Quote:
Originally Posted by Blow Dog
Had the car been in the exact state of tune/condition as I'd sold it, then yes, unequivocally, the car would be worth that. Right now? I guess it's worth whatever anybody's willing to pay for it.
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Interesting Cem, this reinforces my viewpoint that "whatever someone is willing to pay" in this instance can go up rather than down which was the implication of these posts that I took offence to. In my case, someone was prepared to pay quite a bit more for it in this state of tune when you consider what I sold it for.
I totally understand both of your viewpoints and I'm sure its shared by many others.
Myself, I don't understand what all the fuss is about, because all the special parts referenced in your post are still on it. In addition there were a lot more Nismo bits added to it, from the enlarged Nismo input shaft on the gearbox to handle more power, to the Nismo Intake Plenum/Collector (a very expensive piece of kit), the titanium strut brace - all straight out of the Z-Tune catalogue. Anything removed from it, ie the S-Tune suspension was replaced with the more up to date equivalent, the S-Tune HA's. The G-Max clutch plates were replaced with the uprated enlarged input shaft Nismo plates etc etc.
With regards to the "kind of crazy messed up enthusiasm only Nissan's technical engineers can muster", whilst I agree the package was great, the only part that I felt let the car down, is ironically the only part of the car that even you deviated from Nissan/Nismo, and that was the engine.
When I bought the car it had HKS cams, Tomei pulleys, HKS metal gasket, EVC, Apexi ECU etc. There was no doubt good reason for this, which was that Nismo hadn't really released any engine packages or parts at that time.
While it was a cracking engine, I was used to the torque from my Supra and in this department the Skyline felt lacking.
In essence, all that has really changed in the engine bay, is better cooling (Trust sump,trust oil pump,trust front diff cooler, trust remote oil filter, ARC Radiator, Arc air remover kit) gone are the N1 Turbines and the N1 pistons, replaced with HKS pistons, rods and crank instead.
The Top Secret Engine is still based on an N1 block, has an N1 water pump, and the HKS 2.8L kit is probably one of the most reliable and well tested Stroker conversions out there and is very similar in spec and dimensions to the subsequent Tomei based RB28 which Nismo later offered. This brings the Nur even closer to the Z-Tune - loyal to the concept you were chasing.
The cams are still HKS just as you had. The engine is fully balanced just as it was. The Cam covers are still gold
So with the exceptions of higher strength Pistons, rods and crank, and a Trust oil pump instead of an N1 one, the engine is very similar (although the head is now ported and polished). The only real area of deviation is the Single Turbo conversion. It wouldn't be much work to change them to twins. Personally I'm a fan of big singles, but bolt on a pair of RB28 Z-Tune twins and your right back to your Nismo roots.
Whilst I agree with everything in your post, everything that was, still is. If you had driven the car I don't think you can but be impressed and if there were no pictures up of the engine bay, nobody would even know what is contained within!
I know you didn't agree to me modifying the car further, if you were a dead man you'd be turning in your grave, however, everything you did that was factory/Nismo, I left well alone.
The Nur engine was already 'compromised' and I felt what I did was further improvement in every department (longevity, driveability, performance and reliability; through Increased Cooling and Delivery, improved efficiency, Strengthened Components and Full Engine Control and monitoring -Active knock control and Permanent wideband Lambda).
By comparison the N1 engine was at the limit of what the pistons could reliably take, oil needed to be overfilled on track to protect from severe oil surge (probably why Tims Nur engine let go in the first place), the Apexi used to allow knock in warm weather and didn't have any active knock control, the AFM's were crude (drainpipe with Air flow sensors sealed in) the sealing of the ports from the intake plenum was careless with red sealant obstructing the ports (I've got a good pic of this) and so on.
What I did, was very sensibly specced, probably why I'm a little protective of any sentiments implying that I've diminished the car, in fact one of the most poignant comments in this thread for me was from Hugh Keir "That is one of the most intelligently specced Skylines in the UK". Coming from one of the most technically intelligent people on this Forum, that was indeed a compliment
Please note that no offence taken, we're just discussing like adults. I'm of the opinion that unless there is anything constructive to ad to a for sale thread, anything negative that is posted is disrespectful to the seller. Now that this thread is no longer linked to the Pistonheads advert it's essentially no longer a for sale thread, so please feel free to post your views.
Cheers
Nito