Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I was wondering how I can tell if a set of solex carbs and intake are really a legit set of factory carbs and intake? Did they only make solex cars for one year?

Ive done some research here on this site but cant seem to find the info to validate what I am looking at.

Thanks

Well, as I understand it, the only cars that were shipped to the US market equipped with Solex carbs were the 67.5 2000s - and only some of those. (some folks speculate around 200 or so). Most folks seem to believe that early cars were Solex equipped. (I was told that the two that I have owned were originally solex cars - SRL311-00076 and SRL311-00060)

The dealers could install the kit and no one would know the difference. The only differences were the cam, the induction system, the oil pan, and the cam cover. (yes, the cam cover is different. No, it has NOTHING to do with the rivet location...) Many cars out there have the SU cam cover on a Solex car or a Solex cam cover on an SU car.

Short of finding the original owner, you will have a tough time confirming if it was originally sold with the Solex package in the US market.

Now, the Aussies ONLY got Solex cars. Canadians got either - for many of the years.

If anyone is interested in the cam cover differences, I will post it.

To the best of my knowlege, in the US, the only roadsters to come with solexs were the 67.5 2000s. On that note, only some of the 67.5s are solex cars. Outside of the US, solexs were found on 68-70 cars. Not all had them but they were out there.

Will

Sid,
Please, post the difference in the cam covers, i'm very interested. This is the first I've heard of it.
Thanks again,

OK, here goes.

Conventional wisdom is that the rivet in the C on the cam cover means that it was a true 67.5 cam cover. Some folks also believe that this is a Solex cam cover. Well, that just ain't necessarily so! The cam cover with the rivet in the C is the earlier cam cover. It was available in both SU and Solex versions. (the really early one did not have a throttle cable clip). This cam cover was used through some of the 1967.5 and 1968 production. The other type of cam cover is one that has the rivet outside of the letter C. This one is the one that most folks assume is the SU type or 68 or later only. That isn't true either! There is photographic documentation from 1967 that shows both rivet locations used on the 67.5 2000s. (see the road tests in the second version of the Brooklands Datsun Roadster road test book - they are both represented there.) Now that that is out of the way, on to the difference between Solex and SU!

On the manifold side of the cam cover, at the rear, there is a mounting pad cast into all of the cam covers. This pad is blank on the Solex versions - no drilling or any other such nonsense. The SU version had two holes drilled in it - one for a rivet and the other for the locating tab of the metal clip. This clip held the vacuum advance tube. NOTE: often the vacuum advance tubes have been broken off or removed. The holes remain in the cam cover. (they are blind holes - they won't leak). If the rivet head popped off, then you will have a stud and a hole.

So, there you have it! There were at least 5 different 2000 cam covers that I have actually seen.

1) rivet in the letter C, no cable clip Solex type.
2) rivet in the letter C, cable clip, Solex type
3) rivet in the letter C, cable clip, SU type
4) rivet outside the letter C, cable clip, Solex type
5) rivet outside the letter C, cable clip, SU type.

I strongly suspect that the earliest version also came in an SU type, but I have not seen one to confirm it. I currently have 3 of the 5 cam covers in the garage...

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Alvin - sweet looking motor

Sid - Most of the 2L cars I've seen use this for their choke cables. Both my car and parts car had their chokes run through this clip.

The pages Sid is referring to in the book are:
page 62 - rivet outside the C - no clip - Solex
page 73 - looks like rivet in the C - no clip - Solex
page 73,78,121,129,140- rivet ouside the C - clip - SU

there are more pic of the engine throughout the book, just can't see the rivets on the top, pics aren't that sharp.

Happy Wrenching
Mark

How common is the cam cover that does not have the OHC letters (only Nissan) as shown in the Clymer 1600/2000 service manual ?
Is that cam cover version #6 ?

Ray B.

Alvin,

I can't see the manifold side of the cam cover, so I can't tell for sure. The cable clip on the top of the manifold (on the distributor side top beside the O) was originally designed for the throttle cable clip. It is located so that the RHD cars can use it better than the LHD cars.

OK Alvin, I took a look at the album. That was a neat engine! Comp pan, non-smog head (looks like the early non-smog - pre 69ish based on the casting that I can see) with a Solex cam cover. If you look at the photo of the engine from the intake side, you can see the cam cover clearly. Just above the #4 exhaust port on the cam cover is the boss that I am referring to. For the model builders, it looks like the casting sprue where it was cut off of the tree of parts! For the rest of us, it is the bulge just before the back of the cam cover right above the gasket.

On the Clymer manual question, the photos there are right from the Nissan book. Those are pre-production versions. There is one that is wavy down the passenger side! Funky stuff that you will likely never see...

Being from Socal, I am much more interested in what car SCroadster is feferring too. Looking to buy one? Is it a 67.5 2000? I know of one that had been for sale a while ago but I do not know if it still around.

I have only seen one "rivet in the C" valve cover and that was on a 1967.5 2000 numbers matching rustbox I looked at it a while ago. I am pretty sure it was orginal to the car.

My car definitly started off life as an SU car that was converted to solexes later on. Unless the person can show you the original dealer invoice saying the car came that way (and even then you couldn't know for sure) I would not worry too much about it. I love my solexes, but they are a bit of a pain in city traffic, but great on the highway.

What car are you looking at?

Andrew Murphy
1967.5 2000
SRL311-00489

I'll have to check my valve covers. If I remember correctly DATZOOM has the rivet in the "C" valve covers on both of his cars, plus they are missing the rivets on the side. His red car is a true solex car, has the original 150hp plate, and came from Canada (Toronto I think). He also has the early open element airfiters as well. The red car should be at Solvang.

Will

Well In not actually looking at a car, rather a set of carbs that are for sale. After reading everyones replies (thank you everyone), I think I can reformulate my question like this: "how can I tell if a set of solex carbs originaly came off of a dealer/factory solex roadster?" (dealer and factory seem rather interchangable to me in everything that I have previously read and in MY INTERPRETATION and for MY PURPOSES they are the same).

The next question is: "were roadsters sold with the solex setup during any other model year or just 1967.5?"

What I am looking to do is build a solex car with correct solex parts (intake, carbs and cam and now valve cover if possible). There is a set on ebay that is listed as a dealer/factory set and it certainly looks that way from the limited pictures I have seen of other dealer/factory setups.

What I dont want to do is buy a set of solex carbs that have the wrong intake and wrong carb style...Im not trying to build a fake solex car, just a solex powered car that I would enjoy driving.

Thanks!

Sweet! I do have a solex valve cover on my car. As for the correct intake, there only was one intake for the U20. As for the carbs, only the 67.5s came (in the US) with the old style. The later cars came with the new style (like the ones on ebay, and on my car.) Personially I like the new style (type 4 I think, I don't know what a 2 or 3 looks like) because they have externially ajustable float bowls. The B cam can be one of 3 different versions. They all carried the p/n of 13001-25500. The part is still available from Nissan.
1978: .449" 280 degrees
1987-'90: .459" 280 degrees
1993-'02: .456" 280 degrees

There is a "C" cam that is ultra rare, .478" 290 degree. (p/n 13001-25510)

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