Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

So Erik and Spencer Dickson and I decided we would attend Shasta. My car is still down (although news on that in there thread) and Spencer's car is getting closer, but not yet done.

So we had Erik's new 67 SPL and 3 people.. not gonna work. Unfortunately, Kevin Desirello could not go, between work and an anniversary, he needed to stay in town. But he did have a survivor 67 SRL, that I could borrow..

We took the couple weeks before the run to do some preventative maintenance and put a few miles on it.. New tires, new fluids, rebuilt the radiator, set the valves, etc.. I put almost 2000 miles on it around town to shake everything loose, since the car had not been driven much in the last few years..

So how to get to Shasta? Well, there is the 5 freeway. 630 miles of interstate.. ugh..

So we decided on a more interesting route.. Highway 395 to 120 through Yosemite, then 49 through the gold country, then 89 for Lassen forest and the last jog across the Sierras.. Gas stations mapped out, route mapped out.. Packed.. We leave Thursday at dawn..

My car resting, Kevin's car packed and sleeping before the run..


Dawn meetup in Ontario, CA.. Kevin came to see us off and grab a coffee before work..


First gas stop.. Up in the high desert, beautiful morning, 85* and sunny at 8 am..


Cars running beautifully, let me take a selfie..


Headed to Lone Pine..


Moonset over the Sierras..


Almost to Bishop..


We got our first hint of trouble in Bishop.. The U20 did not want to start and idle.. It was like it was choked.. Then it coughed and started running again.. After an early lunch, we filled up with gas and tried to head up the hill to Yosemite..

But again, the U20 did not want to smooth out.. Just wanted to spin up, then sputter sputter sputter, then die.. We spent 40 minutes or so in the 105* sun at the gas station fiddling with carb cleaner, the carb adjustment and timing, then suddenly, BOOM, and it ran..


So off we ran up the hill.. Got to within a quarter mile of "Dead man summit" and the SRL just quit.. no power.. So we text Kevin and start trying to fix it..




Summit so close..lol


Sent Kevin a video so he could tell us what to do..lol
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Kevin called back, and asked if maybe the exhaust was plugged.. We told him no.. It just was not running right.. What do we do to the carbs?

Erik checking exhaust.. Looks good..lol


Then suddenly, the 90* weather decided it was tired of being hot..

Sudden hail storm..
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So we hid against the little pine trees and waited..lol

half hour later.. getting really cold..


And dark..


We convinced Kevin it was not the exhaust, so I took Erik's car and ran back an hour to get a new coil in Bishop.. Got to drive thru the hail storm again.. Ran an hour back, and no joy.. While I was gone, Erik got a visit from the CHP.. Apparently the CHP thought we were crazy..lol

It was getting cold by the time I got back..


So around 6pm, we gave up, and called AAA.. they called back around 7 and told us they were sorry, but there was only one tow truck and it would be about 2 hours..

About 40 minutes later, the tow truck comes sliding to the side of the road, throws it in reverse while still going about 15 MPH forward in the dirt, and comes sliding up in front of the car.. But it was such a beautiful sight we didn't care..


We spent the night in Bishop and decided to make plans in the morning.. We woke up and had decided Erik and Spencer would continue to Shasta and I volunteered to wait in Bishop with the car until Kevin could come get it.. We walked out to pack up Erik's car and saw this..


Could Kevin have been right? Was this new? I did not remember seeing this when I was changing the dead shocks.. Sent Kevin a picture, and he confirmed this was new.. Kevin said just chop it off.. So we cut it off and voila.. The car ran, iffy, but ran..

New exhaust..


Some of our amateur tuning, and off we went.. Shasta here we come.. 28 hours late, but.. I talked Erik in to driving the SRL, since he had experience with the U20s and I did not want to blow up Kevin's car..

Rolling past our hang out from Thursday..


Headed to Mono Lake..


We got to Lee Vining, and the car started acting up again.. Our northern most point.. With weather and wildfires ahead, and a balky car, this did not seem like a good idea anymore..


Kevin said to just open it at the header, so we did, and it ran again.. kinda a little loud, but.. Erik was rolling. Spencer and I were wearing earplugs to follow..lol
Headed back south..


The car stopped at the turn sign, for it's last run under power this trip.. Unfortunately the exhaust burned some wires on the starter and made it engage the running motor..


So now we are 60 miles north of Bishop at 5pm with weather on the way.. Called Kevin and he said he would come up after work and tow the car home.. Obviously since he had work on Saturday, every mile we could get it south was better..

So what do you do when you have a beautifully running SR powered roadster and nothing to do but wait? You hook up a tow strap and get to work.. And you hand the camera to Spencer because towing with a strap thru hills is not as easy as it looks..lol


Erik's Performance Beater was a workhorse this weekend..


25mph and 3rd gear.. Just towing a roadster through the mountains.. no big deal..lol


Right about this point was when the CHP came up on us, and slowed down to pace us.. he followed for a short while, then took off.. We think it was the same one, and he could not believe anyone was that crazy.. Or alternatively, maybe he thought we had spent the night in the hills.. either way, you know he was telling the boys at the station about this..

Still 40 miles out of the city.. Sunset coming..


Rolling..


Passing Mammoth airport..


Rain, sunset.. beautiful..




Crowley Lake..


Getting dark..


We wound up getting the car into Bishop around 9:30, right after the Starbucks closed and right when the evening creeper convention started in the parking lot.. Some people were even talking to us about our trip and the broken car.. Apparently even broke Datsun roadsters are news in Bishop..

Kevin and Denise arrived in Bishop around 11, and Kevin removed the starter so we could have lights for the tow home.. Denise decided since she was there, she wanted to drive the silver car, so she and Spencer rode in PB and Erik and I drove Kevin's truck so Kevin could get some sleep.. We got home this morning about 5:30, just in time for Kevin to take a shower and head to work..

Looking back, it was frustrating to miss the show.. We really wanted to make it. But this was adventure. This was fun.. What a great weekend..

The smiles and the memories were worth it..

Sorry you didn't make it - neither did I - but what a story. Glad you are all back safely -

At the end of the day, Kevin determined that the old header delaminated internally, and some big rusty pieces got lodged in the exhaust pipe.. One of those things.. You just cannot plan for a header to come apart on the inside.

Sorry you didn't make it, but these types of trips are the one's you'll remember forever ....Mike

"You just cannot plan for a header to come apart on the inside."
Wow - not an easy roadside diagnosis - and certainly not a roadside fix - even given the knowledge.

Ironic, one of the first thoughts, the blocked exhaust, was the problem. Glad it turned out to be memorable, if not fun.

That's why we were like "yeah right the exhaust is plugged.. it was not plugged when we left, and it has not been near anything.. how would it get clogged?" so we looked for a banana in the tail pipe, didn't see anything, and moved on to the next.. I feel for Kevin when he gets to try to figure out the distributor and carb adjustments we made trying to get it to work.. It's probably all over the place now..

And Mike, exactly.. We had one heck of an adventure, and there are lots of stories to tell around the campfire (or garage, since thats where we usually hang out)

Great story, and great diagnostics - remote even- by Kevin.
I'll definitely remember that one.

There should be an award for best breakdown......you guys sure tried hard to get there. At least you didn't take 5 but rather the scenic route.

Linda

great sunset photos Mike. Sucks that you didn't make it but wow what a story and not too terrible of place to have car troubles. Roadster towing another roadster was priceless

Alvin...reminds me of the good old days on Mt Hamilton....Dan

It turns out there was also something wrong with the distributor, causing the car to run retarded.. We had it set to full advance with no pinging, now we know why..

Its beginning to sound like it jumped a tooth, but for the distributor to be retarded the lower chain would be culprit.

The part inside the dist. that holds the advance weights to the shaft thus holds the advance cam in place came loose causing a real timing problem.
Had i been able to hear it run more clearly i could have steered them in a better direction.
Car already fixed and running like a champ. just need to reinstall the exhaust...LOL....

lol at auto-adjustable distributor..

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Kevin said that it looked like sometime in the past, the pin that locates that plate had broken, and it had been welded in place then ground smooth.. Looks like the weld broke.. I guess add it all together, and this was going to be quite the puzzle for us to get running on the side of the hill..