Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I used the R1570 Kyorad with a Flex-a-Lite fan on my sr turbo swap and it cools great. No problems at 96 degrees New Mexico heat. My FAL fan covered the whole radiator-was a bolt on unit for the Honda del sol application. Great progress and great work, its going to be awesome.

That is exactly what I needed to hear Ed! Thank you so much, and thank you for the compliments!

You may have noticed that I cut and welded up the area that the master cylinders usually sit. This is because I don't like the way any component in the entire braking system looks aside from the calipers. I think master cylinders with the reservoirs are hideous, and the lines running all over the engine bay don't agree with the minimalist look I'm trying to achieve. I'm going to hide it.... All of it!

A while back, I had started mounting a Wilwood reverse swing pedal box to bring the master cylinders inside the the cabin. The welds on the brackets, I will admit, are embarrassing. It was so hard to lay on the floorboard, on your back, holding the metal in one hand, and welding with flux-core wire-feed welder above your head, under the dash. Super hard, but its all secure. I got some aluminum angle from Home Depot, and made secondary reinforcement brackets. These will reduce all of the moment on my poorly welded thin gauge brackets up top, and put the majority of the load into the already braced section of the firewall. I also had to cut out large holes for the future brake and clutch lines that will need to attach to these master cylinders.

I got a low profile remote master cylinder reservoir from Tilton. It's a really nice piece. I am going to mount this underneath that little cowl grill in between the hood and the windshield. It was a bit too tall so another cutout was needed. As I was cutting this out, I realized that there is a good bit more room in that area to hide some more stuff. Since I think the dash will only have enough room for the fuses, relays, and wires, I cut out the passenger side area out. I'm thinking I will replace this cutout with a bolt-in that the ECU can be mounted to.

Thats about all of the cutting/welding work I think I need to do up in there, so I went ahead and mounted the dash frame. Since it is made of thin sheet metal, it is very wobbly and has 'potato chipped' quite a bit from welding. I need to make some additional support braces/brackets to keep it from bouncing all over the place while driving. I'm also going to probably rivet it to the body when its all said and done. Even though the front aluminum face plate isn't finished, I think it looks really nice. I'm going to add some LED indicator lights. I'm thinking turn signals, high beam, and a check engine/gauge light that will be an output of the ECU if any parameter gets out of whack. maybe even a shift light. I dunno. I'm also going to add a USB port for laptop connection to the ECU and a datsun logo.

For the switch panel, I am thinking Ignition/ECU, Lights, wipers, and one that engages a higher boost setting in the ECU. For the Dash top, I am really excited to see it made out of wood. I'm going to start out by making it out of just some pine planks from home depot and staining it. If I actually like it, I'm going to find a nice plank of Walnut and carve it out. I can use the scraps for all sorts of other wood-working projects too!

As always, Here's the pics!

Cheers,
Wade

That’s just pretty! I would say watch out for leaks in the cowl but I don’t imagine you, like me, will be doing to much wet driving! I like the pedals and I like the fact that the brake lines and reservoir is away from the turbo heat. Smart! Now you got me thinking....which hurts

Cheers
Matthew

Yeah totally, this car is a "0% chance of rain" kind of car! I think it's going to end up looking really clean, But doing maintenance on the braking system will be a bit trickier. There's not much room up in there. I hope it inspires some cool stuff on your end.

I wish I had progress to post from this week, but doing all of this cutting and grinding above my head (despite wearing PPE) left me with a spec of metal in my eye that needed to be removed. Hurt like stink, but its healing up alright. I might get back out in the garage this weekend and work on a prototype wooden dash top. I don't know if I have the motivation for it though. The temptation to take it easy is too strong this weekend.

Cheers,
Wade

Love the idea!

If you possibly can, mount the pedals, and lock them out, and push as hard as you can. Make sure there is no flex up there.

One thing you are going to figure out quickly is just how fast a turbo SR in a roadster is.. Please make sure the brake masters are solid. Such the right option for the braking on one of these. You will love having the ability to balance the brakes!

Thanks Mike! That is solid advise that I will absolutely take. I'll test it out once I have the seat mounted and something to push against.

Cheers,
Wade

We probably went overkill on mine. But at the time we were doing it, I was still planning on regularly tracking the car. And because there is no booster, and with seriously sticky tires, you can push really hard on the brake pedal to get deep brake points..

That was why we decided to plate both sides in there. My guess is it was overkill. But brakes are one of those systems that you just do not want to do trial and error, right?

Wow 4 months since an update. I have been focusing on the other project car mainly, so any progress made on the roadster has been slow and irregular. Here's what I've got done since the last post... might have to break it up into multiple posts due to picture size limits.

I started on the dashboard top. My initial idea was to cut this out of layers of a nice wood such as walnut, and leave it exposed. Instead of ruining a nice piece of wood right away, I decided to do it with plywood to start. If It turns out okay, I can redo it in nicer wood. If it is really bad, I can upholster it in a fabric like microfiber or vinyl. It's as I thought, and not looking so great, so I think I'm going to just shoot for a fabric covered top. I at least made cardboard templates of all the layers before gluing so I can give it another shot in the future if I decide to. I built it up in layers; layer 1 sits down in the metal frame, layer 2 sticks off the face, and will give it a nice beveled edge when finished, as well as has a recessed tray/dish to set stuff in. Layers 3/4/5 are to add a little hump around the larger gauges. I'm going to make this easily removable, and the metal dash tray will house all of the fuses, relays, and as much wiring as possible.
Cheers,
Wade

The fender flares so far have actually been pretty fun. I did figure a few things out that I didn't really think of at the start of it. It took me a while to find the right foam. The green floral foam was a total bust, and the first spray foam i used was loctite brand. It turned out to be really soft when i started to shape it all. It turns out the Great Stuff gaps and cracks was the good stuff. it sprayed easier, and it was easy to shape. Also, on one of the fenders, I used some cheapo masking tape, and when the foam cured, it peeled the tape off of the metal. I had to start over on that one. For shaping, power tools made too much of a mess. I got the rough shape with a serrated drywall knife, and then used a couple of different rasps to get the shape a little more where I wanted it. Rasping it by hand just left little piles of foam dust that can be swept up easy. I got the rough shape of the front flare where I wanted it, and then covered it in some modeling clay to get the finer details. I used a heat gun and a cardboard box to make a little oven to soften the clay before spreading it out over the foam. It's still a bit lumpy and needs some more work before its ready to make a mold from, but I just wanted to share the progress so far. Here's some pics

Flare pictures Cont'd

One last little update, I purchased an aluminum fuel tank. The stock tank wouldn't fit due to the watts linkage. Its not mounted, but I cut the trunk floor out and it;s currently sitting on jack stands. The trunk floor was completely cracked from the oem tank hanging from it. this is much easier than welding all this back together.
That's all for the time being. Now that the majority of the work that the black car needed is complete, I'll be shifting my focus back to to roadster. I really want to finish the dash and the fender flares withing the next couple months. I did procure all of the materials needed to create the molds and the fenders themselves, so hopefully this should all go pretty quick.

Cheers,
Wade

I like the stance of the car. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Thanks Matt! I'm really liking how it's turning out so far. When I get a bit further with the clay shaping, I'll try and push it out of the garage and post some better pictures of it that aren't so close up. It will also allow me to get a different perspective on the lines and proportions of it, and make sure it all jives together.

Cheers,
Wade

Dude your car is looking sick. I can’t wait to see the finished product. Just a thought on the dash... maybe some dash speakers. Just a thought that I’ve been toying with on my dash. Also keep the molds you make people here my be interested in them.

Cheers

Matthew