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1970 Datsun Roadster.......kinda OT

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zimmy

zimmy

Jedi Knight
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my friends kept telling me about this car that looks like mine, so i go check it out and it turns out to be a Datsun Roadster convertible.....
oddly it looks quite abit like a midget, expecially from down the street!
the main difference being that the Datsun has a 2000cc
motor and supposedly does 150 bhp! wow...
needless to say im considering trading a uneeded extra
boat for it and thinking it would make a good "next"
project.
the tranny has been switched to an automatic from something, otherwise, it seems fairly complete.....

do any of u guys know anything about these cars? ...zimmmy

datsun%20roadster.jpg
 
I believe the original tranny would have been a 5 speed (PS I have one mated to a 1900cc Nissan engine!)

Road and Track did a quite positive road test on them when they were new!! The had a little more luxury than the LBC competiton and were designed to compete with the MGB! I don't recall that 150 bhp though!
 
u r correct about the 5 speed.......
ive seen 150 bhp on a few web sites...
if a 1275 can do 70, i dont see why a
2000 couldnt maybe double that , expecially
equipped with the factory cam and carb upgrades..
ya upgrades! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif .....z
 
Stock for that car should be a 4-speed. But there's no reason you can't bolt in a 5-speed. The block from that car was used for many, many years. Is it a DOHC car?
 
there IS a 5 speed with sychros for the 2000.....
and yes i believe it is DOHC....
although i havent seen the motor
yet in the pictured car.......z
 
I have seen the front spindles break off several times on the race track.
 
''''''do any of u guys know anything about these cars? ''''

not me!

only that the front lower ball joints which are n.l.a. are $300-350 a pair. Some engine bearings for the 1600 also...

There was a 1600, 1800 and also a 2L roadster built. Early cars are 3 main...later are 5 main. The 2.0 is SOHC.

They can be expensive to make whole.

datsun2000.com or 3115.org
 
One of my memories of autocrosssing in the early 70s was a datsun 2000 cone racing and having a blast. You have to remember, no radials and he was burning the tires up. The motor was really strong.
 
Morris said:
Stock for that car should be a 4-speed. But there's no reason you can't bolt in a 5-speed. The block from that car was used for many, many years. Is it a DOHC car?
Click to expand...

Nope - the 2000 had a five-speed. I had a '69, and had a ball with it. Wish I still had it. And the engine was a DOHC - very nice looking, with twin Solex carbs.

There used to be a great resource for parts in Kent, Washington. If they're still around, I'm sure a Google search would turn them up.

Mickey
 
I've got a friend who is finishing up a 2000 restoration. I've raced against some of the fastest ones in the country in SCCA. I can tell you this, when compared to a Midget or MGB, parts are really hard to find and very expensive, you can restore two Midgets for what it cost to do one 2000.
 
hmmm, he said it will start, ill see what happens when i stop over to check it out this week.....

im getting ready to install XP over windows ME on my computer...
hope i get to see u guys again! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif ...zimmmmmmy
 
Those two liters had a real Mickey Mouse valve train. Used a balance shaft and lots of chains and sprockets to get the twist up to the top of the engine. I bought one for restoration many years ago and parts were scarce and expensive way back then. Sold it to a guy who had three more parts cars (who died before getting even one of them to drive). Best of luck. Bob
 
Bob Claffie said:
Those two liters had a real Mickey Mouse valve train. Used a balance shaft and lots of chains and sprockets to get the twist up to the top of the engine. I bought one for restoration many years ago and parts were scarce and expensive way back then. Sold it to a guy who had three more parts cars (who died before getting even one of them to drive). Best of luck. Bob
Click to expand...


Yep, and according to my friend who is restoring a 2000, the sprockets and chain alone are $800.00, and don't get me even started on what the carb parts cost. There's a reason they are sitting around, no one can afford to restore one.
 
Now I had heard (but not necessarily reliably) that the Datsun 2000 had the same basic engine (L20) as the Datsun 510 of the time (L16) but just bored up to 2 liters. Is this totally off? Anyone know?
Bill
 
Jim Fitzgerald did the best detonation of a 2-litre engine or maybe any engine ever . At the green flag of a Road Atlanta national the engine exploded. About the only remains of the block is where the motor mounts attached. Anyway that's how I remember it.

Alan T
 
ya,those parts are expensive!
guess i could sell the car on ebay,
surely its worth more than the boat
i have in mind for tradin.... around $500....z
 
Those parts are expensive, but it IS a Datsun. If it is running, it will probably stay that way if you take basic preventative maintenance measures. Old Datsuns are TOUGH. That car was made back in the day when the Nipponese had everything to prove, and prove it they did! I have known Datsuns of that era to make well over 200,000 miles on 2 or 3 oil changes TOTAL. The owners couldn't remember what year they changed the oil last!

Another plus is that car was made to take a tall overhead cam motor. Unlike our spridgets, finding a lump that "bolts right in" will be easy.
 
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