Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi guys im looking at buying a Skyline For my first car i want a R31 about but i want the TURBO got any advice on how to tell if the R31 is the RB20DET and the RB20DE im not that great when it comes to cars all i like to do is drive em oh and is there much of a power difference between the na and the turbo? i found a R31 1988 silhouette for Aus$2400 not sure what engine yet :P any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thx Brendan

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/
Share on other sites

have you looked into insurance yet? for a 1st car, a turbo might not be the best option..

i don't think any australian car came with the 2L Turbo, just the 3L RB30E engine, for a turbo, you will need to find one that has been converted, or an import.. or do it yourself.. either way would expect insurance to be a killer

i am pretty sure the RB20DET have "ceramic turbo" written on the cross pipe above the engine..

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/#findComment-1064651
Share on other sites

Hi guys im looking at buying a Skyline For my first car i want a R31 about but i want the TURBO got any advice on how to tell if the R31 is the RB20DET and the RB20DE im not that great when it comes to cars all i like to do is drive em oh and is there much of a power difference between the na and the turbo? i found a R31 1988 silhouette for Aus$2400 not sure what engine yet :P any help will be greatly appreciated.

Silhouette is the Australian built model and will have the RB30 engine unless it's been 'converted' to turbo which is unlikely for those sort of $$$

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/#findComment-1064695
Share on other sites

check out justjap for frontcuts, i know they had one a couple of weeks ago (it was a redtop)..

you wouldn't bother fitting a 2L non turbo, it would be gutless

your other option could be to drop a RB25DET into it :(

do a search here, or on r31 forums.. i am sure there is plenty of stuff out there

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/#findComment-1064851
Share on other sites

Even if you could do most of the work yourself a conversion wouldn't be the cheapest way to get a turbo. Motor, G/Box, ECU wiring, exhaust, brake upgrade, engineer's certification plus whatever labour etc $2.6K won't get you anywhere near it. You might manage to pick up a tidyish import turbo for $5K I've seen a few auto Passages (4door pillarless) go for that money. Manuals and coupes are harder to find for that money. A very tidy manual coupe with a few mods and some nice wheels probably won't leave much change of $10K

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/#findComment-1064858
Share on other sites

Your cousin should check out the car before you lay out any $$$...particularly the diff as they are prone to be very noisy/whiney (a known problem). Silhouette model should also have an LSD. R31's are solid, reliable cars when well maintained, but it's still 15+ years old and should be throughly checked.

[this is the part you won't like] AFAIC since this is your first car, you should get some experience with it in its standard (ie NA) form before going down the turbo path, not to mention the fact that getting insurance is going to be difficult and expensive.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/#findComment-1064864
Share on other sites

Like it has been said,

The oz released R31 all came with an RB30E, about 114KW

The import HR31's came in RB20 Turbo and non turbo variants. The DET pushes out about 140KW+, while then N/A only does somewhere between 100KW - 110KW.

5K will probably get you an N/A import R31, coupe or sedan, but these are gutless as hell, no top end and no torque. You'd better off buying an N/A local R31, and save up money and mod that, or maybe do a VLT setup yourself.

You will be hard pressed to find a turbocharged import or local for 5K. Either fork out the cash for one already setup, or buy a stocko and DIY.

The other thing to think about is how you are going to maintain it? While 5K might get you an import, it will be barely there on the mechanical side, even still if you buy something else, theres rego and insurance to think about also, not to mention fuel costs.

Visit www.r31skylineclub.com you will find a wealth of information on the forums, just use the search function :( hope that helps

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/#findComment-1064927
Share on other sites

If it's your first car, then the NA RB30 is fine.

I'm suprised that predator was the first person to mention turbocharging the RB30.

If you've found a Silhouette for that price, grab it while you can.

Drive it around for a while, familiarise yourself with the car, and then chuck a turbo on it

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/#findComment-1065068
Share on other sites

spend a couple of hundred bucks on an advanced driving course, and just get use to the car..

better to have some money tucked away in case you find something wrong with the car...

then later on down the track look at upgrading etc..

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/54361-r31-help-1st-car/#findComment-1065092
Share on other sites

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

    • So stock ECU does not like anything above 10 psi?  That Nistune one is just for "try" if it will be any different, I know it need to be tune for that. I know but YOU may know about these problem but i/we dont. They few little Skylines here let alone people who know anything about tham so that is why iam asking here  
    • So now we have a radiator with no attachments whatsoever. It lifts up with a particularly tight spot between the drivers side air box mount and the lower radiator outlet, but if you've got this far you will sort that too. This is the lower mounts with the rad out so you can see where the rubber bushes go, it is a straight shot upwards Done! Assembly is the reverse of disassembly, with blood less likely to be shed.
    • Right, onto the second last trick. The Air Con condenser is mounted to the front of the radiator and stays in the car when the radiator is removed. There are 2x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the condenser to the radiator, remove those The bottom of the condenser is attached to the radiator with clips. You need to lift the condenser out of those clips and clear (up, then forward). f**ked if  could work out how to do that last bit with the front bumper on. I hope you can, and you share the trick.  Bumper removal probably deserves its own thread one day once I've recovered the will to live, but basically you need to remove the wheels, front inner guard liners (clips and 10mm headed bolts), the self tapper between the guard and the bumper at the rearmost point of the bumper (same as an R32 that bit), any remaining clips at the top/front of the grill, an absolute bastard design with a plate that holds the top of the bumper above the headlight each side (only 1 bolt which is tricky to get to, but the plate catches 2 places on the bumper and must be removed....carefully!) and push clips between the bumper and guard under the headlight. If you've done all that you will be faced with wiring for the fog lights on both sides and in ADM Q50 RS at least, 4 nasty tight plugs on the driver's side for the ADAS stuff. So, the clips at the bottom look like this on drivers side (looking from the front) And on the passenger side (also from the front), you can see this one is already out Clearance on both of these are super tight; the condenser needs to move up but the upper rad support mount prevents that, and the radiator can't move down far because it is (rubber) mounted. Once you achieve the impossible and drop the condenser off those mounts so it does not stop the rad moving, you are good to go
    • OK, next the shroud needs to come off and there are a couple of tricks. Firstly, there is a loom from near the passenger side headlight to the fans, coolant temp sensor etc and there is no plug to undo.  In my case I was OK to leave the shroud on top of the engine so I just undid the passenger side fan plug and about 10 of the clips which gave enough free wire to put it aside. The fan plugs were super tight, the trick I used was a small falt screwdriver to push down on the release tab, then a larger flat screwdriver to lever the plug out of the fan unit....be careful with how much force you apply! If you need to remove the shroud altogether for some reason you will have to deal with all the plugs (tight) and clips (brittle)....good luck. I removed all of the clips and replaced them with cable ties that I will just cut next time. Also, in the Red Sport / 400R at least, the intake heat exchanger reservoir hose is bolted to the shroud in 2 places with 10mm headed bolts; so remove them (the hose stays in the car; no need to undo it at the t fittings down at the radiator lower mount. Once you've dealt with the HX hose and the wiring loom, there are 3x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the shroud to the radiator; remove those.   The shroud then lifts out of the bottom mounts where it sits on the radiator, up and onto the engine out of the way. Simples
    • Ok, disregard my “rate them” comment, sorry for my unrealistic input
×
×
  • Create New...