"The Essential Roadster"

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Essential Roadster

Welcome to The Essential Roadster page!

So you bought a roadster and now you need to find all the specs for it, eh? Or it's been languishing in the back of your garage for a couple decades and you've finally found the time and motivation to bring it back to life - if you only knew how!

Well, you came to the right place. My intention here is to pull together all the technical information I can gather for the true gear-head who wants to understand how his/her roadster works.

Some of these things are in FAQ's but others are in response to the random questions that have come up on the roadster email list, like "What size are the bellhousing bolts?" or "What's the torque spec on the crank pulley bolt?" or "Where can I find a wiring diagram for a 1966 1600?" It's in here.

I also plan on adding links to restoration Web pages that other people have done so you can keep your spirits up when your car is apart and it seems like it will never be together again. Take heart, many others have been down that path and survived. And driven down the road with BIG GRINS on their faces!

Let's start with some specs and information that are here on this site:
Datsun Roadster Parts Manual Index: For you desperate Roadster owners out there, here's a guide to the sections of the Factory Parts Manual. Includes scans of the diagrams, too.
Datsun/Nissan Limited-Slip Differentials: A somewhat technical piece about the function, setup and maintenance of Nissan limited-slip units for the H190 (roadster, early truck and 510 wagon) and R160/R180/R200 (510, Z and 200SX) differentials.
Dimensions for Machinists: Diagrams from the service manual showing critical dimensions that a machine shop will need.
Rising Sun Racing Archives: Rising Sun Racing was a roadster parts firm founded by Scott Sheeler. His catalog included a great deal of tech information, reprinted here with permission. This is a HUGE collection, over 80 typed pages!
Roadster Motor Thread Sizes: This is a listing of thread sizes for all the bolts in the 1600 (R16) and 2000 (U20) motors.
The Evil L and the U20 Death Rattle: Does your 2000 make a strange buzzing noise when you first start it up? If it does, you'd better read this article before you destroy your motor! You'll also discover why some 2000's have those strange weld marks on the front end of the cam cover.
U20 Engine Specs: This page has all the detailed engine specs for the U20 2-liter engine. If you are rebuilding a U20, these are the numbers you need.

Here are some links to useful information on other Web sites
An Introduction to Ball Bearings: Everything you ever wanted to know about ball bearings, from NTN Bearing Corp. Principles of friction, bearing loads, bearing components, etc.
Auto Sparks: A British company that supplies just about all the types of connectors you would ever need to repair your wiring harnesses.
Datsun Roadster List Archive: Search the archives of the Datsun Roadster mailing list by keyword. Very helpful.
Datsun.org's Tech Section: This is the technical information area of Greg Valazza's very excellent DATSUN.ORG site. Includes Tom Walter's Tech Tips (best set of tech tips on the Web), the Bob Sharp Competition Prep manual in PDF format and many more essential items.
How To Wire Your Car: Phil Bradshaw has put together an excellent guide to all aspects of automotive wiring. It isn't Roadster-specific, but it's a great guide.
R16 Valve Adjustment Sequence: This page on the NOWROC site shows the sequence in which valves should be adjusted on an R16 (1600) engine.
The Engineering Zones Reference Tables: This is an incredible reference site that lists such things as wire gauges, sheet metal gauges, standard bolt torques, thread sizes, material descriptions, etc.
Tuning the Mikuni 40 & 44 PHH Carb: Great one-page guide to dialing in these performance carbs.
WheelTool.com: This site has a wheel lug gauge for sale. It also has a very complete list of what car models have what lug patterns.
Wiring Diagrams: These scans of the wiring diagrams are on the Sports Imports site. Be nice and buy something while you're there. ;-)

Inspiration Time!: Okay, just so you know that other people have gone down this road and survived, here are the stories of what they accomplished.
1967 2000 Restoration: Nathan Ruffcorn has two PhotoPoint photo albums about restoration topics. This one covers the overall car.
Andrew Murphy's 1967 2000: This car is being restored by Sports Imports in Canada. Full diary of progress, which began in July 2002.
DATSUN ROADSTERS RULE: Steve Allen has a ton of pictures about restoring his 1967.5 1600.
Fred Schroeder: Fred lives in Denison, Texas and has a 1970 2000. Contains an excellent writeup on what it took to bring the car back to life after 12 years of storage.
Mark Richey: Very thorough documentation of a 1600 restoration. Tons of pictures!
Mark Sedlack: How about a Chevy V6 in a roadster? Mark has amazing fabrication skills! Check this out.
Matt Silvey's 1970 1600 Resto: A "daily diary" type account of the restoration process from a rather...ah...calico appearance to a brilliant red.
Paul Bauman 1600 Resto: May 2000 - Paul is working on a resto of his low-windshield 1600. This is the photo album.
Rebuilding Roadster Seats: This is another photo album by Nathan Ruffcorn about reupholstering (actually rebuilding) the seats.
Ryan Bird: Very extensive documentation of Ryan's restoration of his 1967 1600 Roadsters. Tons of pictures.

Recommended Reading: Prior to the Internet, people used to actually read and write physical books! Yes, I know this is a radical concept, and some may even find it shocking. But if you can work up the the nerve to go find some of these books, it is definitely worth it.
Driving In Competition by Alan Johnson: Johnson, a 4-time SCCA National Champion, takes a unique look at how to go racing. Some of it is a bit dated, but his method of analysing types of corners is excellent!
Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving by Bob Bondurant: Bondurant has driven everything up to and including Formula 1 cars.
Datsun Roadsters 1962-1971 by various: This is a collection of road tests from magazines all over the world. Great reference to have. Yes, I know there were no 1971 roadsters; Brooklands hasn't figured that out yet. But it's still the only collection of roadster road tests available.
Illustrated Datsun/Nissan Sports Car Buyer's Guide by John Matras: The only compilation I have seen on Datsun sports cars. It is quite good in spite of a few errors. Covers all the sporting Nissans up through the new 200SX SE-R.