A 50 year old Japanesse lady: SRL311 01228

[BlackbirdM3]

I totally missed the rebuilt carbs, lol. I had go back and look at them.

Do the Solex carbs use bearings on the throttle shafts or bushings?

They are sealed bearings with extra seals on the outside. They don't suffer SU throttle shaft bushing issues.

Its really interesting looking at how the early carbs were designed. The later ones like what I use are much different. Far more adjustable and tuneable. The early carbs are also made of zinc, not aluminum like the later ones (hence the reason Simons carbs look dark and dull despite my best efforts to brighten them up)

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Another roadster owner dropped off a radiator and shift lever to the cause. There was a roadster gathering in my driveway.

Oh, I found a full set of emblems for your car while digging around in my various spare parts left over from my paint job in 2011. You now have full side emblems as well as a DATSUN and 2000 for the trunk should you want to install them.

badges-1 by 2mAn

badges-2 by 2mAn

Will

[2mAn]

Sexy! Will throw those parts in the glovebox and I will deal with them when I get the car home.

[flyboyx]

my buddy ian has like seven of these things in pennsylvania. if either of you need parts, shoot me a pm. i will relay his number.

[2mAn]

Will got some more work done!... Hopefully hes driving it in the next few days

I got a few more hours of work done on the car this evening. The brake master showed up, so it was time to start assembling. First however I pulled the heater hoses, they are crusty and I didn't trust them. I didn't cut them, I simply removed them. The water tube on the intake was capped at both ends as was the port in the water pump. Following that, I installed the heat shield. That required a minor amount of creativity as to how to get a wrench on the nuts to hold it on.

motor-reassembly-1 by 2mAn

Following that, since I had everything out of the way of the front engine, I wanted to shim the upper tensioner. I put four spacers on. I left a little space for some wiggle room. I didn't want to go too tight (you can only see 3 of them in this pic.)

tensioner-spaced by 2mAn

The upper guide got chewed on at some point. Not good.
dirty-guide by 2mAn

Hopefully tomorrow I can have this thing mostly back together and ready to drive.

Will

[2mAn]

The mans on a mission to drive it... hopefully today or tomorrow!

Its always a good feeling when things are going back on the car rather than being removed. In today's episode, I did some minor rust control, and attempted to put the car back together.

The worst rust on the car was under the battery. Since I don't have the tools here to cut it out and weld new metal in, the next best thing was to scrub the heck out of it with a wire brush, and paint it with POR-15. Not the ideal fix, but it will help slow the rust.

battery-tray1 by 2mAn

I also treated the pocket for the brake master.

brake-03 by 2mAn

Onto bigger and better things. I gave the new radiator a quick dusting of black paint to clean things up. I couldn't bring myself to install parts that were dirty, and crusty looking. After a quick scrub down, some gloss black was the answer.

radiator-02 by 2mAn

After some minor jostling the cooling system is back in the car and looking far better than it has in decades.

radiator-03 by 2mAn

radiator-04 by 2mAn

I thought I was making good headway, until I got to putting the fan belt back on. I now remember why I loath having the alternator under the header. There is no room for adjustment, and access to the bolts to loosen anything. How someone got the fan belt on is beyond me. I fought with it for over an hour and could not get it on. At this point, my solution is a new belt that is one size longer and hope there is enough adjustment to get the slack out.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get the fan belt on, the brake master on, and the carbs on.

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Actually, the M3 wants its garage space back. Its miffed that it has to sit outside when there is an interloping Datsun in its place.

Will

[2mAn]

Actually, the M3 wants its garage space back. Its miffed that it has to sit outside when there is an interloping Datsun in its place.

Will

Well hopefully you can spend the weekend and the upcoming week driving the car and letting the M3 get its garage spot back. Then I can fly up the following weekend and drive it home... then I will have to kick my own E30 out of the garage haha

[BlackbirdM3]

So, a momentous occasion has happened. I got the carbs sorted out, and pretty well tuned, I got it to rev well, so I figured it was time to take it for a test drive. At 8:30 pm, the car did 2.7 miles under its own power! I ran it out to about 6k in 3rd, blew all kinds of smoke everywhere. (James Bond smoke screen? ) but the power was good, transmission feels good, clutch feels good.(Likely the first time its seen 6k rpm in 3rd gear in 30+ years) The brakes didn't lock either! They were soft, but that was totally expected since I know I've introduced air into the system without fully bleeding the brakes. That said, I think after I bleed the brakes they will be good to go.

The carbs don't want to idle, but again, a known issue with the early solexes. The pilot screws have some wear as do the carb bodies where they poke through into the throats of the carbs. The rear carb is worse than the front.

It did sound like it was backfiring into the exhaust under load, as well as pinging a little bit. I'll check the timing tomorrow, I might pull it back to 18 degrees and see if that fixes it. It might also be running lean. That could explain why it doesn't want to idle, but its not sneezing through the carbs indicating a lean condition.

Will

[2mAn]

Hooray!!!!

[BlackbirdM3]

I just took it for a hill climb, put another 10 miles on it. It still doesn't want to idle down. Its starting to bug me. There is also something in the gas tank that keeps blocking the pickup.

That said, the last trip the car felt good. No serious bog when you hit the throttle. And oh what a glorious noise the carbs make. :bow: Still blowing lots of blue smoke when you romp on it however. I'm hoping there is just lots of crap in the rings that need to be cleared out and then they will reseat. I also got it into 4th. The brake lights are working now, still working on the turn signals. Also, the shift lever is installed. You are going to laugh when you see just how much longer the stock one is.

Will

[2mAn]

The man has a wonderful camera! Makes crap look great!

Time for some pics.

This is the brake master that I couldn't make work. It clearly has some serious corrosion.

brake-master1 by 2mAn

brake-master2 by 2mAn

brake-master3 by 2mAn

brake-master4 by 2mAn

Shift levers, one is not like the other. I'm pretty sure this is the shortest shift lever I've ever seen on a roadster.

shift-rod1 by 2mAn

It might be time for a new shift boot.

torn-boot by 2mAn

So much better.

new-shifter by 2mAn

I took the car for another spin this afternoon. Its up to just under 12 miles! The power was good, still smokes like steam locomotive. I'm still working on carb jetting. I can't get it to idle down, it hangs at 1500 rpm, and won't come down no matter what I do. There was a makeshift throttle return spring attached to the hader that I removed. I might make something up that attaches to the heat shield.

Will

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Awesome! It's been so long since I've browsed the project section I missed this. Subbed.

What's the timeline for it to make it down to LA?

[2mAn]

Awesome! It's been so long since I've browsed the project section I missed this. Subbed.

What's the timeline for it to make it down to LA?

I was hoping last weekend or this one, but not surprisingly, we have had some unexpected issues pop up.

I know Will wants it out when its ready because his M3 is annoyed by this ol lady

[IronJoe]

Wow, excellent progress. Simon I bet you are dying to get this thing home. Hope you are paying BlackbirdM3 some serious Freedom Bux for all his hard work ;)