A neighbor of mine got me hooked on Roadsters back in the 70s when he
restored a couple of them. So the other day I saw a photo of a very clean
two-liter with soleys engine bay -- on this listserver, I think --and told
the members of my club about my neighbor's cars. He's the honorary member of
our club -- he lives in Southern California -- and he sent back a nice
reply. I thought y'all might get a kick out of it. Unfortunately, he left
out the part about when he blew everyone else away one day at a SoCal
autocross. It scared the crap out of me, the times he let me drive it. Way
too much car! His reply:
"Hello to all, and thanks, Mike, for the opportunity to tell about the Roach
that started it all.
I wasn't able to open the photo gallery at Rose Auto, but I remember what a
'67 2- liter looked like, anyway.
The "pumpkin" was not quite a stock machine. I bought it kind of "abused",
and put it back together sometime around 1977? Too long ago to remember
exactly when.
The first item I can recall about the car was the serial number. SRL311U
00555.
Mike and I were neighbors at the time I had that car, so he probably
remembers that the restoration on that car started with taking the body off
the frame. Wish I still had that kind of energy!
The engine had one square crankshaft journal when I bought the car, and I
think the head had already been milled a few too many times, but that didn't
stop me. I made a spacer from a thin sheet of aluminum, and put it back
together with two head gaskets. Ended up with about 185 pounds of
compression, I believe. Added a tubular steel exhaust header, a barely legal
muffler, and a competition clutch.
Removed all the body side chrome strips, and painted it International
Harvester Orange. The rest of the chrome was sanded and painted black. The
upholstery was a tan naugahyde with faux-fur inserts in the seats.. done at
home with mama's sewing machine.
Like I said, it wasn't stock, but it was concours clean, and a real show
stopper. It took second place in the Datsun Owners Club of Southern
California Concours contest the year it was completed. Beat out of first by
a factory owned 65 Fair Lady with less than 1000 miles on it.
The first time I torched the tires, well, the right rear, anyway, it burned
rubber for a full city block, and left a nice blue cloud hanging over the
tract for a while.
I'll see about scanning the pictures and sending them out to you.
Regards,"
Michael Knorr
Utah Roadster Owners Club
1966 SPL311
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