Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Hello,
My very first car, when I was 16, was a 1968 SP I bought in 1980. Total rust bucket with a great engine that I had the body redone on. I learned a lot on that car.
I recently purchased a 1969 SRL311. It is in nice shape in terms of no rust or major damage. The color was changed from silver to red but looks okay for an everyday driver for now. I will take it back to the silver for sure. Lots of original parts and nothing that stands out as a modification. I am thinking of keeping it stock for now.
I had the car shipped from Florida and the brakes were soft when I fired it up. I bled the brake system and that restored pedal pressure. A few min later there was leak on the garage floor. The rear driver side is leaking in the brake drum. I have my brake shop lined out to install but I am tasked with finding the rear break kit. Can someone recommend a good replacement kit for both rear brakes?
Also, the PO said that it needed a replacement fan because it ran hot. I thought I would start by draining and flushing the radiator. It had some nice brown sludgy fluid in it when I opened the cap. I was working carefully on the drain plug when it broke from the metal. Question is, should I try and have this refurbished, replaced with stock or go with after market. Any and all feedback is welcome.
Thanks

Click on the quick links tab at the top left of this page for a list of roadster parts vendors. The 2000 uses a clutch system for the cooling fan that is know to fail and expensive to replace, and then it will fail again. You can eliminate the clutch by replacing it with a spacer. The downside to that is it will be loud all the time. A much quieter 4 blade fan is available, but again very expensive. If you tore up the metal on your radiator and it needs welding you might kill two birds with one stone by getting an aftermarket radiator and an electric fan. Much cheaper and done all the time. Be sure your fan has a shroud, as it’s very important.
Be sure to check out the tech wiki, as it’s full of money saving information.

Welcome! I'm not a fan of the aluminum radiators as I think that they are hideous. They work though. Some are not as direct of a fit as the manufacturer would lead you to believe. In 1969, the steering underwent a change, and the earlier radiator is slightly wider than the later as the newer steering box is bigger. You have to have the correct replacement or things will be a pain.

If you repair the stock radiator, upgrade to a 3 row core.

Here is an old post of my radiator repair with some video by the shop in San Jose, CA that did the work.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19209

A 3 row core is NOT always better than a 2 row core. There are other factors to consider such as tube dimensions, tube spacing, fin count, air flow, and flow rate. Sometimes the 2 row is the way to go.

Welcome! My Roadster is my third car, if you count the POS '72 Toyota PU I had until itI blew up... a few months. That led to my '73 Datsun 620 PU, and thus the Roadster, so the Toyota ended up serving it's purpose eh? (Funny how life works... what seems bad at the time ends up being critical to your true path. I remind people of that when the %÷×= is hitting the fan).

Can't help you on the wheel cylinders but the referral to the vendor page is a good one, as is the post on the fans. As one who likes to modify things, I have a Datsun 310 electric fan on mine for the past 20 years or so. It came with a shroud and was configured such that I could modify it (i.e. cut things off) to work, so if you like that kind of thing you could poke around a few good wrecking yards. They often have such things collected and stored in some shed. I use an adjustable universal switch that has a probe to sense temp in the rad and turns on at the temp I set... works great.

Welcome to the family!

To answer your question about the brakes; the rear cylinder that is leaking will probably not be the last one. Cars that sit for a while are notorious for having calipers ,cylinders and masters that eventually leak. You may want to find a brake shop near you that can resleeve the parts. If not, there are at least 2 vendors that are mentioned on line here that can restore your components for less than replacement- and if you use stainless you will never have to replace again.

Thanks for the input all. Waiting on a fan spacer for the 4 blade fan I bought. I repaired radiator and will give it a go. When removing the old fan clutch, I see it is held on with a snap washer. Do you also loosen the four bolts that hold the pulley on? Are these the bolts that you use to put the spacer on? Then I assume the fan screws in to the spacer?