New Datsun owner from northern California

[Old Ossa Rider]

Would like to say hi to all the folks here on 311. About 2 years ago I was able to purchase a 1968 SRL 311, that I have know about for 32 years but the owner didn’t want to part with. During this period I believe it has been sitting in his garage for approximately 18-23 years. In 1983-87 the owner had Rebello Racing go though the engine, B cam, ported the head, balanced the engine, 10 1/2 to 1 compression, later back to 9 1/2 to 1. Mikuni 44’s carburetors, long tube headers. And on and on. Not counting two shelves 2’x8’,of original parts and and new interior. Also an extra complete engine. Have her running up on jack stands sitting in my shop. She has to wait till I am able to finish building a roof on the old house I am fixing up. Till then I have put up a large sheet of paper to track different styles of bringIng her back to a driver. I found 331s, soon after being her home, and what a wealth of information on the site. She is waiting for me to seal up the house with a roof, siding and doors, so that she can start coming back. Please bear with me on answering any questions or posting pictures, just learning to use these new fangled phones. Been off the grid (PG&E) and no internet til just recently. I was able to start her and take her for a careful short and slow drive, before the parking her up on stands. Pulled the master cylinders and sent them off to Karps for his magic. Also have used lots of Blaster Loose on all the nuts and bolts. So she sits till stuff that my wife thinks is more important than my little sporty girl. Yes, I just spent some time reading about pictures and posting them.

Ben
Lakeport, CA

[notoptoy]

Welcome! Looking forward to see how well you mastered your review of the picture posting process.
Always love to see a “new” Roadster rejoin the flock.

[Habitat.pat]

Welcome Ben. Sounds like you have a great start to roadstering.

Peace,
Pat

[Gregs672000]

Welcome to the family, sounds like a fun project! We look forward to learning more and are happy to help out!

[Old Ossa Rider]

Thank you all for the welcomes, loving my coffee breaks, I wander over to the shop (that needs a new roof, siding, wiring redone, and floor. ) wire brush nuts and bolts, then spray more blast em loose on them. So far everthing is coming loose without breaking. So far front and rear suspension has been pulled apart, wire brushed, cleaned then put back together. Front fenders, grill area and removable frame parts also. Pulled door panels and working on the inside of both doors now. Wire brush, spray and let sit, then repeat. Been dabbing the screws holding the dash in with Blast Em Loose for about 2 weeks, no go yet. Back to working on the house for now.

[C.Costine]

Good job getting at the wheel cylinders right away! I replaced the fluid in mine with silicone. Along with almost all of the parts. Silicone doesn't absorb moisture and doesn't hurt your paint. While up on stands remove the two cap screws from the bottom of each front fender and pull them away about an inch. You will be able to probe in there and perhaps pull out some mud and head off some serious rust. Once rust gets started being under cover isn't worth much because the rust pulls moisture out of the air.

[S Allen]

Welcome Ben. Look forward to following your project. Glad you joined us.

Steve

[Old Ossa Rider]

C. Costine, went looking for the screws at the bottom of the fenders, used a vacuum and stuff wire to clean out the area somewhat. Now spraying the bolts with penetrating spray and went looking for the rest of the bolts for the front fenders. Thank you are the tip.

S Allen, thanks for the welcome and the site. Played around with putting pictures on the site. Looks like I will need to break down and ask the wife to use her laptop. Oh boy that may cost me.

[C.Costine]

What Ossa do you have? I had a '72 Pioneer. I rode enduros here in New England. I also am old.

[Old Ossa Rider]

Sorry for the late reply. Up till 2 1/2 years ago I had 8 complete ones and lots of spare parts, motors and some frames of all kinds. Being an old guy and needing to stay busy, I started to play around with older bikes. In 1966 my first bike was an Ossa 175, street bike that was set up as a TT/ Flat Tracker. At the time we were living in Redwood City were I was able to ride, Skyline area and do a little racing with it till they found out I was only 14. In 1967 we moved to Tomales in West Marin County were it became my daily transportation for the next few years. Life moved on and I sold that bike. When I retired, I started looking for my original bike and any other Ossa’s to play with. While having coffee with the local old farts, me being one. Some one spoke up that he had a gas tank I was looking for, a Pioneer one, but it wasn’t for sell, but would trade. Ok this is better, he told me to head over to his house and that when I finished cleaning out a shed full of junk, the tank was mine. Open the door to a 8’x10’ shed and it’s full to the roof of Ossa bikes and parts. I died and went to heaven right there. So, 3 Pioneers, Andrews Trials, 250 Desert Phantom and the Holy Grail, 1 SST. After lots of coffee and playing around they were the runners. But I made the mistake of over restoring them, but they were sure nice to look at. Made one of the other Pioneers into a Street Tracker and that was enjoyable to ride. I was living about 1 mile from OHV area in Upper Lake, so jump off the hill and ride.
But as life goes, you should eat dessert first never knowing what life will bring. 2 1/2 years ago my wife and I were caught in the Ranch Fire. Walked away, well drove really fast away with a bag of clothes. But the good thing is now I have the Roadster. Working on the shop to play in. Hope that answers your question about what Ossa.
Boy, hope we can get out and around soon. Still haven’t got the pictures down. But getting closer.

[Dreymar]

Welcome and enjoy the project, Ben!

[Old Ossa Rider]

Well new news on the Datsun. Been waiting on a contractor for about 6 weeks now. His job was to build a in place roof, sheet it and cover with shingles, along with installing gutters. Well heard from him finally. He stated that it’s to much work and to hard. It was a T&M job, so I have a hard time figuring that one out. So the shop, I was working on will be put on hold and I will head over to the house and start the roof. But the really good news is that will let me order in parts needed and have time to spare some more PB Blaster. Still can’t figure out pictures, so off to a high school IT tech friend to help out. Notes will be taken.

[S Allen]

Your pictures are most likely taken with an iPhone or and Android. They are megapixel size making them too large to upload to the site. There are a number of websites you can use to resize your megapixel pictures to a more web friendly 640x480 size. Here are a few--
Pic Resize
Image Resizer

Not trying to make it difficult but trying to control the use of space used by uploaded files.

Thanks.

Steve

[funkaholik]

Any updates on the Datsun or the roof? I just noticed that you are in Lakeport. You're very close to Mike Young in Middletown. He has all the parts you'll ever need, plus many years of expertise. Look him up at www.datsunsports.com.