My Roadster... a 68 SRL311

[2mAn]

It was discovered earlier this year in Petaluma and my friend in Napa went and checked it out for me. Car had been off the road since 1987, last registered in 86. Probably older than some of the members here, who knows. It was equipped with dual Solex carbs, the early Type 2 model, it has the big oil pan and has some kind of cam. This is in addition to a repaint, and full interior change. Someone loved this car a LOT, a long time ago... Bought it and after 2 months of carb rebuilding and general BS to deal with,it was ready for a drive home. I flew from LA and drove the car over 500 miles in one day. No major issues either. The love connection happened.

 

Neglected, but one of my favorite pics

 

Ready for the drive

 

SUP

 

After I got it home, I have been slowly prepping it for VARA. This was my first canyon run in SoCal with my neighbor and his sexy Alfa Romeo GTV

 

The Datsun held its own, even though it was on old tired suspension and a questionable chain trying to hold the motor together haha

 

 

Just finally got the front suspension installed which consists of Comp springs and special Bilsteins. I will be installing the rear soon. Still working on gathering the parts to pull the motor and install all new timing components too... Its a fun little car

 

Its not slammed on its balls, so you guys might not love it, but I do

[KELMO]

Welcome to the circus. I think it looks the goods, even think no need to slam it on its balls ( yeah, I am a little old).

[Lockleaf]

Very nice. I don't care what they look like. If they are getting used they are fine by me. Nice looking car!

[Fetch]

Sweet, I think the car has a good stance. Nice job.

[mlw]

Nice, a 2000 no less, have fun!

[Ranman72]

looks great and came with the goodies 

solex carbs /large oil pan 

NICE

[2mAn]

Thanks everyone. Forgot to check back on this. I thought I would get notified with replies... I guess not. The car is a lot of fun, and its clear someone in the 70s/early 80s truly loved the car because its been repainted, and the interior was totally redone. Ive been really busy finishing up my semester and between that, working a full-time job and trying to be a good husband the car hasnt had much work done since the last post. I finished up the front suspension and it drove great, but it was obvious I needed to hurry up and work on the rear. It was supposed to be a 20 minute job changing the rear shocks,, but weeks later and its still not done. haha

 

I did however get a seat that Ive basically owned on and off for the last 15 years. I think it finally has found its home. It just feels right.

My buddy checked it with the airline when he flew down here 2 weeks ago. TSA Checked it and deemed it worthy to make the flight from Seattle to LA.

 

 

I couldnt resist throwing it in the car to see how it looks. Not the best picture courtesy of the lighting, but it feels good. After this weekend I will be done with school (its a weekend/ evening college for old people like myself), so next week I will finish up the rear Bilsteins, do a bunch of stuff on my daily driver ('88 325i) and then I will be making up some rails to bolt these seats to and bolt them to the car. 

 

 

If I can sell some more of my extra car parts that I wont be using (see those boxes in the background!?) I will be able to buy a few more parts for the timing system. I already have a new chain and a couple other things, but it feels like each piece is $300 so I cant buy it all at once. I also want to get an Aasco lightweight flywheel, but again its $400... It adds up quick.

 

Anyways, glad you guys like it. I will try to keep this sporadically updated 

[Redrumls]

I never realized the Alfa's were that small.. datsun roadsters are small. Interesting...

Greg

[2mAn]

So lets see if I can update the last ~6 months in just a few words.

 

Drove it to Willow Springs in February. It made the drive just fine and died at the gate. The alternator/ voltage regulator died so I pushed it into this position to get this glam shot

 

 

This began a process which involved changing the tensioner, followed quickly by a few WOT redline runs.... because Im a child 

 

After that, I started the actual process of replacing the alternator. I figured I would use this opportunity to move the alternator over to the pass side and also upgrade to a GM single wire setup.

 

Heres the old setup removed. 

 

 

Here are all of the parts I made, collected or purchased to make the relocation happen

 

 

New setup installed, complete with obnoxiously long fuel line going to the carbs...

 

 

After this, I decided to tackle another issue which was the exhaust leak and other general "sins of the PO"

 

 

Heres the shiny new 1 5/8" ceramic coated header ready to go on 

 

 

collection of old garbage after being removed

 

 

 

Tore it all the way down to this... I couldnt get that one damn stud out and didnt want to break it.

 

 

you can still get some parts from the dealership brand new!

 

 

Header installed

 

Intake side installed with my special T3 stacks installed

 

aaaannnnnnddddddd done!

 

after it was all buttoned up, I took it out for a spin. One week to go before the Solvang Roadster Show and Im feeling pretty good..... until I start smelling coolant on my way home. No smoke, but I park and see this....

 

$H!T

 

stupid amount of money to buy a NOS Nissan Water pump from Grumpy Old Stan, combined with a few late nights' work and ...

 

 

Completed the job the night before the show. No functioning headlights meant that I couldnt test it out until the morning when I was going to drive ~130 miles to the show. This should be fun!... next post will pick up from there!

[2mAn]

so, 3 months of work and I still dont know how this will go... whats the worst that can happen? Jump in and find out!? Up early and on the road by 6am. I have no top, and cruising on the coast was nice and all, but it was a tad bit colder than I was hoping haha 

 

another glam shot  B)

 

cruising on the coast

 

 

luckily there were nearly no issues. My tank has been suspicious and I had to stop once because of it, but other than that no issues! I saw two Roadsters on the way to the show, both with their tops up going much slower than I was, so I flew by them. One picked up his pace and we cruised together to the show. I made it and had a perma grin for the next 12 hours... I even took home 3rd place in the "Diamond in the Rough" group, though I think mine should've won.. oh well, Im not in it for the prizes.

 

Loved this pic because prior to buying my Roadster, I almost bought this other one and he was parked right next to me

 

 

after the show, I immediately tore the car apart again. Another guy who was doing a SR20 swap wanted an uncoated tank to trade for his coated tank. I jumped at the chance and am glad I did. I could hear stuff rustling around in my tank after removing it... It definitely had some junk in it still that was causing me problems

 

Old tank

 

New tank

 

and new thank installed... yes I didnt clean or paint the straps. NFG

 

installed a badge

 

bought a rear end because I wanted the 3.9 rear end, the rest needs to go.... Ive heard this might be an upgrade for you guys, if you need anything LMK

 

speaking of rear ends, I drilled into the backside of this lady to but this badge on her

 

then I moved the Talbot mirror to the antenna location and did some stuff to the interior with POR15 and yada yada... more importantly, I took her out for a spin and am loving it.

 

 

 

She looks happy, and so am I... and you're now up to date. See you in 6 months haha

 

[]2eDeYe]

Nice looking roadster. Definitely worth the effort your putting in :cool: 

[2mAn]

Time for my annual update.

 

At the beginning of the year, I took the car into the garage and put it up on jackstands. Pulled the head off and sent it to the machine shop. One of many things I planned to do was to paint the inner engine bay, as when the car was painted they just skipped the whole engine bay... I had to fix that and Im about done. Its not perfect, but this car isnt intended to be perfect cosmetically.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Ive been also doing  stupid things with a drill and drill bits...here, I found some fat on the hood hinges

 

midway...

 

and done...

 

then there was the hood and this guy:

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Cylinderhead isnt back yet, so I will have a nice powerful update soon