The Build From Hell

[BRN32]

After buying my p.o.s. 92 a year and a half ago I am finally able to start working on it. Unfortunately fate would start to throw me curve balls and some legal issue ate up the cash I planned to put in her.

I picked it up fairly cheap knowing it needed some body work and some parts were swapped over from a GTS (hood and seats). The right rear quarter was starting to rot and generally needed some tlc.
When I first got her:


After sitting in a damp garage from December 09 until three weeks ago the cancer grew

So I started getting parts together from Nissan and members of the forum. Parts list so far is: new quarter, rocker, grill clips, vented fpr hood (replaces GTS), carbon fibre grill (didn't have one), R*SR adjustable struts, stock front strut brace, Ikeya rear camber arms, front rebar(missing original), stock intercooler (original has bottom three rows mashed) and hood hinges(more on that later).
To kill time while getting parts together I figured, "might as well do a comp test" so my neighbour and I fire it up and go for a cruise around the block to warm it up. Just as I shift to third at about 60-70kph I remembered the hard way that the GTS hood didn't always latch properly as it folded it's self over the roof. (Yay first the rust now the hood
After getting the hood "straight"

To keep my self occupied while hunting for parts I started project "DOT" and personalized my head lights a little.
Project "DOT" plugs being made for vac-forming.

Light housing, stripped the chrome and painted black.

My sheet metal arrived Tuesday so I started the tear down, now I'm really starting to think "somebody" hates me, lol, the previous owner didn't take any care in jacking the car and mashed the rocker/floor seams and pushed the floor pan up 2-3" in the front passenger foot well. Strike three, I'm almost ready to do a "Cobain" at this point!
Damage shots


What ever, life goes on, I figure out how to get it straight again.
Now for the final blow that has me thinking that hell is on earth and I'm the sole occupant. I need to pull the windows out to do a proper job of replacing the quarter, not a big deal. Then it starts going down faster than the Titanic. The friggin nut on the wiper motor holding the seal to the glass is corroded to s**t. I cleaned it up with a dremel so a wrench would fit, hit it with penetrating oil, then let it sit overnight. Went out today spayed more lube, got the socket on, and it turns! And turns! And turns....stripped. I find a screw driver and get under the nut and start again, hey it's working! It's almost off! Disaster strikes again, wrench slips, I hit against the screwdriver and...


So that's the story for now, hopefully it's all aces from here out and the progress updates will be happy times

[ColinR33]

Damn! That's gotta be frustrating, hope it starts going better for you. I can empathize with the jack points - mine is much the same. As for the rest, all I can say is good luck!

[Eat_Sleep_Shift]

I did the exact same thing to a friends window when i tried taking the wiper out, almost had it.............and boom! I hope everything goes smoother for you on the rest of the car! the black housing for the headlights looks good! i have always liked that look.

[amnash]

lol ya mine was coroded really bad also, the BEST way to get it out is to mask off the surrounding window, then take a course file and just work on one side of the nut carefully untill you can see the threads. then you take vicegrips and grab on it the same way you would with regular wrench and turn the nut. it will bend open and fall off.

i was trying other stuff, but after a couple close calls with the glass i had a brain storm :P ^safest way imo

[future_R34]

Lol, there's a place in car heaven for all of us when the time comes!

[Bruizer]

Have you thought about parting out/scrapping the rest and buying a cleaner car? It's a lot of work to get this baby back to normal. There's many skylines available still today. You'd probably get your money back by parting out, the you can buy a nicer one, most likely for less than the labour and repair costs this one would run you. Just an opinion.

[Oakville]

I agree with Bruizer on this. I see youve already bought new body parts but there are newer cleaner shells rolling around for moderate prices

[amnash]

i agree, even the rear window show you can see the rust along the bottom. ALOT of work

[archaeic_bloke]

Brutal ownership so far man, we feel for ya!

Everyone I know who removes the rear wiper assembly has the same corroded nut... our solution was typically to use a dremmel cut-off disc and just chop the whole thing off.. lol

in pleace that you won't replace the metal and just want to stop the rust spreading, I strongly advise you look into a paint callec "POR-15" I've used it a whole bunch under my chassis for rust prevention.. it dries to a rock hard finish and NEVER rusts again... promise! lol

[DreadedFist]

Part out and pick up a clean shell. Car looks about ready for the crusher, man. Rust under the window and ****? Not worth the headache and heartache that will be sure to continue to flow.

[JosiahP]

i agree with everyone on here man, you should part out and look for a cleaner shell. most likly itll save you money in the long run

[BRN32]

Thanks for the comments, all are welcome and appreciated!

I pulled the remains of the rear window and the rust around it was expected for a car of this age, especially with the trim/seal that the newer cars use. These do have a tendency to trap moisture and crap. It's kind of hit and miss, seen newer cars look worse and older cars look better!
It will clean up good as it's all surface rust, no harsh pitting. There is a product I'm going to use on all the rust surfaces that penetrates the metal and will stop the rust before I put the new panels on and prime.
The underside off the chassis and cross members will be seeing a lot of the POR-15 FOR SURE and will eventually spray the whole under carriage with Rhino Guard or similar product.
If logistics and timing of their appearance wasn't an issue I would have bought a cleaner shell, but things never work out. I'll keep looking tho.
The drivers side is clean of rust on the rocker, quarter, and floor, except for the usual bit of bit of surface rust where normal wear tear, though the seam is some what pounded in this area to but not as extensive.
Will update more this weekend as I remove the quarter window and start cutting the panels off.

[MarusGTR]

Oh man, your story is all my worst GTR nighmares rolled into one... Now I regret even more getting coaxed into trying to put a jackstand under the subframe It caved in a bit and I'm now scared the car's going to get cancer, among other things I'm worried about.

I really hope there's some sunshine in for you in the long run!

[Bruizer]

Doesn't matter how new or old a skyline is, the frame rails can cave in if you don't jack at the 2 safety points. I've seen that on 5 GTRs and 1 GTS which is everyone of them I worked on.

Anyways, I guess I'd keep the car too if I paid less than $4000. Then I'd part it out for a bit of money back unless that engine and drivetrain is super minty. Have you done any testing on the engine?

[Nismo_line]

i know he said it burns oil like a bitch lol