Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Still waiting for the part to arrive in the mail. I sent some $ to SPL310 on Friday via Paypal. Hopefully he got it. I just need the top to the thermostat tower so that I can put it back together and try it out.

While I'm waiting for a part to put my car back together (a new top for the thermostat housing tower), I decided to take the radiator out and have it professionally cleaned and pressure tested. Once the radiator was out, I noticed it seems to have a FAN CLUTCH? COULD THIS BE PART OF MY OVERHEATING PROBLEM? SHOULD I JUST REMOVE IT? IS IT HARD TO REMOVE? IS THERE ANY DANGER IN REMOVING IT? THANKS FOR ANY ADVICE ON THIS.
--ED

Most people do remove this, you will need a spacer to replace it, if adventureous, make you rown, otherwise I think the vendors have the part.

You can actually run longer bolts through it to lock it...

Wouldn't a couple extra washers on each bolt work as spacers? Sidney, I'm confused. Seems I would want shorter bolts rather than longer, if I'm not going to use any spacers....
--Ed

What I have seen done in the past is that longer bolts were substituted for the bolts through the fan so that they bottom out in the clutch to make stop it from spinning. That being said, I found a very nice fan clutch and a spacer in the garage this morning. I think that part of the reason that the fan clutches got such a bad rap is two fold. I would bet that the fan has to be clocked correctly for it all to be balanced (which means that there is a 75% chance that the PO got it wrong) and that the bearing could fail allowing it to wobble. Either way, I don't know that they are as evil as most folks assume.

spl310 wrote:What I have seen done in the past is that longer bolts were substituted for the bolts through the fan so that they bottom out in the clutch to make stop it from spinning. That being said, I found a very nice fan clutch and a spacer in the garage this morning. I think that part of the reason that the fan clutches got such a bad rap is two fold. I would bet that the fan has to be clocked correctly for it all to be balanced (which means that there is a 75% chance that the PO got it wrong) and that the bearing could fail allowing it to wobble. Either way, I don't know that they are as evil as most folks assume.

Sid, I took off the fan last night and I noticed the front part of the clutch mechanism (on the outside of the blade), has a little tab that sticks through the fan. It looks like that tab is meant to stick into a slot on the clutch part? Or is that tab supposed to go to the left or the right of that slot on the clutch? If I decide to take off the whole clutch, does anyone know what length of bolts I should use instead?

I took off the fan last night and I noticed the front part of the clutch mechanism (on the outside of the blade), has a little tab that sticks through the fan. It looks like that tab is meant to stick into a slot on the clutch part? Or is that tab supposed to go to the left or the right of that slot on the clutch? If I decide to take off the whole clutch, does anyone know what length of bolts I should use instead?

I have all low windshield cars and have only had one fan clutch out of all of the Roadsters that I have owned. I am not an expert by any means. I will pull it out and check it out though. You will need the spacer to replace the clutch if you don't just lock it up.

Hello from Orlando. Let me know if you get something going for a Florida get together. Give me six months because my car is in the middle of a SR swap and body off restoration.

A head gasket problem is why I'm replacing the engine. I was losing coolant in my 69 1600 but never got the white smoke until the end. I think I fried the insides because it locked up one day. Early on I used a fan spacer from Rallye that worked great.

Rust is going to be your biggest challenge with your new roadster. Check inside the front wheel well next to the front door post. If you have dirt accumulated there it will be a constant source of moisture to rust the fender near where it meets the door. While the car was in Oregon I never had a problem because the water did not get heavy enough on the roads to be flung up into the rear wheel well, but Florida is a different story. Having owned the car since 1978 I have had to paint it twice because of rust inside the front fenders. Check out my thread in the engine swap section about what I am doing to rust proof my car.

I'm still battling with it! Trying to get it all back together. The threads on the 2 studs for the thermostat housing got ruined with all the beating, etc.. to get it off so now I'm trying to rethread the studs. I guess they were 10mm so I went to 9mm only to find out that NO ONE has 9mm nuts! Not even Daytona Nut & Bolt which ONLY sells nuts and bolts! So I guess I'm going to have to switch it over to SAE, probably 3/8". What a pain! And once I do get it all back together, I still may find I need to do a head gasket. UGG.

I would suggest that you use bolts for the short term, then look for the correct studs. Rallye (http://www.datsunroadster.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) lists them for $6.88 each part number 110-15. Dean (http://www.datsunparts.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) lists two studs and two correct gaskets for $22 part number 2188. Other vendors may have them as well - I am pretty sure that Bruce Schluderman in Texas has them.

spl310 wrote:I would suggest that you use bolts for the short term, then look for the correct studs. Rallye (http://www.datsunroadster.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) lists them for $6.88 each part number 110-15. Dean (http://www.datsunparts.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) lists two studs and two correct gaskets for $22 part number 2188. Other vendors may have them as well - I am pretty sure that Bruce Schluderman in Texas has them.

Sid, I don't know if I'd ever get the old studs out so I figured the best option was to just use a die and re-thread them. Since no one had 9mm nuts, I went ahead and used a 3/8" die. It seem just right. Saturday I will be making new gaskets and putting it all back together. I decided to put the clutch fan back on, it seems to be working. I realized the previous owner had the wrong size fan belt on there, at max adjustment, it was still way too lose so I think it wasn't turning the water pump at all. The belt that Auto Zone showed for the car was also way too big. After buying 3 different belts, I finally found one that was just right. Here's hoping my home made gaskets work. Wish me luck!

If not too late, remove the fan clutch. Better to be safe.
.02 from the clueless one
tim

tputland wrote:If not too late, remove the fan clutch. Better to be safe.
.02 from the clueless one
tim

I already put it back on but, if it doesn't work, I think I will try Sid's idea of just putting longer bolts through it to lock it up. Still messing with the gaskets right now....