Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

On Saturday morning I drove down to Solvang, ~250 miles from San Jose via 101S. I arrived at 6:30am and explored the empty streets:


You can see more Solvang pics over here:
viewtopic.php?p=306034#p306034



As cool as it was to visit Solvang, it was not my primary destination on this trip. I left Solvang and headed back up North to Paso Robles to meet at my friend Kevin's home. Kevin recently listed his 1969 SPL known here as "Spike" and I wanted to join the new owner (Raj) as he picked up the roadster.

When I arrived, Raj, his family and Kevin were already getting familiar with Spike:



A little background on Raj, I met him through Francis around 2001. Raj had a 510 with a KA24DE and a '68 SRL, both regretfully sold:



He's currently building an SR20DET-powered 510:


Raj's interest was grounded on the importance of having a roadster that was ready to drive. Mechanically proven. Cosmetics were not a priority. Spike was perfect, and you may have seen my rave review of the car here: viewtopic.php?p=301542#p301542.
Kevin helped load up the soft top and a comprehensive set of spares--one of which included the coveted competition Aluminum oil pan. Kevin described how he removed it because of the heavy rallye/street use Spike saw....yes we had a brief chuckle about my comp pan mishap



Unlike the usual car purchase exchange, Spike was not trailered or shipped, it wasn't babied or light-footed back home with its new owner. Raj simply carried the torch and drove it like he stole it. Kevin and Heather kindly helped with the transition by leading us on a fun run via Peachy Canyon Rd out to 46 where Raj and I would begin our coastal journey.
Raj and son Brian heading out on Peachy Canyon Rd.




It was genuinely hard for Kevin and Heather to let go of Spike. I think this send-off put them at ease:



And that's exactly what he did, Kevin and Heather handed him the keys and we embarked on an epic fun run up the coast via HWY1 back home. I had to be there for the changing of hands of Spike, and to escort Raj back in true, Datsun roadster fun-run style. Gas stop in Cambria:


HWY 1

Super bloom:



Many photo ops:



Raj's shots (real camera)




Almost 150miles of twisty coastal driving comes to an end as we join 101 again near Monterey:



Spike made all the right noises and begged to be driven more. Raj was blown away and all smiles Enjoy the video:



Kevin listed Spike on 311s to the community first, with what i thought was a ridiculously low asking price...but this was one of those transactions not based soley on squeezing cents. When I found out that Raj was seriously interested I knew I had to be there and thought why not celebrate with a nice drive back home...a taste of more funs runs that Raj can join us on in the future! I'm stoked and so is Raj. I'm also (not so) secretly happy to see Spike staying local, so maybe i can grab the keys once in awhile.




My roadster is filthy and the SR20 continues to impress me after all these years with no signs of dying...612 miles within 12hrs and only two tanks of gas.

Beautiful drive.
Hope the local roads around here get the winter junk off them so I can do the same.

Cheers
Ray B.
(p.s. I noticed that a roadster instrument face sticker upgrade is required for indicating on which side of the car the gas filler neck is located. )

Beautiful pictures as always Alvin,

Man that JT exhaust Can’t wait to have Mr Green home to enjoy those sounds

Took the 68 across the GG bridge south San Francisco to visit a friend with hardly any traffic. An Omega man moment.

I drove to the library...Kids gotta read!

Drove to Hallett Motor Racing Circuit (about 60 miles west of me) to watch my friend Randy race his E/P Miata. After cancelling a couple of races due to Covid-19 they finally got the ok to run one. Pretty easy to practice social distancing there.

First shake-down run of the year after sitting for the past 6 months. Long cold & wet winter, thought that spring would never come. Over the Welland Canal & along the north shore of Lake Erie.

To The Theatre!

I took my ragtop up to Arizona’s rim country, a little town called Strawberry. We did a fathers and sons camp out with just my brothers and boys. Car ran great all the way up, 120 miles from Phoenix valley floor to over a mile in elevation, almost 6,000 ft. It ran a little bit hot going up, my gauge was reading 245-255 F so I’m going to break out the laptop with the Tuner Studio software and adjust the timing. Maybe I can get it to run a bit cooler.
Otherwise, it was a great run with zero issues. Except sunburned arms... lol can’t have everything.

Took a quick ride for a couple hours to get out of isolation. No boats or swimmers yet.
Yup..its cold enough to keep the top up today.

Cheers Ray B.

What the heck..pic upside down.

Fixed it for you Ray.
Great picture and nice looking Roadster.

Thanks for the fix.
The car doesn't get out on the road very much these days so that's why its sorta clean.

Hmm, no pic of the center console installed?

Linda

And after I had a quick sandwich by the waters edge, I returned to the car, opened the trunk, and removed the rubber banding holding the new center console together. Quickly installed the console before heading home.

Ray B.

Nice!
Linda