Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

"This was all supposed to be routine and fairly straightforward."

Nothing is routine and straightforward until you've done it at least 6 times. lol

Hope tomorrow is better.

Thank you, all is well today. Had a bright idea to try some heavy duty magnets on the outside of the aluminum case to find the bolt. It was way down and on the other side of the flywheel.
Managed to work it back up to the starter and fish it back out.
Lucky.
Sorting out a better thought out plan for the remainder of the install and taking my time.

Attached is a pic of the bolt being bright up with the magnet

Ugh man... I'm so sorry it's been such a struggle. Cars have forced me to develop a very long fuse, but it is a fuse and it burns. You are wise to take breaks before you do. Do you have the smaller gear reduction starter, or at least the stock U20 (R motor staters were longer, but I thought all of the solenoids were in the same place)? No thread locker needed on the stacks... you'll be wanting to get these off and on easily to be able to use a unisyn or snail airflow meter when you balance the carbs, which is not always a "set once and done" process. Well done with the magnet...

Every thing is back together and running. Prefilled the carb bowls and Car almost cranked over immediately. Had some initial trouble with the carb adjuster (yours truly) and Dave Premo got me straightened out in minutes. Got the carbs balance and some initial idle tuning, but need to get the new Brake master cylinder in and bled before I can take to the road. The sound is much more different than the SU's than I anticipated.

Still have some work to do with removing the SU choke cables, redo some fuel hose sections (I ran a little short on hose) and need to find and secure the hoses with some clamps. Also need to adjust the timing advance slightly... my timing light quit on me so I'll have to pick up a new one tomorrow and then complete of the tuning

Now we're talkin! Boewup! Dead sexy aren't they?

The last time I fired it up I didn't have a Brake MC installed so I couldn't drive it. Received the new BMC about 2 weeks ago from SinCity Datsuns (very nice reproduction). I bench bled that last week and went to install and found that the flare nuts on existing lines were metric... no go. I would have to either use an adapter, cut and re-flare or run new lines. Looking at the mess of lines twisted across the front of the engine bay I decided I was going to remove all of them (as well as the pressure switch/junction valve) and make new lines... similar to what Spriso has done, but without any experience, definitely not as nice! I still need to secure the brake lines down with clamps and make sure there is no rubbing in certain spots.

Removing, bending new lines, routing, flaring and connecting all of the lines took the better part of last Sunday. I also went ahead and remade the clutch line while I was at it. Not all together hard, but tedious with the engine and all components installed and without proper tube bending tool. Difficult to manage larger bent sections around other obstacles when also trying to minimize any connection points. I think when I pull the engine I would probably have a better go and clean it up.

I also installed speed bleeders all around which have helped, but I still have some air trapped in the lines somewhere. I have enough pressure to drive it and stop, but you can tell it needs another go to get the last air bubbles out.

With that I took for a drive yesterday and absolutely love the sound of the car now. I was also able to repair a small exhaust leak at the collector which helped quiet things down a bit to more natural exhaust note. Everything feels pretty good, and Dave's initial settings seem to be either spot on or very close. Pulled pugs on return and they appear to be perfect - most of the driving was just in the cruising range ... haven't really gotten on it yet with the brakes still needing work. So far things are looking up!

Man o man Greg, this thing has fought you eh? I hear you on the brake line stuff. I did mine 37 years ago and still recall how much I hated it. They do make fairly inexpensive tube benders and flare kits. As a kid, I used straight pre-made lines and had to work to get rid of some extra length at times. I assumed the lines were metric, so when I went to install the master I was confused as to why my master didn't work. This actually eneded up being a good thing for me over the years, as I've been able to use a 510 master since, and they were a fraction of what a Roadster master was... I think I paid $15 for one on Rockauto a few years back!
Yes, the sound of the Mikuni alone is almost worth the price of admission! One step at a time!

I had such a pain bleeding the brakes on my car too with the crazy ups and downs of all the brake lines, I had a breakthrough when I parked the car nose-up on a steep hill and suddenly felt the master bleed itself out and brakes went firm! just an idea...

I ended up doing something similar but simulated in the garage with jack stands.
I flushed out the lines entirely by gravity bleeding them thoroughly then installed the speed bleeders. I then used my vac/pressure bleeder to push for low to high side and had success.