The little 2.4-litre Honda K24 is quickly becoming the LS of four-pot engine swaps. Cheap, easy to source and capable of making Barra-like power out of the box, they’re getting stabbed into cars all over the globe.

First published in the August 2024 issue of Street Machine

John Healey decided to jump on that train with his stunning 1971 Datsun 1600 wagon, which he’s owned for 11 years. The L-series mill it had was giving him some grief, so he binned it in favour of the Honda. “Bang for buck, you just can’t beat them,” says John of the K24. “They make great power, are reliable, and so cheap and easy to get compared to, say, an SR20.”

While it might have been tempting to strap a turbo to the side and make four-digit power figures, that’s not what John was after. “It’s only a street car – a cruiser – and maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I just wanted something simple and fun,” he laughs. “With the power it makes, it’s still plenty fun – enough to get in trouble if you aren’t careful.”

To keep the K24 happy over 8000rpm, it was given a birthday by Troy Worsley at Warspeed Industries. The standard block and crank were retained, to which Carrillo rods and CP pistons were added. Compression is set at 11.1, sealed in by a mildly ported head that breathes through a pair of Kelford 179A camshafts. The true kicker with this combo is the Jenvey Dynamics individual-throttlebody intake, which gives the Honda mill all the dort noises you could ever want from a little Datsun.

With Emtron KV8 management and pump 98 fuel, the four-pot made 215rwhp, with power peaking at 8250rpm. “We could’ve revved it higher, but that’s where the peak power ends, so there was no point pushing it,” John says.

If you’re wondering what brand the gorgeous exhaust manifold is, then you’re shit out of luck. It was custom made in-house at John’s work, V-Sport Australia on the outskirts of Sydney, where much of the work on the car was done.

Transmitting that power rearwards is a slick Honda S2000 six-speed manual. “We used a K-series-into-S2000 kit to mount the engine and ’box, which didn’t require much modification to fit,” John says. “I tried to do as much on the car as I could; I like being hands-on and saving money.”

Some fettling was also required to fit the four-linked, 3.9:1-geared BorgWarner rear end. “That’s just part of running a car this low; we had to massage the tunnel and rear-floor diff area,” John explains. “But they are the only parts of the body we modified.”

A full set of airbags gets the little Datto down into the weeds. Like the engine conversion, there were no off-the-shelf options for that job, and it did challenge John at times. “It was my first time doing airbags, and no one wanted to help; they just wanted to do the whole job for bloody diamonds,” he says.

The front uses a sleeve topper on a 280ZX MacPherson strut, while the rear has airbags integrated into the four-link conversion. “I’ve had a lot of lowered cars over the years, and you get tired of scraping on everything when you’re static,” John says. “So, this means I can make it look good when it’s parked but not have to worry every time I turn into a driveway.”

You’ll likely see John’s Datsun at car shows in the Sydney area, and he even takes it to work from time to time. “It drives beautifully, especially for an older car,” he says. “My only goal now is to use it more!”

JOHN HEALEY
1971 DATSUN 1600 WAGON

THANKS
V-Sport; Emtron; King Trim; Insight Motorsports; Todd; Mick; Greg; Scott K; Pip; Scott M and Darren.