Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Decided to take a break from being up under the dashboard today and do something fun and frivolous. I detest modern batteries in old car engine bays. Don't even get me started on the white and day-glo green Interstate brand. Ugh.

I got a piece from Tap Plastics, drilled holes in the right spots and made a topper to cover my battery. Got a decal kit from JDM-car-parts.com and put it all together today. Turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself. I wish the posts were silver instead of brass, but...

Need to find something to make 6 dummy fill caps, and it will be finished.

I actually bought one of the red ones, but I don't really like the look of it in person. The fill caps look really fake. If anyone wants it, I'll gladly send it to you for just the cost of postage. Pm me and it's yours. The one I have fits group 24 batteries.

Make a set of cap with a 3d printer

Nice work Erik. I’m with you that the modern batteries just look wrong on an old car. I don’t care for the universal strap of steel across the top to hold it down as well. When it was time for the battery on my car Dean was out of stock on the OEM reproduction hold down bracket, so I made my own. I used a black topper and took a couple of liberties with the decals.

Mike,

I love the Datsun Warning sticker! What is holding down your battery? I see your custom made frame around the top, but no bolts going to it. Very clean look. I tried enlarging the photo, but it got blurry and I couldn't see any hold down.

It has tabs in the stock location and uses the OEM J bolts, they just don’t show up in the photo. It’s made from 1/8” angle iron, so it’s a little thicker and wider than stock. It also took a little custom grinding to clear the posts and caps. It would have been easier and more authentic to have sourced a replica. At least this one won’t corrode away like my original did

Nice job. I had thought of doing something similar when I was considering using a smaller battery size. Looks very sturdy.

Finally finished converting my tachometer to electronic! Many thanks to Spyder for pioneering this and figuring out what aftermarket tach to buy that works for this conversion. Also, seeing that it could be, and had actually been, done gave me the confidence to start chopping.
The thread with all his pics and info is here: viewtopic.php?t=15556

The first thing I did was buy this Autometer tach: https://www.autometer.com/3-3-4-tach-8- ... black.html

Next, I gutted both tachs and swapped the electronic guts over to the Datsun tach. As Spyder noted in his thread, the circuit board will not fit in the stock Datsun housing, so extension wires must be added. My ignition box has a feature where it can send a steady RPM signal out to test tach accuracy, So, I hooked them up, set it to 4K, and then installed the needle. Tested it in all RPM ranges and it is spot on.



So far, so good! I got the wires all wrapped up, a grommet installed, and I made some extensions off the back of the gauge face out of a dowel so that the face would mount securely to the housing. Found a little box at Tap Plastic to house the circuit board and keep it safe. Made some small dowel mounts for it, too.





This ignition box also has an adjustable output to trigger a shift light, so I got a tiny, but really bright surface mount LED and mounted it at the bottom by the turn signal indicators. It's visible in the photo above as a small black square with a white circle on it. Pretty unobtrusive until it lights up:



Now I'm waiting for a few parts to finish my ammeter to voltmeter, and electronic oil pressure gauge conversions.

SHIFT! NOW!!!


Seriously that is really cool and, as usual, done flawlessly.

I don't know the differences (if any) between high- and low-windshield gauges... would this work for a low-windshield car?

Great stuff.
PM

WOW that is SOOO COOL!!
Much better than a cable driven Tach. My cable had a slight kink in it from the PO and the tach needle and gauge would do a choo-chee dance in the dashboard at 60 mph!

Can you use this configuration with an Electronic dizzY ??

Should be able to use this with an EI. No problem. Here's a shot from the instruction sheet. I did not use the white wire, since I'm using the stock lights for the tach illumination.

That is way cool and you’ll never get that cable oil leak again at distributor .

The one that really pissed me off was when the oil worked its way up the cable and dripped out at the back of the tach - onto my pants.
Not a good look.

Thank you for the information about the Tech. I did "RTFM" the document sheet and noticed that the tech gets it sensory Input from the negative side of the coil.
I thought it was have some type of magnetic sensory stuck on some spinning bit to get a true reading , guess NOT!!!

Your project is looking great. You are about "5 Steps Ahead" of where I am in my restoration...Which is fantastic, as it will save my sanity when I hit the "Wall" putting this thing back together.
Cheers,
Cam