Caliber's R32 GTR Project

[cortexx]

Agreed , that looks stunning , very inspiring

[frankiman]

it looks better than factory

[M13]

one of the best restoration thread on here.


Should be worth the drive when it gets back on the road! (Presumably 2013 spring/summer?)

[caliber676]

The job took about 60 hrs of work stretched out over 2 months or so, that was mostly stripping undercoating and sanding. It turned out fantastic but I am so happy it's over and done with.

Anyways I spent about 11 hrs laying down the rest of it. I started with the base coat in the engine bay.


Ended up laying down quite well and easily, that goat three coats with no fuss.


In the mean time my buddy and I were busy laying down the layers for the entire underbody, really happy with the 3m PPS system I had, spraying the gun upside down just made it a breeze!



Then we took a break and got some air and got the gun all cleaned and setup for the clear. The first coat was a bit hazy but as the second and third coats got put down it all came together amazing, very happy with the quality of the finish!

First coat.


And finished product in all it's shine! And here's what it looks like underneath

The best part of this paint is it looks black out of light

But is a solid gunmetal in light, now my car is entirely the same color!


And that's where I got to, gotta let the clear dry over night and then I'll be removing all the plastic and getting the waxoil laid over the paint so it resists damage (I know some is inevitable). Then I have to spray rustproofing down the frame rails and it'll be right onto bolting the subframes and suspension back up. Maybe it'll start looking like a car finally. I wanna thank my friend for helping, this definitely was a two man job.

[bellis_GTR]

So jealous. Really wish I got to go that far and remove subframe and all that. Next year lol

How long did this job end up taking total? What color are you painting? Getting the subframes done at all?

[caliber676]

So I finally started to paint the engine bay after a little hiatus and some research and prep to get the best result out of it. Here's the before shot all masked and prepped.


And after a shot of SPI epoxy primer, had the second coat on shortly after, I'll have underbody pics tomorrow.


Now to bed and ready for paint tomorrow! Updates shortly

[Kunzz]

Those wheels look amazing, great choice

[caliber676]

Just picked up these, can't wait to get these on! I'm just in the process of sanding and prepping for painting the engine bay and underbody, kinda been slacking lately

[caliber676]

Yeah I expect the ride to be like complete ass. The bushings are in and I'm sticking with them

[xcye]

I agree completely. I could not even bear those aluminum collar inserts.

Nismo bushings are a lot more suitable for street use.

Just so you know , the parts guy at the local nissan dealership races a car with solid subframe mounts , he wears earplugs , extra padding to cushion the hideous ride quality and he repairs cracks from the extra stress it exerts on other parts of the frame etc on an annual basis (and this doesnt see road use , race tracks tend to be much better quality surfaces that roads do).

It's a bad long term decision for a road car - I would go for new factory rubber bushings or at the most extreme an energy suspension bushing kit made from urethane .

http://energysuspension.com/http://energysuspension.com/http://energysuspension.com/

I ran a for escort rs2000 with solid mounts for hillclimbing and it was the most obnoxious , uncomfortable and jarring ride of any car i have been in , my wrists hurt from the vibrations transmitted up the column, my ass was numb after a 5 minute climb , and the car resonated so badley it blurred my vison lol - handled like a train on tracks though i must admit .

[cortexx]

Just so you know , the parts guy at the local nissan dealership races a car with solid subframe mounts , he wears earplugs , extra padding to cushion the hideous ride quality and he repairs cracks from the extra stress it exerts on other parts of the frame etc on an annual basis (and this doesnt see road use , race tracks tend to be much better quality surfaces that roads do).

It's a bad long term decision for a road car - I would go for new factory rubber bushings or at the most extreme an energy suspension bushing kit made from urethane .

http://energysuspension.com/http://energysuspension.com/http://energysuspension.com/

I ran a for escort rs2000 with solid mounts for hillclimbing and it was the most obnoxious , uncomfortable and jarring ride of any car i have been in , my wrists hurt from the vibrations transmitted up the column, my ass was numb after a 5 minute climb , and the car resonated so badley it blurred my vison lol - handled like a train on tracks though i must admit .

[caliber676]

Are you going to go with staggered sizing? I don't understand how people do this as the way I understood it is it wil really mess with the attessa. Anyways I'm liking the refresh on the suspension, just curious now as far as the wheel setup goes

I will still be running 18's in the front, just a different width and offset. Most likely a 18x10 +11. The attessa (to my understanding) functions from the feedback from the wheel speed sensors to determine each wheels rotation and engage the transfer case clutches to provide power transfer to the front. Having different sized diameter wheels I could see throwing the system out but not for different wheel width and offset as it doesnt have a sensor to measure anything other than the rotational speed aka diameter. I could be entirely wrong though lol.

And felix, I know you share a similar OCD having to have everything clean lol.

Oh and also bought some Driftworks Tension rods, dunno when the hell those will come in.

[felix yuen]

W T F.....you polished your transfer case...

some ppl are detailed like that dude ....!

[cschepp]

Are you going to go with staggered sizing? I don't understand how people do this as the way I understood it is it wil really mess with the attessa. Anyways I'm liking the refresh on the suspension, just curious now as far as the wheel setup goes

[caliber676]

Small update, just got the rear subframe painted as well as all the other suspension bits I wanted coated as well. Now I just gotta decide if I want the whole underbody just undercoated or actually painted


I also sold my LMGT4's and already pre ordered some SSR SP1's in Flat black. 18x11 -1 SL disc for the rears. Haven't placed the order for the fronts as i wanna do some more research into the width and offset I want.