Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Hi. The trip to get my roadster was fairly uneventful except for the torrential rain the entire way home.
The smoky mountains were VERY smoky amd it took 12 hours driving to get home. The poor roadster saw more rain that day than i think it ever saw in its 47 year existence.
But here it is, safe home.
I dont have a garage so im gonna pull it apart and extensively rustproof it.

So far having wiring woes. Connectors are falling apart at the touch.
I have already eliminated one of them.
Gonna do GM alternator swap so i can enjoy my car before winter (where i will commence restoration)

Car looks real nice, love the wheels. The plastic wire connectors are known to fall apart when you try to disconnect them. Google vintage connectors, he has most of the OEM connectors and is cheap and great to work with.

Ill do that. The woring itself is pretty corroded so im gonna eventually go with new harnesses. For now im just gonna repair it so it works. Only gonna use it a few months before it gets pulled apart for resto.
There is a lot of unpainted metal in this thing. Luckily, it is almost completely rust free ATM. (Only bad stuff is where battery goes) I have to address it before it literally disintegrates before my eyes in a PA winter.

Also want some advice.
Throttle shafts are BAAAAAAD on the SUs (which i believe are original to this car) After much fiddling i can get the car to a shaky 1300rpm idle and with 30 weight in dashpots i can get the car to somewhat assume a load.
Should i get them rebuilt or should i go solex (or should i just swap out and keep original stuff stored away)

twoeightythreez wrote:Also want some advice.
Throttle shafts are BAAAAAAD on the SUs (which i believe are original to this car) After much fiddling i can get the car to a shaky 1300rpm idle and with 30 weight in dashpots i can get the car to somewhat assume a load.
Should i get them rebuilt or should i go solex (or should i just swap out and keep original stuff stored away)

you can send your SUs out to Z-tharepy or Keith Williams and get them back better than new for about ~$800. Or you can put together a Solex setup For like $1500 to $2500 depending on if you get rebuilt ones and what kind of deals you score on stuff like manifold/heat shield/linkage

To my delight, the alternator bolts right in.
The forum said sonbut needed to verify.
The stock white wire terminal fits the B+ lug and the stock ground wire bolts to one of the case through bolts.
I will add another ground to engine block to GM ground lug.
The GM plug faces the engine, so unless someone knows what they are looking at , it is indistinguishable from stock.
The stock belt even works.
Its a 81 camaro 5.7 alternator. 60A$33 and available everywhere. This is a no brainer. My stock alternator isnt original alternator anyway (i will keep it regardless)
Will wire it up later just wanted to verify hard mounting.
Since all my connectors are FUBAR i am gonna modify harness to suit new alternator.
Brake warning light will work perfectly for terminal 1.
For now I will fuse and run power through ammeter circuit. (I think that i will figure out some sort of timer circuit that will connect alt directly to battery for first 5 minutes after startup and then disconnect and allow all current to go through ammeter so i can save the old rickety wiring)

Update:
I reclocked the alternator and it now fits even better.
The only thing is that since its a physically larger alternator it means its harder to get the belt on.
I may need to grind about a 16th of an inch off the front and put a washer behind to make the belt line up perfect but for now i am satisfied with the results. I just wanna drive my car!
I have finished up the alternator wiring. I dont intend on ever going back to an externally regulated alternator so removed all that wiring. I ran a 12 gauge wire from terminal 2 (sense) to the battery along the factory loom. It is fused at battery.
I used the "B" light as the alternator light. (It still works as a service brake warning light, too.)
To do this, i had to rewire the power (since the light recieves power all the time regardless of key position.)
I unplugged the green/white wire at the lamp and wired it to the black/white ignition source to the dash voltage regulator(using black/white wire from the external regulator).
The other side i spliced into and ran a wire from there to terminal 1 of the alternator (field)
The wire to the ammeter i wired up direct and will add fuses in both ends to protect ammeter. Unfortunately, it got dark too soon so will finish up another day likely next Sunday.
I also found my stock temp gauge wire was wired to the points wire for some reason......
While i was in there i discovered that the breaker wire is bared in spots, so im gonna have to make a new one.
Oh well it may take time but the next time that car runs it will be on point electrically.

You can get a minor rebuild kit for your carbs on eBay by Keyster, it has gaskets, float valves, etc, some needles but not sure what size. Linda

twoeightythreez wrote: To my delight, the alternator bolts right in.
The stock belt even works.
Its a 81 camaro 5.7 alternator. 60A$33 and available everywhere. This is a no brainer. My stock alternator isnt original alternator anyway (i will keep it regardless)

Be aware the GM pulley is smaller than the Datsun pulley so if you spin it too fast the GM fan may explode. I went with a larger pulley because I had two fans explode.

spyder wrote: Be aware the GM pulley is smaller than the Datsun pulley so if you spin it too fast the GM fan may explode. I went with a larger pulley because I had two fans explode.

That sounds both exciting and horrifying. Good to know.

If it works well, i will eventually put the mitsubishi pulley onto the gm alternator,
Or perhaps I will use a newer nissan (internal regulator) alternator.

Havent had a chance to work on roadster at all...so it is still waiting patiently. I have to make a new breaker wire and plug the lights back in. I have to pull the dizzy and find the 4-40 nut i dropped inside when i removed the temp sender wire from the distributor.DOH) Oh well . . i might as well clean and regrease the breaker plate then. The dizzy is nice and tight just needs some shimming. I did order some new clear turnsignal lenses (i will put the originals in storage as they are immaculate) and i may as well do the 3 wire sidemarkers mod.

So far, the roadster is running good. As long as I keep idle at 1500rpm the car is driveable and no super critical issues yet. (Other than the gas tank leaking, which just started happening, but that will be fixed over winter.)
My daughter got her first ride in it today! The gas tank started leaking AFTER she got her ride (when i stupidly filled it)

She LOVES it.

Yeah! The start of Roadster Love! I guarantee she will long talk about "this really cool little sports car my dad had when I was a kid"!