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interchangeable parts

To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: interchangeable parts
From: thorpe@kegs.saic.com (Denise Thorpe)
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 95 16:16:59 PDT
Since we've discussed putting Ford brakes and Volvo brake servos on MG's
today, maybe I should core dump all I know about Datsuns that have parts 
that fit on MG's.

Donald Healey in his now infamous speech to the San Diego MG Club said 
that he couldn't really _say_ that the Datsun 240Z was a copy of the
Austin Healey 3000, but he said with repressed anger that the only two 
3000's outside of the U.S. and Europe belonged to Nissan Corporation.
Under the hood of a 240Z, are two imitation S.U.'s that you wouldn't want 
to put on your car because the jets are pressed in.  The choke mechanism 
is in the intake manifold.  These cars also have an air injection system
that looks very similar to the system on an MGB.  I'm told that the gulp
valve can be used on a B and the car will pass smog even though the valve 
isn't exactly right.  Maybe this is also true of the air pump.

The drivetrain in a Datsun 1300 pickup is a complete ripoff of the MGB
drivetrain down to the dipstick in the transmission.  Donald Healey can't 
say it, but I can.  I know that the head will bolt right onto a B engine, 
but the valves are smaller.  The distributor fits on a B, too.  Maybe this 
is the solution to the unavailability of breaker plates.  I don't know, 
but I'm sure other parts will fit as well.

While I'm on the subject, I was once told a story about the Japanese 
setting up to manufacture wringer washing machines after WWII.  They 
ordered one from the Sears Catalog (where America shops) and it got dented 
on the boat going over. Every wringer washing machine they manufactured 
had that same dent.

Denise Thorpe, spewing trivia wherever I go
thorpe@kegs.saic.com

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