Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

70MTRoadster wrote: Sun Dec 27, 2020 10:02 pm It will be tuff on all of us to wait 3 months but what a journey it should be! 310 hp in a roadster? You will be a ballistic missile or can you say Bullet Bike? Can't wait

Scott

You're telling me. I have two long unbearable waits ahead. 3 months for the engine and a 6+ for my new Bronco (with the same 2.3 but twice the weight). Still, plenty of other stuff to get right on the car while I wait.

So today I had a stroke of genius, or maybe just a stroke, but I got to thinking what are the odds I could find an oem modern fuel tank that would fit in place of the original tank? Modern tanks are usually very irregular in shape, so it would have to be small in capacity to have a chance. So I first googled for cars with smallest tanks. I have a couple really promising candidates actually, but I'm most interested in a Chevy Volt tank right now. 9.2 gallons and fairly rectangular in shape. The fill port is even in an area that might not be terribly difficult to hook backup to the stock filler. I'm going to stop by the junkyard after work tomorrow and get measurements, maybe bring it home if it checks out.

It’s hard to tell from that picture without any perspective , but I think the stock tank would be no taller than the seam on the volt tank. I hope your right and it’s smaller then it looks. A replacement tank would be a real gift to our cars.

theunz wrote: Tue Dec 29, 2020 10:40 pm It’s hard to tell from that picture without any perspective , but I think the stock tank would be no taller than the seam on the volt tank. I hope your right and it’s smaller then it looks. A replacement tank would be a real gift to our cars.

Could be. By eyeball using the 6" pump hole for reference I figured around 26-30 wide, 12 long, 6-8 deep. That width could be the deal breaker. The tape will tell the story tomorrow.

I also found a Scion iQ tank which is very thin but oddly shaped and 8.5 gallons. I would check it out but none at the local wrecker. Cheap too at wreckers farther away. Fiat 500 and Mitsubishi Mirage are options too, both under 10 gallons.

damarble wrote: Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:10 pm

theunz wrote: Tue Dec 29, 2020 10:40 pm It’s hard to tell from that picture without any perspective , but I think the stock tank would be no taller than the seam on the volt tank. I hope your right and it’s smaller then it looks. A replacement tank would be a real gift to our cars.

Could be. By eyeball using the 6" pump hole for reference I figured around 26-30 wide, 12 long, 6-8 deep. That width could be the deal breaker. The tape will tell the story tomorrow.

I also found a Scion iQ tank which is very thin but oddly shaped and 8.5 gallons. I would check it out but none at the local wrecker. Cheap too at wreckers farther away. Fiat 500 and Mitsubishi Mirage are options too, both under 10 gallons.

You might want to contact Moparpro.com. they make retro gas tanks. Back in early Nov. a representative posted on the Roadster Facebook page that they were thinking of making the Roadster tank. You might want to see if that is still in the works.

Edit:

I went ahead and reached out to Mopar pro. in regards to a Roadster tank build. I'll post to the board if they get back to me. Maybe a few more 311s members should contact them as well. Maybe that will get things moving forward if not already.

DAC21 wrote: Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:12 am

damarble wrote: Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:10 pm

theunz wrote: Tue Dec 29, 2020 10:40 pm It’s hard to tell from that picture without any perspective , but I think the stock tank would be no taller than the seam on the volt tank. I hope your right and it’s smaller then it looks. A replacement tank would be a real gift to our cars.

Could be. By eyeball using the 6" pump hole for reference I figured around 26-30 wide, 12 long, 6-8 deep. That width could be the deal breaker. The tape will tell the story tomorrow.

I also found a Scion iQ tank which is very thin but oddly shaped and 8.5 gallons. I would check it out but none at the local wrecker. Cheap too at wreckers farther away. Fiat 500 and Mitsubishi Mirage are options too, both under 10 gallons.

You might want to contact Moparpro.com. they make retro gas tanks. Back in early Nov. a representative posted on the Roadster Facebook page that they were thinking of making the Roadster tank. You might want to see if that is still in the works.

Edit:

I went ahead and reached out to Mopar pro. in regards to a Roadster tank build. I'll post to the board if they get back to me. Maybe a few more 311s members should contact them as well. Maybe that will get things moving forward if not already.

The problem is it would still be a very expensive one-off tank because I want it set up for the USCAR 13 pump standard and they're not going to do that for a batch of replacement tanks. At that point I'd be ahead just welding a ring and baffles to my tank, which looks like it will be perfectly serviceable after cleaning.

This may be heresy to some folks on here, but has anyone looked at the MGB gas tank? They are available and at a quick glance have a similar shape.

That was a bust. About 33" long. Next idea.

2008 Miata 6 speed is en route. Found one for $415 and tax and core, and free shipping between LKQ locations.

Started ripping out lines today for brakes, clutch, fuel. 90% is too crusty to use, including the master/slave cylinders, so I'm starting over will all metric. It looks like the 06-14 Miata clutch master is a 5/8 bore just like ours (or 280z to get metric), so that should be a good pairing.

Well shoot. They canceled my order because shipping was not free afterall. So now I'm looking at $600 all in. Found another yard that has one of the better 09-14s for $750 all in. Should I do it?

On a positive note I just exited the pick n pull with a steel Focus tank and an aluminum Aerostar driveshaft. The tank will donate it's pump ring. The driveshaft is a 24/25 spline which allegedly fits the 25 spline output on the Miata. Had hoped to have my trans today to confirm that but no.

Well hell Mike! What's the plan if the Mazda 6 speed box doesnt work? Have you a ready sale for it if it wont fit? You may be better off to get the Mazda 5 speed and move on.
Dan


!

greydog wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:04 am Well hell Mike! What's the plan if the Mazda 6 speed box doesnt work? Have you a ready sale for it if it wont fit? You may be better off to get the Mazda 5 speed and move on.
Dan


!

I don't trust the 5 speed to last, from my reading about turbo Miatas it will only hold 250hp. I'm kind of stuck with the 6 speed, or adapting something else. I think there may be some hammering in our future if it's too tight.

Not everyone's cup of tea I'm sure.

Great car, I look forward to seeing it progress! I may have an answer to your fuel tank conundrum. I recently purchased a 70 which was in the process of an Ecoboost conversion. The PO had the tank cleaned up and had started modifying the bottom in order to accept the sending unit which is a bit taller than the roadster from what I understand. I have the tank and the modified bottom piece which I can weld together. If you are interested I'll let it go for a fair price. I have attached a couple of photos so that you get a sense of what I'm speaking about.
I also have a ton of other electronics, ecu, body control module etc that may be helpful.
Cheers,
David