hi all,
just putting the feelers out for an engine conversion later on down the track.
but ive noticed that the majority of late model motor swaps into 1200's are CA18DET instead of SR20DET.
can i confirm that this is because CA gearbox fits in stock trans tunnel (i have a manual), where as SR gearboxes require a cut and shut trans tunnel to be fitted?

any other things that i should be aware with this conversion??


thanks in advance for your help!

Depending on where you are of course. But many states in Australia wont engineer SR20DET in 1200s anymore even hard to get CA18DET in a few states. No matter which one your putting in I wouldn't D!ck around with stock tunnel get a tunnel out of a 120y or stanza, 200b, something bigger. Stock tunnel you will never remove the box without leaving it connected to motor or dropping whole front end. Just a frig around basically even Auto tunnel is tricky.

located in the state where engineering occours generally after scoring a yellow sticker on the window.
interesting that these engine transfers are not getting engineered, is it a case of too much poooowah for chassis??

thanks for the heads up regarding the stock tunnels mate, greatly appreciated!

In nsw there are strict guidelines that say maximum capacity vs original weight of vehicle. In SA you may be in a better position however as there are vg30et engineereed 1600's, so unless there has been rule changes one would assume you may be able to go sr20det.

You could potentially get an SR20det engineered in a 1200 in NSW, the process is painful however, as I have seen guys build an SR20det with an SR16ve or SR18 crankshaft, have the capacity confirmed by the engineer and passed, then strip down and rebuild the engine with the 2.0L crank.

the CA is a more compact engine, its actually is no longer than the A series
and most 20 year old engines can do with a rebuild by now.
Having said that you could fit almost anything in SA supposedly so not sure
if you would like to speak to Maddat they can do it all or advice you.
Another option is the bigger L series with a Z head but the L block is SR big.
The CA is the smallest modern engine you can fit for its capacity and now
has cheaper 2ltr billet cranks than before, billet rods etc.
Then there are some A series people getting well over 120kw from turbo efi
and there is a twin cam head conversion using mazda mx5 cylinder head
which opens up many avenues of tune and cheaply but box is T50 dellows.