Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

RFR wrote:I dunno about your fee Greg. So far the only relationship advances are that she would never leave me. No promise to not make my life a living hell.

Well, I'm hearing that shops are starting to charge a $100 bucks an hour!!! Good reason to become your own mechanic. Figure therapy should cost about that much, but I like the ER... in and out, deal with the crisis, move on!

I'll give a Roadster owner discount...

One crisis handled, although not in and out.

Broken motor mount bolt REMOVED!

With only a 16th inch of bolt showing, I got it out, without damaging the welded nut!

Lots of PB blaster, a propane torch and a dremel.

I cut a slot into the bolt so I could get a stubby flathead screwdriver in there, then jacked up the car, and hit the nut with fire. Got that thing nice and hot while a friend helped with breaking the bond.

About a half hour of pb blaster and wiggling the bolt back and forth, finally we were able to unscrew the broken bolt.

One small step for mankind, but a giant leap for me.

You need to find a mechanic in need of a nice guitar

I traded my old Eko for home repair labor, and he worked like a dog. Miss the guitar, I can't play worth a damn but it was nice to look at. Hearing him just fooling around on it with a POS amp was nice, it was wasted having me own it.

dbrick wrote:You need to find a mechanic in need of a nice guitar

Don't know of any, but...............I do know a guitar playing painter.

But wait........... I paint too.


Now body work................... Hmm, I need to find a guitar playing body man

RFR wrote:

dbrick wrote:You need to find a mechanic in need of a nice guitar

Don't know of any, but...............I do know a guitar playing painter.

But wait........... I paint too.


Now body work................... Hmm, I need to find a guitar playing body man

Dude, if you can do what you do to make guitars, you can do great body work! You just need a little instruction and guidance.

Then again, I could never build a dog house my dog would go into... That's my experience with wood... Measure a thousand times and still manage to f it up!

Greg thanks for your vote of confidence............

However, therein lies the problem, with my guitar building skills, which encompass all manner of mechanical skills, I could with proper guidance and study, do everything I would need to do to get a sweet car.

However............that is lots of hours of study, work and financial outlay for parts needed. As of right now I have 51 guitars in progress, half of which are orders and the other half sell-able spec instruments
At about 100 man-hours per guitar, that eats up a lot of time. 500 hours of body work = 5 guitars.
It may be more financially viable to not do everything myself

Also, since having been gone from the fold, I have become a married man and a father to a 20 month old. Hey at least she likes the Roadster.

In some ways getting back into this car makes me go "what did I get myself into".

I suppose, I'll do some stuff myself, but would have to subcontract some stuff out. We shall see.

Very wise to know what you can and cannot do, either from a lack of current knowledge or the more efficient use of time. I could probably learn how to make something out of wood that actually resembles what it is, but would probably be better off doing what I do best and paying someone else to do what they do best unless i'm willing and wanting to take it on.

Congrats on the marriage and the little one!

Figure it's time for some progress shots.









I am just following a simple formula of clean, paint, repair or replace.
Yeah, I'm not done, and yeah, the block isn't the right blue, but I don't care. I like it.

Besides, it's a far cry from this.




I'm nowhere near done, but it is a work in progress that is coming along.

Also, the motor turns over freely.

Gregs672000 wrote: Congrats on the marriage and the little one!

Thanks, Greg.

I 'm kinda partial to that color myself
Great progress, keep up the good work!

I like it too. This is actually a GM blue, there is a ford color that is closer to the Datsun, but I like the GM shade better.

Wow, you did your head and intake also! It took me a sec to figure out the "floating carb" special effect.

Btw, in honor of your excellent motor block color choices, I'll forgive the miata seat issue.

HA! I like my seats, so forgiveness accepted.
This is also the "old" GM blue. I wiped out Two Advance Auto parts stores that had the high heat engine paint on clearance, this color only for CHEAP, like 50 or 80% off. I could probably paint it all again once or twice. I also did the Transmission
I might be a bit obsessive....

Hmm, now that I see you painted the transmission too,,,,,,,,,,,,,,well, I might have to ease up on my mazda seat endorsement a bit.

This is looking awesome! Keep it primerd. There is a very good friend of mine who has his 2002 on the outside as he found it and it's just so cool!
Keep up the great work.

Thanks Dave.

A the rate I'm going, it will probably be primered just by default. I don't see a nice paint job in my near future. More like 2027 at this rate.

Just so you all know, I haven't been a total slacker on my car. I have been doing some work.

Taking stuff apart, cleaning it, de-rusting screws, digging up parts, etc, etc.

I have most everything, and at this point just want to get it back on the road again. The body is pretty damn straight, with nothing more than I guess what you would classify as parking lot dings. I don't have the time nor patience right now to really go through a massive bodywork project, so I am just fixing the minor stuff and priming the car.






And for Sid, yes, behind the grill will be black!