is it worth it?

[st33z]

hey everyone, long time reader first time poster.

before i start ill just let you know I'm no mechanic or car wiz! trying to learn though 

so i bought my first car (1993 r33 gts) when i was 17 and it is still my current car to this day being the third owner since imported. as the laws in my state don't allow high powered vehicles on P plates i opted for the NA version as I've always loved skylines and i found one for a good deal. over these 4 years I've done a fair bit of work to the car because i wanted it to be the best version of itself, the main things being brand new turbo gearbox with short shifter, heavy duty clutch, full body kit, new wheels, bc racing coilovers, moulded fenders, interior work and much more, fair to say this car is in way better shape now than when i bought it. i spent a while trying to make this car easy to swap a new engine into when I'm on my full license but I've read forums saying "no point" or "just sell it and buy a turbo its not worth the effort" so i guess my question is do you guys think it can be a reliable enough  swap that's worth doing if done right or just f**k it off and buy a new car? 

ps. every time people look up my rego at car stores, mechanics etc. it comes back as a gtst so i think it was possibly imported as a gtst and has been swapped out prior to me owning it, as I've been told i also have all the gtst badges on my car. 

[Duncan]

It's not worth it.

But interesting point, it may have been de-turboed before you got it. The build plate in on the firewall will tell you, either post up a pic of it or let us know the main string of letters/numbers, something like ER33-0123456

[Murray_Calavera]

Depends on how much 'common sense' you want to apply. So you can start with the easy one, it will be cheaper to buy a turbo car rather then converting yours. 

So that leaves it to, how much do you love your current car? 

My swift is on it's, 3rd engine rebuild, 7th gearbox, etc... you get the idea. It does not make financial sense to do this but I love it and won't let it go. 

I'm sentimental about cars, my vote is convert it - but go full mental when you do. Eg when you drop the motor in, make sure its forged. When you upgrade the brakes, throw on some 6 pot fronts and 4 pot rears. Try to avoid using any stock turbo skyline parts and go to what the turbo guys are upgrading to and skip the middle step. 

[niZmO_Man]

Not worth it, but if you feel like burning money, rip engine out, install V8 or Barra, upgrade brakes, suspension, etc.

[ERO54N]

Hello Dylan,
I'm really curious about it possibly being a converted factory turbo. Keep us posted.

But back to the question, what if you treated it as if the motor hit 250,000km and the motor spun a bearing or something? Would you drop in another non turbo motor or would you swap in a RB25DET?

[The Bogan]

1 hour ago, ERO54N said:

Hello Dylan,
I'm really curious about it possibly being a converted factory turbo. Keep us posted.

But back to the question, what if you treated it as if the motor hit 250,000km and the motor spun a bearing or something? Would you drop in another non turbo motor or would you swap in a RB25DET?

Drop in wrecker RB25DE ($1700? ISH, http://www.brisbanemotorimports.com.au/engines/petrol-engines/nissan/r34-rb25de-neo ) , then sell GT to buy GTT.

It's not just the engine swap and parts required, it's rego, insurance, resale down the track, a stockish GT will be easy to sell to a P plater, a GT modified with a turbo removes the P plater option for sale, and, personally, I wouldn't buy it for fear of reliability issues and legalities.

They make a turbo model, buying a GTT would be the sensible choice.

Disclaimer: I turbo charged a Toyota 86, in saying that, there was no turbo option for rhe 86, the $10k that was used will never be recouped, and most insurance companies don't want to talk to me, and the ones that do want both my kidneys.

Meh.

It has been done though, alot of times, again, meh.