Dedicated drag cars aren't driven as much as they are aimed down the track ... aimed like a fine weapon.

recko it looks sweet with the blower out the top i would love it even more if it was a A- motor bu8t u wouldnt use suck a big blower if it was a A- motor i would ve more wise to use a turbo ami corect

who said its got a blower? all i see is twin carbs and a scoop!

1.Cleveland v8s are as heavy as the titanic so its useless to put in such as car.
2. I love dattos for budget agility lets not forget we all do and anythin with a cleveland sucks.
3. if it had a toyota twin cam v8 then I give them credit for using their brain rather than their redneckness.
4. Rotaries are going faster than that thing
5. what a waste of a 1000 wagon

Guys, I think you miss the point. This is a drag-racing car. For drags:

- the bigger the engine the better. A 13B rotary isn't going down the 1/4 mile faster than an 8-liter V8 (with both built to similar specs). If that was true, the unlimited drag cars would all be using rotaries ...

- Putting a huge engine in a light car is useful for this purpose

- Agility is not important. Accelerating quickly in a straight line is the important goal

- This conversion may have saved a 1000 wagon from the scrapyard

There is pics of this car somewhere else on the net and its from Western Australia.
And anyone with a keen eye for 1000,s will note that the roof has been chopped and lowered by 2 - 3 inches.

And like ddgonzal pointed out a big engine might weigh the car down, but it has the power to over come this. And agility doesnt come into play in straight lines.

I can't say I've ever seen this one hiding out over here.
At first I thought it was my old 1000 wagon with 253 V8 in it but its not.

I was thinking it might be yours as I had read you once had one.
I will try to find where I saw it, unless ddgonzal remember where he got it?

This car belonged to some engineering place in Queensland as I remember when looking for 1000s world wide on the web. I hope we arent the only ones to notice the chop top as it godam obvious. Youre right it could have saved it from the tip but the fact that the thing ran a best of 8.6 seconds is lousy for minimalist proportions compared to the full body mazda rotaries and even the rigoli ute. Big cubes win the unlimited cause they are keith black all alloy and big money and not the heavy clevelands. When it comes to budget its proven roters cost a 1/3 of a v8 to get the same go for the street/strip. Roters have miniscoule development compared to pistons and if they had the same marketting and development as the piston engine theyd be keith black quad 8 liter versions at least.

d i agree its awsome car though
i cant wait till my 1000 is complete with its 13bturbo motor in it... coming along abit slow but by summer nats hopeefully done...

I doubt it would be cheaper to get a rotary to run mid 8's than a big block V8. And besides, what's wrong with a cleveland? I'd rather a Windsor for weight's sake, especially now that they're being stroked to over 430 ci, but hey... you said "budget" so maybe someone had a cleveland lying around. They make great power too!

I hate it!!!!!!! Maybe it was saved but im sure it would have looked nicer at the tip than that!!!!!! The roof chop the bonnet the wheels I would not say it was saved!!!!!

I think that this less a Datsun with a V8, & more a purpose built racer that uses a Datsun body as one of the components of it's construction.

The Cleveland is not regarded as a heavy engine. My 325 Dodge Hemi comes in at 611lb in stock trim & the 392 Chrysler weighs in with the big boys at 737lb, also in stock trim. The slightly smaller Chrysler 354 engine with a squillion dollars worth of alloy bits, including heads can be pared down to about 485lb ready to run. Thats less than a stock 289 Ford Windsor.

I LOVE the roof job. Datsun 1000 two door sedans would benefit hugely with a couple of inches from the roofline.

Regarding tubs, these are fine for racing, but its when this sort of tub job is run on the street that it becomes illegel, unsafe, & they look dumb.
Chris
P.S. I see no evidence of a blower.

i think its cool the cut roof does not do much 4 me but a. and a rotary, once ya bean in a good v8 ya never look back

The beauty of the illustrated roofline is that it places the glass height in "proportion" to the rest of the body. In standard form, these little cars need a comparitavely tall roofline to allow new car buyers to sit in one comfortably, but the cost is a car with a disproportionately tall roof.

As a toy, we can "re-adjust" the roofline to make the body look less "top hat" & more sleek. It also improves the C of D as a by-product. I regard it as the one & only significant change to the bodyshell to actually make an improvement. Just keep the amount of height reduction within reason.