Dan's 66 VG30E Roadster

[DanR]

The weather hit the 50s or so today, and I was jonesin' to work on the car. So I did probably the second easiest oil change I've ever done. Easiest was when I did an oil change with the engine out of the car. Drain plug is at the front of the engine with access through a skid plate, no need to lift the car.

[DanR]

It's the small fixes that count. My fuel gauge stopped working again near the end of driving season, always reading full. Took out the fuel sender and the pivot arm was loose. This little spring was making the circuit open as the wiper was no longer making contact with no spring pressure.

[Mattk]

DanR read all 12 pages....lovin the build! I'm in the planning stage of a swap and am jonesing to get to work.

Keep it up!!

Matthew

[DanR]

Thanks Charlee, I'll certainly keep plugging away!

Nice weather for once, now I can begin my long journey of cleaning up the rats nest of the fuse block, relays and connections. I got fed up over the summer of digging through and repairing things on the fly. I have all the wiring cataloged and have on order new blocks and connectors. This week I'll fabricate a plate to mount everything to instead of it just hanging freely within the harness and zip ties.

Here, have a look after I cut open the "loom." The connectors just hanging freely are where the fuel pump relay was. The two covered in-line fuses were where I removed a fuse from the block because of resistance making it heat up and melt, just so I could at least enjoy the rest of last summer's weather.

[sleepyzzz]

Thanks Charlee, I'll certainly keep plugging away!

Nice weather for once, now I can begin my long journey of cleaning up the rats nest of the fuse block, relays and connections. I got fed up over the summer of digging through and repairing things on the fly. I have all the wiring cataloged and have on order new blocks and connectors. This week I'll fabricate a plate to mount everything to instead of it just hanging freely within the harness and zip ties.

Here, have a look after I cut open the "loom." The connectors just hanging freely are where the fuel pump relay was. The two covered in-line fuses were where I removed a fuse from the block because of resistance making it heat up and melt, just so I could at least enjoy the rest of last summer's weather.

my 260Z looks like that. i hate it, but not going to mess with it for fear of screwing something else up. if i don't crank it every so often the pump relay won't kick in and i have to take a jumper off the battery straight to the pump to get it back going. what fun

[DanR]

That sounds like fun, having to hot wire the fuel pump. That's one reason why I'm going through this, the amount of splices are ridiculous and causing problems. At least the wiring is using proper sized gauge... "I've got that goin' for me, which is nice"

I pulled out the old block, removed 4 unused circuits and found 4 splices coming from one butt connector to separate fuses. I'll post a pile of the removed and consolidated wiring when I'm finished next week. In the mean time some parts arrived and I mounted them on this plate. One block will be for power on with ignition, the other for always on. The relay will be replacing the hacked in factory nissan fuel pump relay. The barrier strip will be used for grounding, instead of random colored wires (red and brown!) being screwed to the body. Just need some more connectors to arrive, and to find some better sized screws and lock washers. Fuses and barrier strip are just for show at the moment.

[Mattk]

Nice Caddy Shack quote!

[DanR]

I've removed a mountain of unnecessary wiring so far, and at least 6 butt connectors. Still waiting on some female quick disconnects to arrive in the mail, hopefully on Monday. Tomorrow I work on the ground block. As it sits, key-on power is done, B+ power will be done once the fuse block is mounted, and the voltmeter is already behaving much better. Next year I hope to replace the entire wiring harness.

[DanR]

Everything is in place and works, whew! The fuel pump has never been happier with new wiring and relay, and the voltmeter actually is accurate without voltage drop spikes now that it has a ground that isn't a screw on the wiper motor. Just need to clean it up a little with some loom, tape and zip ties. Oh, and it was nice to see a proper reading fuel gauge. 5 working gauges, a new record!



And the unnecessary stuff removed.


And proof that it still runs, the first start of the year.
[youtube][/youtube]

[RCMike]

Nice work!

[sleepyzzz]

Nice work!

X2 very nice

[DanR]

I had asked for part numbers of twisties and posties. Fellow member pebbles kindly sent me what I was looking for at no expense.

I spent an hour or so yesterday putting in one of the door posties and fixing the door lock that was causing the passenger door to not open from the inside.

Today I put in the driver's side door postie, took about 10 minutes using thread to guide the hardware up the door. Looking at the picture I see I still have more excess glue to remove from when the PO put on the vent window weatherstrip.



I also have these waiting to go on the dash after repainting them.



It rained yet again, and will for the next few days, so I still can't get the car through my backyard and on the road unless I build pontoons.

[pebbles]

I dont know Dan,,, those dont look anything at all like the grimy bits I sent you.
You are doing some very nice detailing work to your car. Thanks for sharing!

[DanR]

They cleaned up well, funny thing was I found more nuts and lock washers in the bottom of my door just rolling around.

[spl310]

Not to nit pick, but the twisties should be silver on a 66 dash...