Author Topic: 1995 Nissan Skyline GTR (Read 2410 times)

STI 2NV · « **Reply #25 on:** March 23, 2020, 09:37:54 am »

Last Wednesday I brought the car to the shop, parts of the business has been a little slower during this time so I thought I would take advantage.

Plan
Build North American licence plate mount
Remove ETC box and wiring,
Replace deck (Pioneer SPH10BT), front (JL C2-650X) and rear speakers JL C2-690TX), add small amplifier (Alpine KTA-450), sound deaden rear deck and front doors,
replace vinyl on rear deck lid.
Remove JDM alarm system, add Compustar alarm with drone
Hardwire Redenso Pro-M radar detector,
Hardwire Dashcam. Blackvue DR550GW-2CH (had this in a drawer for the last 4 years)
Hardwire day time running lights

We started by tearing everything out. as far as JDM cars so it was really clean in there. no solder however, everything is cut and combined with bullet and butt connectors, so we took it all out and soldered everything back together. Putting it back to stock was a tonne of work, most of day one.

Doors were really clean, we had to modify the factory speaker mount, I planned on running Focal Access speakers first, however swapped to the slightly thinner JL C2's to save a little bit of time. We used the install bay 6.5 inch speaker baffles to send the sound straight out of the grill and not all over the door, really cheap adapters that do so much for sound. Sound deadened the exterior panel of the door and a few places where it met the door panel. nice and solid now. Before anyone asks about why I didn't go component speakers, I didn't see a nice place to make a hole and I do not surface mount tweeters as I really think it looks really cheap.

The rear was previously modified to hold 6x9 which resulted in some very interesting modifications to the underside of the rear deck lid. also this huge wood panel that was pressure resting on the top. We removed all the blue and replaced it with black carpet, and fastened it down correctly. We also enclosed the 6x9's to get some nice mid bass out of them as I wont be running a subwoofer.

The rear area was was really cool, the red wires are the aftermarket speaker wires that were run before, there was an amp under the back seat at once point as well, but had been removed probably years ago. All and all still nice and clean.

For the deck and amp I decided to play with the smart sync app from pioneer, its like a dumbed down apple car play, i mentioned earlier that I didn't want to pay for a flip out screen with carplay if I was just going to go with a double din in the future. The alpine amp fit really nice in behind the climate controls and gauges

The rest of the install wasnt very exciting but we finished everything on friday and then this morning started on the licence plate mount.

so far it looks like this.

tperkins · « **Reply #26 on:** March 23, 2020, 09:56:04 am »

Quote from: STI 2NV on March 23, 2020, 09:12:57 am

The Integra isn't currently listed, its complicated at the moment. Its getting a salvage inspection / rebuild title, however I rebuilt it with a JDM front end instead of a USDM front end and the headlights/bumper rebar are not passing so I need to come up with a plan on how I will deal with this. I rebuilt the car back in 2013 and didn't bother getting the inspection done until I decided to sell it. I probably should have done more research before rebuilding it, but I did have the JDM front end before the accident happened so It made the most sense in my head. I either sell it as a "race car" for cheap, or I put a USDM front end on it, which includes welding a new rad support on it. Either option isn't ideal.

The Talon is listed on Kijiji and Facebook https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/edmonton/1997-eagle-talon-tsi-awd-big-power-build/1492701204
I'm trying to free up space in my garage because there is another car I'm looking at.

That talon is awesome, good price for what it is. Resisting. Also interested to see what fills the space.

I had always been r32>r34>r33, until a couple years ago when I really started to pay attention to the r33. I would say on par with the r34 for me now. Most days I dream of finding an rx7 or r32 gtr that was imported 7-8 years ago and the owner really just wants to get back what they paid. Very envious of this car!

For the N/A licence plate mounts I just take a piece of flat iron, drill it for JDM holes, tap it for NA holes.

STI 2NV · « **Reply #27 on:** March 23, 2020, 10:08:25 am »

Quote from: tperkins on March 23, 2020, 09:56:04 am

For the N/A licence plate mounts I just take a piece of flat iron, drill it for JDM holes, tap it for NA holes.

Thank you, I've always enjoyed my Talon, but i'm on the hunt for another Evo (IX this time), and a 996Turbo (silver manual coupe).

I'm using black lexan and nutcerts.

STI 2NV · « **Reply #28 on:** March 30, 2020, 02:06:34 pm »

My plate showed up on Thursday, and out of province is tomorrow. Hopefully It'll be registered tomorrow.

Forgot to mention but we had to make a neutral safety switch.

JJx · « **Reply #29 on:** March 30, 2020, 06:24:57 pm »

Super cool stuff! Sound deadening doors is a very high satisfaction to effort mod.
Where are you getting your out of province done? I'm looking to get one done, but being at the mercy of the shops sketchs me out.

STI 2NV · « **Reply #30 on:** April 03, 2020, 02:03:29 pm »

Small Update,

Car is Registered and Insured, In the shop today for rear outer tie rod bushing/ball joints, crazy expensive little buggers and then an alignment, hopefully I get it back to day, I would have taken this on myself but i was missing some of the required tools, I cannot wait to feel the difference.

With the store front closed it gave me chance to do some quick cleaning and protecting, This paint needs work, however I don't have that much time at the moment, not enough to drop on a full wetsand/power polish, but enough time for a quick black restoring and wax by hand to protect it until its time to do it right. First I gave the car a bath dried it off and took two passes, by hand, to see if I can bring some life to this paint. its not peeling, or flaking, its just dull, and kinda looks like its covered in water spots, I'll definitely take good pictures before I do the full polish, expecting this to take 30-40 hours if old Nissan paint has taught me anything in the past. Also tinted the front windows. anyways here are some pictures of it being shinier.

The first chemical to bring back the depth of the black.

wiped off, Mike was here so between coats I got him to tint the front windows

Now its tinted just about ready to throw on a light wax.

unfortunately at this resolution it is hard to see the difference between the first chemical and the final wax, this wasnt error correction, just protection, It's now a good 10 foot car.

Here are a few shots I took outside in the more natural light

Crooked plate LOL

Also The sexy assay picture that WAGOWN made for me

jellynuts · « **Reply #31 on:** April 04, 2020, 09:38:24 am »

Quote from: STI 2NV on April 03, 2020, 02:03:29 pm

Crooked plate LOL

JDM's gonna JDM

WAGOWN · « **Reply #32 on:** April 04, 2020, 10:42:55 am »

Damn dude, nice work on the paint!

STI 2NV · « **Reply #33 on:** April 08, 2020, 10:16:19 am »

Not too much exciting new news, I was recommended to take my car to FirstGear projects in south Edmonton to have the timing belt / water pump service done, I've decided that I'm going to get them to do the last couple fluids that I haven't made the time to do myself and do the alignment while its there. Their price seems to be very reasonable for everything, and they said it would be about 2 weeks to get the parts in.

Has anyone used this business before?

I did the 100 km lap of the Henday on Saturday, it was a nice little quarantine cruise. I'll probably do another on this weekend.

Dr Beans · « **Reply #34 on:** April 08, 2020, 10:37:00 am »

I've heard good things about them and was likely going to take my car their for an alignment as well.

Markkenko · « **Reply #35 on:** April 08, 2020, 11:12:24 am »

Quote from: STI 2NV on April 08, 2020, 10:16:19 am

Not too much exciting new news, I was recommended to take my car to FirstGear projects in south Edmonton to have the timing belt / water pump service done, I've decided that I'm going to get them to do the last couple fluids that I haven't made the time to do myself and do the alignment while its there. Their price seems to be very reasonable for everything, and they said it would be about 2 weeks to get the parts in.

Has anyone used this business before?

I did the 100 km lap of the Henday on Saturday, it was a nice little quarantine cruise. I'll probably do another on this weekend.

Would recommend First Gear 1000 times over. These guys have serviced 4 of my subarus over the years as well as my brothers and my mothers. They have also sourced a number of Japanese parts and gaskets for me without hesitation. They are very honest, reasonably priced, know their stuff, and love JDM vehicles. As soon as you get there, you'll know you're taking your car to the right place. It's pretty evident every time you drop it off.

The other week when I was there talking about ordering parts, these were out front:

tperkins · « **Reply #36 on:** April 08, 2020, 12:00:07 pm »

I personally have had a couple experiences working on cars that First Gear has touched which I was not impressed with.

Car one: Evo 6 First Gear changed the clutch, timing belt, water pump. Clutch only lasted 20,000 km because clutch pedal adjustment wasn't done properly... in fairness the P.O seemed like an absolute goon and the car was trashed.

Bolt on water pump was 1mm from starting to contact the timing belt as it was backing out, instead of replacing the "o" ring from the water pipe to water pump they used sillycone, and probably used a bit too much sillycone on the waterpump to block. I don't know when the work was done, I had the car / engine in January 2019. The work seemed to have some age on it for sure, but not exactly sure when it was done.

Car two: First Gear changed evo 4 clutch to evo 7-8-9 flywheel, 7-8-9 flywheel didn't have a hole for the dowel, instead of removing dowel or drilling flywheel they cut it out and scored up the crankshaft. This would have

Disclaimer: I didn't see receipts, I was just told "oh yeah this and that was done at First Gear."

Alternatively, I have had some friends buy parts from them and say they're nice to deal with, generally like them. They also don't discriminate against JDM, which is nice.

Dr Beans · « **Reply #37 on:** April 08, 2020, 12:21:56 pm »

Well now I'm torn. Anybody else you'd recommend?

Markkenko · « **Reply #38 on:** April 08, 2020, 12:30:46 pm »

Quote from: tperkins on April 08, 2020, 12:00:07 pm

I personally have had a couple experiences working on cars that First Gear has touched which I was not impressed with.

Car one: Evo 6 First Gear changed the clutch, timing belt, water pump. Clutch only lasted 20,000 km because clutch pedal adjustment wasn't done properly... in fairness the P.O seemed like an absolute goon and the car was trashed.

Bolt on water pump was 1mm from starting to contact the timing belt as it was backing out, instead of replacing the "o" ring from the water pipe to water pump they used sillycone, and probably used a bit too much sillycone on the waterpump to block. I don't know when the work was done, I had the car / engine in January 2019. The work seemed to have some age on it for sure, but not exactly sure when it was done.

Car two: First Gear changed evo 4 clutch to evo 7-8-9 flywheel, 7-8-9 flywheel didn't have a hole for the dowel, instead of removing dowel or drilling flywheel they cut it out and scored up the crankshaft. This would have

Disclaimer: I didn't see receipts, I was just told "oh yeah this and that was done at First Gear."

Alternatively, I have had some friends buy parts from them and say they're nice to deal with, generally like them. They also don't discriminate against JDM, which is nice.

They warranty all of their work though, so if anything like that was truly their doing, i'm sure they would own up to it and help sort things out. They also have the VIN's of the cars that they've worked on on their system, so if you ever want to prove PO's claims, i'm sure you can just talk to them.

To prevent this from being turned into a review thread, i'll just link this: http://www.westernsubaruclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=53043.msg661017#msg661017

tperkins · « **Reply #39 on:** April 08, 2020, 12:42:04 pm »

Quote from: Dr Beans on April 08, 2020, 12:21:56 pm

Well now I'm torn. Anybody else you'd recommend?

As Markkas identified, I really just was going off the P.O and the Kijiji ad description for the Evo 6. At this point the car has been stripped and sold for parts, the engine got a timing / waterpump overhaul before I installed it into the evo 5, etc. So take the "well, First Gear did it" with a grain of salt.

edit* Just to confirm my memory of the situation was correct I asked my buddy who I pulled those cars apart and he confirmed that the PO reported First Gear, and we both have a vague memory of finding a receipt in the car from First Gear.

Other people whom I have talked to have had positive things to say about First Gear, and I would let them have a crack at my alignments as they sound like enthusiasts.

Quote from: Markkas on April 08, 2020, 12:30:46 pm

They warranty all of their work though, so if anything like that was truly their doing, i'm sure they would own up to it and help sort things out. They also have the VIN's of the cars that they've worked on on their system, so if you ever want to prove PO's claims, i'm sure you can just talk to them.

To prevent this from being turned into a review thread, i'll just link this: http://www.westernsubaruclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=53043.msg661017#msg661017

Don't have a vin, the car has long since been crushed, and at this point it doesn't matter for that engine since it has gone 15,000 km since the work I had done to it. The clutch.. again the guy was a goon. Wouldn't be surprised if the car was launched daily.

The crank, it wasn't affecting the drive-ability of the car, it's just not how I would have done it.

I think I will continue my review here, as it was requested by STI 2NV, it is just good to tell both sides of the story, although that is about all I have to say about it as those have been my only experiences with them.

STI 2NV · « **Reply #40 on:** May 08, 2020, 09:30:30 am »

I dropped off my car at First Gear Project Wednesday evening and picked it up Thursday evening, The whole process with them was pretty easy. They performed a clutch fluid flush, Atessa ETS fluid flush, Transfer case fluid flush, Timing belt, Tomei heavy duty timing belt with oem N1 tensioners and N1 waterpump, and wheel alignment.

Alignment was actually pretty good before hand, just needed some toe fixed after the rear tierod ball joints were replaced a couple weeks ago, other than that it was just small adjustments, everything else went great and the drive home was wonderful. clutch feels so much better now.

Nick and Rich were both really great, and I'm now waiting for on Japans week long holiday to end so I can get some prices on some brakes.

All and all I had a good experience.

I was in Japan this time last year really looking forward to my rental cars and counting down the days to drive the Hakone Skyline and all the other Fuji Mountain passes, May 2019 Rob didn't think there was any chance after returning from Japan that I would have my very own Skyline. No new exciting pictures of my car today so here are some pictures from Japan.

Good Morning Mount Fuji

The roads for our adventure today

My rental car, I wanted the NSX but I have no regrets having this R33 GTR, I think the stars really aligned for me after this. My friend with me had the Blue R34 seen below

It was such an incredible day with wonderful weather I couldn't have asked for a better way to experience Japan. I can't wait to go back.

Markkenko · « **Reply #41 on:** May 08, 2020, 02:46:02 pm »

Quote from: STI 2NV on May 08, 2020, 09:30:30 am

I was in Japan this time last year really looking forward to my rental cars and counting down the days to drive the Hakone Skyline and all the other Fuji Mountain passes, May 2019 Rob didn't think there was any chance after returning from Japan that I would have my very own Skyline. No new exciting pictures of my car today so here are some pictures from Japan.

My rental car, I wanted the NSX but I have no regrets having this R33 GTR, I think the stars really aligned for me after this. My friend with me had the Blue R34 seen below

It was such an incredible day with wonderful weather I couldn't have asked for a better way to experience Japan. I can't wait to go back.

I was there just after you last year! I was in an NA1 NSX. But yes... I feel the same way... Need to go back soon.

http://www.westernsubaruclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=56092.0

(see my post from June 13th, 2019)

STI 2NV · « **Reply #42 on:** June 22, 2020, 10:43:39 am »

Its been a while of waiting for my "overnight" parts from Japan. Last week I got a call saying most of my order was in at Firstgear Project so I filled up the focus with JDM goodness.

Endless Basic slit front and rear rotors, Endless MX72 pads, Nismo stainless steel lines, Cusco master cylinder brace, Nismo quick shifter, Tomei Hicas delete and HKS speed limit defender.

I wanted to go with a floating brake setup, I also wanted to do calipers but this car can be mean for big brake options, maybe one day but not today. I just wanted to fix the really bad brake performance I have been living with over the last 4000km of ownership. The brakes were so bad that in my entire ownership so far I had only engaged abs once. and even the hardest of braking would still lead to only suggested stopping, the rotors weren't warped but they had some pretty crazy grooves and ridges, the pads looked newish for the most part EBC reds, and the lines looked ok but Im assuming being 25 years old maybe they had some stretching.

Other than almost loosing a lugnut to my garage sump, installation was perfectly smooth, bleeding process this time way way better than the first time I flushed it back in October, having a second person around also helped out a lot.

I took this picture wide so I could get the edge of martins Sti2 forester in the shot.

before

after

before

after

blue pads

Long story short. This car stops! It'll make ya spit.

Hopefully i'll find time this week to do my short shifter, and speed limiter defender, also it could really use a good wash.

STI 2NV · « **Reply #43 on:** June 22, 2020, 10:51:02 am »

I'm thinking now that I'm happy with the braking performance, I will get my calipers powder coated over the winter.

Not sure what I would like to do to for color, but I have lots of time to decide.

LilDrunkenSmurf · « **Reply #44 on:** June 22, 2020, 11:17:17 am »

I mean, at this point, it feels like you're contractually obligated to go with blue.

STI 2NV · « **Reply #45 on:** June 22, 2020, 12:21:57 pm »

This is where I mention that with my most recent parts pick up, I have now spent more money fixing/modding this car than I did buying the car.

For the first time in a long time that doesn't put a sinking feeling in my gut.

tperkins · « **Reply #46 on:** June 22, 2020, 12:47:07 pm »

Funny, I have a speed limit defenser sitting here I was planning on putting into the 3... after all the itshay talking I have done on JDM piggy backs and hours I spent removing them.

STI 2NV · « **Reply #47 on:** June 22, 2020, 01:04:24 pm »

Quote from: tperkins on June 22, 2020, 12:47:07 pm

Funny, I have a speed limit defenser sitting here I was planning on putting into the 3... after all the itshay talking I have done on JDM piggy backs and hours I spent removing them.

I feel the same way, I feel weird installing the Defencer and Hicas piggybacks but, I am so sick of not knowing what forth gear is like in my car and sick of looking at my Hicas light.

I'm not ready for new ECU yet.....

Canuckrz · « **Reply #48 on:** June 22, 2020, 01:18:59 pm »

Quote from: STI 2NV on June 22, 2020, 01:04:24 pm

I'm not ready for new ECU yet.....

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/R33-GTR-Nissan-Skyline-1995-1998-RB26DETT-OEM-MINES-ECU-USED-/123541876583?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

Just gonna leave this here...

STI 2NV · « **Reply #49 on:** June 22, 2020, 01:30:27 pm »

Quote from: Canuckrz on June 22, 2020, 01:18:59 pm

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/R33-GTR-Nissan-Skyline-1995-1998-RB26DETT-OEM-MINES-ECU-USED-/123541876583?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

Just gonna leave this here...

I keep seeing that thing on Kijiji, I keep considering it but that tune kind of scares me, reading online its a hot rich tune. Its also really hard to find true accurate info about it too.

But have considered it multiple times.