Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

zippy67roadster wrote:BTW the factory roll bar is worth more than $500 as they never come up for sale! If you are looking to sell it I would put it on ebay and let the bids fly! You can ship it easily as it comes apart in sections. Just my 2 cents.

Too late. I sold it to someone on here for $500. Oh well! Glad to help out a fellow roadster owner, and I don't feel like I got ripped off. Shipping was... not easy. Lots of drama. But I got it in the end!

Holy cow I have not updated this in a while! Photo dump time! I haven't updated because I have been diligently working away. Tons of my time has gone into research, ordering parts, planning how I am going to do things, etc. I've also had to spend a lot of time and money upgrading the garage to be able to support a project like this. We added two more 20amp breakers to the breaker box so multiple high power tools/heaters/welders could go at once. Then I upgraded the insulation after temperatures here dropped well below zero and prevented me from working. Once the garage was in order, the work resumed. Here's a break down of what we've accomplished (I have had many friends pitch in!)

1) finished removing the floor insulation and cleaned the surface.
2) started the long process of removing surface rust, and filling rust holes in the foorboards.
3) stripped the inner fenders, and coated one of them with the first layer of POR15. More rust repair before I can finish.
4) Hours upon hours of cleaning engine components, and it isn't done. I've been systematically removing parts, and using a Dremel with a brass wire wheel to remove dirt and corrosion. The main engine body is done, the carbs are next.
5) did a quick polish of the valve cover.
6) Disassembled the center console and completely restored it, other than the armrest. Pics to come.
7) started mounting seat rails to Miata seats, and modified one of them for the antisubmarine belt.
8 ) Submitted the paperwork to the state for a rebuilder's title. Still waiting to hear back though.
9) Removed the dash, and all parts in the way of the windshield frame.
10) cut out the windshield frame from the parts car so it is ready to be swapped into the keeper. (By a local shop. Decided that was over my head.)
11) Ordered a ton of stuff from Datsunparts.com (and sawed off my arm to pay for it.)
12) pre-lubed and flushed the engine with cheap oil by running the oil pump with a drill
13) There's more, but I can't think of it.

Here are some nice photos:

The very sad '68 donor, fenderless, and without a windshield frame:



The first coat of POR15. Much, much more to come:



The center console before:



The center console after:





And a nice shot of the engine and car:



And a long video update, if you care to see it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1oLxeR ... QMyXyey_NC

It is a bit out of date already, mind you.

Congratulations on the progress, seems that you are starting to pick up speed. Spring is coming....

Thanks!

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered the $400 lightened flywheel from Garm. I figure, now is the time. With any luck, the engine/tranny will be going back in the car within a month. It is go time! I also applied POR15 to the passenger fender tonight, and started stripping the engine bay, so it can also get a coat. The car goes off to the body shop for the windshield frame replacement on Tuesday.

That almost doubled your investment!

spl310 wrote:That almost doubled your investment!

True! Well, at this point, I think I have well over $2k invested, not including the car. I expect I'll have 5-6 into it by the time I'm done. That said, I couldn't buy the engine alone for that much, so I feel pretty good about this, haha!

With the header, the B cam, and the lightened flywheel, this thing aught to be fairly mean sounding. I am very excited to hear it. At this point, I'm shooting for April to start the engine for the first time. Coincidentally, my birthday is in April, so it will be a little gift to myself.

You will not regret the light flywheel. My stock one had been lightened a lot already, but the aluminum one is just better... Engine revs instantly. I did have to modify the fitment where it presses down onto the crank... Too tight, so test fit it and compare to the stock, as you want it to run true with no wobble! Be sure to use a good pressure plate... The 1600 one will slip.

Well, more news! I took the car to the body shop to have the windshield frame replaced. While it was there, I checked in the day after dropping it off, and the assholes failed to follow my instructions. I asked them to drill out the spot welds along the windshield frame to separate it from the body in the same way it was attached originally. This would also give a clear outline for where the new frame should go, and ensure the measurements would be perfect. When I got there, that had simply cut the entire section of steel off, without even measuring it first! And then they were having trouble getting things to line up. Well, DUH! They had to come to my house and measure the '68 1600 to figure out where things went. Supposedly, it is done now, and according to the shop owner, it "lines up perfect". I had also given him my spare windshield to help verify things were where they were supposed to be. Apparently, when he was pushing it into place, it cracked. So now he is buying me a used windshield off ebay to replace it. I should have just stuck to my original guns... if you want something done right, DO IT YOURSELF. Now I get to pay this guy around $650 to do something WORSE than I could have. I am PISSED. I haven't seen it yet, so if it is anything less than perfect, I plan to absolutely raise hell.

On a positive note, I decided to order the GPI Racing 3 row radiator. I found lots of positive reviews on other radiators that company sells, saying the welds are great, and the radiators are sturdy. Who knows if the fan is any good, but I'll give it a shot. It is so cheap, I hardly care. I also ordered an adjustable thermo switch to control the fan. I have the same switch on my 300zx, and it works great. All in all, with the radiator, fan, thermo switch, and new hoses, it ran me around $275! Not too shabby. Now I just need to figure out the fuel pump situation.

OH! I almost forgot! I also worked up the nerve to check the fuel tank for rust, (Something I've been dreading) and it is fine! It has weird white powdery stuff on all the surfaces, which maybe someone can shed some light on, but absolutely zero rust! I also took the fuel sender out and spent some time reconditioning it, so it should work. It changes resistance as I move the arm up and down now, anyway. It just needed some cleaning and WD-40 to loosen up the float arm. Good to go!