NICOclub

The Nissan and Infiniti enthusiast community - Repairs, modifications, resources and much more!

  • Nissan Forums
  • Infiniti Forums
  • Truck & SUV Forums
  • Datsun Forums
  • Marketplace
    • Advertise on NICOclub
    • Advertisers Directory
    • Fabricators’ Marketplace
    • Classified Ads
  • PRODUCT REVIEWS
  • TEST DRIVES
  • SERVICE MANUALS

1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 4)

June 17, 2010 by Greg

Article Series
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration - Part 15999
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 2)6038
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 3)6057
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 4)6085
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 5)6103
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 6)6126
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 7)6147
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 8)6157
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 9)6168
  • 1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 10)6183

With the interior done, we were set to put some miles on our new acquisition. Just for fun, I threw on a set of GAB Sport wheels I sourced from Japan. They were sitting around from an abandoned previous project, and they looked good on the car, and saved me from having to buy new tires right away.

We posted up a few pictures and for a few months, we drove Alice around – short trips to the store, a few Datsun meets here in town, a couple trips here and there. We were amazed at the amount of attention and thumbs-up it got, even in its unrestored state. This car got more attention than our restored Datsun Roadster!

A little photoshoot before the restoration started:

Unfortunately, on the way home from one of the local Datsun meets, she started spewing fuel from the front carb, and almost at the same time, something went haywire in the steering or front suspension – she was not only a ticking bomb with fuel running down near the exhaust manifold, she was hard to steer and keep on a straight path. Time for some repairs.

A compression test revealed the engine was pretty tired. Carbs needed rebuilding, and her transmission was leaking pretty good by now. A good friend “Ron”, who is a huge Roadster expert, referred me to a gentleman by the name of Kevin Desirello. Kevin’s kind of a big deal in the Roadster community, as he’s built several impressive 311’s. Most notably, he does SR20 swaps that look factory-built. Not wanting to go that radical, Kevin and I began discussing options for this car. He’d be right at home working on the engine, since it’s a 67 Roadster engine with a few tweaks (as mentioned above). I wanted to preserve the originality of the car, due to its rarity, but I also wanted more power and greater reliability.

We settled on a plan to build a stroker motor. A stroked 1600 is a fairly common build. Basically, it involves using the U20 crank (from a 2000cc Datsun engine) and different pistons. Ultimately, we decided on a .030 overbore along with the stroker crank and rods, and a custom ground cam (440 Lift / 276 Duration)… These changes effectively make the 1600 into a roughly 135-hp, torquey 2-liter (without sacrificing appearance or reliability). Since the 1967 came with a 3-main block, and we wanted to use a more robust 5-main block, a motor from a 69 Roadster was sourced. I retained the original block (just in case anyone ever wanted to return it to a “numbers matching” car).

With a plan in mind, Becky and I scheduled a day to pull the engine to deliver to Kevin (who lives in Riverside, CA). She and I had the engine out in less than two hours, and we dropped the engine and the donor block in the Frontier and set out for CA. The next time we saw the engine, it would be bored, stroked, restored and re-sealed. Sweet.

The transmission was delivered to a local shop, on recommendation from one of our local Datsun pickup fanatics (NICO member Charlie69). He’d had a couple automatic transmissions done by this shop, and had good luck with them.

Alice was now well on her way to being mechanically sound. Little did we know…

Read more: Yes, everything we own DOES have to be taken apart into a thousand pieces.

Filed Under: Datsun Articles Tagged With: compression test, crank, datsun, datsun roadster, exhaust manifold, front suspension, gab sport wheels, pistons, stroker motor

Related posts:

1967 Datsun WRL411 Rescue and Restoration (Part 6)
The History of the 1967 Datsun 2000 Roadster
How to adjust or replace Datsun bumper shocks
DIY guide to lowering a Nissan/Datsun pickup truck
My First Time in a Datsun 610
1967.5 Datsun 1600 Roadster – NICOclub Ride of the Month September 2008
Classic Datsun Motorsports – Like Disneyland for Datsun Enthusiasts (part 1)
Classic Datsun Motorsports – Like Disneyland for Datsun Enthusiasts (part 2)
2013 Japanese Classic Car Show
2013 Japanese Classic Car Show – Photo Album

Search NICOclub.com

Sponsor

Nissan Infiniti Online Forums Nissan 240sx technical information Nissan technical information Infiniti technical information Nissan Infiniti Road Tests and Reviews Nissan Infiniti Related Articles Nissan Infiniti Technical Information Articles Nissan Infiniti Events and Shows

Sponsor

Recent News

ITEKT Liquid Glass Nano-ceramic Windshield Coating

UrbanTransit Rolling Car Wash Stool – You need this!

More holiday goodies for your ride!

A holiday gift for your car – and your dog!

Need help with holiday shopping? Look no further!

Steps To Take After Seeing The ‘Service Engine Soon’ Light

Navigating Nissan Rogue CVT Transmission Problems & Recalls

Helpful Hacks and Tricks for Finding and Buying a new Ford Maverick

Sponsors

Sponsor



NICOclub's Nissan forums and Infiniti forums and all affiliated sites are the property of HDS Holdings, Inc. They are independent publications and are not affiliated with or endorsed by Nissan or Infiniti. Information Copyright © 2000-2023 by NICOclub, all rights reserved. Material may not be copied or reprinted without written permission.

NICOclub Sitemap | NICOclub Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · NICO Club 2014 on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in