Refining my 1989 BeeR 324 GTR and building my dream

[matthewc72]

I purchased my dream car in the first part of Sept of this year. I am located in Colorado and this was one of the first GTR's to legally cross the Canadian border into the US under the 25 year rule. It was bought by a gentleman in Florida and I flew down and purchased it from him. I have dreamed of owning a GTR since they were new and this was the perfect car for me.

Well after close to a 2000 mile journey with only a minor hiccup I have my baby safely back in Colorado.



Here she is tucked in my garage for the first time as the sun was rising after a 25 hour long drive.

First thing I needed to address was the alternator. My new/used model arrvied from a JDM parts guy in Miami. Removal and Install went fairly smoothly, I did not have a jack that was low enough to slip under my car so the alternator swap was done from the top. I had to pull the right side intercooler HKS hard pipe and it was smooth sailing from there.



Fried Alternator on the left, good on the right.

All ready to go in.

Once I finished up that little task I pulled the K&N air filters that were nasty and black, used a clean and recharge kit and they are as good as new. I know these aren't the most exciting upgrades/repairs but they are a good start that have her back on the road running well again and will allow me to keep my Dyno appointment for my baseline runs on the dyno.

Matt

[matthewc72]

This weekend I was able to get a few things done. In the trunk of my car when I picked it up was a second drivers side A-Pillar with an empty 2 gauge pod mounted to it.
I installed an old Autometer Boost gauge I had laying around and found that I am running at like 8.5 lbs of boost. I did some more looking at my engine compartment and followed up with some online research into the whole boost restricter and pill in the vacuum line. Take a look at this picture:



So the factory boost restricter has been deleted completely. So in theory as I understand it right now I should be running at waste gate boost pressure, right? Is that roughly 8 to 9 lbs of boost? I'm thinking when I am at the dyno on Friday I may go ahead and install a MBC and set it up for 13 lbs of boost. That should be a safe amount based on my research on the factory turbos.

I was also looking into my stereo system that sounded to be a little bit more than just a nice Pioneer aftermarket deck. So the deck is a Pioneer DEH P4000UB, the door and deck speakers are JL Components and there is a Clarion Pro Audio 600 Watt Sub pushing the door and deck speakers. While it sounded good it did not quite have the bass in it I was looking for so I added a West Coast Customs 1200 watt sub with a pair of their 12's in a ported box. All in all it sounds phenominal and I am in the process of using a dynamat like product on the trunk lid to get rid of the minor rattle I get from the bass. The Sub box is set up so I can easily pull it out for track days so it won't add weight and slide around.

I started on my shopping list of mods this is the list in the order that I plan to pick them up, I would like to build up to a 500-550 at the wheels HP. Since I haven't posted it in this thread yet here are the current stats for my car:

ENGINE
- R34 GTR long block with R32 cams / turbos and management with stock tune.
- New timing belt
- New N1 water pump
- New N1 oil pump (R34 motors come stock with the better crank and oil drive issue solved!)
- Mines style large intakes with K&N cone filters
- HKS aluminum intercooler piping.
- Turbo XS RFL blow off valve
- ACT heavy duty Clutch
- 3 to 4" catback exhaust
- Short throw shifter

BODY
- Full BeeR style R324 wide body kit
- Recent base and clear. Paint code Nissan super white 623

SUSPENSION
-Tein spring and shock combo made specifically for an R32 GTR. The car rides comfortably and handles very well.
-Rear Strut Bar (not sure what type)

My Shopping List:

R34 GTR Wheels with Bridgestone Poteza's 245/40ZR18's May need to play a little bit with spacers to get the perfect look)
Haltech Platinum Pro Plug and Play ECM
Haltech E85 Module
Haltech Electronic Boost Controller
Down Pipe (unsure on which one)
Upgraded Fuel Pump (Still researching which one to go with)
Fuel Injectors thinking 1000 CC
TOMEI Headers and dump pipes
Garrett GT2860R-5's
Upgraded Front Mount

I'm also going to be looking at some suspension and brake upgrades as well as some general under hood clean up and beautification. I may pick up a second set of valve covers, center cover, timing belt cover etc to get powder coated. I may also get sidetracked with some CF goodies for the body too as I love the look of a white car with CF accents.

Here is a pic of my previous build so you can see what I mean:






Well I think that is it for now. I'll post more and get some more current Pics of the Skyline soon!

Matt

[matthewc72]

Tonight's update, I got a few things done like my oil and filter changed (Royal Purple 10W30) changed out and my new NGK plugs installed. I also picked up a Turbonetics manual boost controller that I will have installed at my dyno day. I also got a few garage decorations in the mail today as well. Here are a couple of new pics:

My Garage


My new little stack of goodies


So my car is to low to get my current Craftsman jack under it but I have a 2-3 inch wooden lip at the front of my garage, when I backed out I stopped with my front tires on top of the lip and my jack slides under with about a 1/4 inch of clearance. LOL



Oil Change complete, took 4 1/2 quarts to fill her up. I have to ask, is there a trick to getting an oil filter off of an RB26DETT without dumping a 1/4 quart of oil all over the undercarriage? Side ways mounted oil filter.....Hmmmm now I see why people run a remote filter set up.



These are the subs I installed





Well that's my minor update for tonight.

[matthewc72]

Well my Tuners, Harvey and Jerry at the The Boost Creep in Longmont Colorado were able to get me in today for a base line run, boost control install and then several other Dyno runs as we got the boost controller dialed in. I ended up picking up a different MBC from my tuner as he did not like the looks of the one I brought in. So we are running a Grimm Speed MBC on the car.

Pulled up on the dyno to run the fans and cool her off to install the MBC.


MBC Installed, we set it up in the same area as the old Boost Restrictor.




All strapped in and ready for the first run.




So the base line run with Boost at 9Lbs was 255 at the wheels. My tuner showed me several dyno runs from a R33 that he tuned last year that had upgraded turbos but was stock other wise and the dyno runs nearly matched.



Car was running strong so we clicked the boost up a little bit. The next run netted 291.4 at 11.5-12lbs of boost.


And a video of that run:


Car felt really strong still so we cranked it up to 13lbs of Boost. I decided that was as far as I wanted to go on the stock turbos. From what I have read 14 is the max limit although some have run them as high as 16.5 for an unknown amount of time. My thoughts are I am not taking the risk over grenading a turbo and thrashing my motor that is running strong and was recently built. So, at 13lbs of boost we clicked off 305.3 AWHP.


We backed up that run with a 307.4 AWHP run.


Video of the last run of the night:


So for a grand total of $280 dollars ($100 for the 4 runs on the dyno, and $180 for MBC and install time) I netted a total of 52 AWHP. All in all I am happy and the increased power is a kick in the pants!!!!

More importantly I have a solid baseline to start with and several new ideas for the road ahead. I am rethinking the Apexi FCP and leaning towards something a little more advanced now.

Matt

[matthewc72]

So I just picked up these bad boys:



They are being palatalized as we speak and will be shipped out today so I should have them in a few days. They come with all 4 center caps too :-) Tires are only 245/40ZR18's but they are Bridgestone Potenza's with 75% tread life left so I will probably keep them on for now before I put new 265 or 275's on them. I am going to see how I like the look of the Bronze color with my car before I decide if I want to change the color of them, I'm leaning towards Plastidipping them gloss white rather than powdercoating them that way if I want to go back to Bronze color I can without issue.

Matt

[matthewc72]

Just a quick update, wheels should be here Wed or Thur! I'm very excited to get those on the car, I really don't like the Zeldas on my GTR at all! Lol

I am also soon to be the recipient of a brand new straight fro Garrett GT2860R-5's! My son is an assistant manager at the Speed Shop at my local Pep Boys and his boss really wants an old 66' Grand Prix project car that I've had sitting around for years. We just finalized the trade so he gets my old car that I've lost interest in and I gain back another spot in my garage and the new turbos I'm dying to get!

Now I just have to wait for Raw Brokerage to get me my quote back on my Haltech platnium pro E85 setup, WBO2, and Boost solenoid, injectors and fuel pump. I'm just a little bit excited! Lol

[matthewc72]

Got the call from the shipping company today at 8:30 AM and took delivery of these beauties at 9:00!!!!




I will get them on the car Friday night when I have some time off! Expect lots of new pictures coming soon!!!

Matt

[matthewc72]

So I got my VIN verification done on Monday which is required in Colorado to transfer over an out of State title, my car came with a Florida title as well as all the importation paperwork from Canada.

DMV initially tells me I need an emissions test so I go to the test center, which in Colorado is a private company under contract by the state. After about an hour of 6-7 people that work there looking over my car, my paperwork and their computer and manuals they tell me that they can't test my car because it's not in any of their documentation so they don't know what levels to test for or what equipment is supposed to be on the car. I explain the EPA 21 year rule and request an exemption based on that. They decline to give it to me and there boss recommends that I go to a referee where they can determine how to proceed. I'm getting pissed a little now because I wasted a chunk of my morning already when one of their guys comes up to me as I'm leaving and suggests I take my EPA form into DMV and see what they say.

I get to DMV and wait 45min for them to call my number. I get to the desk and see a mid 20s Japanese gal at the counter, I sit down and hand her my paperwork and start to explain my situation, she looks at my paperwork and dang near yells out "OMG you have a skyline?!? Is it a GTR?!? I have a 350z and my boyfriend has an S14, id kill for a Skyline." So, I answer questions about my car for the next 10 mins......

Then I explain my problem and show her my EPA 3520-1 and the 21 year rule exception. She takes that and all my paperwork back to her boss and is gone for 10 mins. She comes back and tells me she explained it to her boss and they agreed Federal outweighs state rules and granted me an exemption from Colorado Emisions!!! I now have my plates and title and my exhemption paperwork!!! Today was a good day!!

[matthewc72]

So after my trip to the DMV I picked my boys up from school and we headed home. Once home we swapped out the Zelda Try Forces for my new R34 wheels. I have to say I love them!!!! They look so much better on my car than the Zelda's did and are much more fitting to my style. Pics are a little dark because a friend swung by and we BS'd in the garage until was almost dark. I'll take lots more pics tomorrow.









Last one back in the garage. The Try Force Zeldas are made by Vesta and are +20 backspacing, my car has thin slip on spacers on the front hubs and the rear had thicker bolt on spacers, not sure on the exact sizes but I left them in place and the new wheels seem to fit pretty well. Hoping Ill be able to fit some 265's under here when the current tires warrant replacing.

Matt

[matthewc72]

As promised a few more pictures with better lighting.







Yeah I could not be happier with these wheels!!

[matthewc72]

So I have my quote in from Raw Brokerage for my Haltech set up. Prices look good and I'm getting a bulk discount for purchasing all of these components at once. Who here has dealt with them before? This is my first purchase from them and its a big one, from what I can see it seems like they have been around for a while in the RB world. I'd love to hear about any personal experiences that others have had just to make me a little more comfortable before I place my order.

Here's what I'm going to be getting:

[HT055001] Haltech Platinum PRO Plug-in ECU for Nissan R32 R33 RB20 RB25 RB26 HT055001 1.000 Unit(s) 1706.00

[HT020400] Haltech Boost Control Solenoid 33Hz HT020400 1.000 Unit(s) 129.00

[HT-059978] Haltech WBC1 - Single Channel CAN Wideband Gauge Kit (w/ 2.5m Flying lead harness + Gauge) 1.000 Unit(s) 399.00

[HT011000] Haltech Flex Fuel Sensor HT011000 1.000 Unit(s) 215.00

[HT-059902] Haltech IO 12 Expander Box A - CAN Based 12 Channel inc Plug & Pins (includes Black 600mm CAN Cable) 1.000 Unit(s) 454.00

If any Haltech experts want to jump in I'd like to know if there are any other add on's that I might want to consider? I think I have a pretty good set up laid out here but am always open to suggestions.

Matt

[matthewc72]

Well this ends the bulk update since I purchased my car in the first week of Sept. I have big plans for this build and am looking forward to learning a lot and hopefully becoming a lot more knowledgeable about this platform.

Matt

[qualthar]

Neat, that's my old car!

Here are a few old pics

[matthewc72]

Dave I replied to your PM. Thanks for the pics, they are pretty awesome! My CF hood should be here by the end of the month and I am actually looking for a CF GT style spoiler too. Something about CF accents on a white car that I just love! Hopefully I will have lots of great updates to post in the future.

Matt

[rvander1992]

You said stock r32 cams and turbos. If they are stock 32 turbos forget the haltech and get those out of there before you kill your engine. Ceramic wheels like to blow up at stock pressure you're running 12 pounds