Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I'm trying to find out where to look for wear points in a skyline to verify the type of km's its done. I don't have any mechanically inclined friends so I want to find out how to inspect a car.

Is there any chronic problems with R32 GTR's?

How would I inspect these problems if any?

Are there any areas I should be wary of?

How do I find out if there has been any panel damage?

I own an R33 so I cant speak for the 32 but a good indication can be the interior. Look at the condition of the carpet, seats, steering wheel etc. It is difficult if not impossible to determine exactly the km's a car has done just by looking at the interior but if your car had 40000km on the clock and had worn out carpet you should be sus.

Could you still apply the interior look-over to a car that has only been imported? Or spent the majority of it's life in Japan?

THe reason I ask is because I have seen what the traffic is like in the cities of Japan, and if people are driving pretty slow and in a lot of traffic jams, you would get restless and as I have read from these forums, Japanese men tend to pick at the steering wheel. And they might move around a bit and cause more wear on things such as carpet, etc...

pay carefull attention to the gaps in all the pannels and the heights they sit eg bonnet, boot, doors, this shows up any dodgy repairs done after a serious crash. also have a close look under the front of the car around the bumper suppors its very easy to spot a damaged car

Thanks for the reply's guys!

look at the steering and the gear boot ...

OK, for the steering wheel check, does worn equal a matt like finish? rough? shiny? or something else?

Where would the most worn area of a seat be? The side bolsters or the seat(bottom part)?

Would floor mats be able to give an indication of age/wear? or the actual interior carpets?

Thanks again guys!

hey man i think u know who i am ... i can try help u out if u want ... i'm sure u might have my number ... else ask quan :D hehhe ... anyways imho most of the cars that come over have had some sort of accident history ... i mean its no different from here people have accidents ... u just gotta watch out thats all ...

hey man i think u know who i am ... i can try help u out if u want ... i'm sure u might have my number ... else ask quan  :P hehhe ... anyways imho most of the cars that come over have had some sort of accident history ... i mean its no different from here people have accidents ... u just gotta watch out thats all ...

Yeah, I got your number of Quan, only prob is that the car will be in Melbourne in February. I'm just finding info on what to look for and estimating how much etxra I'm gonna set aside to fix it to A1 condition. Car is already bought and paid for so it's just a precation. I've set aside about an extra $6k for a case of the shit hitting the fan. If I spend less...then good, but I'd need to know what to replace/repair first. Workshops may or may not give good advice so I'm finding more information about skylines in general.

Another issue with buying a used car:

What type of tests could I do to the car to check if it is mechanically sound?

Compression test should be a must right? Would I need a dyno readout to get a baseline on the car?(After any other mechanical tests of course)

If its an R32 GTR, maybe look at the condition of the plenum. It is painted black from the factory, and if its worn out car, the paint should be flaking or comming off etc..

This mite be useful for cross checking the odo figures and stuff.

OK, for the steering wheel check, does worn equal a matt like finish? rough? shiny? or something else?

the black coating (whatever it is) tends to go flakey and start to peel off in little bits...you'll probably find this is mostly where people have held it the most, ie on the top half of the wheel.

well this is in R33's i assume it would be similar in R32's!

Im assuming this is an 89 GTR youre importing. Before spending the cash on body works, id take it to a reputable mechanics and get a compression and leakdown test done. Granted skylines are great cars, but a 15 year old twin turbo performance engine is going to be pretty shagged (and those that say it wasnt driven hard etc etc think about it... why buy a GTR for?).

Id put the money towards compression and leakdown test and depending on that (anything under 120 on the compression results) and id be spending that $6k on an engine rebuild (and they're not cheap). Gearboxes are clunky by nature, and majority of GTR's have stuffed synchro's so dont be afraid if you hop in and crunch some gears. If you want this fixed, budget in gearbox rebuild.

Body wise, look around the door seals for rust. Alot tends to show up around these areas, as well as in the wheel guards.

Other major things id definately get changed on the vehicle since its becoming quite old is water pump, oil pump, oil pressure sender/switch, all engine belts, gasket set.

Not meant to be scaring you, just giving you a heads up on what to expect. On the other hand you might get a perfectly mint car :D

If your trying to figure out if its had the clock wound back have a look at the wear marks on:

1. The pedals

2. Steering wheel

3. Seat belts (although usually replaced with complicance)

4. Hand brake

If they are worn to buggery and its done 20000km then something obviously isnt right...

Thanks for all the replies guys! Very good points made, especially about the mechanicals. I would rather a car that drives close to 100% than one that looks it(I guess too many of my friends are into 2F2F :D)

I already factored in getting a compression test, but what exactly is a leakdown test? Is it the same as pressure testing the cooling system or something else entirely?

Also with a gearbox rebuild, how much would an estimate amount be?

Sorry for sounding like a newb but I know about engines in general but Skylines and all the electronics are new to me!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • HyperGear. Just get a high flow of the stocker. Good, reliable, and should bolt on. Yes it will want things like a retune once done, so you need to factor this in to your spend too.
    • Hi. Iam looking for some "cheaper" bolt on turbo on RB25DET NEO. I do not want "big" power just better reliability than the stock turbo which is "fot now" good but is old and i do not think it has "easy" life. One the Skyline here running some "temu" china Turbo but i dont trust those... Thanks!  
    • Hi guys, Making some space/cleaning up. A whole heap of random OEM R33 GTR parts and other random bits and bobs. I will update this thread as I go. Parts are located in Moorebank NSW 2170. Pickup preferred but will post at buyers expense. Prices are negotiable. If they don’t sell it will go in the bin. Item 1: BOV return pipe. $40 Item 2: RB26 cam gears. $20 Item 3: R33 GTR torque split, oil temp, boost centre gauge. $100 Item 4: RB26 fuel rail x 2. $20 each Item 5: RB26 Recirc valves. $50 Item 6: OEM upper front arms. $20 Item 7: Royal Purple Max Gear 75w-140 1 quart/946 ml x 5. $50 each or 5 for $200. Item 8: OS Giken 80w-250 diff oil 1 litre. $25 Item 9 Eibach springs. ers-11-140-60-0140. $100 https://www.streetfx.com.au/eib140-60-0060-eibach-ers-140mm-length-x-60mm-id-coil-over-spring?_ga_campaignid=22235933977&_ga_adgroupid=180146800292&_ga_keyword=&_ga_device=m&_ga_target=pla-295238231169&_ga_locint=&_ga_locphy=9071723&_ga_matchtype=&_ga_network=g&_ga_device=m&_ga_placement=&_gcl_id=CjwKCAjwlt7GBhAvEiwAKal0cvkVE_hstv24cDiaICsIk1oznH9zAoJf3By6vR3Tpe7jmByqM6JFHBoCZYAQAvD_BwE&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22235933977&gbraid=0AAAAADPiTbo1xAuvnjIWWYnezivf-BUSY&gclid=CjwKCAjwlt7GBhAvEiwAKal0cvkVE_hstv24cDiaICsIk1oznH9zAoJf3By6vR3Tpe7jmByqM6JFHBoCZYAQAvD_BwE    
    • That's kind of what I was getting at saying you'd be here soon regarding length etc being able to add additional restriction.  My assumption (possible donkeys of you and mption) is that the length of hose to an oil cooler, and back, isn't going to be that huge of a loss. Typically you're talking about 1.5m of total length. And so far everyone in our world hasn't had issues with oil not being able to get to a cooler and back, it's more been, how the heck do we get the oil out of the head and back down to the bottom? I'd nearly hazard a guess the biggest issue people have with oil cooling and oil supply, is being able to get the heat out at the cooler itself (not enough air flow, too small of a cooler etc) Also, when people mount them wrong and make really awesome air traps so they've dramatically diminished the cooling capacity.
    • I will rebutt this and the preceding point from Dose....but without doing any calcs to demonstrate anything and without knowing that I am right or wrong. But... The flow capacity of a fluid transfer system is not limited by the smallest orifice or section of conduit in that system, unless it is drastically smaller than the rest of the system. OK, I use the word drastically perhaps with too much emphasis, but let's drill down on what I really mean. The flow capacity of the system is the result of the sum of the restrictions of the entire system. So, to make an extreme example, if you have a network with 3" pipe everywhere (and let's say a total length of only a few metres) and that 12mm ID restriction of the oil filter connection being the obvious restriction, then for any given amount of pressure available, the vast majority of all the pressure drop in the system is going to occur in the 12mm restriction. But.... increase the length of the 3" pipeline to, say 1000m, and suddenly the pipe pressure loss will likely add up to either be in the same order of magnitude, possibly even exceeding that of the 12mm restriction. Now the 12mm restriction starts to matter less. Translate this to the actual engine, actual oil cooler hose sizing, etc etc, and perhaps: The pressure loss caused by flowing through the narrow section (being the 12mm oil filter port, and perhaps any internal engine oil flow pathways associated with it) is a certain number. The pressure loss through, say, -12 hoses out to the cooler and back is negligible, but The pressure loss through -10 hoses out to the cooler, at the exact same length as the above, starts to become a decent fraction of the loss through the 12mm stuff at the filter port. Maybe even it starts to exceed it. I could actually do these calcs if I knew 1) how much oil was actually flowing in the line, 2) gave enough of a f**k to do things that I hate doing for work, voluntarily for a hypothetical discussion. Anyway - I reiterate. It's not the narrowest port that necessarily determines how much it can all flow. It is the sum. A long enough length of seemingly fat enough pipe can still cause more loss than a semmingly dominant small bore restriction.
×
×
  • Create New...