THEBUZ - Ben's 1972 Datsun 1200 Coupe

Story and Photos: Ben Winstone

Feature article will be written one of these days...

I purchased the car in March 2004 at what I would say was 95% complete. Since then I have carried out the following modifications/purchases:

- Raised 1-inch all round

- Installed an Autometer Shift-light/MOMO Steering wheel

- Widened a spare set of wheels to fit 24.5x7x13-inch drag slicks

- Finished off the exhaust, complete with a dummy 'peashooter' pipe

- Polished the hubcaps

- Fitted an entirely new 3-inch stainless steel exhaust system to create more ground clearance

- Fitted venetian blind and had the tyres whitewalled

Still to come:

- Run a very low 12/high 11-second pass (hopefully)

Common questions/answers asked about the car:

Q: This must be a weapon/handful on the street...?

A: Not as much of a handful as people think, the BB turbo spools up smoothly and the car will spin the tyres once it hits fullboost depending on how heavy with the throttle you are, but it will put a lot of the power down before it spins. Yes it does go extremely well as you would imagine with a 915kg car with nearly 300rwhp. It has also beat a late model Honda NSX by several car lengths (according to the owner of the NSX it had run a 13.2).

Q: Was it hard to fit the engine in?

A: I didn't fit the engine in, I bought the car nearly 'as-is', from what I have been told there were no major mods, a custom cross-member was used along with a sump from a 13B model first-gen RX-7 (The Japan only model) and apparently if the car needed to be returned to its original 1.2lt four-cylinder state it could be done easily.

Q: What time has it run?

A: On its first attempt the car ran a 12.9 at 109mph, there were numerous dramas including problems shifting from 2nd to 3rd and from 3rd to 4th, the tune wasn't right in the top end and was probably too rich, it was also my first time driving a turbocharged car on slicks at the drag strip, with more practice and a refined tune I believe the car will run a very low 12-second pass if conditions are right.

The car has since gone 12.57 @ 109mph, still with minor shifting problems and a small bit of popping in the top end.

The shifting problem and popping have recently been fixed so I would expect it to improve again next time out by a few tenths if the clutch doesn't provide any problems.

Q: Why doesn't it use an intercooler?

A: There is limited space behind the grill without cutting things up (a common sight on intercooled 1200's), the car does use a water injection system in an attempt to chill intake temps and I haven't had a problem with it yet. In the future I will look into fitting an intercooler, however at the moment, it is very responsive and runs well on the street (where it spends 95% of its time) and I have more important things to spend the money on.

Q: How much power does it make?

A: It was recently dynoed at 212rwkw on just under 14psi.

Q: Who carried out the work on it?

A: The previous owner, Rob built a large part of the car by himself, being a perfectionist and extremely skilled, you can see the time and effort that has gone into the engine bay. Vlad from Rotorworx was also involved with building the motor and other stages of the conversion and he will be the only one who will perform any major mechanical work and tuning on the car. I have also recently taken the car to Warrick at WJM Rotaries (Rotorworx was too busy) to get a number of smallish problems fixed up and was pleased with the work done there and would recommend both workshops to people.

Recommended businesses and thanks so far to:

Rotorworx - 4 Disney Avenue, East Keilor, (03) 9331 7756, www.rotorworx.com.au

Bell Auto Electrical - 100 Bell Street, Heidelberg, (03) 9459 4155

WJM Rotaries - 13B Mercedes Drive, Thomastown

Duggan Balancing - 50 Newlands Road, Reservoir, (03) 9469 4550

Mark The Polishing Guy - 0417 049 016

Neway Wheel Repairs - 11 Beatrice Avenue, West Heidelberg, (03) 9457 3141

TyreArt - Customline Motors High Street, Lalor, (03) 9408 8290

My parents and friends who have given their time to help me out with the car

Model: 1972 Datsun 1200 Coupe

Engine: 13B Twin Rotor Turbocharged

Engine Modifications: Rebuilt Series 6 13BT motor (Rotorworx large extend port), standard Series 6 inlet manifold, Garrett GT35/40 (700HP) Ball-Bearing turbocharger, Turbosmart Pro-Gate 45mm external wastegate, four S6 RX-7 880cc injectors, Carter high-flow lift pump, custom 1.5-litre surge tank, Bosch Motorsport 600HP fuel pump, 5/16-inch fuel lines, Apexi adjustable fuel pressure regulator, 3-inch Stainless-Steel exhaust from the turbo back, Magnaflow muffler, Haltech E6K engine management system.

Driveline: Lightweight steel flywheel, PBR 4-Puck clutch, Series 5 RX-7 5-speed gearbox, heavy-duty 3-inch Hardy Spicer tailshaft, Toyota Hi-Lux 4.3:1 LSD

Suspension & Brakes: Front: Stanza SSS struts, springs, discs & calipers, heavy duty sway bar, Pedders cartridges, EBC Green pads.

Rear: Leaf springs stiffened and reset with extra leaf, standard Hiace drum brakes, PBR brake pressure limiting valve, Nolathane bushes throughout (front and rear).

Performance: 212kw (285hp) @ wheels (14psi), 12.57 @ 109mph (shifting problems, imperfect tune).

Wheels & Tyres: 13-inch steel wheels (front and rear), with Goodyear Eagle 175/65/R13 tyres all round, standard 1200 hubcaps. Mickey Thompson 24.5x7x13-inch slicks for the strip.

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