Micro-touring? Bluebird build...

[datsunfreak]

Don't really have a catchy name for this project, but I do have a sweet Illustrator rendering...







When I got the car it was basically stock. Don't have any pics of it then, but this will give you an idea...





As soon as it got home I dropped the rear 2" and the front 3" and put on some better wheels. Very light 3pc Epsilons 16x7 and 16x7.5...





I have many big plans for it, and it should come together fairly quickly. Step one was ordering some 17x8 wheels for a more stylish look. And since I wanted something to show off the brakes better, I went with these...




I think they are a good combination of old school flavor in a new school size. Sort of akin to 18" Torq-Thrusts.

But anyone who knows me knows what a wheel-whore I am so if you hate those, just wait six months...


BIG brakes will be a must. I've already swapped from the tiny stock 9" solid rotors and wimpy calipers for some 10" vented rotors and beefier calipers from a 280ZX Turbo. Eventually I'll be running 11" rear rotors with 2-piston Wilwood calipers and 12" front rotors with Wilwood 4-pistons. A good friend of mine is using monster 13" rotors from a Corvette (over 1" thick!) so I may confer with him about how his was done and do mine the same. Again, it's a 2000 pound car, so going too big is really more just for show.




Current engine choice will be a CA18DET. For those not familiar with Nissan engine nomenclature this is a DOHC 1.8L turbocharged engine. Stock it makes 175hp. Mine should make 200+ whp right out of the box, with the potential for 250-275 with some tweaks (bigger turbo, injectors, MAF, etc.). In a 2000 pound car it should have a very good power-to-weight ratio. Even though I have a 4.11 LSD diff for the car, at 225+whp traction will be a bit "limited".

This engine has the benefit of being roughly the same size and weight of the stock engine so handling dynamics shouldn't be greatly effected. Here's what it looks like in a Datsun...




Outside mods will be fairly limited as I like the stock lines and trim. I will add a front chin spoiler with built-in brake-cooling ducts...




This is kind of the look I'm going for but in a more understated color. Will definitely run the smoked Hella headlights like he did, and the same grill (more room for an intercooler)...





I will add some more pics as I go along...