Kent,
Thanks for the complements. We will have to do a track day with the roadsters at some point. What car are you racing Lemons in? There are a couple vintage guys who have shown interest in doing a roadster, the trouble is only two of use are in the bay area, one is in San Diego, and none of us have time to build a car.
As for my being the ultimate Datsun roadster anti-engine swap person, yeah, I'm guilty as charged. I don't like defacing a rare car. The only way I'd build a Lemons roadster is if I found one that was totally beaten and the body only had one place left in the world, the scrap yard. (As in way too far gone to rebuild.) The frames are pretty hardy, so, when the Lemons car is retired, another body could be sourced to replace the mess that the Lemons car would be.
As far as hanging around too many vintage racers, well, the whole reason for me racing Lemons is to get seat time so I can go race vintage. Yes, modern cars have IRS and disks at all four corners, big deal. There are still a few that use leaf springs and rear drum brakes as well (they tend to be American). Yet some how, those get put in the fast category even if they really aren't that fast.
Now, if you want to put a Chevy V8 in your Volvo, have fun. If you want to put a Ford V8 in your Volvo, again, have fun. Heck if you want to put a Mazda 20B in your Miata, that might actually get my attention, but it better be turbo charged. However sticking a RB26DET in a Mustang would have me looking for the Skyline that the RB came out of (who cares about the mustang.) I don't like opening the hood of a vintage car and seeing something modern in there (In the case of American V8 powered cars, it doesn't matter, its still more or less the same engine, just with more mess attached to it.) They look the same and sound the same. If you are swapping an engine into a modern commonly seen what ever, have fun, there are millions more like it. In the case of the roadster specifically, stop and think; when was the last time you saw one on the street? The registry only has 1909 cars listed, and that is world wide. Sure there are lots that are "unknown" but the total number is still likely less than 3000. Thats all the 1500s, 1600s and 2000s combined. My point is, don't ruin an uncommon/rare car for the people who will get it after you. A vintage car is just that, vintage. If you want a modern car, buy a modern car, don't take a vintage one and try to make it modern, it just ruins the car for someone else when you are done with it.
Back to the lack of size, well, its pretty much the same size as a Miata, early MR2, MGB, Honda Civic, Fiat, or Alfa Spider or a BMW 2002. I see an awful lot of Miatas and civics running around at Lemons races. Size is not an issue.
Will
Filthy Faux Porsche 935
1959 Alfa Giuletta 101.02 Sprint (huge project) 1969 Alfa 105.51 GTV (daily driver, now dead)
1969 Datsun 2000 (race car, current daily driver)