Not including the cars I've bought cheap to resell:
1984 Subaru Sherpa
1993 Toyota Corolla
1991 Toyota Sera
1992 Nissan 180SX (bought it in 1999, crashed it in 2000 and converted it to S15 front... back then only Bomex made conversion parts)
1993 Nissan R32 GTS
1983 Toyota AE86
1990 Nissan Cefiro (Still got it, dad drives it now)
1991 Nissan R32 GTS4 (Still got it, daily driver)
1989 Nissan R32 GTSt
1990 Nissan R32 GTR
1993 R33 GTSt
1999 Nissan Silvia S15
1994 Nissan Silvia S14 (Still got it, for sale)
lol I'm sure there's more to come. I'm sure one day I'll be able to say I've owned the entire spec range in the R32... only GTE, GXi and GTS25 to go.
an R33 GTS is the regular R33 with RB20E SOHC engine. an R33 GTS25 is the one with an RB25DE, but there's virtually no R33 GTS's in the country (they all came in under the old CPA import scheme where there was no power to weight requirement) so everyone pretty much assumes when you say R33 GTS you're actually talking about an R33 GTS25.
Ah didn't realise you were on your P's... in that case RB25DE might be the way to go, but I like your VQ35DE idea a lot, I've been toying with putting one in my R32. Its a great engine. 5K is a pretty good buy, but you also have to consider there's more to it than just an engine... you'll have to upgrade your brakes and hubs to equivalent parts for example if you want to get it engineered.
when you go shopping for a new family car, you make sure you get one that can have an RB engine in it, just in case you get a spare one, or so you can bolt on hand me down parts from your skyline. (R31's, cefiro's, laurel's, stagea's etc)
buying an RB20E equipped R33's an interesting choice... esp since the price difference between them and an R33 GTSt or even a GTS25 is around $1000 to $2000... much less than what an engine swap will cost you.
As for upgrades... an RB30ET would be my engine of choice, simply because putting an RB30E or RB30ET into an RB20E equipped car is very very easy. Whereas with a DOHC you have to change the loom and everything. Lotta VL guys are getting good power out of SOHC RB30ET's, plenty of cheap parts, and best of all you get to run around with a "holden" rocker cover and freak everyone out when you pop the bonnet.
people who change GTR rims for heavier chrome rims I never understood. factory GTR rims are like 5 ot 6kg each. lightest rims you can get for the price.
best key I ever used in a car was a customer car that arrived from japan, they had jammed the key blade into a screwdriver handle, so the key looked like a flat head screwdriver to the untrained eye.
andru, no idea dude, they haven't done one for the V36 yet, so I'm assuming its only a few months away.
poyz... yup, all 3 lancer issues are still here.
cefiro's and other nissan family cars equipped with RB20DET's run no BOV's (plumb back or atmo) and have worked fine for their entire lives (all 17 years of it). Granted they always ran on stock boost on stock turbos. Once you start changing factory boost levels and turbos etc, it'd be wise to put one in.
yeah that kinda threw me as well... I assume it was applied for as a new car to expedite the approval process. now that it's been approved for new car import, there's no reason for them to knock back an approval for used imports.
lol I'm like 30% done making a clay mockup of the R35 GTR style fender badge garnish to fit into my vented R32 guards (which I don't see any point in venting but they're the only ones you can get cheap with +25mm flare). Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks they're the coolest shit since sliced bread.