Deep Blue R33 Turbo Build

[NZ Slider]

Hi guys, thought id post up my Skyline build.

Story started three years ago when i purchased a 1997 series 2 R33 coupe (turbo , manual etc) for a good price.

Needless to say it didn't last like this very long and ended up in a sorry state after some serious aquaplaning it suffered a spot of damage

Some might not think the damage was worth a re-shell but it would have required tonnes of replacement parts (rear quater panel, door, door sill, floor pan etc) on top of that the roof was slightly rippled and the A pillar was dented. As i didnt have full insurance paying anybody to fix it for me was out of the question. Especially after being quoted 10k (more than i paid for the car) i gave up on any ideas of fixing it and i assumed the chassis rails would have been bent anyway.

So after being relegated to the garage for about three years and not needing transport whilst being an Otago uni student, i eventually found a suitable body to re shell the running gear into.

1995 gts25t coupe with only 130,000km as a rolling body. Has everything except engine and gearbox, rad and a few other bits which i can swap over from the parts car

400R bumper is pretty rugged and ive never really been a fan of the extra vents on the side, but will tidy it up and run it for the short term

Blue R33 also came with new tires and shocks with some sort of lowering springs. It also has a 3inch cat back zhaust but will eventually swap it for the HKS superdragger system on the White skyline.

First thing i did when i got my hands on the Blue car was to give the engine bay a quick once over to get some of the grime off as i may not have time for this again before the RB goes in.

Before

After

Not a hell of a difference but i only used household products and the bay was relatively clean and due to its dark colour dirt doesnt show up much.

Next step was to attack the White Skyline:

As it was (no intercooler or AFM as some dream boats stole it)

Removed lights, strut brace, bonnet. attempted to remove bumper iron but due to a drama with one of the screws resulting in me bending the shit out of the iron, its now dangling to the side but at least out of the way. Will hit the screw with a hacksaw 2mra.

Removed more crap with the help of my mate Liam (horn, bonnet latch, fan).

Jacked it up and slapped some axle stands in.

Stopped at the AC radiator as i dont have a clue what action may result in venting the AC(If anybody can tell me what i should do here please advise, im hoping to remove the engine and box without having to touch the AC system if feasible) So i moved on to the Radiator which half of the coolant ended up on the floor.

Popped off the power steering pump and drained excess fluid into trusty VB bottle (bit of fluid ended up on floor, this will prob be a running theme, not too fused)

And as she sits now

Today i plan to unbolt the drive shaft and exhaust and anything else i can find attached to the engine before i prepare to whip the bitch out.

Oh and btw ive never done anything close to this sort of thing before. Most ive done is install suspension etc in previous rides. So im really doing things as they come and hoping i dont f**k anything up.

If anybody has any tips or suggestions feel free to post. And also if somebody has access to an engine hoist it would be great if i could borrow it for some beers or money, they seem to cost about 80-90$ a day to hire which is rather steep. I live in central Auckland so just send me a PM if you can help.

cheers guys

[NZ Slider]

Hey guys having some trouble undoing the engine mounts from the two bolts underneath the subframe. Ive got a jack under the gearbox to take some of the pressure off the engine mounts. have hit the nuts with CRC but my socket wrench feels like it will break. Any tips to loosesn them?

Also i no i could search but just quickly whats the best engine and gerbox oil for an RB25det?

cheers

[mungy]

Shame u crashed the car just as u got it, as for the bolts we used fuel on tight bolts, rusty bolts any bolts if we couldnt get em off works wonders

but if it feels like your wrench is about to break u need to get a longer wrench or use a breaker bar or put a long pole over the wrench to give you more leverege

Oil wise most guys use Royal Purple engine oil and redline shock proof for gearbox ( both are very expensive tho )

[mungy]

forgot bout air con lol, u can take the compressor off the motor and lift the engine without it, but if u want AC on ur new skyline u gonna have to disconnect it anyway, venting to atmo is illegal here in AUS not sure bout NZ,

ive never done it..........

if u that keen on it get a mobile mechanic to save the gas then get him to put it in the new car, will cost u abit tho lol

[NZ Slider]

Prepping for engine removal:

Over the last two days ive been sussing out what needs to be removed and how to do it. Never having done anything like this before its taken a bit longer than otherwise expected

Let some of my mates loose on the car while i was sorting the engine mounts and they stripped off some panels.

Made them feel useful i guess. Guna strip the whole thing eventually so there will be some parts for sale

Stripped some interior bits to free up the shifter for gearbox removal

removed frontpipe, bolts were almost seized on, probly never been undone, can only imagine what the heat does to bolts

Then removed the main section of the exhaust. Couldnt be stuffed messing round with the rubber exhaust mounts so just cut them off lol.

System is an HKS superdragger. Supposed to be 3.5inch but its restricted by the reso. Piping looks small in pic but muffler is gigantic. I initially thought the car had a cat but clearly it doesnt. So im confused as to whether or not its necessary for warrants if the engine is factory with that model.

Either way i will be running this system on the blue skyline. You can see the front pipe just above it. This will eventually be replaced with a 3inch front pipe with the split pipe off the internal wastegate directed back into the exhaust.

Here you can see the gearbox being jacked with a bit of wood to take some pressure off the mounts for loosening

Lots of space freed up with the exhaust removal. One question i have for those in the know is whether i need to swap the diffs as the blue skyline was orginally auto so i assume it has a longer final drive? is this correct?

Im also unsure as to how much clearance i need for the gearbox to swing down and up as it heads out with the engine

Axle stand allmost fully extended on this side, but i can unjack the car and roll it higher onto the ramps if neccessary then jack it again. Thoughts?

I havent been able to drain the gearbox oil as i dont have the correct tool (big square shaped allen) and my improvised tool didnt work, If im not able to drain it correctly i will be forced to attempt to collect it in the blue tray once the prop shaft comes out as the gearbox swings out. Other wise i best find some sand for a messy garage cleanup.

Going to hire a hoist 2mra. Hoping all goes well....lol. Any tips on massaging the engine out with hoist?

[trustr32]

Hey mate I removed the engine and gearbox From my 32gtr the same way only difference is I had removed the head off of my engine first if you want to make it a bit easier then you could cut the top radiator support panel out and you won't need such an extreme angle on the motor to clear it. Also it is illegal to vent a/c gas in aus but it won't do anything dangerous just get a rag and wrap it around one of the nuts going into the condenser at the front and just crack the nut a bit to let it vent. Keeping the rag around it will stop it shooting gas everywhere but try not to breathe it in.

[R3N3]

You wont need a cat for the warrant, but if you are gonna get a cert then you will need one. Not too sure about the a/c, but I thought those gasses were toxic?? And people have had overboosting issues with those split dumps, the bellmouth ones are the ones to get. Where abouts in NZ are you?

Edited July 1, 2011 by R3N3