Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I have done enough stripping and sheet metal work to feel certain that my car (68) was originally white. A previous owner also painted the car white with a paint roller over the original white. However, I am now into stripping the engine bay and under the thick coat of white is a silvery grey. Similarly, the inside of the front lip is grey as well. It seems unlikely to me due to the extra work required, but did Nissan ever paint the engine bays a different color than the rest of the body work? P.S. Stripping the engine bay and front end area is a real pain!

Steve_69 wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 12:15 pm I have done enough stripping and sheet metal work to feel certain that my car (68) was originally white. A previous owner also painted the car white with a paint roller over the original white. However, I am now into stripping the engine bay and under the thick coat of white is a silvery grey. Similarly, the inside of the front lip is grey as well. It seems unlikely to me due to the extra work required, but did Nissan ever paint the engine bays a different color than the rest of the body work? P.S. Stripping the engine bay and front end area is a real pain!

Pull off the fuel sender cover from the trunk floor. The bottom side should be a very good indication what the original color from the factory was. Never heard of the engine bay being anything other than the body color. (I assume the paint code sticker on the cowl is missing?)

My 70 spl had a stock ,factory looking drab red ( not red primer, )
under hood, the car painted a unique brown ,kind of bronze ish ,that was a old hard paint .
IMO was not repainted.. maybe pieced together

The body and engine bay were all the same color. Here is a link to the old Rallye website that has the original colors:

http://datsunroadster.com/MISC_PAGES/wh ... m#ORIGINAL

If yours is not one of those colors, it has been repainted.

Thanks for all of the responses.

- When I removed the fuel tank (2 years ago), it was white under the sending unit. I have replaced floors, parcel shelf, bottoms of quarters, rockers and a host of other sheet metal. All of it had red primer and white paint.

- The paint tag was missing when I bought the car.

From the responses, the engine bay and body should be the same color. Therefore, I am puzzled about this. I seriously doubt anyone stripped every speck of paint off of the body, door jams and such to repaint white, or the body would not have been in the poor condition it is. Strange for sure. Oh well, I will have to live with the wondering.....

Body color!







Erik's SPl is nice example of original paint that has faded revealing red primer:



Was the firewall (interior side/cowl) also painted white?

Thanks Alvin. Very nice pictures. It is difficult to say about the inside. The floor-boards and fire wall had a thick tar-like substance and rust. Above the fire wall, under the dash appeared to be red primer with no top coat. I guess it is not a big deal. I just found it strange. Much like me, there is no telling what the car has been through over the years. Many of my bits don't look like the original either!