Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

3D printed a camera mount for my roll bar.

Pretty neat. Amazing what you can do with a 3D printer.

Steve

Got back to the body work, roughed in the quarters, rear panel, deck lid. Doors, fenders, hood next.

Put new floats in the carbs to replace the sinkers and adjusted float level lever to obtain 14.5mm and 23mm sight glass level to top of chamber.
Ran perfect until gas puked out of the overflow and onto the floor.
New fuel valves should be here any day.

Ray B.

Rebuilt brake master, drained all fluid, refilled and bled. Ready for annual state inspection. (Just another NYS tax)

Put the new green tinted windshield that has been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long on the driver this morning. Steering box for the other car is going back together.

Over the past 2 weeks, I've broken in the new motor and did all the necessary checking of nuts and bolts to make sure it all stays put! Checked and adjusted my timing map (megajolt crank fired) and carb jetting to make sure we were safe, then put 102 easy but progressively higher RPM miles on it. After confirming that it didnt seem like it would fly apart, I changed the oil, checked the valve lash, did a compression check (220lbs on all 4), and started driving it harder. 600 miles on it already including a day trip around Mt Rainier, some jet changes and hopefully a fixed linkage system, and I'm thinking a dyno pull will be in order soon. Motor feels really strong, detecting no knock or ping (pretty awesome considering the compression and running it on 92 pump gas!), pleasant and easy to drive at low rpms despite the cam (246 duration at 50 thousands, about 280 advertised, think "B" cam, with 531 lift... the engine loves it) and has seen 6500rpms and was still climbing (but I thought "Greg, this is still a new motor!" and backed out). Only bummer has been a leaky rear main seal (damn! During the build I had strongly considered pulling it and checking things after I had bolted it all down, as it naturally wants to shift some due to the height of the seal before it's crushed, but I didn't have a puller so I didn't. Oh well, too late now. It's a drop or two) and some temperature spikes (220?) that I think are being caused by a collapsing lower rad hose (I've observed it actually doing it, had forgotten about that). I still get these unexplainable variations in idle air to fuel ratios that seem to have no reason. I can get it set reading in the 14s at idle, but sometimes it drops to 12.4 to 1 (rich) or even lower. Heat maybe? I've checked fuel pressure and it's 3.5lbs. Carb balance is critical on this engine, and my sloppy linkage has caused me fits, but I hope I've fixed this once and for all...ha!
So, if you're interested, stay tuned as I'll probably document the build after the dyno run... that will begin to tell us if it went together right !
Warp drive, engage!

Installed the new stayfast soft top I bought from Stan. I have to say, I'm very impressed with the quality of this top. It's been about 40 years since I had a soft top on my car, so I can't compare to OEM but don't remember it fitting any better. I followed the directions in the WIKI and while it took a little longer (about 3 hours with a friend helping) it all went smoothly. I used a cheap leather punch from Harbor Freight for making the holes which worked really good, at least until I tried to punch through the metal bar at the rear and then just pretty good. The largest size was perfect for the posties and on the twisties you could punch 3 slightly overlapping holes and then just nibble away the rest after attaching the grommet. I found it easier to just lightly hit the grommets with a rubber mallet a few times to make an indention in the fabric and then use an awl to poke the 4 holes instead of hammering the grommet all the way through, which usually resulted in bent tabs. Perhaps they penetrate the vinyl easier than the stayfast. There is nothing particularly hard about this job, but it's not for the weak of heart, since if you get your measurements off you could be left with just a small expensive tarp! By the way, about 2 years ago I checked a couple of local trim shops and they wanted four or five hundred dollars just for installation. Oh, by the way I'm happy to see that my "third" brake lights mounted in the roll bar are visible with the top up.

^ Looks great!

After having my jeweler friend help me get the 38 needle bearings back in with angled tweezers and some Vaseline got the box together. Waiting for new O rings. Assembly was quick and easy except for the needles bearings. I did not look at the drawing ahead of time and of course out they came.

That's a pretty looking steering box, don't scratch it up reinstalling it! installing mine was one of only 2 times I had "words" with my car while restoring it. Even with the body off and no engine, it was like a Chinese puzzle wiggling the steering box into it's home!

theunz wrote: ↑Wed Jul 03, 2019 11:47 am That's a pretty looking steering box, don't scratch it up reinstalling it! installing mine was one of only 2 times I had "words" with my car while restoring it. Even with the body off and no engine, it was like a Chinese puzzle wiggling the steering box into it's home!

I'm thinking since the arm isn't locked down yet trying to put it on without it and see if it will go on after.

theunz wrote: ↑Wed Jul 03, 2019 11:47 am That's a pretty looking steering box, don't scratch it up reinstalling it! installing mine was one of only 2 times I had "words" with my car while restoring it. Even with the body off and no engine, it was like a Chinese puzzle wiggling the steering box into it's home!

Well this will probably annoy you. You made me curious so I abandoned my wiring for the moment and ran downstairs to the garage. Stuck the arm in and lowered the box in to it. One minute.

Yea, lucky dog! It was the arm on mine that caused all the trouble. Mine was stuck on since I didn't overhaul it and I didn't have a puller. Must have fought that sucker for 30 minutes laying on my back and holding that heavy box up while trying not to scratch it while trying 830 different paths before finding the only one that lead to home. Well I hope I made you at least sweat a little

theunz wrote: ↑Wed Jul 03, 2019 12:55 pm Yea, lucky dog! It was the arm on mine that caused all the trouble. Mine was stuck on since I didn't overhaul it and I didn't have a puller. Must have fought that sucker for 30 minutes laying on my back and holding that heavy box up while trying not to scratch it while trying 830 different paths before finding the only one that lead to home. Well I hope I made you at least sweat a little

Nope, sorry no sweat. But you did make me wonder if many expletives were in my future. I'm going to put anti-seize on every one of those things.