GTSBoy

Yeah, I understand that TÜV is a bitch, but.... cost is not an issue when talking about putting a massive NA (or possibly large + turbo'd) V engine into a Skyline. We do it because it is fun. If mine was a project car and not a daily, I'd be finding some massive engine to put in it. Possibly one of the Toyota V12s that they make into monsters in New Zealand. Engineering is not cheap and easy here either (although definitely easier and cheaper than in Der Vaterland). But anything is possible, and 7L is better than ~2.5L, by about 200%.

Well, if it wasn't a GTR I'd say that killing an RB is a perfect opportunity to put in a proper engine. In your case, proximity to Brabus and AMG V12s would be a no brainer for any RWD Skyline engine death event. In my case, because my car is my daily, anything that I do wrong that means I have to do it again is both an absolute pain in the arse (simply having to do it again), and also a doubling of the pain associated with having the car off the road to work on it. I would class a botched head gasket install as not being "engine death causing". More a case of "f**k it's still leaking!"

There are certain tasks, like replacing head gaskets, where it is very much best to already know what you are doing, and if you are not already an expert, then the next best thing is to have an expert around to help it get done. Little annoying checks and steps that are easy to forget or not interpret the results of properly, etc etc. It is hard to convey that to someone as a lesson prior to taking on a job, because there can be a whole list of "if you see this then it means that", or "if this is what you find then you will need to do these other 4 steps first". All the little bits of knowledge around sealant choice (ie, sealant at all? or no sealant? sealant only in certain parts of the gasket? sealant for this type of gasket but not that type of gasket? etc etc) cleanliness checks and methods, surface straightness and finish checks and methods, etc etc, all combine to mean that people who have done many of the same type of job will struggle less to get a good result than someone who hasn't done it before. I've been around this stuff since forever. But I will still consult with my expert(s) before taking on the big stuff with higher risk profile.

Can you at least move to a location without so many ladders, black cats and mirrors precariously propped up ready to be knocked down? Or buy yourself a 1 ton bulker bag of salt to drag around with you. Just, you know, sling it over your shoulder?

Meh, what's the worst that can happen? If is is supposed to have a washer, and: the spring retainer seals reasonably well on the surface, maybe just allowing a little bleed of oil out, and the spring does not coil bind when compressed that little extra bit, then the end result will be slightly higher relief pressure setpoint, and no other noticeable effects.

There are professional butt-monkeys too. Just from lack of familiarity in Europe and the US there are plenty of mechanics who do things the wrong way on RBs. Even here in Oz, where we've been playing with RBs since 1986, there are still examples of the not-quite-bright-enough mechanic doing the wrong thing and causing simple jobs to go wrong.

A changed head gasket is an opportunity for whoever the butt-monkey was that did the job to mess it up. And there is far more than one way for a head gasket failure to manifest. Besides which, I did not say "head gasket failure". I just said that the coolant could be coming from there. If the gasket was not installed properly there might be a leak path from a coolant gallery to the outside and no mixing of fluids inside. Anywhere that a hose joins a hard pipe is a big opportunity for a leak. If the rubber is old then it will be brittle and it is only a matter of time before that will leak, and the same with every other bit of rubber on the car. Paranoia will eventually drive you to take the whole thing apart so you can find and replace all such. It's not easy with the plenum in place.

Which are almost all nonsense. Ignore. Obviously enough, if it is not a porous block, then any such thing is a waste of time. External block surface? Would be a waste of time, if the block was actually porous. It would need to go on the inside, which is inaccessible, and even if the block was open deck so that that area was acessible, it would be unlikely to work. But seeing as this is all nonsense, stop worrying about it. If the coolant is coming from the side of the block it is 10:1 odds that it is either a welch plug, or it is coming from the head gasket. Maybe from one of the coolant lines feeding the turbo, or even the heater. Liquids that leak from up high can travel sideways along casting surfaces or pipes, etc on the engine before finding a spot from which to drop.

Welcome Jan, It's very likely that you are in over your head. You'll just have to learn to swim hard and fast! These old rust buckets have more ways to bankrupt us than almost any other car. But hopefully there's nothing wrong that ruins the whole show! We can help a fair bit. There's plenty here who've been fixing these things for >25 years. cheers

It's why I call it vagazzelling. Only a dumb kunt could do it.

You might as well just vagazzle it, like the dumb bitches on Just Rolled In.

I thought not. R32s certainly weren't. R33s definitely could have been, but I thought they had much the same gear in them as the 32s. I could be wrong. I had my r32 converted to R143A before I put the Neo motor (and its R34 compressor) into it. So I didn't even really consider the original refrigerant for the 34's compressor. Seeing as the very idea of "conversion" means that it doesn't really matter anyway. What it would really come down to, in the car in question, is what ports are on the lines and if they are R12 or R143A ports. And the little bit of work required to convert them and clean the system out of the old juice.

CF wrap bro. C'mon!

I'm just going to recondition one of my R34 compressors. It's not rocket surgery.

Surely a race car doesn't have the speakers required to make the noise anymore anyway?

Worth most of the $50k alone!

....that still needs to be retrofitted to take R134A also.

Spray glue and Alcantara.

Same same.

Your nightmare memories are where my opinion on interior trim spraying lives. I have seen quite a number of consoles and dashboards and the like painted with (proper) interior vinyl paints, and the colour is always a little offensive, and often likes to rub off on anything that touches it for a long time after it is supposedly dry. You'd definitely want to have had a good experience with a solution before trying it on something you care about. I would think that paints that are not intended for interior vinyl will look wrong or not wear well. Wrong if too glossy, not wear well if too satin/matte.

Like? It won't run?

The small boxes will wear out the input shaft bearings.....if and only if you seriously exceed the torque input that they were designed to handle. It is very common for them to give up after a few years behind boosted RB20s and if you put a 25 turbo in front of them they can't last forever. Behind an NA RB20? Should last forever and ever and ever and ever. If it has died, it is from some sort of mistreatment, or perhaps extremely bad luck.

Oh, there's also the gearbox crossmember which will probably be different between the small box and the big box, and the wiring loom will probably need to be modified, because the plugs for the switches etc, will probably be different. And I think the speedo on the small box R34s is from somwhere stupid, like the diff, possibly, so you'd need to work out what needs to be done about that (assuming it is different). I think the thing you need to realise is that the front end of that yoke is a large hollow tube with splines on the inside that mates with the splines on the box's output shaft. It is a dedicated thing - not available "aftermarket". They were made to suit that box, by the car's OEM.

Not the headlight. It's the DRL that serves double duty as white and amber. Would be the easiest way to make it happen, if fitting a BCM was in any way an easy thing. Otherwise you'd do it with some relay logic and/or maybe some diodes.

I see what you did there.