Contemplating overhaul or selling

[BNR32.GTR]

Hey guys.

For a long time I came to these boards from time to time as a fan of skylines with a hint of sadness due to the fact my GTR has been off the road for over a decade due to a long list of reasons but mostly lack of finances and motivation.

My GTR has sat under a shed on a farm for 7years. Collecting dust and having condensation drip off the shed roof a few times each year. Before you criticise I haven't been able to even get near the car for the last 4 years. Let's just say I was on a government funded holiday. Such is life.

I recently contemplated selling it as is. But after viewing current prices of GTR's I figure it may just be worth keeping... Are prices correct when I check eBay & gumtree they are listed for 70k+...?? 

Here's abit about it.

Feb 1994 BNR32 GTR. 70.000km purchased it at 65.000km. wether that's original or was wound back in japan who knows. Purchased when I was 19yo lost my licence for driving 'high performance' vehicle as I was on my P's. I spent about 10k on parts. Tomei poncams. Cast stainless dumps and headers. Tomei m7644 twins all of which was never installed as a mechanic who was doing the work stripped the hot siide of intake off before he went broke, packed up his factory and bailed leaving me to fight with the owner of the factory to get my car back. Luckily got it back after heated words with owner of the factory who believed he now owned what the mechanic left behind. but not running no turbos on the car, lots of stock parts missing like induction hoses and turbo manifold. missing every and all nuts bolts that were removed by the mechanic.

It had N1 turbos but rear had bad shaft play and I ended up selling them on gumtree.

All the Tomei equip I sold except the 3.5" exhaust which I plan to sell anyway. Also have a greddy plenum I want to sell both brand new.

It was originally white but was resprayed Bayside blue before it was imported.

I was contemplating a overhaul. Returning it back to all original, white respray. N1 turbos. Stock as a rock. Or as close as possible.

Will need 1 stock zorst manifold. Abs unit as it was removed before I got the car. Not sure what else I'll need to get ABS to work. All the rear boot interior trims. Stock rims 1450 I seen online. Respray 10k approx?? Various rubber bump stops for boot and bonnet 10bux each online..

I need other various stock engine bay trims like upper rad support should have a rubber strip running the length of it so I'm told. Missing the grill between headlights as the car had an oil cooler manufactured by ARE that was perfectly fabricated to fit in there. I see aftermarket fibreglass Chinese repop grills on eBay.. not OEM though will resort to one of I can't find elsewhere.

Need to source a stock intercooler as it has a 3" aftermarket job.

Has Recaro bucket seats so need original seats. Complete set front/rear seats on eBay 4k. Only want to buy front seats though..

It was sitting on R34 GTR rims but I sold them years ago.

Other then that Interior is immaculate. No bump above glovebox on dash which lots of GTRs have. 2.5k for refurbs N1 turbos.

The engine has not been spun in 10 years, what's people's thoughts on an engine sitting there that long?

Before you hoot and Holla about the state of my GTR, Im nowhere close to where the car is located and I've just been supplied pictures of the car. Brings a tear to my eye.

Has Brembo front brakes. Probably sell them as they aren't original as per factory. Think it's abit of a N1 mock up.

Anywho I'll leave it at that for now, I'll attach a couple sad pics. I have the headlights and complete front bar with lower lip in another shed.

Im going to give the car a lonnng soak to try lift the 7yrs of buildup and supply new pics in a couple weeks when I get up to see it. Will try get engine bay pics

Is it a gem in the rough? Opinions?

[MBS206]

It can definitely be fixed up, but it depends on how much you plan to spend, if you'll do the work yourself, and what your goal is with it.

 

Some thoughts:

You'll likely want to replace all rubbers, so all the hoses, fuel lines, including in the tank.

If engine has had manifolds off, chances are a valve at minimum has been left open, and at least one cylinder might be rusty.

Rings could be stuck, seals in the engine dried out.

 

Sitting on a farm, chances of rats/mice having eaten the wiring loom.

 

Wheel bearings likely seized/dry, shocks likely dead and need replacing.

Brake calipers could be seized.

 

If you're looking to pump it up to sell, and need to pay someone, I'd cut bait and run now.

 

If you want to bring it back and drive it, go nuts, but prepare to spend to do so, especially to do it right.

[GTSBoy]

Welcome.

Whether it's a gem in the rough or has a million hidden problems is something that we can't really tell. It does look pretty straight in those photos. What really matters is any rust that's hiding around windows or in the plenum/boot/sills, etc, as you can't ever really see that stuff without a thorough dig. And whether the underside has been abused.

And whether your plan to bring it back to near stock is a good/wise one or not depends on how deep your pockets are. With what you have listed as missing, and the ridiculous prices being asked (and handed over) for those parts these days, you could probably spend a good portion of the end value of the car (ie, that ~$70k number is not unreasonable) just to get most of the way there and still not be able to get hold of everything you need.

'Twere me, I would forgo the "restoration" vibe in favour of "anything that is missing and can be replaced with better than stock aftermarket stuff is going to get replaced with better than stock aftermarket stuff". Seats, turbos, etc etc. You'd be mental to spend money on putting stock format twin turbos back onto the car when you need to buy absolutely everything, including the manifolds. I'd be 6Boost/Sinco/Artec/whatever and a ~600HP single before I'd finished slapping myself for contemplating putting stockish twins on.

Seats same. Why spend $4k (and yes, it's effectively $4k just for fronts) for 35 year old orange dust generators with someone else's ball and arse crack sweat soaked in, when you could use the Recaros, or get nicer ones, or Brides?

Wheels, same. Stock wheels command stupid money for...a bloody 16x8. There aren't really even any decent tyres for 16" wheels any more.

And things like air-con? There's aftermarket gear available now that is 10x better than the old R32 era stuff. If you don't have the stock stuff, surely new has to be better.

A stock GTR is not that exciting to drive any more. Stock seats are not awesome. (There's nothing really wrong with them in terms of support, but better stuff is available and better seats make the drive so much better when you're really up it). Add power, add better suspension and brakes, add better seats, enjoy thrashing it the way that it is supposed to be thrashed.

[GTSBoy]

Oh, and I concur with Matt. Mechanically, the engine will be a mess. You are definitely looking at engine out and at least partial disassemble, new hoses and seals throughout at a very minimum, probably also some remedial work because it has been open to the elements. There's more thousands of $$ hiding there in parts alone than you might expect.

And Matt's warning about the wiring suffering at the hands of rats is spot on. You'd want to go over that with a fine toothed comb, might end up replacing parts of it. This will be 10x easier with the engine out.

What has been said about the engine and wiring goes equally for the gearbox and the ATTESA system. Bringing that stuff back from the dead is a work of dedication.

[BNR32.GTR]

Thanks fellas for your input, seems there's a lot more thought I need to put into this before I commit to anything.. 

I must admit you guys have spiked my anxiety about the possible condition of the car, I knew the engine would need to come out, but never thought about the ATTESA system or gearbox.

I appreciate your input guys

[Duncan]

Well, the good news is 70k+ is apparently very achievable these days. Even damaged/auction cars have been selling at over 50k for wreckers to fix and flip to unsuspecting buyers.

From there, to me it depends on whether you intend to keep it and what level of funds you have to put into it. If you are keeping it you get it running with whatever parts you can and swap back to stock over time (if that is your thing) as you come across parts at a less stupid price.

If you are looking to make money you should decide right now if you have 30-50k and a couple of years to put into it. Otherwise put up for sale exactly as it is and let someone in the trade do it, you can still get a surprising amount as is for a shell with a VIN (especially as it has a motor too)

[GTSBoy]

Highly damaged R32s being handed in below reserve at AU$25 at auction in Japan!