Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I have had my 1600 for about 1.5 years and I just love this vehicle. Fun to drive and work on. It is not a 1 in condition but it is a 1 in fun to drive. The one issue it had since I got the car was a rear main seal leak which was pretty bad. I enjoyed driving the car August - October of 2015 and then put it away until March 2016. I planned on having a local transmission shop familiar with the 1600 replace the seal. After being there for a few weeks I received a call to come to the shop. When I arrived they showed me an issue with the crank shaft moving a 1/4 inch fore and aft. They said a rebuild was in order. I had my brother-in-law Bill look at the motor and he had the mechanic drop the thrust bearing cap and we found that the block was damaged and needed to be replaced. Fortunately for me my Brother in-law Bill had a 1600 motor already rebuilt and ready. He's a life saver. I took the new block and painted it and brought it and the head to the shop.

So a rear main seal replacement turned into a clutch, water pump, radiator replacement with a new aluminum radiator, starter rebuild and motor rebuild. I can’t wait to get this bad boy back on the road!!! Since the engine was out I took the time to clean and paint the overflow bottle and the fan shroud and radiator brackets. One step at a time and before you know it will be back on the road.

After I brought the new motor, that my Brother in-law rebuilt to the shop and they put it in the 1600. They put the fluids into the motor and started to adjust the valves. unfortunately there was a antifreeze leak from the back of the head and from the freeze out plug in the back of the block. The motor was again removed to replace the freeze out plugs and upon further inspection it was found that the plug hole was not round, but misshapen. There was also a bump on the top of the block that caused the leak under the head. Block number 2 was bad. Oh no!! My Brother in-law's cousin has a couple of 1600 motors and sold me one of his blocks which we inspected and is in very good condition. So the rebuild of the block was done. I know that all this will make for a better vehicle. So at this point the 1600 will have new radiator, starter, water pump, clutch, slave cylinder, repainted engine compartment, speedo cable. Plus a ton of hours spent removing and installing three blocks. We have named the 1600 Spanky because it is a little rascal!! LOL

So it has been almost a year since I brought the 1600 from the shop and the engine is running great. Today I took it a local shop to have get an estimate on having the rag top put on. Here are some pictures

More pictures I hope you enjoy them Recently I re-foamed the driver's seat and plan on doing the passenger's seat in the near future.

Quite a journey - great result!

re-foaming the seats

bakerjf wrote:Quite a journey - great result!

Thanks, this is a driver and not a restored car by any means. It's just fun to work on and drive!

Great find.... the brother-in-law! Keep him busy.

Car looks great and you are moving right along with fixes/updates. The love is evident!

JohnnyMac wrote:Great find.... the brother-in-law! Keep him busy.

Believe me I am. He's a great guy and has a ton of auto knowledge.

notoptoy wrote:Car looks great and you are moving right along with fixes/updates. The love is evident!

Thanks. My only issue I can't figure out is the fuel gauge. It was working fine and all of a sudden it's dead. I have power from the voltage regulator.. I guess it might be the fuel sending unit. I'll need more time to troubleshoot it.

Give the gauge voltage regulator a little wiggle and make sure that it is properly grounded. It grounds through the case.

notoptoy wrote:Give the gauge voltage regulator a little wiggle and make sure that it is properly grounded. It grounds through the case.

I checked the voltage regulator and the voltage regulator wire going to the fuel gauge and all is good. I think something happened to the fuel sensor wire going to the gauge when I was removing the speedometer. I'll have to take a look at the wire and trace it to make sure it isn't kinked.

An easy test is to place a 9 volt battery to the fuel gauage (plus to gauge and neg to ground).
If gauge moves it's your VREG, if no move it's the gauge or the sending unit.
Infinite ohms from the sender will be an empty tank (wire from sender faulty).

Update on my ride. Last Monday I took it over to have a new soft top put on. On the way over to the shop I shifted into third and it started to make a banging noise. All of the other gears were fine, except third. I'm not sure what it could be. on a positive note the new soft top looks great.

An update on the Tranny. Third gear is shot and I need to replace the trans. I found one and had it shipped to my house. In the fall I will have it done. For now I'll enjoy driving it to car shows and around town.

This morning I dropped off the Datsun off at the transmission shop to have the tranmission replaced with the used one I picked up last year. I stopped into the shop after work to see when they would start working on it and it is already attached to the engine an in. They said it would be finished tomorrow. Holy smokes I thought they would have it for a week or two! I am so looking forward to having a third gear again!