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New to Roadsters

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 2:45 pm
by BIG PHIIL
Hello. My name is Phillip. My father-in-law has a 67 Datsun 1600 with a 1991 240sx engine and transmission swap in it. He has had it at a shop for the last 10 years getting the swap done. Now that the engine is finally in and running he has given me the task of finishing up everything else on the car. I just ordered "The Datsun Roadster books" to familiarize myself with these cars. I am starting with the brakes. I have found the GTR conversion kit for the front that looks good and was wanting to convert the rear to 240sx disk brakes. I found the conversion bracket for it to do the swap. Now for my questions...

Has anybody done these brake swaps? If so, was it pretty straight forward installation? Are there any other modifications to the brake system that need to be done for these swaps (master clyinder, ect.) Is there any other parts other than the mounting bracket, rotors and calipers needed for the rear?

Sorry about all the questions right off the bat and thank you in advance for any help. I'm hoping to finish this car up in a timely manner for him since he has been waiting over 10 years to drive it.

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:53 pm
by BIG PHIIL
Well after some investigation and talking with my f-i-l, he said that the car originally had drum brakes on it. From everything I can find, that would make it an earlier model than 67. Am I correct? The info tag on the body is missing, but I did find the serial number on the frame. Would I be able to figure out what year model the car is from that number?

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:20 pm
by ed B
Welcome! I think they all had drums on the back, but not sure.
Check out this site for VIN numbers:
http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun311 ... fault.aspx
Also the Tech Wiki of this Forum:
http://www.311s.org/pmwiki-311/pmwiki.p ... VINNumbers
And one more (I assume they all agree?):
http://www.datsunroadster.com/INFO_PAGES/what_year.htm

This site says they had drums on the front in 1965:
http://www.datsuns.com/modelguide/model ... ter_N.html

Hope this helps somewhat. I don;t have the knowledge to discuss a brake conversion, but there many on this site that can.

Ed.

PS where are you located?

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:48 pm
by fj20spl311
Best to read what is available on this forum already. Just search "+Brake +conversion" the plus sign means both.

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:23 pm
by Gregs672000
Welcome! No real braking advantage to the 240sx rear discs over the rear drums. However, you might consider doing an Rx7 limited slip rear end swap, as you end up with discs and the LS would make sense with the 2.4 liter torque.
If it were my car and didn't care about having a LS, I would just put my time and money into making sure the rear brakes work properly and don't leak... the fronts are where the real braking power is, and upgrades there make good sense.

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:33 am
by spriso
We have big brake kits in stock for any disc brake equipped roadster:

http://spriso.com/our-products/datsun-r ... rake-kits/

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Michael

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 3:53 pm
by BIG PHIIL
I really appreciate all the replies. I seached around on this forum for a couple days looking for answers, but could never really find what I was looking for.

He told me he wants disks on the rear, I am going to look in to the RX-7 rear swap. I like that idea better than the 240sx swap.

Thanks for those links, according to the vin the car is a 1965 model. I am in Weatherford Texas.

spriso wrote:We have big brake kits in stock for any disc brake equipped roadster:

http://spriso.com/our-products/datsun-r ... rake-kits/

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Michael
So the vin says the car is a 1965 model, but the car has disk brakes on it. My father in law said that he took the front brakes off a 2000 and put them on to have disk brakes. I am assuming he replaced the entire knuckle/spindle/brakes with the ones from the 2000. Would one of your big brake kits work for this car?

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:16 pm
by BIG PHIIL
Gregs672000 wrote:Welcome! No real braking advantage to the 240sx rear discs over the rear drums. However, you might consider doing an Rx7 limited slip rear end swap, as you end up with discs and the LS would make sense with the 2.4 liter torque.
If it were my car and didn't care about having a LS, I would just put my time and money into making sure the rear brakes work properly and don't leak... the fronts are where the real braking power is, and upgrades there make good sense.
Do you know where I could find more info on this?

Before fj20spl311 jumps my ass, I already did a search here and came up with no info.

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:26 pm
by BIG PHIIL
Lets get a few pictures in here for you guys...

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Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:27 pm
by BIG PHIIL
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Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:29 pm
by BIG PHIIL
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Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 6:24 pm
by Gregs672000
BIG PHIIL wrote:
Gregs672000 wrote:Welcome! No real braking advantage to the 240sx rear discs over the rear drums. However, you might consider doing an Rx7 limited slip rear end swap, as you end up with discs and the LS would make sense with the 2.4 liter torque.
If it were my car and didn't care about having a LS, I would just put my time and money into making sure the rear brakes work properly and don't leak... the fronts are where the real braking power is, and upgrades there make good sense.
Do you know where I could find more info on this?

Before fj20spl311 jumps my ass, I already did a search here and came up with no info.
John did mine (Johnw on the list) but I see he has not been active since June 2016 on any forums... not sure where he is at the moment. You might try contacting him via the PM system. Others were doing the conversions as well. Only certain RX7s came with limited slips and solid axles. There is a process to getting one converted, but mine has been bullet proof and a great upgrade. I suggest you post a request with wanting an RX7 LS conversion and see if someone responds.

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 9:39 pm
by raggs53
I was thinking that if this is a 1965 model it would be a 310 not a 311 ! Am I wrong ? What did u use for rear tail lights ? 10 years is a long time to wait but its looks great !

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 3:12 am
by pebbles
BIG PHIIL wrote:
Before fj20spl311 jumps my ass, I already did a search here and came up with no info.
Tech wiki
http://www.311s.org/pmwiki-311/pmwiki.p ... ion.Brakes
:smt006

Re: New to Roadsters

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 3:15 am
by pebbles
The super beetle tailights gotta go