BACK TO MY NISSAN ROOTS

[bertvorgon]

So, another birthday had gone by for the mighty G, the third year blowing by with no issues at all. I had installed that Sprinter Booster throttle controller last April, and it died at the end of November, which was a surprise. I contacted the Sprint Booster company and they warranted it with problem at all, customer service was great. I did have to send my failed unit back, no biggie. I triple tested it, and it was the unit, and a friend cleared all the codes it triggered. When it died it put the car into limp mode, scary as I was in traffic.

The tires are now down, wear was equal across the board, so they gave me about 78,000 Km ( 48,000 Miles), not bad all things considered. I will get another of the same, Kumo Ecsta SPT, as they are fantastic in the rain, which of course we see here. They did get noisy at low speed as they wore, but were quiet at freeway speeds, which is where I live every day.

In my third year I did 21,718 KM ( 13,495 miles ) and averaged 27.67 MPG. I burned up 2,200 litres ( 484 Imp. gls), for a fuel cost of $3,280.99 for the year, which also reflects some record setting fuel prices here in Vancouver. My per tank cost has dropped dramatically with the oil price being down, so it will be interesting to see how it is next January, should they stay that way. My highest MPG was 31.54 ( road trip ) and lowest was 26.45, slow speed, downtown traffic jam. Highest price I paid for a litre was 1.666, lowest was 1.129, as the price falls for 91 octane. Price average for the year was $1.49/litre ($6.77 Imp gal.)

One silly fact, in the 3 years of ownership, I have put 126 tanks of fuel in.

[iceD]

I went to my local GM dealer and asked for some tranny fluid. He said I should get a part number. Is the same fluid being used in our 510s as newer cars? If you have a part number would you please post it. My 1970 510 has a whine and my 2003 Toyota needs an attitude adjustment.

ice D

[bertvorgon]

I have finally burned through my Kumo tires. The wear was really good all things considered, very even across the contact patch, right down to the wear bars.

One scary thing though, for the last month or so I had a bad vibration, which I attributed to the tires just being DONE. Now, if this had happened at the rear, I could maybe understand, but, the tire failure was at the front, on the inside edge. I changed the oil back in November, where I ALWAYS check under the car, and spin the tires to see if there are any nails, etc.. All good!

So, on Thursday I get my new Kumo's put on, and my mechanic gives me a call to say how lucky I was.
The inside of the drivers side tire has come apart....BIG TIME. The cords failed at the edge. I can only think this was caused towards the end by the fact that these cars run a lot of castor. Ever day for the last three+ years I hit the round-about on 8th, where I turn in quite hard. So, the inside tire likely gets a lot of scrub happening, just looking at the slight "scallop". It was a good thing I did not do any high speed stuff, as i suspect it was close to total failure. I had been sliding the car a lot in this last month and cycling the ABS, as i did not care any more about the tires...YIKES!!!! The toe wear on the tires was good, so I again can only think this was an ackerman issue, coupled with the scrub on that tire.

The car is dead smooth again and at serious triple digit speeds it feels like it is only going 40KMH.

[bertvorgon]

and on with the new

[Chickenman]

How much negative camber on the front Keith?

[bertvorgon]

hey Rich, how are you doing?

factory setting, -0.42 with the 19" tires, not that much. The other tire is fine. You can see over time that there is some camber wear, but, this happened very fast, over the span of three months maybe?!

they run 8 degrees of castor, the turn in on this car feels like my 510, lots of front negative on cornering, but that is why I wondered what the left front is doing.

king pin inclination is 4.55 degrees, so that again is making me wonder what the inside left is doing, over time, on left hand sweepers, which is what the 8th avenue round about is..., time 2 of them.

The rear runs 1.25 and tire wear at end of life could not be more perfect.

interesting, they run .110 toe in, kinda like the 510, so the rear does not really steer the car, throttle more than anything. I like this as I can get out of the throttle on fast sweepers and it does not do anything weird.

[Chickenman]

I've gotten back into Slot car racing big time Keith. 1/32nd scale. Lots of local Wood Tracks in the lower mainland and we have series races every Monday nite and Friday night. We alternate tracks and car types. Tons of fun. You might want to check it out.

Luf Linkert has made a " Targa Burnaby " track and it's very fast and challenging.

http://www.oldslotracer.com/

The technology, quality and detail and speed of these cars is amazing. I'm thinking of buying a custom made Nissan NPT-91c from a builder world renowned in Slovakia. Amazing cars.

http://mtr32.com/gallery.php?order=late ... p&dfrom=68





I'll send you a video of my Nissan R390 in action. I think I still have your E-mail address.

280Z should be back on road in March. Complete with it's brand new engine.... The old motor blew up on the way to Laguna Seca last September. Remember when we went on the Stave Falls trip last summer and we had a listen to the engine as I thought it was a bit too noisy? Well it was . Excessive piston to wall clearance, piston rings in #6 broke outside of Portland and debris destoyed complete motor. Long story. Oh well...

[bertvorgon]

Sorry to hear that, what a pain that must have been.

What the hell are we doing inside right now......I'm about to wash my BOLER trailer.

With this great weather, lets hope driving season starts early. I'm just waiting to get my car into Andy's, then I'm good to go.

We are going to do the full Winthrop route this year, so will keep you posted on that.

[bertvorgon]

This finishes my fourth year with the G35, with absolutely no problems at all.

This past year is amazingly close to last years stats:

I did 23,466 KM ( 14,581 Miles ), averaged 27.46 MPG with another high of 31.13 MPg on a road trip.

Fuel cost $3,218.31, with an average fuel cost of $1.34 litre ( $6.09 imperial gallon ) at least average fuel cost was down compared to 2014.

That all translates to 2,406 litres ( 529 imperial gallons) and to date have put 165 tanks of fuel in.

Again this car is happiest on the highway, at speed. It is still tight, no rattles, no leaks. I do love the motor, very tractable in most situations and in 6th gear can cruise at 140-150 as smooth as can be.

The replacement SPRINT BOOSTER has not missed a beat either. I have left it in the PERFORMANCE setting and NOT the race mode. It over boosts the throttle in race mode.

[bertvorgon]

Three weeks ago, before the last snow storm, I parked my car out back of my house, as it is useless in the snow. I thought it would be out of the blast from the snow plow also.

I went out back after the snow melted, to move my car and it seems the frick'n crackheads tried to get into my car, buggering up the door and the lock. I leave nothing in the car and they never got in, what a waste, as now I have the BS of getting it fixed. The crack heads have been working White Rock over pretty good these past months, with anyone with a kyack outside having lost it.

This morning I dropped it off at Tyson's, so he can work his magic on it. Being red paint match is tough enough at best of times. After talking to Tyson I know it is in the best of hands and will be getting him to paint the front bumper at the same time, as the clear has gotten blasted off as I enter my 6th year with this car.

[Chickenman]

Yeah.. but Mayor Moon Beam and his Bohemian disciples want you to pay for their Drug habits ( oh Sorry " Unchosen affliction " ), with your city Taxes... I've got two words for you Gregor....

[bertvorgon]

I hear yah Richard, I have so many issues with what is going on in Vancouver right now.

The RCMP guy who came.......you can just hear the frustration in his voice...of what they have to deal with...then the court just tosses them right back out. He says he knows who they are here..but unless they catch them in the act, they can do nothing...and then on the odd chance they do, the court gives then a pass back out the door, so ALL OF US eat our deductibles, the BS, losing treasures from our houses, etc.. I must admit that if I thought I could get away with it, I would break both legs and arms on these guys.

White Rock and South Surrey East are getting worked over by the crack heads, with all the new money and houses coming in, it is just another shopping center for the assholes.

[Chickenman]

If the Cities and Province want us to support these low lifes with our Taxes ( and we already do ) , then maybe the Cities should pay our Insurance deductibles. Send the city or Province the bill for their incompetence in dealing with these issues over the last 40+ years.

[bertvorgon]

There is no doubt that it is getting worse everywhere. Drug gang battles aside, I have seen a huge rise here in lily white White Rock, that always thought it was immune to "big city problems".

They work my alley over constantly as we see now, just waiting for a guard to be let down.

It is out of control in Vancouver, and anyone that has driven down Hastings street can see the insanity and sad humanity of what is going on.

Maybe the Russians had a good idea...if you stray TWICE...you are off to Keith's Gulag in the NorthWest Territories...

I know I am fed up with what I have lost, had stolen and damaged just here in lily old White Rock, I swear I am up to $10,000+ dollars over the 39 years I have lived here. All thee of the guys I have worked with have been pillaged over the last 5 years, losing hundreds of dollars worth of goods, let alone a grandpa's WW1 history, that is just a tragedy beyond words and totally NOT replaceable and was worth NOTHING to the scum that stole it.

I take my hat off to the guy in Cloverdale, that got FED UP with guys breaking into his trailer, and stealing stuff...so he put a bomb in there...and when the scum opened it..he blew himself to oblivion, one less crackhead to worry about and the courts actually let him off, why the hell not...it was not his stuff....

[bertvorgon]

Big thanks to Tyson for getting me in so quickly, one less thing off the stress plate. Tyson's door repair is fantastic and the paint blend is very good. It was a nightmare for Tyson, being red, then the clear on the A-pillars was a problem, during the de-masking process. That's another story.

You can see in the bright sun that it blends in just fine. The light shading is due to the dirt I wiped away, roads are filthy right now.

I knew with my car, that came from one owner who lived in RICHMOND, that almost all panels had been touched at one point, then on top of that is the red paint issue. I have lived stupid red cars all my life, you would think I would have learned. My GTS was the same, trying to get a good match, finally just painted the whole car halfway through it's life.

I now have an appointment to go BACK to ICBC to get them to check the work, then I get paid. ICBC does not like private shops. I hope I get one of those customer survey calls, as I was not happy that the adjuster who never got back to me to authorize one extra day for a car rental. I have Roadstar and it would have been too much BS to rent a car for two days on ICBC's dime, then 1 day for me. I have no patience for a ton of paperwork, I live that every day. Getting old and grumpy I guess.