Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Looks like the roadster has been put on hold another week... I bought a new flaring tool (The old one made crooked flares) and it looks like it is much higher quality than my old one. I also picked up 20' of brake line. My guess is I will end up needing to re-do the front lines, as they look awful now that I am looking at them 2 years later. I will be surprised if they don't leak. No idea what I was thinking...

Anyway, the reason for the delay... My Accord has taken a turn for the worse, and has developed about 8 problems all at once. Next week I will be replacing the brakes on it (I am growing tired of doing brakes!!!) as well as installing a new halfshaft and clutch master cylinder. That takes care of the urgent stuff. I had hoped the Datto would be done in time to be my daily driver for a while as I worked on the Accord. Oh well! As soon as my reliable transport is up and running again, the work will continue. The Datto is a needy lady!

Good luck, I hope you don't have to remove the front rotors on the Accord, such a pain.

DanR wrote:Good luck, I hope you don't have to remove the front rotors on the Accord, such a pain.

I do need to... the rotors look awful, so I ordered new ones. I have never done brakes on an Accord before, but they look similar to the 1600, in the regard that they bolt to the back of the hub. Is that why they are a pain? Do I need to press the bearings or something? I was hoping this would be easy...

I don't know much about the 1600 brake design (yet) but from what I know, 1990-1997 Accords had the dreaded hub over rotor design where you can't just pull the rotor off, you're gonna need a press/slide hammer to separate them. I luckily only had to replace the pads on my 95 Accord. There's plenty of tricks to help out if you search around.

Tomakze wrote:

DanR wrote:Good luck, I hope you don't have to remove the front rotors on the Accord, such a pain.

I do need to... the rotors look awful, so I ordered new ones. I have never done brakes on an Accord before, but they look similar to the 1600, in the regard that they bolt to the back of the hub. Is that why they are a pain? Do I need to press the bearings or something? I was hoping this would be easy...

Honda forums have the 411

http://www.superhonda.com/forum/f13/fro ... rd-331025/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would also replace the front bearing and check the CV boots

Progress was made on the Datto today!!!!!!

I have begun working on the rear brake lines again... WOW, what a chore. I spent 3 hours just trying to get the cheapo brake flare tool to make a usable flare. After combining several cheap brake flare tools into one, I finally was making reliable flares. What a pain. Anyway, Pics!!!





I got the hardest line done, the one that winds through the engine bay and ends in the fender well. Lots of complicated bends and planning on this one. I also permanently mounted the brake master cylinder, and installed the firewall brace! The next line is tomorrow. It is about 5ft long and straight. Much easier!

As for the front brake line in the pic, that will be re-done later. Not happy with the current format.

I know it is a brief update, but there will be more later! Perhaps even some videos of it moving!!! Stay tuned...

I don't have time for a proper update, but I will say this: Be prepared for a big one... Part of the reason I haven't had time lately, is because I have been DRIVING the wheels off it!!! She lives!!! And is AWESOME. I am so in love...

Tomakze wrote: She lives!!! And is AWESOME. I am so in love...

Woo hoo! I know that love feeling! Yippie!

Gregs672000 wrote:

Tomakze wrote: She lives!!! And is AWESOME. I am so in love...

Woo hoo! I know that love feeling! Yippie!

It is a good feeling indeed!

Okay, I will supply half an update... Obviously, I was able to finish running the brake lines! We bled the brakes, and she drives like a dream. Great pedal feel, it is hard as a rock. And if I press the brakes hard enough, it damn near puts you through the windshield! While I was at it, I decided to bleed the clutch as well, and... here is the result:





^This is a pic of the rag I used to wipe the gunk out of the clutch reservoir! Look at all that black crap! It looks like coffee coming out, and the gunk was thick and nasty. Took a while for the clutch to bleed clear. Remarkably, the pedal feels about the same. Still, probably a good thing I did it!!!

Anyway, to celebrate the working car, I put it in a car show put on by the local club. My car felt inadequate.







People were really impressed with my brakes though. It got a lot of attention. I even had a pretty lady take a picture of my car with me standing next to it... Wait, shouldn't that be the other way around?

your car is coming along well Tom. And you know HOW TO PAINT. (itsa big gas tank)
um ,,,9 gas tanks.

Glad to hear that the brakes are working well for you! The car is really coming along!

Michael

pebbles wrote:your car is coming along well Tom. And you know HOW TO PAINT. (itsa big gas tank)
um ,,,9 gas tanks.

Haha, very true! I was thinking I might paint it this winter, but now I am thinking I might slap the KA in there instead. It would be really nice to have a new, reliable engine. The R16 seems to still be getting gas in the oil somehow, and the extra power plus the extra gear would be nice! I really want to take her out on the track, and right now that isn't possible. Not only is it 2 hours away, but they don't allow any leaks at all, and the other issue with the old engine is it is puking oil out the rear main seal. You have to know when to give up, lol! I am prioritizing parts now, so I can begin rebuilding the KA.

spriso wrote:Glad to hear that the brakes are working well for you! The car is really coming along!

Michael

Thank you, that means a lot! I advertised the brakes for you at the car show... Seriously everyone was interested in where I got them, and how hard the swap was. Thanks to your kit, the front swap was a breeze! Now you should make a rear kit! Because of my sloth of a mechanic, the rears took two years. Still, the improvement is not a small one. The pedal feels incredible, the car stops smoothly, and they look stellar! I'm super happy with the result! I can't wait to see how they perform on a racetrack!

The dealership the carshow was at sent me the pictures! I figured I'd share them.

Love reading about this adventure...
I believe the fuel in the oil can be caused by a bad fuel pump? Fuel getting past some seal. I remember reading this somewhere.

Gregs672000 wrote:Love reading about this adventure...
I believe the fuel in the oil can be caused by a bad fuel pump? Fuel getting past some seal. I remember reading this somewhere.

Thanks, man! The pump is brand new, (ish) as I bought it from Dean only a couple years ago... It probably has 200 miles on it. I wish it were so simple!

Anyway, time for a rather sad update... The car is dead again. Totally my fault, too. I have been putting off this post, as it kinda hurts to talk about it. A couple weeks ago, I decided to address the issue of the pedal level. For as long as I can remember, the brake pedal location has been awful. I presume someone jerry rigged something together in the car's past to make the brakes work, leaving the pedal a solid 1 1/2" higher than the rest.



Needless to say, that had to go. So I disassembled it, and went to Ace Hardware to come up with a solution. I decided to replace the crappy rod with an allen head screw of the same thread pitch. It has a domed top, that is very similar to what the car had before, and because I have more threads, I have lots of adjustment. The pedal had been catching before, and someone had cut most of the threads off the old rod, eliminating all adjustment. This was a huge improvement!



After finishing, I reassembled and began testing. The pedal felt WAY better. I was about to back it out, and just to be thorough, I decided to test the brake lights... but when I did, I had none. They had absolutely been working before, no question. I had to tape the switch so I didn't drain the battery while I worked. (No pedal= brake lights 24/7) So I test the switch at the pedal... I had it adjusted correctly, and it was working perfectly according to my multimeter. Now I am confused, as that is all I touched. I presume a relay must have gone bad, and had bad timing.

I decide to hell with the lights, I will deal with them later... time to take her for a test spin! I drove it up and down the block a few times, and did some very hard stops to make sure everything was working, and it was. Stops hard enough to go sailing through the windshield! I also figured it was a good time to check the timing, and see if I could get away with not buying a recurve kit for the time being, and discover the timing is over 50 degrees at 4000RPM, so I need one BAD. There is $70 I don't have... (Nissan is out of ALL of the parts, so the cam on ebay does me no good. I can't source the springs by themselves.)

Before putting it in for the night, I figured I would get a picture of the sweet braided brake lines I had custom made for the rear calipers to show you guys. This is the picture I took:



I look at the picture, and think... "Something looks odd..." Do you see it? The lines are crushed. My brand new $75 lines got smashed against the frame rail. Somehow, they aren't leaking, and somehow, appear to still work. Either way, this is a major problem. This means either my calipers aren't clocked correctly, or I just placed my lines like an idiot in my rush to go to the carshow. I haven't investigated much yet, because I was too discouraged, and didn't want more bad news. The car hasn't moved since. Any suggestions are welcome. I will say, holy cow my calipers are close to the frame once the car is on the ground. I had tons of clearance in the air, and had no idea how much was absorbed when the suspension was loaded. Moral of the story? Don't rush. You might not notice something stupid that could ruin your day.