Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

As dumb as I think it is? I kinda want one though . . . but I understand parts are hard to come by even for you guys down under? (edit: just saw "parts dept" thread - looks like I should be able to get anything I need, as long as I wait for it)(oh and some Nissan dealers here are very good about ordering JDM parts as well) And how reliable are these things? And what about technical support - I've noticed there's not much info in English on the web for the FJ and especially the DR30, whether in the form of user forums or just info pages. In particular I'm interested in the '83 RS Turbo as that was the only model with Iron Mask front and the non-intercooled engine, if I am correct. I guess I could go with something other than the FJ, there's lots of L-series support here, but that kind of defeats the purpose as far as I'm concerned. It won't be a daily driver - well it would see pretty regular use in summer, but it for sure wouldn't be driven in winter.

Thinking thinking . . .

Oh and while I'm asking n00b questions how much power can a guy get out of the stock turbo, the earlier, bigger one that is?

And one more thing, where can you get decent suspension upgrades for them?

I don't know much about DR30's in particular but something that old with a turbo and new suspension parts etc is always going to be hard and a bit of an up hill battle.

Custom fabricated this custom that and import the rest all adds up a pretty expensive exercise.

Perhaps consider a SR20 swap (I'm assuming you have silvias up there) but either way that leaves panels, suspension, brakes etc.

Sounds like a project to me :)

Yeah . . . thought about the swap as well, don't think I'd do SR though, maybe a VG30ET :) (despite my user name) we didn't get the SR here originally but they're super easy to find, it's a popular swap for our S13s and S14s; but, the FJ is a large part of why I want the thing . . .

Does sound a bit of a project!

There is a LOT of knowledge around for FJ's, its just not really in Skyline circles. Theres a fair bit in Datsun bbs's, and lots of workshops down here have gotten decent power out of them... but that doesnt really help you.

SR20 swap.... why not get a Mack engine... it would sound the same

Well it does help, I can do all the necessary work myself (aside from bodywork and that any good bodyshop could do), as long as I can get at the information . . . is there a shop manual for these things floating around somewhere? I wouldn't want to do without that. Cheers for the tip on the Datsun guys.

And yeah I'm not a huge fan of the SR.

i was going to buy a hr31 till i saw the hr30 2door, to me it was just a "wtf is that" moment, i've only driven it twice since i start the conversion to rb20det and the amout of looks you get are great, also for a performance based car the DR30 has a maximum weight of 1250kg wet or with the HR30 1150kg.....

Sr are dirty letters in this here room....

Like adam said, there is alot of info the FJ, you just have to look outside the square really, and its there...Info on FJ20.com is useful

ratdat.com is one of my most favourite sites, its got some good info on engine conversions, brakes etc on the older cars. The Iron Mask is an awesome car for its time, may not have as many features as the newer skylines, but very purposeful and highly tunable. There's a lot of workshops here who used to specialise in datsun's back in the day and can work magic with these cars now, dunno bout canada, but in the US the datsun's had a small cult following. If I wanted to build a Nissan project car on the cheap they'd be my weapon of choice... either that or the Nissan Legrand or whatever its called... Fulltime AWD, light as a feather, SR20DE (easy swap to a DET) R31 like tail lights, made in 1989 so its 15 years old.

.....The Iron Mask is an awesome car for its time, may not have as many features as the newer skylines....

Hey my DR has more creature comforts than my Stagea; pneumatic seats, convex passenger mirror, cruise control.

But then again, it's not as friendly on passenger comfort when it starts to pull at 3500rpm all the way to 7500!

A DR30 could never be a dumb idea, Cool looks and one of the best 4s you will ever find.

Parts are not to bad and engine parts are cheap in the USA like Arias pistons etc.

Australia has an S14 thats on the verge of running its first 7 sec pass using an FJ20.

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

    • Seat of the pants assessment of the new intake: The car is way less "doughy" when hitting the loud pedal, especially off idle when stopped or in traffic, I did use a cheapo lazer thermal thingo to measure the temp around where the pod filter got its air, it was between 55 - 60°C, in saying this the car was shut off and not moving, so the OEM intake pipe was not supplying any fresh air to where the pod was when the car was at least moving A weird bonus was induction noise on the throttle in the cabin increased a bit,  I was worried that I was actually going to lose some of that induction noise I love so much, outside though, when I got the daughter to do a WOT drive by pass for me, the induction noise has increased alot when on the throttle, not quite ITB doort, but well up there I'm extremely happy with the results and have been exploring the country roads in the region  As for house mods: 1.New front fence is up and is awesome, it really upgraded how the joint looks from the street, and the added security is nice 2. Electricians have replace some interior lights, and with more lighting in the garage, a few new motion detecting lights out the front above the garage, front room, and at the front door, which I have already found heaps helpful coming and going, also now has fancy pants CCTV all round the house The only hold point for power though is the solar and batteries due to supply issues, although this will happen over the next few weeks 3. I have done a heap of landscaping out the front and I'm almost ready to do a new small retaining wall with some nice blocks to replace the brick and cemented in rocks around the raised garden beds cemented in river stone "was the fashion at the time" the house was built. I currently have a pallet of retaining wall blocks and 2 bulka bags of 20mm blue metal to replace the wood chip that is in the raised garden beds around the house 4. I now have 3 big raised garden beds for out the back to grow some vegetables, about 70cm high, 200cm long and 100cm wide 5. My 2 compost bins are already pretty full with brown, green and kitchen waste from the landscaping I'vedone so far, but they will probably take a few months to break down, so anything else that gets chopped, trimmed, and kitchen waste will just start filling the base of the raised garden beds to about 30cm before I start throwing 40cm of good compost, and stuff, for the vegetables to grow in, I'll need a few ton of compost and soil, but the local supplier can sent me bulka bags of the stuff Basically the logs, wood chips and a few strategically placed rocks for drainage, will give the beds some good organic materials down low to break down over time, and they will hold moisture during the warmer months to save the water in my big arse water tank if we don't get alot of rain So, all in all, the car and house mods are going well, and I'm really enjoying being retired, I sleep in too 0700 and slowly plod around inside until I feel like actually doing anything, and only work in the yard for as long as want, which has actually been alot over the last few weeks,  although when you look at it, it seems that not a huge amount of work has been done,  until I look at the before I started the work pics Happy days and good times indeed 
    • hahaha yeah. Plan is to get side skirts and probably just rear pods. But going to do them one-by-one. I've got a set that I really like from RHDJapen, but that one isn't shipped to AU. So need to find someone who can get it for me
    • Here's an idea, answer the questions I asked you as they are trying to work out WHY the LSD will be binding up in a straight line.
    • You haven't driven many modern cars then have you? Most of them have sfa steering feel with their stupid electric bullshit steering systems.
×
×
  • Create New...