The car gods have smiled!

This thursday my car was going to be sold to some guy who knows my dad. Guess what... He naver came to get her. My dad said he would give me about a month of time to get her up and running. That's when it hit me.

Since I can't get my CA20E engine to go, then... I'll just swap it out!

Now, I can most likely get ahold of a CA18T in good conditon at the junkyard(s). Yet a few things remain in my head. I saw a 88 knotch with disc brakes in the rear.

Now... I lost track of what I was going to say.
Oh yeah
What are the years in which a swap is not possible, and are the rear axles compatible throughout the S12's?

thanks ya'll for the help

OK, this should probably be in a different forum, but we're glad the S12 isn't gone! Any CA18ET will work, but I would definetly snag the wiring harness and ecu too, it'll be real mess trying to get the CA20 stuff to work, and it'll probably end up blowing it up. So save the trouble, and swap harnesses and ecu's too.

Should be an extremely straightforward swap, as all motor mounts and tranny mounts are exactly the same, I would say this is probably one of the easiest swaps you could ever do.

Now, the car you saw with disc brakes was most likely an IRS car. Yours has a solid axle, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. You can swap the IRS in your car, but IIRC, you have to swap the whole crossmember in. I know a few of the Australian members have done it. But go ahead and get that turbo motor in and running first! :mrgreen:

Going by those who have swapped from live axle to IRS have said, most would not do it again, and it really didn't make that much of a difference. Joel is right, if you are swapping the ET into it, then use the ET wiring harness, ECU, and MAF...

Only thing about the live axle is I think that Nissans do have some problems with one of the links from the 4 link trying to seperate it's mount from the chassis under high-power and high-stress applications, but nothing subframe connectors and some welded in strengthening plates can't take care of.

I'd actually like a live axle S12, only bad part is no disc brakes and it's hard to find an LSD, but it's a whole lot less to go wrong, and you don't give up much in the handling department...

Only thing about the live axle is I think that Nissans do have some problems with one of the links from the 4 link trying to seperate it's mount from the chassis under high-power and high-stress applications, but nothing subframe connectors and some welded in strengthening plates can't take care of.

I'd actually like a live axle S12, only bad part is no disc brakes and it's hard to find an LSD, but it's a whole lot less to go wrong, and you don't give up much in the handling department...
Live axle I find drift better...:twisted:

Should be an extremely straightforward swap, as all motor mounts and tranny mounts are exactly the same, I would say this is probably one of the easiest swaps you could ever do.

This is a swap I've wondered about for a long time, but never really got much research done on it..

Anybody know if..

Are all the S12 CA18ETs the same, and will they all bolt to the CA20E B tranny?

Aside from the engine (block & head) do other components swap over from CA20E to CA18ET.. dizzy, pumps, coils, alternator, cruise stuff.. etc..

Is swapping wiring harnesses hard?

</stupidly no0b questions>

last I saw a wiring harnes outside of a car it stretched about 15 ft and look menacing to plug back in.

This is a swap I've wondered about for a long time, but never really got much research done on it..

Anybody know if..

Are all the S12 CA18ETs the same, and will they all bolt to the CA20E B tranny?

Aside from the engine (block & head) do other components swap over from CA20E to CA18ET.. dizzy, pumps, coils, alternator, cruise stuff.. etc..

Is swapping wiring harnesses hard?

</stupidly no0b questions>Are all CA18ET's the same, no, they changed computers from the 86.5 model onward, which meant different wiring harnesses as well, though I do not know how much they differed, and yes they will all bolt to the B tranny

MKII CA20 coils will swap to any of the MKI, or MKII CA18ET cars, and why would you swap cruise?? but yes it will swap. the dizzy, and pumps, and alternator are the same.

Is swapping the harness difficult, well that depends, if you swap the whole thing, and don't cut any wires, then no it is not hard, but there will be some disassembly required (front left quarter panel), and the removal of the previous computer, and harness...it is more time consuming, than difficult from what I have heard...

The only harness you'll have to change is the engine harness and ecu, not the whole car wiring harness. I'll be sure to do a complete write-up when I do mine...