Dan's 66 VG30E Roadster

[Roman]

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

Like it matters, eh, Sid?

I mean after all, the engine and dash look bone stock to me.




Just messin' with you.

sincerely,
you're favorite hippie.

To Dan,

Every little thing will add up to having a well sorted car.....Coming along nicely.

[DanR]

I didn't know about early cars being silver/chrome, but would much prefer them not reflecting sun in my eyes. It's easy to see(not see? blinded!) why most things changed from chrome to silver painted on the 67.5 models.

My car is a mishmash of early and late cars, and other Nissans(5 by my count), so it's not of too much concern. If I bought a mostly unmolested car, or even had an original dash pad(it's reupholstered) I would definitely go with original parts. Right now, pieces that are missing I am trying to go as original as possible, or what in my opinion might be a superior part of the model years. For example, I have head rests on my seats. I'm not too keen on driving a car without them.

Honestly, thanks for the tip though. I don't mind nit-picking, it's one way to learn.

[DanR]

Finally, driving season is here. Time to wash and go to a car show tomorrow.

[DanR]

Went to a local car show in Blackwood, NJ. Forgot my camera but my friend took this photo. He must've taken it when I had the hood open for a minute when someone wanted to see.

[DanR]

Found a couple of pro shots from that same car show. The guy I'm talking to was a little hard of hearing, had to really get his attention to move so I could back in to my parking space.

[DanR]

After my first drive of the season I quickly realized I forgot to take care of one issue over the winter. The spare tire had nothing holding it down, so I made this temporary fix.



And this may seem boring to most, but it's the first time in probably 15 years the car has showed anything under half a tank, now that the fuel sender is properly sized.

[pebbles]

Imho reading close to empty is waaay more important than reading close to full

[DanR]

It most definitely is way more important, and on that note for anyone running without a tray/baffle in the tank for their fuel injected setup, 1/4 tank is about when fuel starts to slosh and cause starvation. That used to be my old indicator of when to get gas.

Nothing else to report other than I've had zero problems so far(knock on wood) and the car absolutely screams at 5k and makes all the dogs bark.

[DanR]

It's one of those days, go out to take a 20 minute walk around the lake, come back and I've lost a fog light and a once pristine overrider. No note nor witnesses even though there was at least 30 people walking today. Sorry for the quality of the photo, I don't have a smartphone.

[notoptoy]

Lucky they didn't do more damage!

[DanR]

Yeah, could've been much worse. Fog light gave way and didn't bend any sheet metal or the grill, and somehow only the overrider was hit and I was able to remove all the paint that transferred.

[dbrick]

That stinks. The way people drive, they may not have even realized they hit you, what with texting, talking etc.

[DanR]

Yeah, I've had so many close calls driving this car around, I'm just glad the brakes are in top shape. Almost got into a head on collision when taking a friend for a ride around the block. Someone was parked opposite of traffic and behind an SUV. As I was driving by, they pull out without looking, because how are you going to see around a car when parked that way. I was only doing about 15 and left a nice smoke show.

But anyway, took the fog lights off today, the one that got hit is a loss as all the mounting for the glass was ripped through. Here's the new look for now.

Looks fine from this angle, sorta.





Also while cinching up the fog light wiring that was now dangling, I found my radiator bracket separated. I guess I've hit one too many NJ potholes.


Knocking on wood doesn't work. On a side note, it was interesting to see how many NOS parts were used on this restoration from the previous owner.

[DanR]

Pulled the radiator today and started putting on new wire disconnects for future horns and what not. Also wondering if using a champion 3 core with hose adapters instead of this custom radiator could be a later solution.

[DanR]

Over two weeks later I found the time to have my radiator repaired. Go for a test drive less than a 1/4 mile and am almost t-boned making a left on a street where someone else was making a left, but has a stop sign. I forgot how white-knuckle it is driving around in this car.