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INTRODUCTION |
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In May of 2005, my wife and I bought a 1966 Datsun Roadster from a guy down in Huntington Beach. We were looking for an inexpensive, but snazzy, little convertible to use as the "getaway car" for our wedding. |
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The SPL311 fit the bill, and I like the idea of mixing the fun of a British or Italian roadster with the sensibility and user-friendliness of a Japanese car. Plus, we didn't have to pay extra for the rare snow-leopard dash cover.
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The car ran when we got it, but I ended up repairing or replacing just about everything but the engine internals and the front suspension. We also sent it out to get repainted. I drove to the paint place with the car like this, then removed the brake lights in their parking lot.
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The paint job was about $2000 at California West Coast paint, on Venice Boulevard, near Redondo Boulevard. The quality of the paint is so-so, but I was impressed at the attention they gave to the prep. Either way, it looked great in our wedding photos. (by November 2007, this paint was a mess)
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For several years we drove the car & enjoyed it very much. I kept tinkering on it endlessly, even though it was mechanically our most reliable car (this, compared to two Bavarian cars of less than 3 years age). All the while, there were noises coming from the engine that I did not like. Deep down was a bearing rumbling, although this didn't bother me very much. Higher up was a rattling from the head that neither I nor anyone else could track down definitively. It didn't seem to be a problem, in terms of driveability, but it was loud and annoying. So, I began thinking about refurbishing the engine. But, I hate dealing with carburettors, so my thoughts quickly turned to a modern EFI engine. After a long period of debate, I decided to go with a 1.8 liter Mazda Miata drivetrain. It's a well-liked drivetrain with a lot of aftermarket support. The other contender was a Ford Zetec engine mated with a Ford T-9 transmission (found in the US on the XR4Ti ). It's a great engine with a lot of aftermarket support, but a mediocre transmission. And I was not enthusiastic about the parts sourcing necessary to joing the transverse engine to the longitudinal transmission. What follows, then, is the documentation of my transplant of a 1994 Miata drivetrain into a 1966 Datsun Roadster. I pulled the original engine in July of 2007. I got the new engine running in July of 2008. I drove around the block in August of 2008 (although it did shut off at the first stop sign). On January 15, 2009, I finished tidying up and declared it complete. After nearly a decade, I am happy to report that this swap is running strong with only oil changes, a new thermostat and new rubber caps over the unused vacuum ports. In the summer of 2016, I redid the dash/body electrical harness, purely for aesthetic reasons. I had always been embarrassed by how the first version looked, even though it worked great for 8 years. I am aware of six or seven Roadster owners who have used this site as a guide to doing their own Miata engine swaps, along with several folks using the wiring diagrams and other tips for Miata swaps into other cars. I'm pretty proud of that, and I'm proud of how well the car continues to run after all this time. |
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