Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Hi all! My name is Earl, I'm from Glenview, but go to school in Indy. Been a fan of the Roadster for years and have been researching them for about as long. If all goes well, I'll be joining the owner's club very soon :]

My first car was a '95 240SX with a SR20DET
Now I own a '05 STI which is currently a giant paperweight, but was essentially a daily-driven track car
Now I'm hoping to add a Roadster to the list.

The S14. Body needed some work, but very clean chassis.



Pretty much stock except the swap and bolt-ons. Nothing special these days, but rare back in '04.



The STI before I parked it and started disassembling it

Welcome aboard!
You've come to the right place to research all there is to know about the Roadster.
Post pictures when you get your new ride and don't hesitate to ask questions!
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Welcome! Good to hear of another Datsun fan in Chicagoland.

Picked up the car today! It's a 69 2000 :] Kind of scary, needs some minor work, but very clean overall.

Now that Earl has shown us a photo, someone needs to photoshop a Roadster in place of the El Camino....

EarlQHan wrote:Picked up the car today! It's a 69 2000 :] Kind of scary, needs some minor work, but very clean overall.

What's scary about it? The brakes? The steering? Turn switch on the right While double clutching to second gear throws me a little. You'll get used to it. Just have fun !!

The steering is strange. The car seems to just wander and there is a huge dead spot when I start steering, then all of a sudden the car will change directions quickly. I will probably taking the car in for an alignment and have the bushings inspected in the near future.

I need to do a tune up and adjust the carbs as well. The car is running super rich.

There is also a small leak when the car is warm, it looks like it is coming from the rear main seal. Do those seals tend to go bad?

The steering may be an adjustment in the steering box gears,a competent alignment shop should be able to adjust it to some extent - though if it is too worn, then there may not be much they can do. In that case, used or rebuilt may be the way to go - still this should not be a deal breaker - it can be fixed and I am sure a lot of people on the forum here can vouch for how much they enjoy the steering of a properly sorted Roadster!

As far as the leak, yes, rear main seals tend to be a PITA. If the car has not been driven much, you may get lucky and with some use, as it warms and cools a few cycles,you may "re-hydrate" the rope type seal and stop or at least slow the leak. Otherwise, if it is not too bad, I would chalk it up to being an old car, and to enjoy it as much as possible or as much as you can stand prior to tearing into it to fix the problem.

Earl, Any chance you can get your roadster out to one last Chicagoland Car Cruise night this summer? I could bring my 68 & we could meet up. Most of the summer cruise nights go thru the end of August with a few going into September.

I think I got lucky, the leak seems to have gone away haha. I expected problems from a 42 year old car, so I'm not deterred, just determined ;]

I did run into a problem of the fuel filter clogging up about 60 miles away from home, so I bypassed it just to avoid the tow and got it home. I was planning on getting an alignment as soon as I order new tires. The ones on there right now are too tall (185/70/14). I also read about needing extended studs for Panasports on the TechWiki. Is that just for Panasport wheels or will that apply to many aftermarket wheels? Can anyone tell me what car the Nissan part number is for?

Dave, I don't think I'll be back anytime in September with the Roadster, but possibly in October for fall break.