Ok guys your going to hate me and groan i know, but ireally can't decide.
i have a bare shell sat in the garage looking at me saying, "well?" the reason it i saying this is because i have stripped it and i can't decide what to do with it. sad i know. i already know the suspention and brake setup and steering that i am going to do.
rear s13 and front s13 calipers, gazelle struts + steering rack, handbrake adjustable sway bars strut tops ( i want a hill climp/track road car )

But then it all boils down to the thing that makes the car go ( don't think i will do well at a hill climb if i am pushing it)

my options and downfalls are

fj20et- can't @$@!$ find one for under 2grand

fj20e - erm same as above but it has only just occured to me that theay are the same engine after i do a couple of the engine mods

vg30det - can't find one and can't go dett caus ethe aint no room, well there is but big $$$ required

sr20det -erm i don't want to conform

z18et - nice engine bit old not big kw 50/50

so can any one tell what they think i should do, i will be happy with 200+ kw at the rears but obviously i am a cheap arse so the cheapest way of doing it

baz has been and always will be a big help and has answered all my questions about the engines

can anyone find me an fj of any sort???

supercharge an L20 with tuned inlet runners and use an early L18 "long" exhaust manifold. gobs of low down grunt - perfect for hillclimbs. i'd fit EFI too, but that's just me. try an find the 2.3L mazda "miller cycle" supercharger - they're pretty good and still reasonably cheap.

have a nice short diff ratio (4.4:1) too, and a five speed gearbox for the lower first ratio.

the FJ isn't going to be any lighter than an L20, so why spend sh1tloads on an engine then have to rebuild it when for the cost of the FJ alone you could have a built and prepped L20? we all want the best, but IMO you're not going to be able to stretch the FJ's legs enough to justify the expense.

also the L20 is easier to get parts for if you break something thru general wear and tear or you "buzz" it on the track or whatever...

this is probably the one time i will say don't worry about the twin cam modern motor.

but that's only one man's opinion.

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frankenstein projects R us.

The Republic of Western Australia -
Propping up the Nation's Economy since 1901.

Well, maybe two men's opinions

I'm currently building a supercharged efi L18, the car will see similar duties to what you propose (but will also hopefully be road registered for the occaisional cruise or weekend drive).

My logic is that it will be a very responsive engine, with lots of torque from low revs. It won't pump out the big horsepower figures that you can get from other motors, but hopefully won't need as much outright power as it will be more "driveable".

One downside is that its probably harder than just chucking in a twin cam turbo as you've got to do all the research and design work yourself. And if you go efi, you have to factor in the cost of engine management and tuning.

One benefit is that it is so cheap to rebuild an L-series compared to most other popular motors, and if you do blow it up you simply get another one and do it up. Blow up an FJ for instance, and you're right back where you are now trying to find another, or spending $$$$ to fix it.

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1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

What about a CA18de or DET? They are fairly cheap, still lots of them around. And have good power output.

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1928 Model A CC Pickup

Would be my choice for cheap power, much easier to find that a Z18/FJ20 etc..

They are a very under rated motor...

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Nissan Bluebird - S15 SR20DET
Nissan R30 Skyline - RB26DEmassiveT Project car
Nissan R32 GTR - RB26DETT

Sr20DEt for sure

woot fj20 n/a with turbo rods found and bought locally

Z18ET's rock. but then i'm biased. mine goes damn hard for a basically stock engine running 5psi - vaughan (kornracing01) and lampy can vouch for this

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1971 Datsun 1600 - Z18ET
1996 Suzuki RGV250 VJ22
1996 Suzuki RGV250 SP VJ23