The "Ugly Duckling" R34 GTT

[hoodedreeper]

Totally transformed the interior, its a shame a leather/half leather interior wasn't an optional extra. Any plans for the rear seat/bench?

[ComTruise]

Hey man yeah it really has, including buying the angle grinder it cost me under $500. The only time you could get a leather interior was in a specific version of the 34 GTR I think, it would of been nice if there had been at least an option for it.

As far as the bench goes yes I do have plans, for the time being I might just chuck a black seat cover over it but I am considering buying a spare from the wreckers and trying my hand at re-trimming it myself. This is going to be a long running thread so any DIY stuff I do ill write about. I have some leather coming for the door cards from ebay as we speak 

[KiwiRS4T]

Great job. So far most of the results come from your hard work rather than from spending mega bucks. I am sure you will never want to sell it when you are finished!

[ComTruise]

So another update! this weekend I did the brakes, I feel this really helps overall when it comes to getting a car clean looking.

First surveying the damage, old and unkempt. Not for long.

Looks as though the previous owner had started do this but had abandoned after the rears.

Masked up everything including the calipers, this was to target the rotors only first.

Then after that, unwrap the calipers and cover the rotors, you will need to rotate the rotor first to get the area under the caliper if you arent removing them to do this job, in this case I wasn't removing them.

After everything is unwrapped, notice how there is some overspray on the rotor brake surface, you want to cover up this surface as best as possible but dont go too close to the edge where the dust and rust is because if you want a perfect circular job you are gonna want to leave a edge of excess around the rotor and the brake pads to wear off the excess, this is achieved buy simply driving the car around the block. Also take a little sand paper to the Nissan lettering to make it stand out.

Obligatory results pic, im very happy with how this turned out. Stay tuned.

 

[ComTruise]

Where do I begin!

Its been ages since I updated this but I figured I would come back and post an update for anyone who is interested.

What have i been doing the last 2 years? well its been a wild ride! So lets get to it.

For the majority of the time I have just been enjoying the car, driving it around, maintaining it and the car has been a dream. No mechanical issues, no problems with ownership at all. The skyline has really been a dream come true. All kinds of people approach me about it wanting to know what it is or "hey is that a GTR?" and everything in between, the best event has to of been when i got a free lunch for revving the engine in a bakery drive through! a few thousand more times and the car will of paid for itself! But what I have really been up to concerns the cars future and what it is that I want it to be.

So what I have been up to mostly has been collecting all the parts for a GTR conversion, and by all I mean everything. I didn't want to do a east bear kit or anything of the like so I opted for as much genuine and high quality after market that I could afford, buying things as they popped up, sourcing parts from Japan, American the UK, Malaysia and of course Australia too.

 

It was a complete conversion, front to rear and it was close to time to have the car put in for work. But as I got closer to the deadline I started to actually dread it, the car being cut up and some of the more expensive parts (the rear fenders especially) being fibreglass copies just didn't sit well with me despite being very well made.

Had I been chasing the wrong approach? as cool as this would be should I be cutting up my perfectly good car to make it into something its not? after some soul searching I knew what I had to do.

I put the entire kit up for sale on gumtree.

The results were staggering! page after page of messages came in, the ad after only a few days had amassed thousands of views, I was taken aback by how polite everyone was how all these people wanted to send me pics of their cars and chat about them even when I said no to separating the kit or low offers, everyone in the community really were something else they clearly loved their cars.

That week the kit sold, to an awesome guy who has an R34 shell (not wrecking a perfectly good GT) he came with cash and a truck and took the lot.

So what have I decided to do with the car? well I figured it out, I am going in the complete opposite direction. Full factory restoration. I want the car to be as it was when it rolled off the floor. The satisfaction I got saving the car when I first got it is what I am after and its already begun I am sleeping a lot better now. Stay tuned for more, Peace.

 

[The Bogan]

Smart move

 

Enjoy

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

I agree, smart move. Spend change on M2 Comp and hookers. 

[trel]

Great read. That's exactly what I'm in the process of doing to my car, taking a long time but it's all so satisfying. I've even gone as far as ordering the Shaken and Japanese rego sticker... keep the posts up. 

Edited July 23, 2020 by trel

[ComTruise]

Yeah I reckon its the right thing to do, what I am debating is to I go for as many factory options as possible or do I go completely base model GTT. I recently bought a R34 coupe dealer brochure which has some amazing pictures in it plus a large catalogue of options that were available.

Trel, ill check out your thread I would love to know where you got those stickers? also I had a link to a place that sells Japanese service stickers (go in the engine bay and annotate the date of the last service etc) we can probably help each other out if we have similar goals.

[trel]

I don't have a thread unfortunately, a few theft attempts have made me a little paranoid posting anything online anymore.. What I can say is I'm doing the car in stages.

I started from the boot area making my way to the front of the car. First thing was pulling LHS rear tail light as it would fill with water, resealing, resealing seams around the boot lid area, cleaning out the spare wheel well, detailiing it etc. then finding things like clips, boot lid liner, new battery mount and tray etc. You get the idea.

Amayama, Partsouq and Yahoo Japan have attached themselves to my wallet some how.. ? Shaken sticker was bought here https://jdmtengoku.com/products/authentic-real-shaken-car-inspection-stickers-30-2-jdm-japan?variant=29223113392246

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32948896314.html

Got an r33 handbook as well 

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/o396685312

I have Vmware with a windows xp install specifically for FAST and I search via my Vin to make sure I find the right numbers. I don't know if it covers R34, never looked, but I'd be happy to look up your VIN if I have that pack, and help with part numbers. Do you have that link to service stickers?

Edited July 24, 2020 by trel

[ComTruise]

Awesome stuff, I will try to find that link for ya as I didn't save it. As far as theft attempts go that's a real shame, when I bought mine I found a stretched out coat hanger in the drivers side door..