Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I have been looking for a while, saw it listed here and had to go get it. The roadster is still in many pieces, but with some patience and some help, my son and I will get it road-worthy. Hopefully sooner than later.

Our goal is to get it to a point it will pass BC Motor Vehicle Branch inspection, then use it as much as possible. The areas still needing attention are the interior trim, seat belts (need the bolts), some electrical, fuel supply from fire-wall to fuel-return line (carb set-up, throttle linkage, gas line routing), balance of front fender fasteners, door alignment, windscreen glass install, changing all fluids ... and more.

The previous owner has done a ton of work and replaced many parts including the rubber but I'll be looking for a few pieces like the trim holding the vent wndows in, and another rubber "wiper" on the outside of the passenger window. I am sure there will be more, but so far I am pleased with my purchase. (I've posted a few pictures on the "name that part" thread)

Progress could be quicker, but our sun deck needed some repair and staining, the grass needed mowing, and the taxes need to get paid.

The car came with a U20 (engine # AD 2540) and 5-speed installed. The sale included a 1600 (engine # R58849), 4 - speed tranny (# 9S6 258) ... probably the originals (how does one tell?), a hard top, and a whole pile of spare parts. As far as I can tell all the ariginal parts are here, plus more the PO collected over his time with it. I have the manuals, the 2-volume version of the Roadster Book, and a 3-ring binder full of reciepts.

The car was in Burnaby, BC and I live abut 400 kilometers away in Kelowna. I've heard the saying that is always smart to have a friend with a truck ... I'd like to add that is smart to have a friend with a truck, or have a kid with a Jeep. I needed both ... the Jeep got the car trailered with all the parts; my friend got the engine & hard top here in his truck.

I'll do my best to find answers in the Wiki area prior to posting in the "quick small question" area, and already Ted & Ross have helped. Here are a few pics and I'll post more as time permits ... probably after the deck and taxes are done.

Welcome, looking forward to seeing your progress.

Congratulations Ralph, you are well on your way to realizing your dream!

I'll drop by next visit to Kelowna and check out the progress.

Regards,

Welcome Ralph! Looks like you picked up a good work in progress, enjoy the process! Great support here and it sounds like locally as well... That always helps a lot!

Thanks for the encouragement... My helper has been in the auto repair business for a long long time. He is very thorough, methodical and safety conscious. When I told him my plan & my abilities, he said he would assist out as much as he can ... I especially need him for the electrical bits, his experience in mechanical should make sure I don't make something blow up... but he loves body work.

Here is an update of our progress so far....in no particular order (and in a run-on ish sentence).

Headlights are in but electrical issues have them stuck on hi beam, carbs are on, not connected to fuel ... choke cables might be too short, electronic distributor installed and we are wondering if it will need a vacuum connection from the carbs or not, hood chrome is clean, but I noticed today a clip inside is broken so I'll ask my helper if it matters, steering column and wheel installed, drivers door installed & adjusted but missing inside pull handle to close, installed window "wiper" rubber trim; needs rubber for triangle for both sides and for windshield post. I spent some time today patching & installing what we have so it t least looks OK; driver side fender does not seem to want to fit as well as my helper wants, but that won't fail the inspection; I figured out how to adjust the parking brake, connected the cowl-vent drain hose (does it need a clamp?), inspected the grill ... from a 2 L with one or two small dings, installed the top windshield inside trim, 3 hard-top brackets and the rear view mirror, added screws to the wood windshield/door trim, found and installed the correct centre console bolts, installed the centre console lid & trim, added a bracket to hold the metal face plate down for the consol, found 3 holes for seat belts, but one is covered with vinyl, added 30 amp interrupter fuse at starter, installed the gas filter in the glass holder, roughed in gas lines in engine bay, found the second windshield wiper arm bolt and fit wipers to posts (one arm is bright chrome and one is brushed chrome), visors need to be re-covered and the visor set-screws need to be drilled out & replaced, flipped the toggle switches so "Off" is down, partially installed passenger door weather stripping but the interior vinyl needs to be re-glued down, fuse box is poorly positioned so we will adjust the glove box so there is less chance of wire being pinched, driver-side bumper bracket is bent so we will need to adjust it sometime in the future, installed red battery cable and routed, attempted to route windshield washer hose, but got stuck at how to get it to the cowl vent area.

Some areas still to do ... snaps & fasteners for the toneau cover, driver’s side door lock knob, buy more fuses, charge the brake lines, add coolant, change the oil, get the electrical sorted out.

We have a number of issues going on with the electrical. But we need to give ourselves a break, though, since the PO bought a used harness, and we have a custom dash missing the map light, the radio, the cigarette lighter and the brake light test knob (if that really did come with the 68)...we have a few extra wires to confuddle us ... and not all the wires match the colours on the chart. ghahh ...

I noticed today that the key we have been using won’t allow the ignition switch go to the lock position ... and the key that does go to "lock" won’t actually lock the steering column. The blinker set-up we have does not have the hi-beam button; hi beam position is pulled back on the blinker switch. The head lights go through the toggle switch so the dash brightness is on its own rheostat.

That’s about it for now.

Here are a couple of pics ...any wisdom, hints or comments on what we have been up to so far or have planned would be welcome.

Thanks again for reading

Update of the progress yesterday ... and unfortunatly we are at least two steps back.

My technical helper is having very slow progress on the electrical. He is adding new relays for the heaadlights ... but what is a bit more worrying is what happened with the braking system. We added brake fluid and during the bleed we found many of the fittings had not been tightened down. My bad for assuming they would be, but that was an easy fix.

The bigger worry (posted on the quick-small question with pictures) is ... are the rear wheels installed left to right, or is just the brake bleeder on upside down (left to right). My helper figures it is at least the bleeders need to be flipped to get all the air out of the lines. This leads me to the next worry ... what else is incorrectly installed by the PO? Yikes

That's the Joy or problem of buying a project.

I would assume everything needs to be checked.
When your done, you will have something.

I believe I've seen that car before, and tried to help the owner a bit. With what's been done with the dash, looks like some time needs to be spent diagramming and planning how to go about replacing/deleting/modifying for the missing/unaccounted for switching mechanisms. looks like a '66 toggle switch setup, which is quite different than the late model light switching/wiring, among other things. A LARGE, laminated, colour wiring diagram is helpful for this work. A full '66 dash transplant is a popular swap, and would look much better than what you've got, imo....

Daryl

Speaking from experience, if you're finding loose fittings, check EVERY bolt in the front end, brakes and rear wheel bearing /backing plate to axle. My first one had some loose ones in scary places.

Thanks again for the feedback...I took most of my time yesterday checking and tightening as many of the fasteners as I can see. Most were pretty good, but I'm glad I've done what I can. I don't have a hoist, just really good stands, so we will do a final check up on a hoist before the car gets on the road.

A quick update ... intake & exhaust manifolds, carbs, gas lines installed, found how my carb set-up interferes with one air filter fastener; (won't be a big deal) discovered air cleaner to carb gaskets don't exist at my local dealer, tried the tonneau cover on & discovered there is no spot for the roll bar to get through, altered the glove box so the fuse box fits better, added brake fluid & hopefully found all the leaks, installed the spark plugs ... will torque to 17 lbs.

I took the tonneau to a friend with an upholstery business...my idea was to find out how much to alter it, and then see if it would be cheaper to swap with someone for the cost of shipping. He figures the alterations won't take him long, and while he is here doing the measurements to set up the work, he can inspect the interior work already done & give me some hints and direction on how to best finish off what is here. The tonneau is used, but he says it is in very good shape.

I'll continue to poke at the smaller things like twisties and posts for the cover. Electrical is still a challenge, and I've got a big schematic of the 68 wiring ... I'll print out the 66/67 as well ... then I guess we do some creative electrical magic.

My next worry/concern is how the alternator/fan/water pump belt and radiator shroud set up is right now. It seems like the alternator is forward by an inch or so to line up with the other 2 pulleys. No fan shroud came with the car, so I'll need to source one of those. Its a Champion rad so hopefully I can find one close by.

That's it for now. Another beautiful day in the Okanagan ... soon to be blessed with the sweet sound of a happy, re-born roadster.

Congratulations on the progress, without backward steps!

I modified a tonneau for the roll bar, as have many others. There is a thread with pics if interested

Linda

I would look at a tonneau and a roll bar as mutually exclusive. I suppose that it would be a lot better than nothing in a quick downpour but in a rain of any duration a lot of water is going to go through.

Thanks for the warning ... but the first roadster I had leaked so badly I wore a rain suit for the winters in Vancouver, BC and parked it with a big orange tarp over it. Much drier here and the guy I am going to use for the mod thinks he has it figured out ... I'll look at the other mods on the thread Linda suggests to review.

Progress: we have high and low beams thru the signal light switch ... still need left & right signals and any left tail lights; installed the chrome headlight surounds; after only two tries found and installed the correct length fan belt; added coolant & topped up the oil. bought a bunch of posties to install the tonneau (from a local guy who rebuilds funny little british cars ... when I mentioned I was not trying to convert him to Japanese, he said that was fine ... once I finish roadster, he said it will keeep running ... no matter how well he rebuilds a brit, he has a customer for life)
I've decided to ignor the toggle switches for now and just install 68 headlight, heater & wiper "pull/twist" switches. My best information is that the car has a 68 harness, so I'll go for functionality for now and deal with the other electrical areas later ... I keep meaning to buy a fire extinguisher now I have gas in the car...

In other more noisey news ... the engine fired up for the first time tonight!! Who knows how long since the last time ... but she goes....and she goes good. We needed to adjust the throttle linkage, idle & other settings on the carb to get the engine speed down ... and it still is not at an acceptable idle level. I can't tell what the RPMS are ... the tach is hooked up, but shows 7K+ RPM ... sounds more like 3500. Joe my mechanic helper says it sounds great...the only thing he could detect was perhaps a bit of a cough as the engine was starting ... but once it is going, does it sound smooth!

Any suggestions on slowing down the idle? we did what we could with the time we had tonight... pretty sure we have backed everything off. I don't really want to pull the carbs again ... there are a couple areas I know have been modified. I'll post some pictures in the next day or two for input.

Thanks for your help & suggestions so far

Ive read this many times
http://www.311s.org/pmwiki-311/pmwiki.p ... sNewSuTech