Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

My name is Jeff Douglas and I have been lurking here for a good couple of weeks. Thought I'd better get around to introducing myself. Some of you may remember my name from a brief stint on the Datsun Roadster Mailing List a number of years back. I own SPL311-18789, a '68 1600, that I had intentions of restoring back then. Life got in the way, I moved from Spokane, WA to Boone, NC, and the car got put on the back burner. I've now got a little more time and a renewed interest, so, while a complete resto isn't going to happen at this point, I've popped the hood again and am well on the way to getting the car back on the road. Next spring is going to be a whole lot of fun on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Anyway, hello all. I've already learned a ton just reading through this forum the past couple weeks, and I'm not even close to reading through it all. As I progress in getting the car back to being road worthy I know I'll have some stupid questions (I've already started bugging the members of the Mailing list), so I'll thank you in advance for putting up with my limited automotive knowledge.

welcome back to the fold

Welcome to the forum Jeff!

Hi Jeff,

I lived in Boone in the 70's. Small town then. Last time I was there - traffic jams! Blue Ridge Parkway has to perfect for a roadster.

Hi Jeff:
Welcome to another NC Roadster owner! Glad to have another on board!
We'll need a picture or two of your ride, regardless of the state of restoration!!
Please share.

welcome Jeff and goodluck with your roadster.

Thanks for the welcome all. Much appreciated.

Shifty, the traffic in Boone can get bad when the tourists are in town or the ASU kids are moving in or out for the school year. In between seasons it's not horrible. They're widening the Interstates coming into town from both sides of the mountain, so that's nice, but downtown gets to be a mess. You'd think that with all the cars coming through here and the proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway I'd have some good Roadster sightings to report, but the only one I've ever seen in Boone sits in my garage.

Notoptoy, here's what it looks like right now. Rad, rad braces, overflow, fan & spacer are all currently out of the car. Looks like I'm going to have to pull the water pump pulley too. From pictures I've seen on the web, this was originally blue. The paint on mine is pretty much gone, if it ever had it, and there's rust there. Figured I'd better take care of that while I have easy access.

Hi Jeff:
It looks pretty solid. I am a big believer in "while I'm there" - it's why my car is still in several million pieces! It was not clear from your message what "used to be blue" - the water pump pulley? From the picture posted, it looks like the paint is far from "pretty much gone". It looks pretty darn good.
Keep us posted!

notoptoy wrote:Hi Jeff:
It looks pretty solid. I am a big believer in "while I'm there" - it's why my car is still in several million pieces! It was not clear from your message what "used to be blue" - the water pump pulley? From the picture posted, it looks like the paint is far from "pretty much gone". It looks pretty darn good.
Keep us posted!

Sorry, yes I meant that I think the water pump pulley was once that Datsun engine blue color. As for the rest of the car, it passes the "not too close" test. You start to get a whole lot closer than the picture and you start to see the 40+ years of little dings. It also needs a lot of work on the interior. I'll eventually get to those things, but I want to be able to be able to drive it again first.

Hi Jeff,
Welcome. There are a few owners in your state at least.
Perhaps the new NC motto should be: Fix,BBQ,Drive, Fix, BBQ,Drive.
Your car looks close to being roadworthy.
Good luck
Linda

Thanks Linda. It would be close to being on the road if can stop myself from doing "just this one more thing". This all started as a thermostat change which, with that danged housing, has turned out to be the biggest pain so far. At the rate I'm going I doubt I'll have it ready to go this summer, and I don't want to expose it to the nastiness they do to the roads up here in the winter, but It'd be fun to meet up with some other South East Roadsters at some point.

I know the feeling, Jeff. The thermostat was a bit of a pain on my car at one point also. But after that keeping the studs coated with antiseize helps.
Just be thankful you don't have to replace the water pump. If you do, search for my thread on everything that can go wrongLOL

Linda