesome but maybe too many mods for me being in thailand,
i like the look of the ca18 after seeing it in datzons post and good to go... if i find engine & gearbox together ,
 
it looks to me as one of my issues is that many engines come from front wheel drive, not
sure if can get gearbox to suit, so easier to get engine and box together.
 
gav you mentioned sr16...were they all front wheel drive if so is it easy to find a gearbox to suit?
 
was looking here at specs: http://kereta.info/nissan-engine-guide-and-specification-sr16-ca18-sr20-rb20-rb25-rb26/
 
gav, on that website theres a sr16ve neo is that what you meant or i guess there may be some different models of
sr16
 
btw gav, i like your pro's
Pro's - it's awesome
- more power
- fuel injection
- newer technology


think im gonna go for newer technology....

is there any website that have specs including weight?

thanks neil, good info,
think i'll be lookin for a ca18de,
 
thanks guys.
cheers.

well gav
perfect timng here man,
my guy just told me he has an sr20
its less than 1000 bucks....from japan and bench tested...
 
thanks heaps for the info..

Be careful the SR20 is a very big motor more of the size of the L series much longer and taller than the CA18de
 

The CA is a very compact engine and will let you run air con with more ease even with boost.
Im not sure you need boost as the capacity alone with 180hp using 264 degree cams, tomei headers and webers
will be enough accompanied by modified ecu from Nistune for ignition only.
 
If you were to go SR you need to consider the height of the engine is very tall and need either dry sumping which
is again more space issues or a seriously modded and carefully designed sump to clear everything well and still
give good lube, you best consider the SR16ve as it is already 190-200hp and very long rod engine meaning
very smooth and super reliable using mechanical head rather than the poor sr20 stock HL heads which are always
dropping finger followers or rockers breaking and dislodging.
A good friend of mine has had them all and the sr16ve is the pick of the lot for many reasons.
Otherwise just get a front cut sr20ve which is the same head but more capacity and boost from factory.
Personally the sr16ve is a crazy revving engine that you can flog until the cows come home and its always
right to go for more and more abuse.

Another option to consider with the price of petrol as it always goes up is a diesel turbo like a CD20T
Its basically a ca20e with beefier block, super strong forged full counterweight crank, very nice head
in alloy better quality than CA20 and even CA18de heads and can be boosted to 200hp but make 400nm
of torque from low rpm meaning you can drive from 5 gear and boot it in such a light car.
Box to use is a stock 71b or 71c stumpy

Dont forget a differential upgrade is a must! H190 diff from a nissan shortened will be the one to choose.

Just texted back saying it is a sr20 gearbox just modified bellhousing and amazingly he said it came out of a datsun 1000! Yet to see if the reason he's selling it was cause of handling issues 
He says it was a standard sump.

He gave me a call and told me that it was a circuit car so the firewall has been mutilated... for the first part of the conversation his end was crackling but I heard him say something about converting to coilovers or something (could be wrong) but judging by the pictures I don't think he has, I'm sure that is a 1000 though isn't it? 
 
He may have been lieing about the 1000 but was odd that I didn't mention datsun 1000 I only mentioned I was thinking about putting it into a datsun, if he was to lie about it I would assume he'd say a datsun 1600 or something like that.
 
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/coopers-plains/engine-engine-parts-transmission/sr16ve-quad-throttle-bodies-custom-made-rwd/1015053808
 
Unfortunately I'm not experience enough to know %100 what he was talking about  But he was saying he raced it in under 2ltrs or something... I would imagine it was quite heavy but he said he upgraded alot of the suspension and steering...
 
I think a stock one would be more than good enough for our 1000s. But I read somewhere a few minutes ago that the sr engines weigh like twice the weight of a series engines (obviously approx) 
 
I think i'm sticking with an a15. I bought a ca18de off a guy in brissy for super cheap (courtesy of D) but I have a lot to learn before I hit up injection engines or for that matter converting one to carbs and elec ignition...

Too hard to do the sr16ve unfortunately, will need crank angle ignition also as the dizzie at the back is asking for more space issues. Gearbox is 71c but with custom bell mods or can use Vanette or Serena SR20de bellhousing which is a fwd one with fwd engine sitting as a rwd with dizzie at the back unlike rwd engines. The serena bell bolts up to stock rwd bellhousing of 71c boxes but serena is column shift so needs navarra floor shift section and mainshaft.

personally CA18 is much easier. You can get the stroker crank from a diesel CD20, use L14 rods with honda pistons and you have 2045cc that with r1 bike carbs, cams, megajolt jnr distributorless ignition (cheap) and headers will net 180-200hp.

SR is too hard and that one on the pic I must admit is a 1000 but full chassis setup, you can tell when you see exhaust outlet at the same height as where glove box would sit just below crash pad or dash top. Very custom setup.

Yes I believe no one has done it except that partly tube framed datsun 1000 Mathew posted from gumtree ad. Unfortunately it is a fair hefty engine and when you see it sitting in a silvia engine bay you say yes its made for a bigger car. The later qr25de replacement for the SR is die cast alloy instead of the sandcast SR design so is more compact in most parts but its an ugly donk and 2.5 litres that was improved post 2008 as it had a number of isses due to its poor rod stroke ratio. 

The SR is very tall, long and bulky if you can fit it, it will take alot of work and might need a bonnet hump as even slanted its big.
Better even look at turboing an A series as yours is already all setup for one.
In Thailand most machine shops will be able to sleeve your A15 to 83mm using ca18de pistons as they often sleeve farm machinery and other industrial engines very well from what Ive seen. That will give you close to 1.8L and with boost will be mad.
Here sleeving costs around 500-600 for the work and pistons another 200 from ebay and then fitted to your rods.