A 50 year old Japanesse lady: SRL311 01228

[BlackbirdM3]

I think I might have to buy a set of those full radius velocity stacks. Good work.

Will

[spanish pants]

Stacks = automotive sexiness.
Makes me wish the e30 was carbureted

[lukeADE335i]

The U series head does look a lot nicer than the L20B (particularly the valves / combustion chambers)!

Weird how Nissan went with the reduced number of manifold studs and plates - the L20B also had a similar setup. My dad got 580,000km out of an L20B manual in his Datsun 910, so they were long lived engines (the rest of the car completely fell to pieces in the end though :D )

[slammin.e28]

Lol, I basically come to r3v these days just to check on this thread.

I love this car and the work going into it!

[2mAn]

I think I might have to buy a set of those full radius velocity stacks. Good work.

Will

Do it!

Stacks = automotive sexiness.
Makes me wish the e30 was carbureted

When I went for a run with my neighbor in his Alfa, the noise made by a pair of weber side drafts and a pair of Solex side drafts was sex

The U series head does look a lot nicer than the L20B (particularly the valves / combustion chambers)!

Weird how Nissan went with the reduced number of manifold studs and plates - the L20B also had a similar setup. My dad got 580,000km out of an L20B manual in his Datsun 910, so they were long lived engines (the rest of the car completely fell to pieces in the end though :D )

U20 is a special motor

Lol, I basically come to r3v these days just to check on this thread.

I love this car and the work going into it!

thanks! I am getting so eager to finish this off because it will feel so much better after all of this work. I am hoping to put a lot of miles on it during the long summer days. If I can actually get my headlights working, it would be even better! haha

[2mAn]

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO.... the car left the garage today for the first time in over a month. It was loud but it left under its own power. Didnt go far because I already had a tow truck on its way. Didnt want to risk any stupid things happening on the way to the muffler shop

Snapped this pic outside while waiting for the tow truck.

Exhausting work by 2mAn

I towed the car to the exhaust shop to get the exhaust wrapped up. Got my flex pipe connected and ditched the old rusty pipe and replaced it with 2” straight pipe back to the over axle piece. I’ll address that eventually with something better. Basically a straight pipe to an old ass glasspack.

This is the only pic I got at the muffler shop.

Exhausting work by 2mAn

I hope to get this thing driveable but this is the final week of my semester so I will be pretty swamped. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow I will go buy a timing light but I need tips on what I need I do with it other than attaching it to the #1 ignition wire. Im getting close!

[BlackbirdM3]

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO.... the car left the garage today for the first time in over a month. It was loud but it left under its own power. Didnt go far because I already had a tow truck on its way. Didnt want to risk any stupid things happening on the way to the muffler shop

Snapped this pic outside while waiting for the tow truck.

Exhausting work by 2mAn

I towed the car to the exhaust shop to get the exhaust wrapped up. Got my flex pipe connected and ditched the old rusty pipe and replaced it with 2” straight pipe back to the over axle piece. I’ll address that eventually with something better. Basically a straight pipe to an old ass glasspack.

This is the only pic I got at the muffler shop.

Exhausting work by 2mAn

I hope to get this thing driveable but this is the final week of my semester so I will be pretty swamped. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow I will go buy a timing light but I need tips on what I need I do with it other than attaching it to the #1 ignition wire. Im getting close!

If you buy a timing light like what I have, (digital read out with RPM and advance) you set the light to 20 degrees, shine it at the timing mark on the timing cover (the thing that sicks out toward the crank pulley) and turn the distributor till the big mark on the pulley (I think I marked it with silver paint so it will stand out better) aligns with the timing mark on the cover. This should show 20 degrees at about 750 rpm. (Get your carbs to idle that low first.) If you are showing 800, you are still ok since the idle will fluctuate a bit. Its pretty simple.

Will

[2mAn]

Heres the collection of the most recent updates...

***4/18/18***

I bought a Timing Light from HF and Harlan (a 311s member and the current organizer of the Solvang Roadster Show) came over to help out today.

We managed to get a few things squared away, and with his help we determined a few more things that need to be addressed. I had been suspicious about my alternator as JT can attest to with my paranoid texts yesterday. Harlan confirmed that theres definitely something wrong with the alternator. fun... I will call Jegs about that tomorrow.

The other thing issue, that Im in denial about is that I have a leak at the manifold, Harlan says its an exhaust leak. Will warned me that my insulators would leak and I would need to put something on them. Im still holding off hope that I can pull the carbs off and put something there that will seal that leak and my car will magically idle and drive happily. I still will need to deal with this alternator either way before I can drive it after this leak is sealed up. Im not sure how there is a leak though, he told me to pull it all off, put some Vaseline on the gasket (if I havent ruined it) and then tighten everything back up. Is this a normal thing for Roadsters? Seems so bizarre to me, but this is all new to me.

Harlan did help with the timing and I think its closer to being properly timed, but Im now really nervous that I may not make it to Solvang, especially if I have to pull everything apart again.

...sigh....


edit: In other news, I was curious what the final setup looked like on the exhaust, so I jacked it up at the diff and snapped these two pics.


After having it for a while, heres the flex pipe on the car. Couldnt get a better pic of this...

Exhausting work by 2mAn

and 2" Straight pipe all the way from the flex pipe to the old exhaust, was a pretty tight fit in the frame
Exhausting work by 2mAn

Curious about the rear section. I want JTs Resonator setup, but a friend has a 2.25" glasspack muffler he will give me for free and I can get some mandrel U- bends. Im curious why you guys run resonators only instead of mufflers. I know resonators are straight though, but Im pretty sure mufflers are too. Not sure what his muffler even looks like, so that alone makes me want JTs setup. who knows, I obviously have other things to worry about first

***Fast Forward 10 days to 4/18/18, I have a replacement alternator from Jegs waiting for me***

Finally got some time in the garage today and I made good progress.

New alternator arrived last Friday, but I couldnt get to it until today. I got the alternator done in like 20 minutes. Once that was done, I tried to fire it up to make sure thats good, but the battery sounded weak. Pressed on and threw the charger on the battery, while I pulled the carbs off to install the gaskets that were supposed to go between the insulators and the carbs. I used a thin layer of Vaseline on both sides of the gasket and installed the carbs back on. With that done, I tried to start it up, but again the battery was weak... ugh bummer...

Packed it up, but I will let it trickle charge over night and after work tomorrow, all I have to do is try and start the car. I really hope the car fires up so I can finish this job. I might need some help from the locals if Im still not driving it Saturday, I may still want some help but ideally I can drive it to a Veterans place, get some fine tuning done and drive it home. I need to get some miles on the car with all the changes before I make the trek to Solvang.

If its all good by the end of the weekend, I have a planned canyon run with friends early Sunday morning and I will drive it to work all week and then likely head to Solvang on Friday. Its getting close

*** anddddd Today***

When I left the car last night, it was essentially "done" minus the stacks and the filter but with dead battery. I let it sit on the trickle charger over night and figured Id deal with it today. Came home from work, ate dinner and I wanted to watch some Warriors basketball, but I knew I needed to try it out. Charger said the battery was good, so I disconnected the charger and let the car do it on her own. Took a little throttle assistance, but she fired up. I thought I will keep my foot on it and manually "idled" it at ~1500rpms. After a few seconds, I let off and she purred on her own... :devil:

https://youtu.be/xrxrKPZj0ww

I obviously couldnt just leave it like that, so I let it idle and warm up, ran up and put some shoes on, grabbed the garage opener and what not... Took it for a little spin around the block to give her some sunshine. I was smiling the entire time. Im still smiling. Tomorrow I will finish it up, putting the velocity stacks and airbox back on. I hope to put at least another 100 miles on it this weekend so I can know for sure if anything new pops up before the trek to Solvang

Barring any surprises in the next week, I will be in Solvang WITH my Roadster. This car makes me smile so much

[rzerob]

Awesome. I am glad for you.

[wworm]

wooooOO! hell yeah man! such a glorious feeling

[IceWhite]

Awesome!

Also, great place you have there!

[2mAn]

Awesome. I am glad for you.

wooooOO! hell yeah man! such a glorious feeling

Awesome!

Also, great place you have there!

Thanks Guys!

The garage is FAR from ideal, but I have an indoor spot to work on the car. It gets dusty and isnt blocked out from the elements, but its SoCal so its not like I deal with freezing temps. Just dust, and lack of privacy.

I should have the velocity stacks and airbox installed tonight, then its just a matter of wrapping up the interior details before the drive to Solvang next weekend.

[2mAn]

Well... ~30 minutes in the garage to get these on

Last step by 2mAn

and then they hide behind the filter...

Last step by 2mAn

Tomorrow I will button up a few things inside the car that need to get done, mix in some driving and then last step is to try and adjust the timing to 20* at idle.

[parkerbink]

Great progress! Enjoy!

[BlackbirdM3]

Those velocity stacks look good. Time to get the carbs balanced and the timing set, and you should be good to go.

Any leaks from the intake down the side of the block? (Hopefully not)

Will