Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

After too many years of unbalanced work life all of the grease that was under my nails as a teen has vanished. I had a Nissan 240SX as my first car and did all of the work myself. It was a ton of fun, but I lost the mechanics along the way to being a "grownup". Now back to the States after several years living in Asia, and with two young teenagers needing to learn some real life skills, I'm ready to take on my first build. I thought, why not make it an R32?

I'm looking to take my time on this, make the right balanced build that is true to the car and makes it into a great example of a street-tuned R32 GT-R at 400-600 whp. Something that contributes to the fledgling Skyline scene in the US.
After looking for a while, and with the help of Justin from JDM Friends here in Houston, I found a repair at auction which has good bones and was obviously someone's daily driver. It was a good price for the condition, and is currently being prepped for shipment to Houston. I should receive it in mid-January.
The relatively high mileage (150km) doesn't bother me as I'd eventually like to do a full engine build with new parts and either swap out the current engine into a 240sx or just rebuild it using the existing block if it's in good shape. In the meantime, I have a relatively unmolested (internals, anyway) early R32 to enjoy and get to know. Originally Gunmetal (KH2), now repainted this yellow color. Looks pretty good, but could use a different color. Will decide later. Thinking either Midnight Purple or Bayside Blue, open to suggestions. Engine bay needs some serious love, but will be fun to work through.
Again, I want to take my time, teach my kids a few things, and build something worthy of the name and true to the R32.
Looking forward to getting to know folks on the forum and to sharing progress with you.

Passenger front quarter

Passenger side

Passenger rear quarter

Rear

Driver rear quarter

Driver side

Driver front quarter

Front

Front

BBS 17" wheels

Drivers seat

Rear seat

Boot

Drivers side interior

ODO and speedometer

Key

undercarriage

Engine bay

Nameplate

Edited by sopwey
  • Like 2

I love it! Great colour!

I'd love to do what you're talking about. One of my daughters (8yo) is showing a little bit of interest in cars which is nice.

Welcome to SAU. :welcome:

  • Like 1

Looks neat enough. Good plans - there is no end to stuff you can modify when it comes to GTR's - just need to work out what you want to do with it and work to that end.

If you want a colour suggestion - red. Not the horrible maroon you can get but a proper red. You just don't see them in that colour and yet it looks brilliant.

  • Like 1

When you get to the paint stage, certainly go for MNP.

When you say it was a repair, do you mean a "Grade R" car? Most people in Australia avoid those at all costs.

IMG_4165.jpg

yum

Edited by Burger
  • Like 2

yeah bright red was the best of the stock colours.....I also had a limited edition gunmetal grey car and repainted it yellow (although a lot brighter than yours looks). enjoy the build :)

BTW my Cima was R grade....a good repair job can be excellent value because so many people leave them alone without checking first.

  • Like 1

Burger - thinking that exact color with LP2 and either silver or bronze wheels.

It was an "R" and I debated on it for a long while, looked at several, but the price is good it was a single owner and comes with a stack of maintenance records. Only real risk is frame damage, and we'll find out soon enough. Given the prices these days I wanted to make the bet.

When you get to the paint stage, certainly go for MNP.

When you say it was a repair, do you mean a "Grade R" car? Most people in Australia avoid those at all costs.

Edited by sopwey

djr81, I'll think about the red, thanks. Got a specific color code suggestion? My first 240sx was that wine red color that came stock on the R32 as well.

Looks neat enough. Good plans - there is no end to stuff you can modify when it comes to GTR's - just need to work out what you want to do with it and work to that end.

If you want a colour suggestion - red. Not the horrible maroon you can get but a proper red. You just don't see them in that colour and yet it looks brilliant.

djr81, I'll think about the red, thanks. Got a specific color code suggestion? My first 240sx was that wine red color that came stock on the R32 as well.

No mate wouldn't have a clue, whatever matches your handbag. Would suggest not too dark and not metallic. Other than that the GIO GTR should give you a clue. Or this thing.

post-5134-0-99849700-1450309743_thumb.jpg

Us Aussies wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot long pole haha. Loving that colour. :yes:

Because we are idiots mostly. This comes about from the way our rules are structured and dodgy practices of importers in the past.

  • 2 weeks later...

Update

The car is finally in the western hemisphere and making its way down the pacific coast of the US to Panama. It should be here in Houston January 17th, if all goes well.

in the meantime, I've been collecting some items I know I'll need. All shipping in over the next two or three weeks.

NEW Nismo Omori Factory Spec LMGT4 18x9J and wheel nuts

post 87642 0 60798200 1364119786

S l500 2


USED Nismo intercooler which needs a little fin-love and a good cleaning, but otherwise looks to be in good condition. Will pressure test after it arrives. (also I will secure the new Nismo piping later)

post 101774 0 45056300 1449057094


USED Vintage style Nismo wheel, which has been re-trimmed (needs a new hub)

S l1600


NEW Compression test kit and a few other new tools.

NEW NGK Iridium spark plugs
NEW various fluids and filters (Nismo S-Tune panel air filter, aftermarket fuel filter), as well as Redline oil and fluids for a full fluid change including transfer case and ATESSA.
Also, Justin at JDM Friends in Houston (helping me with the import) received a package in the mail from the broker with heaps of maintenance records and install manuals for several after-market items on the car, including:
Ohlins coilovers
Nismo suspension parts (control arm, etc.)
Trust/Greddy exhaust
I didn't know it came with the suspension pieces and coilovers, so that was a great surprise! I'll get the actual docs from him when I return home this weekend, and see if more detail can be gleaned without translation.
More later. Looking forward to the arrival and a chance to look more closely under the hood. I'm hoping to find other happy surprises like coil packs and other small refresh items. The suspension and maintenance records are a good sign.

One item I forgot ... been assembling pieces to restore the console hardware. For some reason the car doesn't come with an A/C control unit, an audio head unit or any of the mounting hardware. I found this used A/C control unit on eBay and have it in hand now.

S l1600 2

Ac unit might be in the centre console with the wires extended. Mine was as the previous owner must have had a big double din headunit installed then removed it before the sale.

Then again maybe they didnt want a working heater or ac haha

Shaping up to be a great build already!!!

Edited by k_d
  • Like 1

Ac unit might be in the centre console with the wires extended. Mine was as the previous owner must have had a big double din headunit installed then removed it before the sale.

Yeah, the potential for that occurred to me after I had bought the other unit. So while I've looked at what pieces might be missing, I decided it was better to wait and see what might be hiding in the car before buying any more replacement parts for the unit(s). So no further ordering on that as yet.

With winter here in the States now, in Houston that means one day you need the air con, the next you need the heater. So I need it working!

A few more pieces on the way. Some vintage Nismo items to continue the theme of the steering wheel. Shift knob, horn, and oil filler cap, as well as a dead pedal cover in aluminum to complement a new OEM set of R34 V-Spec II Nur pedals.

S l1600 4

akaari4 img450x600 1446235317xcgvyg13396

S l1600 3

S l1600 5

S l1600 6

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

    • Well, after the full circus this week (new gearbag, 14 psi actuator on, injectors and AFM upgraded, and.....turbo repair) the diagnosis on the wastegate is in. It was broken. It was broken in a really strange way. The weld that holds the lever arm onto the wastegate flapper shaft broke. Broke completely, but broke in such a way that it could go back together in the "correct" position, or it could rearrange itself somewhere else along the fracture plane and sit with the flapper not parallel to the lever. So, who knows how and when exactly what happened? No-one will ever know. Was it broken like this the first time it spat the circlip and wedged itself deep into the dump? Or was it only broken when I tried to pry it back into place? (I didn't try that hard, but who knows?). Or did it break first? Or did it break between the first and second event of wierdness? Meh. It doesn't matter now. It is welded back together. And it is now held closed by a 14 psi actuator, so...the car has been tuned with the supporting mods (and the order of operations there is that the supporting mods and dyno needed to be able to be done first before adding boost, because it was pinging on <<14 psi with the new turbo with only a 6 psi actuator). And then tuned up a bit, and with the boost controller turned off throughout that process. So it was only running WG pressure and so only hit about 15-16 psi. The turbo is still ever so slightly lazier than might be preferred - like it is still a bit on the big side for the engine. I haven't tested it on the road properly in any way - just driven it around in traffic for a half hour or so. But it is like chalk and cheese compared to what it was. Between dyno numbers and driving feedback: It makes 100 kW at 3k rpm, which is OK, could be better. That's stock 2JZ territory, or RB20 with G series 550. It actually starts building boost from 2k, which is certainly better than it did recently (with all the WG flapper bullshit). Although it's hard to remember what it was like prior to all that - it certainly seems much, much better. And that makes sense, given the WG was probably starting to blow open at anything above about 3 psi anyway (with the 6 psi actuator). It doesn't really get to "full boost" (say 16 psi) until >>4k rpm. I am hopeful that this is a feature of the lack of boost controller keeping boost pressure off the actuator, because it was turned off for the dyno and off for the drives afterward. There's more to be found here, I'm sure. It made 230 rwkW at not a lot more than 6k and held it to over 7k, so there seems to be plenty of potential to get it up to 250-260rwkW with 18 psi or so, which would be a decent effort, considering the stock sized turbo inlet pipework and AFM, and the return flow cooler. According to Tao, those things should definitely put a bit of a limit on it by that sort of number. I must stress that I have not opened the throttle 100% on the road yet - well, at least not 100% and allowed it to wind all the way up. It'll have to wait until some reasonable opportunity. I'm quite looking forward to that - it feels massively better than it has in a loooong time. It's back to its old self, plus about 20% extra powers over the best it ever did before. I'm going to get the boost controller set up to maximise spool and settle at no more than ~17 psi (for now) and then go back on the dyno to see what we can squeeze out of it. There is other interesting news too. I put together a replacement tube to fit the R35 AFM in the stock location. This is the first time the tuner has worked with one, because anyone else he has tuned for has gone from Z32 territory to aftermarket ECU. No-one has ever wanted to stay Nistuned and do what I've done. Anyway, his feedback is that the R35 AFM is super super super responsive. Tiny little changes in throttle position or load turn up immediately as a cell change on the maps. Way, way more responsive than any of the old skool AFMs. Makes it quite diffifult to tune as you have to stay right on top of that so you don't wander off the cell you wanted to tune. But it certainly seems to help with real world throttle response. That's hard to separate from all the other things that changed, but the "pedal feel" is certainly crisp.
    • I'm a bit confused by this post, so I'll address the bit I understand lol.  Use an air compressor and blow away the guide coat sanding residue. All the better if you have a moisture trap for your compressor. You'd want to do this a few times as you sand the area, you wouldn't for example sand the entire area till you think its perfect and then 'confirm' that is it by blowing away the guide coat residue.  Sand the area, blow away the guide coat residue, inspect the panel, back to sanding... rinse and repeat. 
    • The detail level is about right for the money they charge for the full kit... AU$21.00 each issue, 110 issues for a total of $2,300 (I mentioned $2.2K in the first post when the exchange rate was better). $20/week is doable... 😐
    • If planning on joining us for the day(s) please indicate by filling in this form. https://forms.gle/Ma8Nn4DzYVA8uDHg7
    • You put the driver's seat on the wrong side! Incredible detail on all of this. It looks like you could learn a lot about the car just from assembling the kit.
×
×
  • Create New...