A 50 year old Japanesse lady: SRL311 01228

[2mAn]

Spotted ;)

even advertising the place thats working on it!! haha

[2mAn]

Got the car back home tonight. They installed the new tensioner I had and they said that the chain is good. Will disagrees that the tensioner was going to fix the problem, so Im not 100% sure if all of my worries are gone. However, I still have a host of things to do and they didnt charge me a lot of money at all. Definitely worth the hassle of this last week. I will be doing the alternator swap myself, and also plan on installing one of Deans ceramic coated 1 5/8" headers so that I can fix a few things while dealing with that. In the mean time, I have been working on something else. I have enough to post about it now, so heres the reason why the old seats are up for sale now...

A few weeks ago I was perusing LA Craigslist looking for bucket seats and saw this Jegs seat for free! Figured it would be worth the hassle to see if I could make it work. It cost me about 2 hours of my life in LA traffic, round trip, but Im glad I went. Threw it in the pass seat and its a pretty damn close match to the shape of the driver seat..

Better match by 2mAn

Sold some parts so I figure I could spend the money on the mounts that Jegs sells. They arent very fancy or complicated, but they are worth the $29.99 I spend on them. Add another $15 in hardware to mount the seat to the rails and the rails to the car and Im off!...

Seat mounts by 2mAn

If it looks like the finish is different on some of the bolts its because Im using Stainless hardware on the stuff that will be exposed under the car.

Next step was to measure twice and drill 3 times (small, mid and large holes). This allowed me to mount the seat to the rails.

Seat mounts by 2mAn

Seat mounts by 2mAn

Final step will be to drill the holes to mount it to the car. I will wait until the POR15 job is done on the floor before I do that though. I have next Friday off so I hope to take care of that then, at least on the pass side area. Theres an autox coming up in March and I really want to take the car out to it, fingers crossed I get it all done by then

[2mAn]

I took the car out for a quick spin before I tore into it because I feared I wont be driving it for a few weeks while I do the alternator swap and probably fix the exhaust. Goal is to make it to Solvang, so nows the time to get all of this done. I took it around the block and finally did a WOT run in 1st and 2nd.... :twisted: Shes a naughty naughty lady... It pulls pretty damn good. I cant wait to get it out on a closed course to really push it. After avoiding getting into trouble I came home, popped the hood and got to work.

It’s time by 2mAn

I had an ambitious plan to install these MSD Wires I bought a little while ago, along with installing the EI Distributor I bought from Stan a long while ago. As I started to cut and crimp the first wire, I quickly realized that I would never get to pulling the distributor and I have delayed Will for too long. He put his EI Distributor in my car when it was in his possession so I have been seriously lagging on getting it back. With that said, I took my time, made sure my wires on my cap were on the same spot as the ones on Wills cap. The next thing I did was to make sure my distributor and rotor were in the same orientation, but the clips on my distributor and Wills were different. Sure enough, after swapping everything, the car didnt start... :roll:

Its ok, I wasnt quite happy with the old Autolite wires I threw on and only having a small window to do the job, this is about what I expected with it not being the same exact Distributor. Im not worried because I will take it back to the basics and it should fire up then. Im going to set everything to TDC and fire it up. I had already taken Friday off from work, so I will be under the hood pulling the alternator. But thats for another day. My goal today was just to get Wills Distributor out so I can send it back. Mission accomplished

[2mAn]

Busy day with not much to show for it...

Started getting stuff done on my E30, and then shifted gears to the Roadster. Goal was to try and get it running, followed by pulling the alternator. I was also expecting my header to arrive today. When I finally got to work on the car, I saved a pic from a 311s.org thread to compare with my own, and sure enough with the different distributor two of the spark plug wires got crossed. Switched those around and the car started, but it stumbled a bit. I was fine with that. I just wanted to make sure it was enough to start before I tear more things off of it. From there I switched gears to pull the alternator. This was interesting because I have no idea how to remove it. I pulled the obvious adjuster bolt and then scratched my head. Lifted the car and looked under... nope... put it back down and started to feel around and I think I felt another bolt. Around this time, my header arrived and I got distracted by shiny parts.

Uncovering fun stuff by 2mAn

After the high wore off, I tried to get back to work and saw a few other things that distracted me... I saw a disconnected wire. I thought, is this why my headlights arent working?? I have no idea what this is for, so I plugged it back and tried the lights, but got nothing. Not sure if the car needs to do on or anything.

Anyone tell me what this is for?
Uncovering fun stuff by 2mAn

then I took a closer look at other wires that were cut or sitting exposed. Anyone tell me what these are all for?
Uncovering fun stuff by 2mAn

annoyed that my headlights still didnt work, I figured I would at least install the brake light pad that I ordered along with the header. $3.50 from Dean and totally worth it because mine was non-existent!.. while futzing around under the dash, I removed the last of what mustve been the stereo wiring and extra crap. Then the distraction continued with more sound deadening removal on the pass side. I had noticed a small hole on my drive to Willow Springs, so I was really curious what else I would find... luckily nothing more around that small hole, but then I found some actual rust that had totally eaten through :(

Uncovering fun stuff by 2mAn

So far this is all of the rust on the pass floor. Not too bad

Uncovering fun stuff by 2mAn

Overall, this isnt too bad for the pass side. I still need to finish up the driverside. I have too many mini projects going on right now. I need to be more focused from now on, but progress is still progress...

Uncovering fun stuff by 2mAn

[2mAn]

Had a few minutes to play in the garage last night and had a few items on my To-Do list. First was to get the alternator out. Took a little wiggling, and pushing on the radiator hose, but I got it all out without any blood. Then I proceeded to remove the additional mounting brackets without much drama. Heres the entire old setup in its glory (yes those are all brown wires going from the voltage regulator to the alternator) ...

Old Alternator by 2mAn

Once that was out, I started to look around the pass side to scope out the process, and noticed something else. Regular viewers may remember the receipt I found in the car with the name Arthur Tanji, well it looks like this guy Tanji truly loved the car, enough to etch his name into the cylinder head. It also makes me very curious what has been done to the motor because this comp kit must have been installed when the motor was rebuilt. He may have thrown the whole Nissan Comp catalog at the car... in the 70s/80s

Tanji II by 2mAn

Not sure what the II represents, but my googling has shown that there is an Arthur Tanji in Northern California, not far from where I bought the car from. Theres actually two people that pop up with that name and one shows a birthdate in 1986, which is right when this car was first taken off the road. Im guessing the car was parked for some reason and with a baby coming the Roadster was sold. Im really hoping to connect with this person to see if I can get the history. Maybe even some era pics from the 70s/80s.... we'll see what happens

[LateFan]

Interesting! Does it act like it has high compression or other clues?

[2mAn]

Interesting! Does it act like it has high compression or other clues?

I dont have a reference point to compare with other Roadsters. I know Will does, but when Will was driving it, I dont think he really pushed it at all. When I really pushed it prior to tearing it apart, it pulled pretty hard. I will dyno it, and hopefully get it to the Roadster show in Solvang this year. Theres a guy who attends who is the "Mikuni/ Solex guru" and can supposedly set up the jetting perfectly. Thats a big claim, but Id love to get this setup fine tuned and see what it can make

[varg]

The plot thickens...

[IceWhite]

Busy day with not much to show for it...

Anyone tell me what this is for?
Uncovering fun stuff by 2mAn

I am taking a guess, Horn Relay?

[2mAn]

The plot thickens...

seriously, I would love if the r3v detectives can get involved and get me more concrete evidence on this guy haha

I am taking a guess, Horn Relay?

correct. I plugged it in. Will disconnected it because the horn was just blaring the entire time, but that didnt happen to me, we'll if that comes back to bite me later

[EREKSHUN]

love the build cant believe i never took the time to read through it. Very inspirational cant wait to get my car back on the road.

[2mAn]

Its a labor of love, thats for sure. I could've spent about the same as what I have into mine and gotten a complete, sorted car, but I enjoy the process. I ordered the alternator today, my alternator mount should be here tomorrow and I can continue the process of moving the alternator to the pass side.

Im going to spend some time on it tonight, Im hoping to have the pass side floor down to just bare metal so i can begin the process to prep it and paint it with POR15.

[2mAn]

While waiting for the alternator stuff to arrive, I got my friend to cruise by with his tap & die set. I bought this from beautiful piece from one of the 311s.org members

Screw it by 2mAn

Nothing too special to it, here we are screwing it in after tapping the hole.

Screw it by 2mAn

And final product is a perfectly centered license plate (with a fresh 2019 tag) Im hoping that next year I will be able to swap to black plates, but it wont be the original ones I have from this car unfortunately. They are simply too beat up to use, so I will just keep them nor nostalgia. Fairlady badge is going on soon too, just have to decide the orientation to go with. Im thinking the angled setup, not 100% sure yet

Screw it by 2mAn

I hope to get the remainder of the parts to finish up the alternator this week and wrap it up by the weekend. I will have a little more free time the next few weekends, so I hope to finish this and possibly the exhaust. I really want to wrap up the floors and be "done" with the interior. Those are the main things I want to get done before the annual Roadster show in Solvang.

Wife told me she doesnt want to go, so if someone wants to split a room or something, let me know.

[2mAn]

***BIG UPDATE****

I had hoped to finish up the alternator relocation this past weekend, but I ran into a few unexpected hurdles. The lazy side of me wanted to buy the kit that one of the 311s.org guys makes, but I felt close enough to finishing it myself so I figured I would give it a try.

Picked up the mount from ebay, bought the stainless hardware at Lincoln Hardware. Im racking up a lot of visits to them... haha

Mount it by 2mAn

Looking good so far. I like the contrast of the blue in front of the (Im guessing) Chevy Orange
Mount it by 2mAn

So far so good, but here are some of the issues I ran into.

#1 The flat template for the plate wont work without mods. Either I make a new plate with the bump, or I space out the two timing cover bolts and use a flat plate

the flat template was sent to me from Will, and the one on the right seems to be what I would need to make
Mount it by 2mAn

Mount it by 2mAn

#2 without spacing out the alternator further from the mount, the pulley falls too far behind

Out of line by 2mAn

Out of line by 2mAn

At this point, with some discussion on the 311s forum, I came up with a solution, but I also had to deal with the "single wire" part of the single wire conversion

I ran the single wire and added the 30amp inline fuse. I had a few pieces of leftover trim from the doors that worked nicely
1-wire by 2mAn

1-wire by 2mAn

1-wire by 2mAn

Another trip to Lincoln Hardware and I would have it "done" ... but first I had to finish making the plate. Here it is in the functional phase.

Alternative by 2mAn

a little trimming and grinding later and it looks about right. I will give it some paint soon. I have a bottle of spray paint Ive been dying to use since my wedding day


Alternative by 2mAn

Now that the piece was done, I needed to see how much spacing was needed to get the belt lined up. It was a little more than I was hoping for, but not the end of the world. Heres the belt sitting straight.
Alternative by 2mAn
Here if you look closely you can see the one spacer I had that I used to get an idea of how much spacing I would need. I was hoping this would be enough, but its not.
Alternative by 2mAn

and finally I had this threaded rod just hanging out in the tool box and it fit perfectly on the alternator and the length was good. Drilled out the mount to get it to fit inside. Obviously I still needed more on the right (front) side of it than is pictured here.

Alternative by 2mAn

Another stop at the hardware store was needed... but after spending just as much in hardware pieces as I did on the mount itself, I have a full setup now. I reused a few parts, repurposed others and bought the best hardware possible. Its always easier to buy a pre-made kit, but I feel pretty damn good about what I made. Only one question mark, and we will see if it stands the test of time and my crazy driving...

Finally by 2mAn

Having had done this at least a dozen times this week, it all went together fairly easily. Added the ground wire and the secondary wire to the + side of the battery. I also will clean up the extra long fuel line, but I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to route it. I had a nice area I wanted to tuck it, but Im a little worried it might be close to the belt, so I will wait until thats in. Theres nothing wrong with it other than being ugly and longer than it needs to be.

Finally by 2mAn

Just need to go get a belt tomorrow and Im done with the alternator swap. I will drive the car a little over the weekend if its not pouring rain which is sadly in the forecast all weekend... haha just my luck.... Ultimately, Im thinking about getting back to work on Monday to get the header installed. I already have everything I need to do it... and I will leave it at that. Im not putting any expectations on it, but I am hoping to have that finished before March 24/25 so I can drive the Roadster out to Willow Springs to their "Duel in the Desert" event. I wont be competing, but getting it there and also driving it home will be a blast, I cant wait.

[vtechnik]

Was just about to ask the other day for more pics of the engine bay lol. Looks really good, I'm sticking around for track day feedback and the Tanji story updates.