Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Welcome to the addiction! We're here to help. Do learn about the U20 as noted above, particularly in regards to the evil L. Given that the engine spent some time sitting, it may be a good idea to drop the pan and check the rod and main bearings, as old oil with built up acids can eat bearings over time. You may save yourself some future heavier rebuild time and expense by checking the bearings and replacing if bad BEFORE they eat themselves up and score the crank... just a thought! I recall what my bearings looked like when I took my engine apart...

greydog wrote:Got the R16 block back from the machine shop. Bored .010, cleaned, new cam bearings, mains checked for size and alignment. Flywheel lightened but only a little (2.6lb). Shold be a good engine, mains and rods are standard bore, just polished the crank a little. Bores were got at standard but needed to bore to accept the H20 pistons.
Cleaned the bores, installed the H20 cam and lifters. Got the crank clearances checked and the thrust set (measures .0036). Main clearance is pretty consistent at .0016/.0018".
Hopefully, by the end of the weekend I'll have the pistons installed and can begin to button up the block.

I know it's Valentines weekend but hey, it's her car...

Dan

Block's done and painted. Gotta get it off the engine stand so I can bolt up the lightened flywheel, clutch and tranny. Then it's back in Scooter she goes.
I've been working on the red "68 too. Several coats of sound deadener and 80 mil butyl/aluminum on the firewall and front of the cockpit. I wasn't happy with the carpet kit I bought for the '69 so decided to make my own for the '68. I ordered black loop carpet, backing material and a heel pad from Perfect Fit Iwhere we buy all our auto upholstery stuff). Used the '69's carpets for a pattern and made changed where I wanted. We've got a heavy duty sewing machine (it's a Juki, made for quilting) that works very well for sewing the binding on the edges of the carpet pcs. So far it's coming along nicely. I'd post some pics if I could figure out a painless hosting site....
Dan

Dan, are you cloth binding the edges or surging with thread?
I prefer a cloth bound edge, but dont know if it looks right in a roadster.
Right click your pic, should see an edit, click and you should be able to resize. 20 percent works for me.
But thats microflop er soft.

I worked on my seats well one seat.

The edge binding is a black vinyl strip.
The serged edging looks great when first done but seems to fray and soil quickly so we're going with ease of cleaning and durability.

I got the tranny/driveline cut out along with the pad. Once that's in and glued down I'll try to get a few pics.
Dan

Knocked off the big chunks. Cabinet prep.



Blasted



Painted with Centari acrylic enamel and a splash of wet look hardener.

My wife wanted her rims to be silver and I had bought her new black donuts for her birthday. I found changing car tires with my home setup easier than doing motorcycle tires.

Time to make the change-

Installed some new "hens teeth" for "Carol" today.

I bought this from Japan today. I don't know what I'm going to do with it since I don't have solexes but I couldn't pass it up.

Curtis wrote:I bought this from Japan today. I don't know what I'm going to do with it since I don't have solexes but I couldn't pass it up.

Haha - I saw that too. With the exchange rate right now, I saw that you got a smoking deal on it. I just got a Solex air cleaner delivered from Japan this past weekend, as well as the above front side-marker lights for my '69. Jauce is a great resource!

Had a little trouble deciding what to do with the dash on the SR20VET so when Kevin installed the modified electronic gauges we had him install a faux carbon fiber dash at the same time. Nobody was really thrilled with the way it came out so when he suggested we send the valve cover out to be “Hydro Dipped” we decided to send out another dash with it and what a difference. The toughest part was talking myself into tearing apart a perfectly good car that I had just gotten back but I had to put the finishing touches on the speedo hookup anyway so we pulled it into the lab and dug in.

This was our first attempt at the faux carbon fiber and since it didn't have the pop we were looking for it had to go.

Everything removed and ready for replacement.

The SR20’s don’t have a drive for the speedo so you pretty much have to go electronic but I was determined to have a stock looking mechanical unit which meant we had to fabricate some kind of speedo pickoff. While shopping around for the sender I came across a GPS sending unit that converts the digital signal to analog so you can pretty much run any electronic speedo you want. Just mount the box behind the dash, connect to three leads (Power, ground and sender) then stick the magnetic antenna to the firewall and you are done. I’ve worked with GPS speedos in the past and was a bit skeptical because of the lag but it looks like they may have found a cure for that plus it saved me another half day of fabrication so this might be the magic bullet we were looking for.

New dash installed and all buttoned up.

Wow, that is some clever engineering and a great looking dash! I saw this car in person at the car show in Santa Monica last year, it's exquisite. I hope to see it again next month in Solvang!

When you said lab i thought you were referring to a shop or garage...from the pics it appears to really be a lab? Do drive down a hallway and through those double doors?! Added benefit to owning such a small car i guess! Also your car looks incredible. The dash looks very nice.

Shew! That car is gorgeous!

Today I ordered a new set of SU nozzles, some postie and twistie grommets to fix my tonneau so that it actually fits, and a new air filter.

Only one question.. Are you sure you want to know? lol

Looks stunning! Those gauges deserve a beautiful frame..


Did you pick a color yet? The dark blue was amazing..

Mike…. I’m kind of partial to the blue myself but I’ve only had it out at night once or twice since I got it back so I’ll need more “data” to make a final decision

Dan….Yes, that is our calibration lab and behind those double doors is the shipping department which has a roll up door to the outside so we can pretty much drive the car straight in. The good news is that it has awesome lighting and everything you need to work on the car. The bad news is that I have to be out by Monday morning so the guys can get back to work.

John…. Definitely planning on bringing it to Solvang so hopefully see you there!