The planned power plant

The engine I chose for this project is a VQ30DET. This is not to be confused with the VG30DETT that is found in a 300zx. A little history on the VQ30DET (taken from Wikipedia)

VQ30DET

The 3.0 L (2,987 cc) VQ30DET is a turbocharged version of the VQ30DE. Bore and stroke remain the same at 93 mm and 73.3 mm respectively, and it has a compression ratio of 9.0:1. It produces 270 PS (200 kW; 270 hp) and 271 lb·ft (367 N·m). From 1998 onwards, it produces 280 PS (210 kW; 280 hp) @6000 rpm and 285 lb·ft (386 N·m) @3600 rpm.

It is fitted to the following vehicles:

• 1995–2004 Nissan Gloria Y33,Y34
• 1995–2004 Nissan Cedric Y33,Y34
• 1997–1999 Nissan Leopard Y33
• 2001–2007 Nissan Cima F50

This engine would have been a more popular swap in other chassis had there been a manual transmission for it since day one. Unfortunately there wasnt one available that was direct bolt on for RWD application till the Nissan 350z and Infiniti G35 came into production. I have sourced a CD09 G35 6 speed transmission to mount to the VQ30DET should be quite the powerplant for such a little car!

The tear down

So I got the roadster to the shop and began to take it apart, removing all the interior, exterior  and such

 

As you can see the floor of this car is pretty bad, a critter of some sort was living in the trunk.

 

The game plan

Ok some of you are going to like the idea of this project others are going to despise it. Either way I hope you will enjoy the work that will be put into this. 

I love the exterior look of the roadster. The curves and the classic look or "old school" as one can call it. I'm not so much keen on the interior or the power plant. So my idea is to keep the classic exterior, have a updated interior, power plant and suspension. Similar idea to the new challenger, mustang and charger designs of today.

Before you Datsun Roadster enthusiasts out there get too mad remember this is a base model 1600 not a 2000 and as you will see this roadster is in pretty rough shape under all the interior.

Introducing my Roadster.

It all started when I saw a Datsun Roadster for the first time. I immediately fell in love with how they looked and just had to have one. I did some searching around and found one in Rochester, NY. The guy there had about 10 of these cars he was parting out. All I desired at the time was a decent rolling chassis. After talking to the seller about what I was looking for, I decided to make the trip to Rochester and purchase my first Roadster. It was a white 1967 Datsun Roadster 1600. 

It had been sitting in his barn for quite sometime. Overall body looked solid, but I really wasn't sure the condition of the floor boards till I could get it home and strip it down. I was very surprised how small the car was. I knew they were small but it just never really occurred to me just how small they were till I actually saw one in person. At one point we questioned whether or not the car would fit on a Uhaul flatbed trailer I had rented once I arrived in Rochester. After we broke out the tape measure we found that it would just barely make it on the trailer. So we loaded it up and headed home.