Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Project Mid-life Crisis ...

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Project Mid-life Crisis ...

    I've been a lurker here for a while and figured it was time to start a build thread. My goal is a reliable 400 WHP with a sorted suspension, full interior, working A/C, decent stereo.

    A little background: I'm in my early 40's, married with 3 year old. I've had fixed-up Japanese cars and bikes since I was 18 when my first ride was a 78 Celica GT. I won't bore you with what I've driven/ridden over the years but I did have a mint, modified Z31 Turbo for around 8 years that I used to drag occasionally and was actually looking for another one when I decided to go right to the top of the Nissan food chain and buy an R32 GTR instead

    Enter Summer of 2012:

    I found a nice clean local 1991 with around 120k on the ODO. The seller produced folders full of documentation including recent reciept for all the maintenance items plus some performed at PUR Auto (before they closed). We hashed out a deal and I think we both came away happy.

    This is what it first looked like. I could see the potential and that it just needed some TLC (and a lot of decals removed!)



    Under the hood was pretty dirty and a bunch of old and redundant wiring was discovered. I found a Cibie SS headlight harness and some old HID's that were a little sketchy as well. Vacuum lines were all over the place and I think my baby just needed a good clean.



    The fist mods I decided on were an oil filter relocation (own design) and an HKS hard pipe set. So, a couple of days with wire clippers, a hair dryer, some Spray Nine, box of rags and some elbow grease and this is what it ended up looking like:




    This is pretty much how it stayed for the first summer of driving while I got used to the car, learned what mods it actually came with because the previous owner didn't really seem to know all that much about turbo-charged Japanese cars haha. More to follow ...
    Last edited by AL91GTR; 04-17-2014, 02:08 PM.
    Pistol packin Monkey drinkin no money bum

  • #2
    So after enjoying the car for a summer and spending evenings poking around under the hood and chassis I discovered what the car actually came with:

    HKS Intakes
    HKS Turbo outlets
    No-name Aftermarket mild steel front pipe
    HKS 'Legal' cat-back system
    HKS EVC II controller and HKS Turbo timer
    Mine's tuned ECU
    Nismo RS 590 clutch
    Unknown brand master cylinder brace
    Ohlins height adjustable PCV coilovers
    Front (GAB) and Rear (Cusco) strut braces
    N1 Headlights
    Ikon Masaru 18 x 8.5" wheels
    Momo steering wheel, Nismo old school blue face boost gauge (yay), Defi Link and Oil pressure gauge
    A couple other bits and pieces.

    I've restored quite a bit of the suspension and essential bits and pieces under the car recently and am kitting parts together for my turbo/fuel/computer upgrade and plan to post updates here as it happens.
    Pistol packin Monkey drinkin no money bum

    Comment


    • #3
      Great looking car! Nice job cleaning it up. I'm even more happy to see I'm not the oldest guy on here!

      Comment


      • #4
        could you imagine if it was a legit mines gtr and the guy didnt even know what he had... 0__0
        - Adam

        :
        http://forums.gtrcanada.com/gts-project-cars/44846-project-nashzilla-r32-gt-t-neo.html

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks guys. Haha - previous owner did the decal package but I did leave the long side stripes ...

          Now to clean up that interior. Like most old JDM cars they seem to have gauges and controllers just kind of stuck all over the place in cups, with velcro and barckets on the bottom of the dash, etc... First was to take the Defi controller and IPod dock off the side of the center dash trim and move into the glove box



          Next, the Turbo timer and EVC II removed from under the dash where I kept hitting with my knee and custom mounted into the lower dash trim with structural foam, black RTV and they fit like factory ...



          The center console trim was broken when I got the car too so a quick call to Daryl at Right Drive and a new one arrived - mint!. I replaced a few bulbs here and there and rotated the crooked Nismo boost gauge so it was straight.

          Oil Pressure gauge had been mounted in a cup just stuck on the right side of the dash so it went to the other side of the lower dash panel. I'm still not sure if I like it here or not and may replace this with something else and move the OP to an a-pillar pod. I like the 90's-era look of those things.
          Pistol packin Monkey drinkin no money bum

          Comment


          • #6
            Huh....looks like I am not the only 40ish dude with a 4 year old. Looks good man...diggin rthe color...kinda rare.


            Jon.
            Why don't you come over to MySpace and Twitter my Yahoo untill I Google all over your Facebook.

            1990 GTR Drag Special T88H34D 11.24 @ 127.55mph at only 1.2bar...... officially. SOLD

            Comment


            • #7
              I've had this recurring wheel shake from 90 - 120 km/h that I couldn't seem to stop. I had it to the Nissan dealer and the tech spent an hour with it on a hoist looking for anything loose, worn or that might cause the issue. I had the front tires re-balanced with their roadforce machine but still no good. Tires are basically brand new and no issues with the wheels. The only thing the tech found was that the driver's side of the steering rack showed some signs of wear and was a bit sloppy.

              So, I spent the winter under the car changing and performing maintenance on a few things:

              First, the rack. Removed and rebuilt at John Stewart Power Brake (Thanks Matthias for the tip!): BTW, re/re this thing is a biatch. Much easier to re-install for some reason?

              Of course, new bushings - Thanks Daryl at Right Drive:

              Under the car, I noticed this ... doesn't look quite right to me so another quick call to Daryl at Right Drive for all four new CV Boots for the front axles:


              I did both sides but for the driver's side, I split the inner CV boot and just left the stub in the front diff. It was pretty easy and saved any hassles with the C-clips that I read so much about:

              Last edited by AL91GTR; 04-07-2014, 04:38 PM.
              Pistol packin Monkey drinkin no money bum

              Comment


              • #8
                Suspension:
                I found a few things that I wasn't really happy with so I grabbed new poly sway bar bushings front and rear and new rear poly sway bar links. I made my own front sway bar end link. Picked up 4 new front ball joints and 2 new Hicas joints (Yes, still have working Hicas - for now). I decided to take out my coilovers, clean, re-lube and re-install since they rode so nice for the last couple of years. I grabbed a great deal for some rear control arm poly bushings from Frankiman and popped those in while I was at it.


                Some bits ready to go:

                I cut the first one out, but then thought - Why?

                Old bushings out with balljoint press:


                All new and back in:

                I soaked everything down the day before with some Release-All or PB Blaster and had my torch handy if necessary but really only used it on the Hicas ball joints. Everything else came out quite easily.
                Like everybody else, I figured I should take off that plastic dirt trap around the gas filler neck an dgot about half a pound of crap out of it ...

                After:


                I still have a bunch of clean up to do in around the wheel arches and stuff but it's getting close.
                Last edited by AL91GTR; 09-03-2015, 04:15 PM.
                Pistol packin Monkey drinkin no money bum

                Comment


                • #9
                  I just replaced all my bushings with ES polyurethane ones. Im excited to see what the ride is like (once it ever gets going again)
                  Jordie Lewis
                  1993 Skyline Type M

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    First thing I noticed after changing out bushings was no more wheel hop under hard acceleration.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I was contemplating this color for my GTR and we are practically neighbors(in the size of this forum sort of scale, I'm in vineland). Could be twins :P

                      edit: Reason i was contemplating this color(car currently has 2 coats of black) is when i was digging around under the carpet i discovered a portion of my car that was this color. Would be cool to go back to its original form =]

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        naw, you wouldn't like this colour haha.
                        Pistol packin Monkey drinkin no money bum

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Looking for Power:

                          In preparation, I figured an oil cooler was a good idea. I Grabbed this thermostatic GReddy kit from Adam at Feast for a good deal. There is no way it was going to fit inside the driver's side front so i shelved the lines that came with the kit and made my own:



                          Cut out some fender liner for airflow and used some kick-ass gutter guard (sprayed the hardware with rubber coating) ha:


                          The previous owner was 100 % certain that the turbos in my car were stock, ceramic wheeled and had not been touched. I checked the numbers on the compressor housings and thought the same thing. At the end of 2013 the boost had been falling off, they had been getting a little louder and I pulled the intakes to check it out and found this nice pool of oil in the rear turbo inlet:


                          Well, that's the excuse I was looking for I started kitting some parts together so the turn around would hopefully be smooth: a pair of R33 N1's with upgraded .60 compressor housing, all the gaskets, oil and coolant lines, etc.... Figured I would just remove the old ones, drop in the 'New' ones and sell off my old turbo's after for a few bucks and be done with it.

                          I pulled the turbos with the engine still installed. Unless you have small hands, a good selection of tools, lots of alcohol and patience don't even start this hahaha. Do yourself a favour and go buy a 1/4" drive ratchet with 120+ teeth and some swivel sockets ...

                          A night or two after starting, I managed to get everything out. Hmmm - 14411-24U10 on the centre housings - Score! R33 N1's with steel wheels were already installed ! There were also Garret adjustable actuators installed. The rear one had some damaged compressor fins from something and oil leaks but they both felt pretty decent otherwise.



                          I decided to have the turbo's rebuilt that came with my car since I knew they had been in my car for at least 5 or 6 years and i had some history on them. Cherry Turbo in St.Thomas took care of the full rebuild on the rear and a basic rebuild on the front. They verified the balance on both actuators and i picked them up looking like 2 brand new snails

                          After and getting ready to install:


                          I figured while everything was apart I might as well polish my dumps (what?), heat shields, water hard lines and whatever else I could take care of:




                          That's as far as it got last night but hoping to finish off the intake piping, AFM's, filters and test run for leaks tonight or tomorrow before re-installing the front pipe.
                          Pistol packin Monkey drinkin no money bum

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Wow, great work! I rally like the attention to detail on the things like the oil cooler and boost controller. Add another (late) 40's guy to your list.. The great thing about being in your 40's is money is much less of a problem than when I was in my 20's! Oh ya, and the look on the young police officers faces when they pull me over and realize I'm old enough to be their dad.. (Is this his son's car? I didn't know guys this old were permitted to drive cool cars.. There has to be a law against that somewhere.. Have a nice day sir..).
                            Car is here if you want to have a look: http://dougtaylor.shawwebspace.ca/photos/view/gtr/
                            Last edited by DougTaylor; 04-18-2014, 09:41 AM.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Thanks. Your car looks great! It is funny to see faces sometimes when an 'Old' guy gets out of an older GTR to pump gas or something. Knock on wood, I've only had a few encounters with the police lately ... seat belt checks and stuff like that. You're right about it being easier financially, but maybe more of a challenge keeping the energy level going after 10 PM haha. By the time my 3 year old goes to bed i'm usually toast.

                              So, I managed to find some time to put my old girl back together and gave it a quick clean:


                              I'm kicking myself now but I got lazy and just wanted to drive my car again so I never took my BOV's off to clean/service them and suspect they are probably choked with oil deposits and not sealing properly (especially since the rear turbo was leaking oil). I did check out the IC last fall and it was clean and dry inside.

                              I took it for a couple of test drives and everything actually feels pretty good. All booked in for an alignment at my local Nissan dealer and bringing the FSM alignment specs so shoudl be good to drive by Friday!

                              I'm Going to just drive it like this for a bit and enjoy. I have Deatschwerks pump, 550CC injectors, Tomei FPR, stock ECU in the shop and ready to go in for tuning but I need a break for a bit and it's bike racing season so I need to get my legs back in shape !!
                              Pistol packin Monkey drinkin no money bum

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X