Hello from Minnesnowta
Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:24 pm
Hello all,
I grew up in SD and have owned this '69 SRL 10482 w SUs since 1990. Our relationship is actually a little longer than that as the PO was a family friend and I used to sit in it as a kid. I recall thinking that it was "just my size" and guess at some point I asked about buying it. It was parked then and would be for years to come with a blown head gasket/warped head. In the spring of 1990 the owner called and reminded me that I wanted it. At that time it had amassed 36K, had been fitted with a used motor, repainted and migrated to Arizona. He offered to drive it back to SD and had the # matching engine and a lot of spare parts that came with it. I think I paid the princely sum of $2500 for it. Who was I to refuse? I drove it some and got familiar with a few places like Rallye and more familiar with broken cams and cloth woven hoses. I bought another used engine and installed it myself by pushing the car out of the tiny garage since I could not move the crane back. I was quite careful to get the proper hoses, clamps, etc and was proud to have done it all myself. I drove it a little after but and the clutch got tired (did something wrong when I installed it?) and it langoured for another decade and ended up in storage until a few years ago when my dad asked about it and offered to get it running, so it went by trailer back to SD again. I threw in new side trim, carpets, dash cap and a clutch in the trunk. Amazingly it started right up! He had it media blasted, some old body work redone and new 2 stage paint was applied. He put a lot of time into getting it sorted and installed the parts I had hoarded for 15 years. He then put a few hundred miles on it before getting interested in a Pontiac Solstace. Hey, I know... I try to get back home once a summer and subsequently drove it a few miles each summer and it is now at 67k. Eventually my dad said he wanted his garage back so it was shipped back to MN and the first thing I did was drive it to work and then have take the intake and carbs off in the parking lot because the starter went out. Uggh! I soon discovered that the internet was, if not teeming with parts, at least making it a lot easier to own a Datsun Roadster. So here I am surfing the internet, which my wife sarcastically calls "car porn", and having a great time driving around when weather permits.
I'd like to do a frame off restoration and have been reading a lot over the past 6 months, buying a few items here and there and admiring the handiwork of a lot of the people on this site. I recently read Nissanmans built and it gives me hope that I can do my own restoration. Winters are long here!
I've tried to attach a few pictures but the file size is too large for even one shot. I'll enter this and try to add on.
Thanks in advance for the inevitable help and advise I am going to be asking for!
I grew up in SD and have owned this '69 SRL 10482 w SUs since 1990. Our relationship is actually a little longer than that as the PO was a family friend and I used to sit in it as a kid. I recall thinking that it was "just my size" and guess at some point I asked about buying it. It was parked then and would be for years to come with a blown head gasket/warped head. In the spring of 1990 the owner called and reminded me that I wanted it. At that time it had amassed 36K, had been fitted with a used motor, repainted and migrated to Arizona. He offered to drive it back to SD and had the # matching engine and a lot of spare parts that came with it. I think I paid the princely sum of $2500 for it. Who was I to refuse? I drove it some and got familiar with a few places like Rallye and more familiar with broken cams and cloth woven hoses. I bought another used engine and installed it myself by pushing the car out of the tiny garage since I could not move the crane back. I was quite careful to get the proper hoses, clamps, etc and was proud to have done it all myself. I drove it a little after but and the clutch got tired (did something wrong when I installed it?) and it langoured for another decade and ended up in storage until a few years ago when my dad asked about it and offered to get it running, so it went by trailer back to SD again. I threw in new side trim, carpets, dash cap and a clutch in the trunk. Amazingly it started right up! He had it media blasted, some old body work redone and new 2 stage paint was applied. He put a lot of time into getting it sorted and installed the parts I had hoarded for 15 years. He then put a few hundred miles on it before getting interested in a Pontiac Solstace. Hey, I know... I try to get back home once a summer and subsequently drove it a few miles each summer and it is now at 67k. Eventually my dad said he wanted his garage back so it was shipped back to MN and the first thing I did was drive it to work and then have take the intake and carbs off in the parking lot because the starter went out. Uggh! I soon discovered that the internet was, if not teeming with parts, at least making it a lot easier to own a Datsun Roadster. So here I am surfing the internet, which my wife sarcastically calls "car porn", and having a great time driving around when weather permits.
I'd like to do a frame off restoration and have been reading a lot over the past 6 months, buying a few items here and there and admiring the handiwork of a lot of the people on this site. I recently read Nissanmans built and it gives me hope that I can do my own restoration. Winters are long here!
I've tried to attach a few pictures but the file size is too large for even one shot. I'll enter this and try to add on.
Thanks in advance for the inevitable help and advise I am going to be asking for!
