So now that she is ours, I can say a bit more. This was the project car of a former co-worker, and he knows about my other Datsun project. That is why he called me when he decided to let it go. This was a challenge-friendly price. Fairlady70 doesn't mind the idea of the car making an appearance at an upcoming challenge if that can be done while appearing stock
Wow, what a deal! I love those cars, if I could find one for a similar price out here I'd be sorely tempted.
Yea, go to the challenge with that car, with your plan exactly as it is. The number of cars that people get just to enjoy owning is getting few at the Challenge, so adding one would be a good thing. Besides, given the story, it would make a good feature for CM.
Neither of us has ever resurrected a car that was left sitting, but Fairlady70 and I are going to try to do so on a challenge budget.
School is closed today, so we pulled the plugs and added marvel mystery oil to each cylinder.
The plan is to let it sit over the holiday weekend before we try anything else
Not mine, slight affiliation:
The owner selling This swapped 1600 is a biologist who I have talked to a few times
I started a Rust removal thread. Please chime in either here or there with advice on how to cheaply remove rust and protect this car.
Thank you.
Thank you, Datsun! I think it's really nice that these little roadsters have drain plugs on the gas tank.
That's a handy little feature that I don't remember being on the 810 wagon that provided the drivetrain for my other Datsun project.
As you can guess, I started draining the tank today, but there was more gas than expected, so I stopped to collect plastic containers.
The tank has been drained. I now need to drop the tank and figure out how to clean the interior of it and clean the fuel lines out.
How bad did the gas stink?
My Bugeyes gas was nausea inducing. I wound up replacing the tank because of sediments plugging a filter in about 20 miles of test drives. Tanks for that are cheap though.
You probably want to pull the tank to clean it. Old school radiator shops might be able to boil it out for you if you can find one that still does it. That's gonna be your best bet. Do that then seal it. I have no personal experience though.
As far as fuel lines, I put a can of carb cleaner through mine, disconnected at both ends and terminating in a old oil jug. Alternate good shot of carb cleaner with blasts of compressed air and for last go a good long hit of compressed air. No problems since replacing my tank and doing that.
Apexcarver said:How bad did the gas stink?
Not bad, actually. It was only sitting for two years. The gas was darker than normal, but that is it.
You probably want to pull the tank to clean it. Old school radiator shops might be able to boil it out for you if you can find one that still does it. That's gonna be your best bet. Do that then seal it.
I had been looking at The Eastwood tank cleaning kit but I would rather have a radiator shop do it if that is an affordable option.
As far as fuel lines...Alternate good shot of carb cleaner with blasts of compressed air and for last go a good long hit of compressed air. No problems since replacing my tank and doing that.
Thank you, that's great advice.
Two years?
Drain, fill, new filter by tank and by carb and send it.
Mine probably sat at least 15 years.
Unless you have major signs of sediments that is.
Apexcarver said:Two years?
Drain, fill, new filter by tank and by carb and send it.
Mine probably sat at least 15 years.
Unless you have major signs of sediments that is.
Yeah, if it's only been sitting for two years, I wouldn't worry too much about the tank. Drain, change filter and send it.
Here are some instructions from 311s.org on dropping the gas tank
1) Drain/siphon out gas.
2) Disconnect supply and return lines at the tank.
3) Loosen hose clamps on fuel fill line in trunk. No need to remove it.
4) Loosen hose clamps on vent line in trunk and remove line.
5) Unscrew access plate in trunk and disconnect the fuel level sender lines. (If the screws are stripped or the plate is painted shut, don't worry. Leave it alone until step 7)
6) Remove forward bolt on each tank strap and slowly drop the tank down. It only weighs about 10 pounds. As you pull it down, the fuel fill line in the trunk will separate from the tank.
7) If you couldn't get to the fuel sender wires from the trunk, you will be able to now with the tank free from the straps.
Remove the straps. The mounting bolts on the rear of the strap have a bent end that simply hook into the underside of the car. That's right, in reality only two bolts threaded into the body hold this tank in!!!
9) After washing the tank out with soapy water, take it to a radiator repair shop and have them boil it out to get 40 years of crud out.
Okay steps one, two, four, and half of five are completed; i.e the hose clamps have been loosened and slid out of the way so the tank filler neck should be free, the small vent line there has been slid off the nipple on the tank, the access panel has been removed. By the way, this access panel over the fuel level sender is a really good idea.
Now I need to figure out how to unhook the electrical connectors without breaking them since they are old and presumably thus, rather brittle.
I sprayed the tank strap and fuel line hardware with some PB blaster.
We've emptied the tank (thanks for the drain plug, datsun) , opened the access panel in the floor of the trunk, and disconnected the wires to the fuel gauge sensor. Next up, trying to drop the tank.
Arrrgh! I tried dropping the tank this morning, but he nuts on the fuel lines are stuck solid. I gave them another dose of PB blaster, but I don't have a lot of faith if that's going to work.
Do you have local access to "Kroil Penetrating oil", I have found this to be truly excellent produce in these situations.
In reply to jr02518 :
Thank you! This is exactly the kind of advice I was wanting from the GRM folks
This is such a pretty car. That creme color really sets it off too, nice find!
If the kroil doesn't do it hit them with a blow torch if you can do it without lighting the car on fire.
Guy that bought my dark blue/black interior restored it back to the original white/red interior. I do like the white exterior.
jr02518 said:Do you have local access to "Kroil Penetrating oil", I have found this to be truly excellent produce in these situations.
I called around and didn't find a local vendor. It has been ordered via Amazon Prime.....
bgkast said:If the kroil doesn't do it hit them with a blow torch if you can do it without lighting the car on fire.
Sounds a little too scary for me...I just don't want fire anywhere near a gas tank or fuel lines.
I'd rather cut the ends off the metal lines and put a length of rubber fuel line in between to make the connection. Obviously, I don't want to go that route, either, but it seems safer to me than the hot wrench
Datsun310Guy said:Guy that bought my dark blue/black interior restored it back to the original white/red interior. I do like the white exterior.
White or cream does look nice, but I think she has her heart set on green with a tan interior. I love the look of Dr Hess's locost that he painted in hunter green Rustoleum Professional
Right now, the goal is just to get it drivable and have her enjoy that. We'll finalize colors later on.
Okay, I spent some time today messing around with the fuel lines trying to unconnect them from the gas tank, to no avail. This time, I brought some light and got my phone up in there to take photos so I could see what I was doing. I am embarrassed to announce that my previous efforts were rubbish, because I was trying to turn a captive nut that is part of the fuel line nipple assembly attached to the tank. What I should have been turning was my new nemesis the EVIL NUT 
Both the fuel line and the return fuel line have an EVIL NUT that must be vanquished before we can drop and clean out the tank. I'm not surprised there is a thread on 311s of folks who replaced/fabricated new fuel lines after they destroyed or cut the old ones trying to drop the tank. I had optimistically and erroneously assumed that once I was directing my efforts to the correct nut I would be able to separate the fuel lines from the tank in short order. This was not the case. Neither EVIL NUT budged.
I consoled myself by moving on to work on the stuck parking brake by destroying a cotter pin to release the cable.
Here's a better link to the 311s info on dropping a roadster tank. It has the same info as the above forum link, but includes photos that I could not see before. The most important of those photos so far? The wrench is on the upper (EVIL) nut
http://www.311s.org/Pics/GasTank/supply_return.jpg
The only video I have found of the fuel line removal for tank drop is practically detail free 
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