Inspecting An R32 Gtr, How To Tell If Any Rebuild?

[ltjpunk7]

Hey guys. New here. US resident, living in Florida. I'm taking delivery of my 89 R32 GTR next week. It's reported as being "bone stock" and visually appears to be so in pictures (and by report of the importer), but the service records are scarce. I haven't seen the car in person yet. It has 120,000 km on it.

I'm planning out my rebuild, and want to know if there is anyway externally for me to know if any parts have actually been replaced. I'd hate to order a new oil pump (or really any bottom end stuff) only to find out when I pull the engine that it already has an N1 pump, etc. I'm sure the most obvious answer is going to be to not order parts until I pull the motor, but it's going to be my daily driver and I can't really pull the motor with no parts and then order everything after its apart. Plus, I can't really afford the cost of pulling a motor just to put it right back in. Thanks for any input.

TL;DR: my car is reportedly stock...is there any way to know if oil pump or other parts were actually replaced, before pulling motor?

[ltjpunk7]

I was in a private message conversation with another user and thought maybe I'd post some of the relevant facts that I had explained to him, in case they help shed some light on my above post...

I'm hoping I'm a lucky buyer. I spent awhile trying to find an unscathed example and may have pulled it off. I had them do a compression test and it was normal (I'm still waiting on exact numbers just to check their work). HIKAS was never disconnected or blocked. No warning lights on. Reportedly no grinding in 3rd gear. No rust, no wear on seals. Obviously, I know that things that are too good to be true usually are, so I'm anticipating a few surprises.

Before going further, I should explain that my goals are to have a bulletproof/reliable car. I don't have a power figure in mind, but I can't imagine putting the money into it to reach 600 whp. So we're talking a fast, reliable build, maybe 400-450 whp (just a guess). I'm coming from the MINI Cooper world so all of these numbers are blowing my mind as it is.

My reason for bringing up the oil pump was that after reading all the issues, I figured I would prophylactically replace it before it had an issue. Was thinking an N1 pump with a spline drive collar from Supertec (with stock crank, presuming it's in good shape).

If I'm to tidy up the turbos, would it make more sense to just get new turbos (such as GT2530s) or should I just replace the ceramic wheel with a steel one?

Really appreciate everyone's time.

[KiwiRS4T]

I would just wait until it arrives and give it another compression test to confirm its ok. A good look around the vehicle should help you decide if its in keeping with the alleged mileage. if there are no service records I would do a service including plugs and cambelt.

I haven't heard any reports of a successful commercially produced spline drive oil pump although a few people have made prototypes.

Plenty of people have got 400hp out of these without opening them up so if the condition seems ok just go ahead although you will need a new ecu.

If your aims are modest then when the time comes you may just be up for rings, bearings, crank collar, oil pump and new hoses and gaskets etc). Or you could go to town and spend another $10 -$50k no trouble!

[KPCresta]

You should really consider keeping it as a weekend type car rather then a daily driver.

You will appreciate it a lot more taking it for a nice squirt on the weekends rather than driving it at a fraction of its capability in the daily grind to work and back.

[niZmO_Man]

Daily driving an R32 is definitely doable but not recommended. They are not a comfortable car and use a lot of fuel.

[ltjpunk7]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, for the time being I've got a MINI Cooper S. But it was my track car and I'm currently parting it out. Once it's back to stock, I'll be selling it. I've also got a Triumph Street Triple R. After selling the MINI, I'll probably get another car as my daily eventually, but I've got to give it some time or my wife may murder me haha.

Regarding the spline drive, Supertec makes them and seem to be getting really good reviews. Not a ton of people run them, but the few that have (positive reviews), plus their reputation, plus the fact that it's proven in other cars (i.e. 2JZ), make me feel it'd be a more solid choice rather than a wider standard collar. I don't like the idea of two flat surfaces being the only thing between my crank and a broken oil pump.

After discussing with some others, I may be doing exactly as you recommend and just working on all the other things that make it more enjoyable (interior, suspension, brakes, exhaust) and only do the rebuild once it's actually needed.

At any rate, I'm very excited. It's like a new frontier for me. Always exciting to switch platforms, but I've spent about 23513642346 hours trying to familiarize myself with these freaking cars ha.

[ENR34rb]

I would just wait until it arrives and give it another compression test to confirm its ok. A good look around the vehicle should help you decide if its in keeping with the alleged mileage. if there are no service records I would do a service including plugs and cambelt.

I haven't heard any reports of a successful commercially produced spline drive oil pump although a few people have made prototypes.

Plenty of people have got 400hp out of these without opening them up so if the condition seems ok just go ahead although you will need a new ecu.

If your aims are modest then when the time comes you may just be up for rings, bearings, crank collar, oil pump and new hoses and gaskets etc). Or you could go to town and spend another $10 -$50k no trouble!

If these are not commercially produced spline drive oil pump gears, so what is this?

[GH05T]

i dailied my 32gtr up until now. its not hard to do if its a good car.

however im now modding mine more so its a weekender. simply because when you mod you break and you work on it/ wait for parts/ wait for funds/ break more shit/ rinse and repeat.

over 300atw and daily and 25 yr old race car don't go easily together.

trust me.

[GH05T]

also. well done on the purchase. put picks up when you get it and get a build thread going when you eventually get bitten by the modding bug and weekend it.

also well done for doing the right homework and thinking about the things which need to be thought about

[Frracer]

On 5/4/2016 at 8:10 PM, ENR34rb said:

If these are not commercially produced spline drive oil pump gears, so what is this?

Over 800+ kits sold over the past 4 years. We make them for N1,Nismo, OEM81, Jun,Greddy,Nitto and Tomei pumps. 

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