70 Sports Project Thread (insert witty subject line here)

[mojorising84]

Hello All!
I'm excited to start chronicling the restoration work on my 69/70 1600 Sports! Its a bit of a Frankenstein as it was used by the previous owner as a learning project so there are lots of areas that need attending too. First, the bad:
1. No engine/trans/driveshaft
2. No seats or much on an interior to speak of.
3. Previously an NC Miata engine had been fit so the front frame has been modified and will need redoing
4. No working gas tank (PO had started modifying it for another fuel pickup but never finished)
5. A ton of little spots on the body that need attending to before it can really be long term road worthy

But it’s not all bad!
1. Basically a rolling chassis so complete suspension and steering is there (although brake MCs are missing)
2. Body has already been heavily derusted and primered so I don't have any immediate worries of it falling apart
3. Came with a bunch of extra bits like 2 heater/blower units, various trim pieces, 2 sets of door windows and a bunch of boxes that I haven't really dug into yet.
4. Has a rollbar which I won’t use but I can at least sell it!
5. Has a stock hardtop from a 2000
6. Looks like most of the chrome bits are present and accounted for although I’m not sure of the current state of them. The ones I’ve seen look like refinishing will be in order.

So what’s the plan?
On a project like this I think its important to have an end goal in mind to help guide decisions along the way. In a sentence: I want a simple, fun, robust vehicle that I can take on fun runs, weekend trips and longer road trips for two people. I’m not building a track day monster or drift machine. Don’t care about winning any beauty contests. Don’t need 300 hp or massive flared fenders and while I’m not hung up on keeping everything original, I do want to preserve some of the originality. I suppose the smart thing to do would be to sell the whole thing just buy a newer Miata but what the fun in that? Oh, and I want to make just enough modifications to make it unique.

First a bit of a pic dump so you can get a feel for where things are at.

PassengerDoor.JPG

Interior2.JPG

Rear1.JPG

PSRearFender.JPG

Interior1.JPG

DSFrontFender.JPG

DriversSide.JPG

Cheers!
Dave

[TobyMan]

Welcome, there are many roadster owners/drivers/ ex owners/vendors who can give advice along the way.l to having a great fun car. This forum has it all, anything you will need to get the job done can be found here. Not sure where you are in the world but roadster nuts are found everywhere. Again welcome to the journey. Love the pics!

[spl310]

Welcome, you have basically a blank slate to start with. Where are you located? It looks like the PO was planning a flat dash conversion. Looks like fun!

[Curtis]

Looks like they were doing a flat dash conversion.

[Gregs672000]

Welcome, I like your attitude and approach. "Always begin with the end in mind" is what they say. I drove my car for hundreds of miles in my mind before I ever sat behind the seat. My friends actually caught me sitting in the car, imagining things (no, I wasn't making engine noises... well, maybe). I think your biggest decision will be what you do for an engine and trans and how much power you want or need. An R16 works well, and as has been seen they can be massaged to produce plenty of power, as can a stock or modified U20. I feel a 5 speed trans is important. Many swaps are well documented such that you won't need to reinvent the wheel. There are options you can do such as EFI or different carbs/cams to bump power and driveability. My overall top aftermarket recommendation for improving the driving experience is a set of Bilsteins... expensive but worth it IMHO, and you have time to save your dimes if needed.
Have fun and keep us posted! Welcome to the family!

[todd lorber]

It looks like a '68 with an earlier dash as mentioned above. While there is a lot of work required to restore the car, there would be nowhere near as much to just get it drivable. You'll need a gas tank and brakes (master + good functioning wheel cylinders that don't leak), a driver's seat and a drivetrain. I mention this because having some instant gratification gives you motivation to keep the project going in case forward progress stalls at some point. You will probably want to commit to the engine and tranny before investing the time and money but other than those, the parts are what they are.

Good luck, and hit us up with any questions.

[mojorising84]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! To answer some of the questions:

The car Vin and frame are apparently from 1970 but the body shell, rear trunk lid and at least one fender aren't original to the car. I've already torn apart the hood as it was one of the last few body panels that still had significant rust on it. I've pulled the structure from underneath the hood and built a new one out of 1/2 in x 1/2 in tubing. At some point I need to get a welder and put it all back together. Pics of that to come.

I've already sourced an R16 engine and 4speed from a donor but unfortunately it sat with coolant for many years and the head is shot. Block is OK though and I'm already done with teardown and cleaning. Next step rebuild! I've been doing a lot of research on the direction I want to go and that is keep it simple, stock and get it running. I must say I was super impressed with how simple the teardown was of the engine. The R16 is wonderfully simple and the fact that it made as much power as it did in the day despite its simple architecture is really impressive.

Yes the PO did a mostly complete flat dash conversion which I'm actually happy about because it's simple, easy to work with and looks good.

PO also modified the doors to use an NA miata door handle which I'm not super jazzed about but if done well shouldn't look too bad.

Anyway, still lots to do but I'm still in the early motivated phase so it'll be great!

[mojorising84]

Forgot to say, I'm located in South Puget Sound area.
Below are some photos of the work done to the hood so far.

CrackedHoodStructure.jpg

HoodStructureRemoved.jpg

After a lot of wire brushing and sanding I was able to remove most of the rust from the underside of the hood.

HoodWithoutFrame1.jpg

HoodWithoutFrame2.jpg

HoodDetailFront.jpg

I don't yet have any pictures of the frame I've built but I will add some more later. My main focus now is on the engine rebuild so this will be picked up later.

[mojorising84]

Alright, project progress! Engine is totally torn down and the block has been thoroughly cleaned and checked. I went ahead and had it and a bunch of the accessories brackets powder coated. Time will tell if that was a wise choice or not. I went with a non-stock green color which actually turned out brighter than I originally intended.

EngineBlock.jpg

New Alternator.jpg

PulleysAndBracket.jpg

The front cover also had managed to have a crack in it where the cam shaft bolt backed out and wore a bit on the inside. I sent it out to a local welder to get it patched up but to be honest the results aren't quite as nice as I was expecting. I feel like if I had my own welder I could have done a cleaner job. Maybe now is the time to get one? Its not quite flat on the side which mates to the engine block but I will see about carefully sanding it down to get it flat again. I'm a little worried that it won't line up very well with the crank shaft seal but lets see! Worst case scenario I get a new one.

FrontCoverRepair.jpg

I currently working on getting as much corrosion out of the cooling passages as I can and cleaning up the pistons. Once that is done it will be time to buy new rings, new new seals, new bearings, new gaskets the whole deal. However before I get too crazy, I noticed a hole in the casting in a particularly thin spot. It doesn't appear to be connected to either the oil side or the coolant side of things so I don't think its an issue but if anyone has some insight I am all ears (eyes?).

BlockHole.jpg

[Bwk2000]

Seems to me if left unrepaired, it’s a future stress fracture in the outer casing waiting to happen. I’m sure the corrosion underneath extends past the visible hole - How much is the question

[Gregs672000]

Welcome back, glad to see you're making progress! So 311s, is an R16 front cover hard to find? I'm sure somebody has one sitting around, right? That would be better than trying to install a warped part IMHO. Regarding the hole... no idea.

[steve_car]

There was a guy from south of Tacoma, who was putting in a Miata engine into his Roadster project. He came to a couple of the NWDE meetings and was pretty excited about his project, but eventually lost interest and put his car up for sale. I suspect that you ended up with it. Too bad that both he and you put in a lot of extra work because of his plan.
I have an extra 1600 timing cover and live in Auburn.

[redroadster]

You might want to disassemble the steering column
To inspect and help the collapsing function while its in this state , they locked up after a few years and were a killer back in their day .
I recommend a padded horn pad , and not driving it until then

[mojorising84]

There was a guy from south of Tacoma, who was putting in a Miata engine into his Roadster project. He came to a couple of the NWDE meetings and was pretty excited about his project, but eventually lost interest and put his car up for sale. I suspect that you ended up with it. Too bad that both he and you put in a lot of extra work because of his plan.
I have an extra 1600 timing cover and live in Auburn.

Hi Steve!
Yes that is the car. I had another look at the engine mount situation and I will need to completely rebuild them because they were hacked up and new ones welded in. There are also a lot of areas that the previous owner did some learning on with regards to welding which will need to be redone. Oh well, all part of the fun! Right now I'm focusing on the engine. Once I get the bottom end rebuilt I can get a new head! I believe you have one that you were willing to part with right?
Cheers,
David

[mojorising84]

Woohoo! Finally an update.
Major work has been done in sizing, acquiring and designing new front brake components. Most of the pieces are in place, now its just time to get stuff made!
The main goals:
- Minimize manufacturing components or at least minimize complexity to reduce time and cost
- Reduce weight and increase performance as much as possible (better thermal control, overall better braking)
- Consumable components (pads/rotors) should be off-the-shelf, inexpensive, and readily available

The results
- Overall calculated weight loss of ~1.5 lbs per side (~3lbs for the whole car)
- Pad area increased 4x
- Vented Rotor to improve thermal performance
- Hydraulic clamping force increased by 35%

The deats:
- Caliper: AFCO F22, (AFCO used cause they were on closeout, Wilwood Forged Narrow Dynalite would also work), 4 x 1.75" Diameter Pistons
- Rotor: From a 1998 Acura TL 2.5. L-Type mounting, comes with 4 M10 x 1.25 threaded holes 4.5" on center. Hub cutout provides ample spacing for the Datsun hub. These holes can easily be drilled out to allow the stock bolts to pass through. I chose to modify the hub and use SHCS from the front.
- Rotor Option: 1987 Saab 900, K-Type outer mounting. Setup is designed to work with either rotor however the Saab rotor is a bit narrower and would require some shims behind the pads. It would also potentially require a modification of the hub although I haven't checked that yet. This option could actually be a lot lighter. I chose the Acura because of part availability.
- Pad: Wilwood 7816 BP-10 (budget pad material, can be upgraded later)

Uses stock dust shield (although there may be some grinding for final fitup, won't know until I get there.

Next step is to mock up the caliper mount in wood for final final fitup check then get parts made!