A Southwest 411

[KELMO]

Well, I hadn't planned on starting a thread on this one but.....

I acquired this 411 in October of last year and have not done much to it at all. It is an original SW car that was sold through Thorobred (SP?) Datsun in Tuscon which is still an active Nissan Dealer. The car is pretty much an original survivor. Suspension, engine, and transmission mods were done by RaceNeely from this site.

 

Decided it was time to replace the front brake pads. This car is sofaking low that I can't even get my small Craftsman floor jack under it without having to use scissor jacks to raise it enough so that the jack will go under and I can use the front X member to raise it.

Thank God that I have grandpa's old bottle jacks from WAY back in the last century.

 

The front pads kicked my ass for a bit until I thought; Hey, maybe you should read the stinking manual. After that, things went smoothly. The PO is a guy that is considerably larger than myself and I am sure that he believes an oil filter should be turned half a turn past tight. I have several filter removal tools but so far none have been "just right". I considered the old "stab it with a screwdriver" trick but the last time I did that the filter almost didn't come off. Probably be off to the local parts store with the new filter to see what I can find.

[MikeRL411]

This is an RL411.  You will have to ask for 1968 510 pads, RL411s do not appear on parts store look up lists.  I use end cap "wrenches" to engage my oil filters, they work although on occasion I have had to stab the filter with a screwdriver. Clearance for the oil filter removal is marginal at best.

 

I use a floor jack and jack on the front cross member with a piece of wood to cushion impact on the steel. Always place floor stands as you have shown, Too far back and the RL411 is unstable and will tend to tilt forward at the "wrong" moment. The engine and transmission weight is critical to balance.

 

By the way, if you have to replace the thermostat housing Kia Sephia Thermostat housing are a near perfect replacement once you ream to mounting holes from metric to SAE,  Chrystler aluminum engine housings would be perfect but put the radiator hose directly in the path of the fan. [Might work for the roadster.]

 

The outside rear view mirrors are factory installed only on the driver's door not the passenger side or the fenders, so check for rust inside the driver's door.

 

Nice door window shades.

 

If you have the original driver's glove box manual it contains tuning procedure for the SU carbs and a complete wiring diagram.

[KELMO]

" You will have to ask for 1968 510 pads, "

Did and done, the PO gave me a set of pads with the purchase.

 

Also have an end cap wrench but it keeps slipping off. I'll do the screwdirver trick as a last resort. This used to work well years ago when filters were built somewhat more solid than today. The filter on the car is a Wix.

[thisismatt]

I use the slip joint style filter pliers...haven't failed me yet. Just need to grab at the end where the filter is most rigid

Edited June 19, 2022 by thisismatt

[KELMO]

Thought about that last night. I also have that type of wrench but as Mike said the clearance is marginal at best. We are currently fighting the Rona here at Kamp Kelmo so when I get some energy back, I will try that. Made an attempt using those at the fluted end and the filter started to crumple.

I'll try closer to the base.

 

Slip joint pliers....couldn't pull that term out of my rusty head. Thanks Matt.

[KELMO]

Also, while it was up on the stands. The license lamp was about as loose a 10 dollar whore. Tiny little 8mm nuts were almost all the way backed off.

I could barely get my hand and a wrench in there to tighten them down. Couldn't get a decent pic from underneath.

 

 

Still messing with the oil filter and thinking about pulling the housing off the block, making a new gasket and be done with it. Still feeling weak from the rona so I'm gonna wait a few days and see what I feel like.

[KELMO]

Yesterday I finally started feeling a bit more normal. Seems covid does sap some of your strength and energy. After 5 Days of watching bad TV, I got some stuff done. Took another shot at the oil filter and won this time.

Had to use a bit of leverage and Matt's suggestion of gripping at the base of the filter.

Got it back on the ground and had a quick rip around the neighborhood. No more brake squeak.

Edited June 25, 2022 by KELMO

[iceman510]

👍

[KELMO]

A bit of cleaning for the July 4th car show down the road from Kamp Kelmo.

 

[thisismatt]

Nice space

[bananahamuck]

On 6/18/2022 at 7:35 AM, KELMO said:

Well, I hadn't planned on starting a thread on this one but.....

I acquired this 411 in October of last year and have not done much to it at all. It is an original SW car that was sold through Thorobred (SP?) Datsun in Tuscon which is still an active Nissan Dealer. The car is pretty much an original survivor. Suspension, engine, and transmission mods were done by RaceNeely from this site.

 

Decided it was time to replace the front brake pads. This car is sofaking low that I can't even get my small Craftsman floor jack under it without having to use scissor jacks to raise it enough so that the jack will go under and I can use the front X member to raise it.

Thank God that I have grandpa's old bottle jacks from WAY back in the last century.

 

 

 

 

The houses and older warehouses  out at the beach are al pier and post and need jacking on a regular basis... so i inherited a bunch of those dang things . Bad part is i also inherited  the stupid houses that need to be jacked up ,,, on a regular basis.. 

 

 

 

.

[KELMO]

Well, it fits on the trailer. We had some issues trying to go up the ramp and needed to extend the angle of the dangle. I thought I was going to have to get some boards to extend the ramp somewhat. Kicking around the shop, I found some car ramps. Put them under the trailer ramp and drove the car right up on the trailer.

 

[KELMO]

Well, now I know why the speakers on the back deck don't work.

Looked under the dashboard and decided not to practice being a contortionist. Maybe another day.

 

I did rummage through the glove box and found this.

It will need a bit of cleaning.

 

Somewhat recreating this shot from last year, just a different angle.

 

 

[KELMO]

All cleaned up and ready for the Father's Day car show.

 

[Troy Down Under]

What size wheels and tyre are you running? Looking at lowering my 411 and am thinking of 15x6 wheels (struggling to find 14" here in Australia).

[KELMO]

This car has 175/65/14's on it. Last weekend I thought about putting 185/55/14's on it but they seemed too large. there are a couple 411 guys around here that could answer that question but I am more of a 1200 (Sunny) guy. 

[KELMO]

So, the brake master cylinder has had a bit of a leak, and I decided it was about time to do something about it. I've never rebuilt a master cylinder in my life. Well, I was able to get it apart and the PO had given me a rebuild kit but there are extra parts. The bits that have the tools pointing at them are what came out of the cylinder. The bits above that are what was in the kit (kit had no instructions). I'm guessing this kit has mutliple applications and some parts may not be needed but I would hate to guess wrong. To my knowledge the cylinder was new several years ago (maybe 4 or 5). I am thinking just use the parts that match what came out of the cylinder.

 

[thisismatt]

Looks like residual valve parts that would go inside the large screw cap at the line connection.

edit: just realized what thread this was, so yeah...single circuit master

Edited September 17, 2023 by thisismatt

[KELMO]

I guess a pic of the M/C would have been in order but yeah, single reservoir. I actually think this is a roadster M/C. Has disc brakes up front.

[thisismatt]

18 minutes ago, KELMO said:

I guess a pic of the M/C would have been in order but yeah, single reservoir. I actually think this is a roadster M/C. Has disc brakes up front.

 

Still think it's the residual valve parts, just edited because I initially said for the rear output, but obviously it only has one

[KELMO]

Did a small car show today, 13-15 cars.

AND this time I remembered to take a pic of the car at the show.

Took 3rd runner up. Ya me (I guess).

 

 Added bonus was that they had glasses to use for watching the full eclipse we were in the path of.

[KELMO]

Posted just because I can.

[Datsun Dude]

Glad to see it is still going strong!

Edited December 15, 2023 by Datsun Dude

[KELMO]

14 hours ago, Datsun Dude said:

Glad to see it is still going strong!

I actually prefer driving this compared to the 1200's.

 

Just don't tell the 1200's that.

[MikeRL411]

On 9/16/2023 at 7:48 PM, KELMO said:

So, the brake master cylinder has had a bit of a leak, and I decided it was about time to do something about it. I've never rebuilt a master cylinder in my life. Well, I was able to get it apart and the PO had given me a rebuild kit but there are extra parts. The bits that have the tools pointing at them are what came out of the cylinder. The bits above that are what was in the kit (kit had no instructions). I'm guessing this kit has mutliple applications and some parts may not be needed but I would hate to guess wrong. To my knowledge the cylinder was new several years ago (maybe 4 or 5). I am thinking just use the parts that match what came out of the cylinder.

 

 

When [not if] the rebuild fails go to Datsun Parts and order the early 1500 cc roadster MC, The warning on site that the outlet is on the wrong side refers to JDM roadsters and is perfect for export vehicles including RL411 sedans, I am running with one right now! It only has a small brake fluid container but that is OK except for competition use. You could swap fluid container if you desire.