Datsun 120Y/140Y auto wanted.

[Grumpy Northener]

John - I am pretty sure that I came across a Minor conversion some years ago with a twin cam Fiat engine & autobox with drive to a Marina rear axle - bloody quick it was too - is this an option if you cannot locate said Datsun drivetrain ?? (there must be a few twin cam autos about out of the 124 saloon range)

Secondly - read this guy's home page - with his connection / family in the states he may be able to help (his parts prices do not look that steep)
http://www.apincorporated.com

[rich.]

i visit that site all the time, wifeys hidden all the cards & cheque books...
meanwhile john this might interest you
http://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/784356361.htm?ca=18_s

[JPB]

Chris, that's a very interesting site, thanks for the link and I believe that there are some automatic Fiat conversions but as auto Fiat 124, 125, 131 and 132s use a pretty bulky GM boxes, I'd guess that these too require some lowering of the engine's mounting position, possibly by even more than an A series needs to be dropped when fitting an auto but I don't know for certain so would welcome any input from someone who has done the automatic Fiat twin cam into Minor job and lived to tell the tale.

Rich, BULLSEYE!! (that's the only time you're going to catch me using two screamers together, after the same word )


That R12 Break presses so many of my buttons and at only 50K in miles it should only be a quarter of the way to its first engine rebuild if the 12s I've owned before are anything to go by. I also know that these are lively, smooth and just as economical as the manuals.
BUT.. Ironically, parts and panels for that in the UK are almost impossible to source these days, other than from Dacia main dealers who still list Denem stuff (why? There are only three left in England & Wales and two of those are broken..), whereas a Minor, because they're common as muck and exist in massive quantities, a majority being in constant service, well they make more sense as daily transport if the unsuitable original seats are binned and some P6 ones fitted, some nice big Riley 1.5 brakes (which I have ) and a few other very basic upgrades are carried out. I'd want it kept in the style of something that could have been put together in the late '50s with the exception of a mm4x4 ignition module, that Marina pedal box and some decent locks.

[Grumpy Northener]

meanwhile john this might interest you

John at 900 Eurosods this is a no brainer - quick trip to France - call in on Rich - then drive it back - you get a new motor already converted without the pain of finding drivetrains and converting the unconverted - you love R 12's and with a bit of a tidy this one could be perfect - apart from the LHD - I mean what could you not like about this

[kevin]

meanwhile john this might interest you

John at 900 Eurosods this is a no brainer - quick trip to France - call in on Rich - then drive it back - you get a new motor already converted without the pain of finding drivetrains and converting the unconverted - you love R 12's and with a bit of a tidy this one could be perfect - apart from the LHD - I mean what could you not like about this

Agreed

Kev

[JPB]

LHD doesn't phase me one little bit, but I would have serious reservations about using that for daily service as my average mileage is upwards of 40k annually and OK, it would be up to the challenge and is a durable thing but if someone dinged that and it was off the road for the want of body parts, I'd feel bad about getting a rare car into bother whereas the Minor shell I have, good though it is, isn't inviolable to the same extent and could be repaired cheaply and quickly with off-the-shelf parts if the unthinkable happened, especially as I have two full car sets of GRP Minor wings kicking about somewhere. Good quality, thick ones that don't have that awkward crease under the headlamp that replica steel ones have.

But I do like that 12. Lots, and may just spend some time considering whether to add that to this month's housekeeping budget regardless of the Minor idea, which has to happen because every time I'm up in the wilds - among the majority of my old tat - and that Minor shell stares at me with its big, empty eye sockets, I feel a pang of guilt for not assembling it and getting it running.

Kevin, please stop encouraging me.

[kevin]

Thats decided then, heres the plan:

Buy the 12 and get a datsun to chop and build the minor you need.

Simple

kev

[rich.]

there are other possibilities...
rover v8.. hasn't terry got a knackered range rover somewhere
or sd1 diesel

[JPB]

...Must stay with the plan, Rich, I really must. For work purposes, anything not capable of reaching into the 40s to the gallon would be unacceptable, I don't want to cut the Minor's upper front crossmember or bulkhead (apart from the bit that needs to be removed to fit a pedal box), I must retain the rear seats and yes, there are some lovely ones with V8s fitted but even the aluminium block of the RV8 is heavy compared to the A series which weighs around the same as the Datsun motor or the sister-in-law beast's monthly sugar ration and apart from stretching the forward edge of the tunnel above where it bolts to the floor, I want to keep the floor as close to its original shape as I can, though the new tunnel would be made from GRP like the aftermarket ones you get for Heralds, Dolomites, etc.

If I thought for a moment that there'd be a way of fitting the Glof's 7 speed DSG and its amazingly frugal short stroke, multivalve Diesel in a F/R configuration, then I'd be scouring the used VW parts places for those but doing that wouldn't demonstrate to the world that a Minor is almost as cheap to run (and £22 cheaper to insure if insured on its own policy, £4 cheaper if the two cars were swapped over on my key policy), every bit as practical (more so if the fact that a Minor isn't 6'7" wide matters) and of course free from depreciation, which matters not one bit personally but is an impressive statistic for people who have yet to develop a fondness for older cars.
Mind you, if that R12 hadn't been right at the other end of France..

[TerryG]

You are such a defeatist.
These guys built a 4x4 out of an FF engine and box. you could do the same (you may not get to keep the back seats though)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YU6Bi8TIhg