1968 Datsun Roadster powered by 2.3L Ecoboost

 Nice! More pictures?

In reply to bluej (Forum Supporter) :

I'll need to get it home, I had it delivered to work. Showed up out of the blue, I never got tracking.

The harness is not professional, I have some fixing ahead of me. No SCT handheld to be found, so I have to hound them about that now. Also no VIN, so I have no history on it. 

I was telling my ecoboost friend about the wiring job and he whipping up a new harness for me to test out. 

Any thoughts on building this 9"? I'm thinking 28 spline stuff will be more than strong enough while being more budget friendly. 

It's home and I started to look it over more closely. The wiring is just not good. They clearly intended to do the bare minimum to make it run and the rest is up to you.

I traced the vacuum pump and HPFP on cardboard using the bellhousing bolts as a reference and lined it up on my trans. I can sneak the vacuum pump under the hood latch, but I have to cut for the HPFP.

Great to see it is finally here and running. Wiring is probably not a big surprise but at least you are starting with a functional harness, verse pulling it all out and trying to figure out what you delete. Cleaning up the already reduced wiring bundle will be much easier. 

I finally got my VIN out of them, here's its prior home. 

The disappointing of purists continues. I hope to set the engine in for the first time tomorrow and prove my measurements. 

Disappointing the purists is always a fun little bonus of doing a cool project like this. 

damarble said:

I was telling my ecoboost friend about the wiring job and he whipping up a new harness for me to test out. 

 

Any thoughts on building this 9"? I'm thinking 28 spline stuff will be more than strong enough while being more budget friendly. 

31 spline all the way.  It weighs a little more, but if you want to play with different differentials, everybody who makes 9" diffs makes them for 31 spline.  28 spline is a little harder to come by.  This means it's cheaper to build a 31 spline.  Plus, youll never break it.  (probably)

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

damarble said:

I was telling my ecoboost friend about the wiring job and he whipping up a new harness for me to test out. 

 

Any thoughts on building this 9"? I'm thinking 28 spline stuff will be more than strong enough while being more budget friendly. 

31 spline all the way.  It weighs a little more, but if you want to play with different differentials, everybody who makes 9" diffs makes them for 31 spline.  28 spline is a little harder to come by.  This means it's cheaper to build a 31 spline.  Plus, youll never break it.  (probably)

Good point. My thinking was 28 spline lets me use unwanted junkyard parts, since everyone goes for the 31s. My initial calculations put me at about 2.8-3.0:1 to match the donor Mustang's final drive (because of the huge difference in OD between the MT82 and P66M-D). This axle came with an open 2.73 third, so it would be a free trial but only if I order 28 spline shafts. It will require a limited slip at some point to put the power down. 

In reply to damarble :

That does make a good bit of sense.  I'd do some searching, the aftermarket may have something available to you, now.  Used 28 spline Trac-Loks are not terribly common in 2021 but who knows what new items are available.

I picked up a decent diff from that circle track shop in Ames, Iowa for something crazy cheap like $299.  9" limited slips are not the greatest because there is room for only one clutch set, which is why so many use spools and even the factory used Detroit Lockers, which I found to be a carnival of breakage due to how harsh their action is.  Have not competed on the Trac-Lok yet but it drives very smoothly on the street.

After some steel removal we are here. Very close. 

I was having some oil filter clearance when trying to clock the block to passenger side. I ordered the relocation plate from Xero Limit. For $65 shipped it seems like a good value. I'm not handy enough like TVR Scott to make my own. 

Wow. Is that thing going to go in without you having to cut the front crossmember?

onsight512 said:

Wow. Is that thing going to go in without you having to cut the front crossmember?

By my current estimates it will fit cleanly behind it. 

Whoops the grinder slipped and I nicked the body. Is a concours restoration still possible? 

I am curious how the engine management will be happy running standalone.  Or did I miss something?

The Motorsport -2300 controls pack is engineered around this engine, but gosh it's expensive.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Smarter men than me have already figured that out. I just have to give them money.

My friend has actually figured out how to replicate the controls pack for much cheaper. I'm beta testing one of his harnesses instead of the one Mars sent, and once he's ready to go public the ecoboost line up will be more accessible to the average joe.

That, is fantastic. I've got the MZR 2.0 in, but if  it doesn't prove enough with cams and ITB's, I'll be looking at Ecoboost options.

Oh and I also just gave the original license plate to another buddy to weld the cracks so I can restore it. WA lets you use plates from the year the car was made if it's a classic. I know this plate has been on the car since day one so that's a pretty cool thing to have. 

Teh E36 M3 said:

That, is fantastic. I've got the MZR 2.0 in, but if  it doesn't prove enough with cams and ITB's, I'll be looking at Ecoboost options.

I think if I were to do it all over again I'd just turbo a MZR/Duratec. Nothing on the back of the head in the way and more flexibility with a header.

My plate is welded up, lots of sanding, dent removal, and paint ahead. I'm trying to figure out the correct colors for a 68 WA but nothing definitive yet. There's enough good paint on it that I might be able to have a paint store match it. 

I'm going to cut away a bunch more frame today. I've decided to get it over with, and just box in under it and into the crossmember to get the strength back. 

In reply to damarble :

If the controls pack uses the same hardware as a Mustang, I think I know a way to do it.

The Mustang had the HPFP on the back of the head?  I've only seen a north-south 2.3 Ecoboost in a Ranger, and the HPFP is on top.  Innnnteresting....

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

The HPFP is cam driven, and I think the Ranger is on the intake cam and the Mustang is on the exhaust side. You can see it poking up a bit by the blue tape a few pics back.

I think I ruined my frame... Going to box it where the blue is, that should make it just as strong as original.

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And the drawing has become steel. Wrapped up around the other side too. Still have to weld it out but it gave it some structure so I could work the top some more.