Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I've owned this HR31 GTS-X Coupe for 15 years this October/November.
It has seen some changes over the years and a lot of wasted dollars spent improving and iterating as time has gone by.

Hopefully the current build will be close to what I want to achieve and it will be time to move onto other machines and enjoy what I hope will be this cars final form.
A run down of the iterations (that I have am aware of).

First...Why the name?
Through each iteration of this car there was always fun made of the intake noises of this R31 and a previous N/A R31 wagon I owned. It was compared to the asthmatic penguin from Toy Story.
So the name stuck as each generation the car gets even more ridiculous for intake & exhaust noises.
 

New Vehicle
Manufactured ~Sept 1987 (Black over Gray two tone - Auto)
Originally Sold at Nissan Osaka somewhere between 1987-1988 (had a sticker on the rear bumper, but could be a service thing)
Unknown history whilst in Japan (Not sure when it was converted to Manual)


First Australia Owner
Owned by a nephew of one of the Nispro owner(s)? 1997-2004
TBH I was naive and should have never purchased the car. Sadly, still common for unloved imports that sit for a long time and as all modified imports seem to be, what was promised was not what I purchased (the car needed a LOT of love).
Also the car smelt like ass and had some sort of fungal cream container under the seat when I got it.

GTS-X.JPG.c79837bb2d249044f1682bcdd79594ff.JPG

My Original Purchase
Originally had the RB20DET Redtop (no 6 was low on comp unbeknownst to me, ping=power right?) with an RB25 turbo, Wolf 3d V4 (strangely with V3 loom?), HKS cat back exhaust, some crap 16" CSA wheels and blown suspension. (at some point early on I put it into a gutter with the blown suspension, retreads and crap driving skills which took a month to find a new rear control arm).

I gave the car a major service (water pump, timing belt, fluids etc) and was charged a fortune by the workshop (again Naive at the time).
I put Pedders springs and shocks in as that was all that was really available off the shelf (huge mistake as Pedders put softer springs than factory in the rear).
I replaced the leaking cut down truck core (as was the style in the early 2000s apparently) with a Hybrid brand and installed a front / dump pipe.
I had the car tuned where I was told the previous owner tuned it and it made ~140rwkw and I drove it for ~3 months.

Eventually we had spark breakdown and massive coil pack issues, breathing issues (turbo seals and some bad plumbing of breathers) so ended up in having the compression checked, this is where we found #6 was ~90psi (hence the 140rwkw down from a supposed 200rwkw) and we decided to pull the engine and look for a Silvertop RB20DET from an R32 GTST.
I am pretty sure the care never made more than ~170 (found a dyno sheet among the old owners stuff) as the fuel pump and injectors were factory (again ping=power right?).

I cannot seem to find any pictures from this era :(


Wheezy Phase 1
The first phase of this car really being my build was when I found an auto RB20DET from a wrecker complete with ECU, loom, turbo etc.
We spent ~3 months fixing wiring as the Wolf installation was an abortion, so we decided to go factory ECU and just keep the turbo back exhaust and front mount as the only performance related modes tied to the new motor.

The car was amazing to drive and for about 18 months years the only changes were better shocks and springs (KYB Yellow fronts & Bilstein rears) and some custom Aurora springs from SA.
Along with removing the HICAS (RB30E PS pump used) and installing solid sub frame bushes from a Z31).

There were also some Black Racing RS-8 style wheels I purchased off a friend at the time (but only a set of 3), I ran these on the front (gold rattle can paint of course) and the CSA at the rear, it looked like dogshit so I found some Impul 16" 5 spoke wheels and rattle can painted the wheels gold (you will see a theme here) and also had a Blitz R-VIT? fitted and tuned by Dr. Drift it made ~160rwkw.

Did a drag day or two and loved driving the car as a daily whilst I finished Uni.

Again, not many photos I can find of the standard Silvertop look :(

RHS.thumb.JPG.078d4e3387f3600db16c826509550d36.JPG

 

Wheezy Phase 2
Things started to get serious when I decided since my university degree was complete I could afford to turn the car into a semi street/track car.
So I purchased an NA CA18 S13 and took the HR31 off the road.

Initially I thought ~6 months to paint, install suspension, brakes, turbo upgrade, injectors, fuel pump and ECU would be a reasonable time.
I was wrong. About 20 Months later I had the car finished.

I went through a few turbo, manifold and ECU combinations before settling on a full Trust TD06SL2-20G hot side with trust manifold, PowerFC, Blitz clutch, RX7 injectors, Bosch 023 fuel pump, R33GTST brakes, JIC Coilovers (second hand), bucket seats, rebuilt diff, Kakimoto stainless exahaust and an eBay cut and shut Front Facing Plenum.

I also purchased new from Simmons some custom fit FR17s in 3 piece as they were the only wheels I could get at the time which I liked the design of and were not drug money. (Ironically 2 weeks after ordering the Simmons I found brand new Volk GT-C's for the same price, but it was too late).

The car made ~270-280rwkw on the unopened RB20DET silver top (tuned by Trent @ Chequered) and was scary AF to drive for the sort of power street cars were generally making at the time (This was ~2007).
It got an R31 House Bonnet at one point along the way, new BC/Emotion Coilovers, cam gears, oil cooler, RB30 radiator (twin core) and E85 (EV14's & Walbro 460 pump).

13092008047.JPG.94fc42aa6ee2abc711080fbad4f1fef4.JPG

JarrodsR3173-1.JPG.6714c5f01d8c1e9ca52916b1533e67c3.JPG

The above shot is from the cars photo shoot for HPI Magazine.

IMGP3500.JPG.c58b36b071dc30720b0aebf6e1c7fa2e.JPG

FB_IMG_1449391173905_zpsdpys7q7h.JPG.4e589d25f6bf55f9e9fbc83ce8e31864.JPG

IMG_20161127_145303_zpsqzf4fl8j(1).thumb.JPG.54d25c1756d41faa36a8afe31fb63020.JPG

I did a number of hill climbs, drag days, track days, show and shines etc over the next 10 years.
The last thing I did before it's last track day was R33 steering rack fabrication/installation, braided brake lines and new slotted and dimpled rotors (dog bones & R33 GTR discs up front now) and some Kuhmo semis on much lighter single piece wheels.
In Oct 2017 I spun a bearing in it for the second time since the TD06 was fitted. (likely my negligence TBH).
The first time we slapped bearings in and sent it; that lasted 8 years. But this time the knock was bad so engine out.
 

DSC_0016_zpsskcqfc0n.JPG.dcea27540e67745cc418b7d307cbc1de.JPG

 

Wheezy Phase 3 (Current Build)
This is likely my 2nd to 3rd house deposit sunk into this particular vehicle. Quite depressing...

In December 2017 I purchased a S1 RB25DET from an R33 GTST Automatic (sighted running). Again full running gear on the engine etc.
I was going to put this engine in with the existing setup (although concerned the L2 was too small). But as I started stripping off accessories and checking the engine out I decided I didn't like the idea of a 25 year old engine going back in and breaking the next time I go to Sandown.

So now I'm building a forged RB25DET, have a brand new RB25DET gearbox from Nissan and a TD06SH-25G from Trust to fit onto my manifold. (Yes I could go GTX GenII and 6Boost, but I'm a die hard Trust turbo guy for now and didn't want to totally re-do the hot side just yet)
Oh and the Simmons are also gone!!!

The engine bay was painted (as it was never done in the phase 2 build) and 10+ years have passed since then.
The original panel beaters painted again and commented how well looked after the paint was (I think the car has driven ~15K since then).

I was hoping for the engine to be completed by the time I came back from Japan last week but unfortunately there has been a wait (good things come to those who wait right?).
So likely the engine will be back ~July and I can get the thing running and back on the road by October at earliest (which means December based on past history).

2fd3d8b29df23b99c47adb9ecfca8553.thumb.jpg.8e7270cbbc900c3cca1f4ae0b3f5e6f9.jpg

2589b6d0c325f96d6aa59fd82d7f9f40.thumb.jpg.71718f6a26f01cd88942df38422d5f11.jpg

 

Final Plans
The car needs Brembo's, Fixed back drivers seat, some new wheels from Japan (18's this time) and a more modern ECU to protect the engine and get more out of the built motor.
Along with the above, there are a heap of trims and seals I want to replace as aftermarket options become available as Genuine seals and rubbers are almost non existent for HR31s.
 

I've probably missed a heap of things, but that is what I can recall over the time I've owned it.
Hopefully I can provide some updates are I start to show some tangible progress.

- Wheezy

Edited by Wheezy
  • Like 4
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/477063-project-wheezy-coupe/
Share on other sites

Found some glorious photos of old.

Engine bay when I purchased the car....YUCK! (2004/2005?)

EngineBay.jpg.750a191953c3912ccc7819be2a2dec38.jpgboom.jpg.23a491d4a5c88dea504660712349a95c.jpg

First mods (front lip / cut and polished) 2004/2005

DSCN0637.jpg.4863349f9fa46d9f56adc4e98b932083.jpg

Sick rims:

Gold_Rims.jpg.779cdc95d0ca35818de9c36b0c7a2ae8.jpg

Factory looks, possibly my favorite version of this car (minus red hoses). 2005/2006

Silvertop_Finished.jpg.41b4f64020f20362403b30d04f41d2f6.jpg

Lip broken and repaired / colour coded too! (07 i think)

Dscf0073.thumb.jpg.87eb980c840eb9744705ecdd9341f2fc.jpg

SAU Skids!!! (somewhere between 08-2010)

IMGP3551.jpg.81a82bc5920e8a05d7655025a80daa0b.jpg

Can actually see the flake in the paint here :)

336166284__DSC1968(1).thumb.jpg.024634d6d8e82c51d6e1a96af41e37e2.jpg

Credit to AC Split below!

IMG_0094.thumb.JPG.720a46bd7c0bb5facd90862caed7c228.JPG

CSA display at Historic PI (2012)

DSC_0196.thumb.JPG.d6e89997800a01ecafa81f271d32d3e6.JPG

  • Like 1
  • 3 weeks later...

Not much to update...
A few weeks ago I picked up the engine covers from being re painted.

No change from what I previously had, just freshening them up as the cam covers were damaged over the years and timing covers were the original paint.

Engine build I'm told officially starts after this weekend.
Probably going down there to lock in some of the remaining details around the cylinder head work & valve train.

Hopefully get started in the next week or two on tidying up the body loom and get everything back in the engine bay that needs to go back in before the engine does.

IMG_20190520_125743.jpgIMG_20190520_125747.jpg

  • Like 1

Visited my engine builder on the weekend to finalise the valve train specs.

 

Discussed the head studs and head gasket I supplied and decided to go ARP2000 series studs and use a different thicknesses gasket.

 

Have a for sale thread up if anyone is interested.

 

There's also a new GReddy oil pump for sale that I've had for a year or two sitting in a box.

Went Nitto oil pump instead.

 

 

  • 2 months later...

Still no engine.
Bottom end is almost assembled I'm told.

Head is back from being ported, has had the valve seats cut for 1mm oversize valves.
Just needs some cleanup of the oil drains and a skim.

Waiting on a new set of genuine lifters from Nissan, drug money TBH but I'm in too deep now anyway.

Going LS1 alternator whilst I'm shopping for bits to bolt back on the long motor and if the tax man is good to me a new set of RB26 throttle bodies from Nissan for the 26 intake I have going on.

Fingers crossed I make 2019 for a run in tune at the very least.

  • 1 month later...

Engine progress is slow...

Waiting on the crank to be balanced then the bottom end can be assembled.

 

Valve seats are cut (verified myself today)

Cams ended up hitting the head so needs some more machining (so much for drop ins).

Some small tidying up on the oil drain castings at the back of the head, skim the head then final assembly.

 

I plan to drop  the motor back in the engine bay over xmas holidays.
Hope to have it running by Aus day long weekend.

IMG_20191005_115353.jpg

IMG_20191005_115410.jpg

IMG_20191005_113041.jpg

IMG_20191005_113050.jpg

IMG_20191005_113658.jpg

IMG_20191005_113703.jpg

  • 2 weeks later...

Crank balanced and grub screwed. Hoping the bottom end is together this week.
IMG_20191012_104625.thumb.jpg.7536b33c07c7c5512a4ad3cd8efdbed9.jpg

 

New GTR throttles arriving tomorrow.ae9c6bace6dea68710e21b921639126d.jpg.a189e681ee8171ce15d36d0d09152854.jpg


Most of the big purchases are done now.
Just a new tail shaft yoke for the 25 box and some oil lines left really.

Worked out if I spend every second weekend from when the engine gets back (ideally by mid Nov at latest) I will have it running and driving ~Aus Day in Jan. Fingers crossed.

  • 2 weeks later...

Bottom end is together. High comp pistons sit above the deck so gonna have to exchange the head gasket for a thicker one. DOH!

ARP crank bolt is walkabout, so need to see if it actually turned up with the rest of the stuff.

 

Head will be modified to clear the cams next week; and the week after the long motor should be assembled and ready for block to be painted; final clean, and assembly.

MVIMG_20191026_081112.jpg

IMG_20191026_081118.jpg

IMG_20191026_081114.jpg

  • Like 1
  • 1 month later...
2 hours ago, Chris Rogers said:

Pretty, I started on mine about a week ago. fellow in Gympie is handling the build for me. 3lt and a fancy automatic with some motec gear for good measure.

Sounds like it will be spastic fast with a 30. What are your plans for the squat with all that torque?

as for the rear geometry, nada, rear end, that's another matter. Working out how to ditch the stub axles and flip the CVs to the correct sides. I'm setting up traction control so the thing behaves and doesnt try to swap ends or snap things.  Changed the throttle tos DBW (ex V35) so traction should not be an issue.  Auto is being built by a 4wd guy in brisbane. (JD Transmissions in Cleveland ) He's known for putting silly engines in front of JATCO 4spds so my job is simple for him. I decided to paddle shift it as well. All in period correct form as I do.

  • Like 1
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

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, apparently they do fit, however this wont be a problem if not because the car will be stationary while i do the suspension work. I was just going to use the 16's to roll the old girl around if I needed to. I just need to get the E90 back on the road first. Yes! I'm a believer! 🙌 So, I contacted them because the site kinda sucks and I was really confused about what I'd need. They put together a package for me and because I was spraying all the seat surfaces and not doing spot fixes I decided not to send them a headrest to colour match, I just used their colour on file (and it was spot on).  I got some heavy duty cleaner, 1L of colour, a small bottle of dye hardener and a small bottle of the dye top coat. I also got a spray gun as I needed a larger nozzle than the gun I had and it was only $40 extra. From memory the total was ~$450 ish. Its not cheap but the result is awesome. They did add repair bits and pieces to the quote originally and the cost came down significantly when I said I didn't need any repair products. I did it over a weekend. The only issues I had were my own; I forgot to mix the hardener into the dye two coats but I had enough dye for 2 more coats with the hardener. I also just used up all the dye because why not and i rushed the last coat which gave me some runs. Thankfully the runs are under the headrests. The gun pattern wasn't great, very round and would have been better if it was a line. It made it a little tricky to get consistent coverage and I think having done the extra coats probably helped conceal any coverage issues. I contacted them again a few months later so I could get our X5 done (who the f**k thought white leather was a good idea for a family car?!) and they said they had some training to do in Sydney and I could get a reduced rate on the leather fix in the X5 if I let them demo their product on our car. So I agreed. When I took Bec in the E39 to pick it up, I showed them the job I'd done in my car and they were all (students included) really impressed. Note that they said the runs I created could be fixed easily at the time with a brush or an air compressor gun. So, now with the two cars done I can absolutely recommend Colourlock.  I'll take pics of both interiors and create a new thread.
    • Power is fed to the ECU when the ignition switch is switched to IGN, at terminal 58. That same wire also connects to the ECCS relay to provide both the coil power and the contact side. When the ECU sees power at 58 it switches 16 to earth, which pulls the ECCS relay on, which feeds main power into the ECU and also to a bunch of other things. None of this is directly involved in the fuel pump - it just has to happen first. The ECU will pull terminal 18 to earth when it wants the fuel pump to run. This allows the fuel pump relay to pull in, which switches power on into the rest of the fuel pump control equipment. The fuel pump control regulator is controlled from terminal 104 on the ECU and is switched high or low depending on whether the ECU thinks the pump needs to run high or low. (I don't know which way around that is, and it really doesn't matter right now). The fuel pump control reg is really just a resistor that controls how the power through the pump goes to earth. Either straight to earth, or via the resistor. This part doesn't matter much to us today. The power to the fuel pump relay comes from one of the switched wires from the IGN switch and fusebox that is not shown off to the left of this page. That power runs the fuel pump relay coil and a number of other engine peripherals. Those peripherals don't really matter. All that matters is that there should be power available at the relay when the key is in the right position. At least - I think it's switched. If it's not switched, then power will be there all the time. Either way, if you don't have power there when you need it (ie, key on) then it won't work. The input-output switching side of the relay gains its power from a line similar (but not the same as) the one that feeds the ECU. SO I presume that is switched. Again, if there is not power there when you need it, then you have to look upstream. And... the upshot of all that? There is no "ground" at the fuel pump relay. Where you say: and say that pin 1 Black/Pink is ground, that is not true. The ECU trigger is AF73, is black/pink, and is the "ground". When the ECU says it is. The Blue/White wire is the "constant" 12V to power the relay's coil. And when I say "constant", I mean it may well only be on when the key is on. As I said above. So, when the ECU says not to be running the pump (which is any time after about 3s of switching on, with no crank signal or engine speed yet), then you should see 12V at both 1 and 2. Because the 12V will be all the way up to the ECU terminal 18, waiting to be switched to ground. When the ECU switches the fuel pump on, then AF73 should go to ~0V, having been switched to ground and the voltage drop now occurring over the relay coil. 3 & 5 are easy. 5 is the other "constant" 12V, that may or may not be constant but will very much want to be there when the key is on. Same as above. 3 goes to the pump. There should never be 12V visible at 3 unless the relay is pulled in. As to where the immobiliser might have been spliced into all this.... It will either have to be on wire AF70 or AF71, whichever is most accessible near the alarm. Given that all those wires run from the engine bay fusebox or the ECU, via the driver's area to the rear of the car, it could really be either. AF70 will be the same colour from the appropriate fuse all the way to the pump. If it has been cut and is dangling, you should be able to see that  in that area somewhere. Same with AF71.   You really should be able to force the pump to run. Just jump 12V onto AF72 and it should go. That will prove that the pump itself is willing to go along with you when you sort out the upstream. You really should be able to force the fuel pump relay on. Just short AF73 to earth when the key is on. If the pump runs, then the relay is fine, and all the power up to both inputs on the relay is fine. If it doesn't run (and given that you checked the relay itself actually works) then one or both of AF70 and AF71 are not bringing power to the game.
    • @PranK can you elaborate further on the Colorlock Dye? The website has a lot of options. I'm sure you've done all the research. I have old genuine leather seats that I have bought various refurbing creams and such, but never a dye. Any info on how long it lasts? Does it wash out? Is it a hassle? What product do I actually need? Am I just buying this kit and following the steps the page advises or something else? https://www.colourlockaustralia.com.au/colourlock-leather-repair-kit-dye.html
    • These going to fit over the big brakes? I'd be reeeeeeeeaaaall hesitant to believe so.
    • The leather work properly stunned me. Again, I am thankful that the leather was in such good condition. I'm not sure what the indent is at the top of the passenger seat. Like somebody was sitting in it with a golf ball between their shoulders. The wheels are more grey than silver now and missing a lot of gloss.  Here's one with nice silver wheels.
×
×
  • Create New...