# 1979 210 Wagon swaps and questions



## theclerk74 (May 14, 2006)

Well, I'm sitting here at work going through the forum as I just bought a neat old 210 wagon. I'll try to post up some pics if I can figure out a way to escape. The engine in the car is rebuilt and runs fine, but man, coming from my SHO it really leaves a lot to be desired in the performance department. I've been doing some searching around on the web about swaps, but believe it or not, the 210 just doesn't seem to be the hottest car to mod! What I'm wondering is how diferrent is the old 1200 from the 210 for swapping engines? I'm pretty hooked on doing a ca18det, and I've seen a lot of 1200's down under with this engine. So here's my initial to do list:

Engine, trans. & ECU (of course)
Radiator
Driveshaft
Fuel system
Exhaust


So a few questions I have are:

I think someone posted something about the crossmember from a 200sx will fit. Can anyone let me know if this is true, or can I just fab up some engine mounts to work?

How about hooking up the clutch and throttle cable? Any issues there?

Will the stock axle handle the 175HP OK? I'm planning on being pretty low key. No mods to the engine or anything like that, and even a nice, quiet exhaust.

Any suggestions are really appreciated, and please bear with me, as I am totally new to all of this. I have a great support group here to help me with the actual work and fab, etc. The person I bought the car from put a lot of work into it, and I think it's only right to take the torch ond keep going. Hopefully I can learn a lot in the process. Thanks.


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## theclerk74 (May 14, 2006)

So here's a few shots of my car. How do you like the flames on the hood? I know, but that's the way the car came. All in all it's a clean car with a decent interior. I think the Pulsar seats are going to go bye-bye though. Redo the door panels and the 'wood' trim on the dash and it should be a nice car.


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## B11sleeper (Oct 15, 2003)

the rear axle won't like 175hp for long. You'll want the wear axle out of an early 80's 200sx. The crossmember for the ca18 out or a 200sx would probably work, nearly all those datsuns use a similar crossmember.

210's have a hydraulic clutch so you're probably ok there, if the CA uses a cable, just convert it to hydraulic. Throttle cable, you'll need a custom one i suppose. I have a ga16 throttlebody on my 210 so anything is possible.

datsun1200.com is probably a better place to ask these questions.

It's a nice looking car. You're going to have to replace everything, especially after you put that heavy CA in and it handles worse.

luckily all you need is the front struts off a 280zx and a bunch of $$


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## theclerk74 (May 14, 2006)

Yeah, I've been going through some of the threads over there. I was actually hoping for a response from you here. How much modifying was needed to swap the struts on your car? I didn't really think it would be much of an issue since it seems that there is only 73lbs or so diferrence between the two engines. Also, I'm not sure if the question was answered anywhere about whether or not the mounts for the springs would have to be relocated to swap in the rear from a 200sx. I have some mechanical aptitude, but this is definately meant as a project to learn with. Maybe I should do some more research and consider other drivetrain options.


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## B11sleeper (Oct 15, 2003)

I see you're over at 1200 now.
I'll tell you what i can.

Read my many threads about 280zx turbo strut conversion.

200sx rear axle, I don't know the details, having never done it, but it's suppose to be relatively easy. I'm supposed to go see a 210 with a 200sx rear axle sometime soon, I may take some pics since it's not documented too well. In fact, on 1200 PM leosnake_2000 and ask him about the 200sx rear axle since he has the car.

I don't know how bad 73 more pounds will be, lighter is better though, at least you're not putting in an SR that would be heavy.

there is no easier rear axle swap that the 200sx, it's the next logical place to go before putting in a ford 9" ( which if you had some money to burn, alloy rear axle + lsd suitable for small muscle car, modified properly would be best, but it's some $$ )

as long as you don't give up you can learn what you need to as you go, sometimes things get complicated though.


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## theclerk74 (May 14, 2006)

Well, to be completely honest, My goal for this car is to kind of mix old school with new school. Modern wheels, definately a new paint job, update the interior, supsension mods and then engine work to improve driveabilty. I like the ca18det in that it can be found for a reasonable price. I am not opposed to going with something else though. Like I said, I want to do some more research and really decide if that's the direction I want to go. It seems that people get decent results from doing a new carb, exhaust and even cam in the a14, so that might be an option I might think about. It's just that it seems like parts are pretty tough to come by, especially here in the States. As far as the suspension goes, call me crazy but I'm going to go talk to a shop here that specializes in airbags to see what they can do for me. Like I said mixing the old with the new. I'm sure as more time passes I'll get things narrowd down. I just like the idea of mulling things over with other people to get input on these things.


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## B11sleeper (Oct 15, 2003)

an a14/15 is a pretty good motor. 

The biggest problem is if you live somewhere that is going to require a smog check. In CA you can't do anything, even changing the tranny is technically illegal.

Even if you were to air bag it, I'd use the 280zx turbo struts since they have the biggest brakes I know of that fit.

I have been doing what you're describing, talking the old skool and replacing old parts with modern better parts.

The ideal A15, some kind of EFI/Turbo, very light with a decent power yield. Not a drag racing car, but plenty fast. My A15 will easily go 94.4 mph on the freeway, quite a bit faster that you're supposed to go, but with the possibiltiy of going faster.

try to find one of the vintage airdams fro the front too, that helps the aerodynamics so much.

maybe also check out http://oldschoolimports.net/ for other crazy people like us.


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## theclerk74 (May 14, 2006)

Right. Here in CO we have emmisions checks, but I'm sure that things are more lax than in CA. The one thing that worries me is investing in a new intake setup and then finding out it won't pass. Visually, the only things it needs are a gas cap and cat. It's all pretty much what comes out the tailpipe that we have to worry about. At least on older cars. Also the limits are much higher. Like the HC's have a limit of 400ppm, and CM is something like 1.5%. That's all they test for here, and I failed my first time through! You know all about that, but they are really strict on where you have your car registered. If your registration doesn't match the address on your license it's a pretty nasty fine. They really started to crack down on people registering cars in exempt parts of the state.


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## B11sleeper (Oct 15, 2003)

I want to leave LA, so it's not that much of a stretch, i'll go as soon as i have money. All my documentation is in order.

It's the silliest thing ever i saw the emissions readings on my car and it puts out like nothing, but it's still not ok.


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## Rob E (Dec 18, 2005)

Clerk,

Check with CO DMV on engine swaps. It has been a few years since I lived in Colorado, but as I recall if you do an engine swap they make you pass the emission test from either the engine or the chassis, whichever is newer. That still shouldn't be a problem, but it may take you to the rolling dyno test instead of the static HC and CO test. Just a bit of information.


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## yotarip (May 24, 2005)

The 80-81 200sx rear axle bolts right onto the sedan ( 4 link suspension) chassis. I test fitted one on my 79 2dr and it fits fine. Even the hand brake cables attach perfectly. The 200sx rear is slightly wider than the 210 rear. Are the 210 wagons leafsprung? If they are, your choices in rear axles are only limited to the width of the axle. It is very easy to weld a leafspring perch onto any axle (just mind the pinion angle). Much easier than welding on the brackets for the 4 link suspension.


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## theclerk74 (May 14, 2006)

The 210 doesn't have leaf springs. I still need to head over to the U-Pull-It and measure the rear axle from an old 200sx if they have one. I wonder if the slightly wifer axle could be countered by wheel offset.


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## B11sleeper (Oct 15, 2003)

I recently read the the 200sx rear axle just fits up, although it's a bit wider, that may or may not cause you trouble.


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