alex182

I admire and respect the effort

I'd second this. My old man was looking at one years ago and I remember from my research that you'd at least want an MY10 or plus to avoid the early gearbox issue. If you can stretch the budget, try for as new as possible with best service history.

Yeah unlucky m9, genuine ones have rain guards and drain channels - per below pic from this thread.

It's definitely American fueled. I remember when Non-Vspec BNR34s were $30-$40k, BNR32s were $15ish - if you paid $20k you were either silly or got an absolute minter. Americans are already hoarding 33s and 34s waiting for their 25-year acceptance, and there's Japanese firms allowing them to buy them now and charging them storage in Japan until they're legal to ship. Was recently in Japan and was told that certain GT-R dealers are banding together and no longer allowing foreigners to buy them. They were cashing in initially (and i'm sure there will be some that continue to do so), but I think they're beginning to realise that if things go unchecked, there will be none left in the motherland - instead all in the hands of US youtube vloggers and instagram kids EDIT: ^This. GT Falcons were damn near impossible to sell in the 80s. L34 Toranas were $20k at one point. Skylines are only just now hitting the collector radar, and as much as it sucks to see the once close-knit GT-R scene descend into speculative flippers and trust fund kids; I'd say these big market movements we've seen in the past few years are here to stay for the forseeable future...

Nah that makes sense! Best of luck with the build, it sounds awesome! To echo the others, start up a build thread! Would be keen to follow along

Turbo 350ci is an interesting route! Is there any reason you'd forego the usual RB30 path? Keen to see updates man, congrats on the pickup! How original is she at the moment?

I was on this launch, and it was a pretty stark experience for myself as a personal R32 GT-R owner. That R33 had a full suite of hardrace gear under it, and the 32 (although exceedingly original) wasn't on the best tyres. It was the first time I'd driven an R33 and it was pretty revelatory. Albeit, with the suspension fettling, and the V-spec's LSD: the thing was a far more capable track car than the 32. All the same inputs in getting the 32 to oversteer once it came on boost post-apex, the 33 just gripped. It came on boost quicker, and the chassis was far more neutral with sharper turn-in quicker steering. My 0.02c would be that if you're after a track car, 33 is the go. It was a significant leap ahead of the 32, the 33>34 was much more incremental. But if you're after just a special weekend car, I'd personally hold onto the 32. There's likely more long-term collector value in the 32 than the 33 given its unique Australian motorsport history. Also, Tamura-San was at the launch and I had some really good chats with him. He's owned an R32 GT-R since '89, and had his hands in development throughout the succeeding r-chassis generations (and of course, became boss of the R35 portfolio). He himself said the R32 was a more of a "GT-car", but the R33 was a much more capable bit of kit.

I think pops are cool when it's the product of a non-contrived or naturally rich AFR but the trend of P-plater Golfs with a Stage 69 fart-shift overrun tune which is spitting fuel into the exhaust for 300m down the street when they lift off at 1500rpms at 35km/h - yeah, that's lame as f**k. Also to your actual question, yeah it's probably illegal - or will at least give the authorities a reason to pull you over and find something illegal.

Yeah, I had watched the R32s trend skywards ever since the US got them around 2013-14. Didn't know that the Series 1 33s would tbe he only Californian-legal cars. Man I miss the days when 32 GTRs were 15K, 33s about the same - and an R34 you could pick up for $30-40K hahaha Thanks for the info man, very interesting to hear what's happening on the ground over there! Cheers

I apologies if i'm going off-topic - but what is the market like for R33s over there at the moment? I'm assuming a lot of the "crazy money" is coming from the US' rolling year import laws. How much have 33s gone up recently?

Awesome car! Credit to all involved; a true no-expense dream build for many! Sidenote: This might be the second(?) MNP Z-tune. I was always aware of a (reported) original LX0 Z-tune which was one of the early customer converted builds (I had been told that #1-#13 were customer cars and #14-#19 were "new" cars, can anyone confirm?) Souce: GT-R Registry

The Skyline-starved US will always be the eye of the JDM-bubble storm. I think there's legs in lower-spec GTTs and such maintaining on the global market, if anything bolstering as fewer and fewer survive over the years. They definitely won't jump like R32 GTRs did post-2012, and you definitely won't see significant movements within your 3-4 year time span on the local market. It's nuts over in the US! Someone just paid AU$180,000 for a restored factory 240z on Bring-A-Trailer. MkIV Supra records have been set twice in 12 months with two factory condition turbo targas selling for AU$170,000 - then AU$246,000 a few months later. But I digress, on the local market - unfortunately I don't think you'll find yourself sitting on a cash cow. But then again, who really knows. Look at the all the local hero cars fetching stupid amounts of money - part of their rarity and appeal is the fact that they were nigh on impossible to move back in the 70s: John Goss XBs, even GT-HO Falcons sat on lots for months. [Edit: But again, you'd need to stick a GTT in a barn for decades to cash in that cheque]. My advice would be to just forget about the eventual resale value, and just enjoy your car. If you're looking to tie your money up in something that you can drive and enjoy for a few years and do 'okay' when it comes time to sell, buy an R129 Benz, or take out a loan and get a manual 996 Carrera (Disclaimer: Don't take my financial advise seriously...)

Yes, in regards to resale: all you can do is keep the old cluster, any documentation (take photos) and be up front about it. I looked at a few cars that nismo cluster swaps, it didn't phase me (and shouldn't phase an educated buyer) as long as there's documentation to explain the discrepancy (y)

I see a lot of restos at work, but this is genuinely right up there with the best of them! Especially these days, to cut out rust and hand-beat those panels with body lines and all is a dying art; and to my primitive hands, absolute witchcraft! Fantastic work mate! Can't wait to see it progress

Hi mate, any remaining sets of DIS-001? Cheers

I'd say just tip in another K and get the GT-T that was built as such from factory. There's a lot of labour in that car no doubt, but to me there's more more to go wrong. Also, Edward Lee's name itself is a red flag. It might be a Grade R car for all you know.

Nice car, but holy shit show me the MX-5 with the 302! Also, welcome!

Seems like there's been a few conversions from prior posts in the thread. So it's plausible he might. I'm pretty confident in saying Nissan delivered absolutely no automatic BNR-coded cars.

Awesome, I'll give it a go on the weekend. Thanks for your help mate, much appreciated

Cheers @GTSBoy Never used Kerosene on the car, so might be a silly question: would you mix Kero in with the wash bucket, or just straight onto a rag? Yeah, it's probably due for another wax, didn't even think that might be cause for the recent build up, thanks!

Car has been running rich since previous owner, and had to gap the spark plugs down further to try and iron out a slight misfire. Possibly compounded by an ancient muffler, car gets a visible carbon build up on the rear bar after a single drive. I do my best to get as much off as possible in every wash but it's slowly built up pretty bad. Clay bar is marginal at best, but the soot does come off if I (lightly and carefully) scratch it with my nail. Can anyone recommend anything that might help get it off easily with some elbow grease? Would like to avoid anything abrasive as I'm pretty precious about my paint. Thanks in advance

Actually drove a press car the other week. You have to take contemporary "Nismo" cars with a grain of salt (apart from the R35, which is an absolute monster). As a modern SUV with a bit of character (compared to the rest of its segment), I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. Juke and pretty much Nissan's entire range (the new Leaf is a good thing however) is ancient. I reckon Nissan sits in a pretty tough spot in the market with it's range. VFACTS data looks like their passenger car sales are pretty much supported only by the X-Tail and Qashqai. Hopefully Nissan brings out something big at Tokyo Motor Show next year for the Z-car's 50th anniversary.

They're *almost* Blitz 03s haha

The modding scene isn't slowing down - I think you're referring to the "Skyline Modding scene" in particular. It naturally goes in waves. Skylines used to be cheap performance heroes but now with age, and scarcity are transcending into collectibles. Look at how prized original FJ Holdens are now, and see the stuff they did back in the 80s: Skylines I feel are naturally following suit. Personally, I've been working for Unique Cars for the past year and definitely have gained a newfound appreciation for originality and the owners who grow old with their cars. Also, the aftermarket scene I feel is still growing, but is just becoming increasingly derivative - seemingly the most celebrated "builds" these days amongst the young'ns are just wheels, airbags and a vinyl wrap. My $0.02

Like being in Australia without air-con, we feel you dude! Welcome