A 50 year old Japanesse lady: SRL311 01228

[2mAn]

What are you going to do when it rains?

Drive faster.

Basically. I have no intention of driving this car year 'round. I should have my daily purchased in the next week or two. In the mean time, Im bugging the SoCal chitchat, all my car friends and my wife with my neverending "what do you think of this car" car search haha

So today, I figured it was now or never if I wanted to give this handlebar re-wrap attempt. I prepped everything I thought I would need to make sure it would stick on...
Wrap it up by 2mAn

Definitely didnt turn out as good as I hope, but overall it was worth the ~$25 and will work better until I can find a top-notch solution. Stitched didnt seem to want to deal with it, so I will be looking for another option . In the mean time, its less ugly than it was and feels a lot better.

Wrap it up by 2mAn

I will live with it for now

[parkerbink]

What are you going to do when it rains?

Drive faster.

[rzerob]

What are you going to do when it rains?

[2mAn]

Are you going to end up taking the fuel tank out to clean it?

Yes, its been rinsed out already once. I cant pull it out until I have a daily.

For now, its been doing my 10 mile each way to work without issue. Usually taking Sepulveda, but I took 405 home yesterday. Its doing fine, getting a lot of thumbs up too

[MrBurgundy]

Are you going to end up taking the fuel tank out to clean it?

[2mAn]

Last night, I had a little time to rip out some of the carpeting. Out came the pass side floor mat and the two mats that were in the back shelf

Old carpet by 2mAn

I also tore out a bunch of the crap that was under that. I want to get it down to bare metal, clean any possible rust, POR15 all of it, then maybe get new pieces made, or I will just buy a carpet kit. Not totally sure yet at this point.

Heres how much crap came out and got thrown away.

Old carpet by 2mAn

I also went to the bike shop by my house and got some handlebar wrap to try and recover the steering wheel with it. I wanted to get started on it last night, but figured I better do some research before I get started. Not much info out there about what Im trying to do, but I think i need to remove the ruined leather cover, clean up the stuff underneath it then I should have a good surface to wrap. We'll see what happens.

Get a grip by 2mAn

Im listening to any advice you guys have about the stuff Im jumping into right now

[2mAn]

Congrats!

Great pics, thanks for sharing.
Do keep us updated as you progress, even if you somehow manage to come across a "R3V" for Datsun

Well, I've had a build thread going on at 311s.org since thats the Roadster forum, and there has been some very helpful people there. The radiator and stick shift was donated from a member over there who Will had also helped with their own Roadster, so they wanted to pitch in. I will update both threads appropriately

Oh.., and not to derail this thread, what happened to the C350?

I sold both the E30 and C350 within about 24 hours of each other. I have no intention of being a r3v member whos part of the "No E30 Club" so now that I dont have the Aluminum Monster anymore, I will be looking for a daily that will stay with the daily driver requirements. Im looking for a 4door, manual car and am hoping for it to be fun too. E30 checks those boxes. No more 24v swap though if I do get one.

As far as this car goes, the interior is for the most part, a mess. The carpet appears to be something that was used in a home back in the 70s so its all coming out. In addition to that, its faded and just looks bad so it will come out ASAP. I will most likely replace it with black carpet after any rust is dealt with. I think potentially it should be very limited, at least thats what i looks like from the little that Will removed on the driverside. Some POR 15 should do the job with what Ive seen so far

The door panels will stay however, because even though they arent OEM, I do like the style and feel like they match the exterior paint. The driver seat is pretty much worn down and falling apart, so its coming out. Whats replacing it? Well, Ive had this bucket seat for over 10 years, its changed hands a few times, but I always wanted to throw it into a car. I think I finally found a home for it

bucket1 by 2mAn


bucket2 by 2mAn


I will have to make custom mounts, but I think it will fit well with the door panels.

While all of this is going on, I will also be cleaning up the fuel tank, and also checking all of the spots that will need some lubrication. Gotta keep this old lady oiled up for action

[IceWhite]

Wow! Props to you Will. The car would not be where it is today without you!

Thanks for sharing!

[BlackbirdM3]

I'm glad the car made it home under its own power. It will be a good car. By no means did I get the car perfect, but its come a long way since I first took a look at it. There is something satisfying about taking a neglected car, investing some time in it, and getting it back on the road. Sure, it was frustrating at times when things simply didn't want to work, but in the end, knowing that you drove it 600 miles under its own power all the way home with nothing more than a leaf blocking the fuel pickup a couple times made my day. Its kinda cool to look back and see how far its come in 2 months.

Here is an album of the pics I took while I was reviving it.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10214529024685932.1073741952.1430090650&type=1&l=02a8080683

Will

[IceWhite]

Oh.., and not to derail this thread, what happened to the C350?

[IceWhite]

Congrats!

Great pics, thanks for sharing.
Do keep us updated as you progress, even if you somehow manage to come across a "R3V" for Datsun

[2mAn]

It's home! Beautiful car. Glad you made it without too much fuss.

Congratulations!

Thanks guys. She did pretty damn good for barely being driven in the last 30, and suddenly being asked to drive 500+ miles in a matter of hours

Nice, but your gonna feel paranoid in it since they are so small Nobody will even notice you. Might think about getting a 3rd brake light for roll bar mount with a strobe feature.

Yes I agree, I actually plan to upgrade the entire lighting system. It would be nice if there was a brighter taillight setup similar to what the 2002 have currently. Even the 914 now have a brighter option. Luckily upgrading the headlights shouldn't be too difficult as they are basic round headlights

First thing I need to do is to get the lights to actually work. Brake lights and turn signals work but headlights and running lamps don't. I think the headlight switch died as Will tested just about everything else and they were working until recently

[parkerbink]

Congratulations!

[M-technik-3]

Nice, but your gonna feel paranoid in it since they are so small Nobody will even notice you. Might think about getting a 3rd brake light for roll bar mount with a strobe feature.

[mike.bmw]

It's home! Beautiful car. Glad you made it without too much fuss.