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Anyone Who Has Built A Gtr

Black Widow

By Black Widow,
in General Automotive Discussion

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Black Widow Veteran

Black Widow

Posted
Posted

Ok so i was thinking last night, i'm looking at buying an R32 GTR. And so far 20k for a clean one is sounding reasonable. Would it be worth my while to buy a wreck/shell cheap, buy a blown motor, and rebuild it, and build the car up myself? or is it just cheaper to buy a running one that's in decent nick?

Any advice will be taken on board

Nick

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Black Widow Veteran

Black Widow

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Simple advice:

Buy the best car you can find/afford.

You will be better off in the short, medium & long term.

that answers my question..it'd only be worth it if i basically had deep pockets yeah?

Bunta Grand Master

Bunta

Posted
Posted

it is always cheaper to but one with mods in place, i am currently looking at GTRs and i am looking at ones with mods and then factoring in a rebuild at some stage, there is a lot of farily well modded ones out there for under 25k, then factor in another 8k or so for a rebulid..

if you do the sums on doing it all from scratch i am sure you will find this is a way cheaper option

TTT Grand Master

TTT

Posted
Posted

I would seriously hold out and save more money and buy one that has a receipted engine rebuild with new turbo's.

OR

buy one for $12K less than what a rebuilt one would cost.

The cheapest RB26 rebuild I've seen on these forums was one guy who got it rebuilt to stock nissan specs using stock nissan parts and re-used his stock turbos.

the total was $6700 or there abouts.

djr81 Grand Master

djr81

Posted
Posted
that answers my question..it'd only be worth it if i basically had deep pockets yeah?

It is not necessarilly a money thing. It takes a great deal of time & effort to track down the myriad of parts you need to make a bad car anywhere near good.

I mean, price a pair of seats & then add up the money for however many bits of interior plastic you want to replace. Thats easilly $1k there. You can do a similar exercise for tired suspension, paintwork, brakes, drivetrain & yes even the engine. Before too long the car will be costing you more than the really nice example you thought you couldn't afford in the first place.

With regard to the engine, just get it checked. There are loads of threads about what to look for.

And lastly, don't take too much notice of the (mostly GTS-T owning) doom sayers who will tell you it will cost more to rebuild the motor than the national debt. There are many, many owner who have never rebuilt their RB26's. I'va had four, never lifted the lid on one of them.

Beer Baron Grand Master

Beer Baron

Posted
Posted

to be honest if I was looking to buy an R32 GTR my budget would be $30-35K. Sure you can get a fairly clean GTR for $25K, BUT for $30K you can get a car literally twice as good. with maybe $50K worth of bits on it and one that is treated right.

generally people in financial trouble will sell their cars cheap. the problem with that is the very fact that they need to sell in a hurry often means they probably didn't have the cash to buy the best of everything for the car.

owners without this problem will generally ask a higher price, but are prepared to wait and get it. but they will most often have bought the best of everything for their car. That is the kind of owner you want to buy from.

edit: unless you are after just a very stock example. $25K should see you in a fairly decent one no problem.

Blitz Grand Master

Blitz

Posted
Posted
to be honest if I was looking to buy an R32 GTR my budget would be $30-35K. Sure you can get a fairly clean GTR for $25K, BUT for $30K you can get a car literally twice as good. with maybe $50K worth of bits on it and one that is treated right.

generally people in financial trouble will sell their cars cheap. the problem with that is the very fact that they need to sell in a hurry often means they probably didn't have the cash to buy the best of everything for the car.

owners without this problem will generally ask a higher price, but are prepared to wait and get it. but they will most often have bought the best of everything for their car. That is the kind of owner you want to buy from.

edit: unless you are after just a very stock example. $25K should see you in a fairly decent one no problem.

Couldn't have said it better.

Problem is most people have no idea what it takes to 'build' a GTR, nor the costs involved in running and maintaining one.

bloodzkull Community Regular

bloodzkull

Posted
Posted

well my has a bottom end knock as off friday night. it is only very faint but i can hear it. so the car was towed to my place.

but it's not that bad. shouldn't have cause much other damage the a f**ked bearing. so basically instead of spending the money do the oil control mods/new bearings/all new head gear in a few months like i had planned i am going to do it now.

my advice, find one that has got the oil mods that sydneykid (gary?) recomends. and get one that has an accurate oil pressure guage (aftermarket.)

and lastly enjoy it. they are so much fun.

bnr#@ Mentor

bnr#@

Posted
Posted

There are 2 things that need to be considered and always remembered when rebuilding almost any engine

1. Nothing ever goes according to plan and

2. Nothing ends up being as cheap as you initially thought...

When my rb26 spun a bearing I was planning to do a basic rebuild and be happy... that was 2.5 years ago, car is almost finished now and has cost almost 25K to do. The "while I’m here" thing

Really did catch me there...

NXTIME Grand Master

NXTIME

Posted
Posted

Most of the above is great advice. I can only add this:

If you cannot afford to (properly) mantain a GTR, then you cannot afford to buy one. This may include the need for an engine refresh/rebuild

benm Grand Master

benm

Posted
Posted

From my own experience you have 3 options:

1) Buy a nice clean stock car with maybe an exhaust, filters and boost controller if you are lucky for <$20k (certainly can be done they are around if you look) - been there done that even with an 89 model.

2) Spend $25k and get plenty of bolt-on mods but with a standard motor, in as clean a condition car as you can find (also been there and done that too).

3) Spend $30k and get a rebuilt motor with bolt-on mods. However do remember that just because you have a 'rebuilt' motor doesn't mean it's a guarantee that you will have a trouble free engine for your lifetime. Their are plenty of people on this forum that have spent $10-20k on a rebuilt motor only for it to die a few months later.

I personally wouldn't spend anymore than $30k outright on an R32, instead would save up an extra year and go straight to a stock R34.

dangerous_daveo Grand Master

dangerous_daveo

Posted
Posted

That is the other thing, an 89 model is 20 years old next year. I know I am sick of my car, like for its age and cefiros in general its really tidy, has good quality mods etc. Just there is no telling yourself otherwise, its an old car, that is getting older. I live with mine as I have my 5 year plan, and selling it now doesnt work out. Make sure you can live with an old car first.

And as the others have said, buy the one that costs more, and is built up right. They are few and far between, but worth the extra dosh.

  • 4 weeks later...
Gtrgodzilla67 Community Regular

Gtrgodzilla67

Posted
Posted

trust us man spend the extra or you will end up doing it anyway LOL i bought mine for 15k after having it painted due to rust , then the engine spinning a bearing and all the other bullshit, im over 38k intotal, buy one thats done it saves a shit load of hassle,

thats my opinion i learnt the bollocksing hard way ,

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