Re: Well my Midget made it home...
kellysguy said:
What all does it take to put an A15 in a spridget? (just wondering)
My Bugeye is mostly stock....not any real hacking done to get the A15 in there, but the rail where the steering rack mounts was cut out and reinforced to make room for the crank pulley. Also new motor mount brackets were welded in.......other than that, the body/chassis is stock.
To clear the front crossmember, the oil pan was cut and modified to fit. I also have a remote oil filter (huge 1 quart filter) to make up the lost volume and because it is impossible to fit a filter in the stock location on my car.
The transmission fits using the stock trans bolt holes (has what appears to be a custom trans mount & bracket). The driveshaft is modified too.
The PO did a nice job on the install......it's pretty clean. I am debating keeping it or installing a newer twin cam engine......it's a toss up because rebuilding the A15 like I want will be more expensive than a low mile 4AGE black or silver top will cost and I'll never see 160HP out of the A15. I guess I will cross that bridge if/when the A15 lets go.
As for what to look out for.....head-wise you want closed chamber oval port heads (heart shaped chambers). The 1200GX was never imported into the US, but a few made it here anyway. Nissan sold a similar head through there performance division that will fit later engines (my Bugeye has this head). A run of the mill 210 will probably not have this head, but you never know. If you find one with twin flat top Hitachi SU clones then it is probably a GX or performance head. Grab it and you can make a few bucks.