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R32 GTR - Slowly but surely

198K views 515 replies 111 participants last post by  FRRACER 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all,

I thought i'd start a project thread and keep a track of my progress with the car. So i started shopping around about 2 years ago, set on finding a very good condition R32. It was a tough decision to buy one over an FD3 or an R33 but there was a 32 passion burning inside me that needed to be quenched!

So i was looking for a realitivly standard R32 in Grey or Silver and ideally wanted one that had been looked after, was rust free and had some nice wheels.

My plan for the car is a bit of a trackday demon and cruiser, a car that is comfy to drive to the nurburgring smash round and drive back with ease. My tuning philosophy has never been one for massive power but to get everything else right first, ie: good chassis/suspension set up, brakes etc.

Eventually i settled on this and this is how it came: It's a 1993 and has a mixture of parts from both series or R32, more on that later.



Exterior was very standard apart from the removal of the rear spoiler (which was annoying but you look past it with the right car) also has genuine ganador electric mirrors and a couple of the Nismo bits.



I liked the wheels, 17 x 9 et20, also has exhaust although very quiet.



Complete with bling gearknob and bus steering wheel. It also came with a Mine's white boost gauge in the original cluster.

Inside i also found a 6point Roll cage. My plan for a realitivly standard GTR is rapidly going down the pan!!



First on the list was to ditch the bus steering wheel for a proper one, gave the missus a few suggestions for my B'day and said "The one i really want is the Nismo one but it is more expensive than the rest". So the diamond got me the Nismo one!!



Also fitted a boost gauge to see what boost it was running as it felt like alot at the time!
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Ok, next on the list was a trip to Abbey to have the car checked over and put on the Dyno to check the map and boost levels etc.

At this point the car needed new rear subframe bushes so whiteline was dispatched. Also needed new CV gaitors and a couple of other bits including Tomei Hicas lockout kit (cortesy of fast shipping from newera) and a new rear steering rod. Big bill was inbound!

Once that had been done it was dyno'd at a healthy 382bhp @ 1 bar.

Another root around and found this:



What else was on the car?? Abbey had a good look round to reveal i had Nismo upper mounts at the front and lower castor rods (is that right?)



Also i stupidly lost a wheelnut as well so dispatched Matty32 to hook me up with some Nismo babies!





And the lower ones with the knackered CV boots. Also discovered some Bilstein suspension. The car was getting better and better! Good value for money!

 
#4 ·
Right, when i bought the car it had a whine at idle and the owner said the clutch was on the way out. The car was under budget and i took a risk thinking i could do the clutch no worries. The whine went away with the clutch in so i didn't think too much of it at the time and trusted him. The clutch was slipping on high boost a smelt great!

SVS hooked me up with one of these:



After the dyno results this was adequate for my needs as i have niether the plan or funds for a 600bhp rebuild! I was told this was good for 500bhp?!? Good enough for me though.



Thanks to my mate Stu for fitting, he said it was fun(!)

So new clutch in but the whine was still there boohoo, we thought it must be the gearbox and possibly a rebuild as it shift so well and feels great. Not to worry i thought, if it pops it pops! (It's still going strong now and whining!)

Next i got given an ARC induction box from chas, thanks again mate! and newera got me some filters and a new plaque:

Bye bye blitz:



Hello ARC!



The car was much quieter with the ARC and i much prefer it. Also note the none standard Rad, don't know what it is??

After this a Greddy oil catch can went on, i tried a few set ups before i was happy with the results:





I've changed the set up since then, more of which later.

Winter was upon me and learning from my Dad's MG rebuild it was DIY rustproofing time, messy job but someones gotta do it. Out came the waxoil for the insides first then the underside.

Before:



After:



This helped put my irrational fear of rust at bay for a bit!!
 
#5 ·
Nice, keep it coming, I do believe that you looked at my car when you were searching for a GTR.

Its nice getting the car on the ramp for the first time to see what goodies are under there:)

I found that 3 out of 4 front CV boots were split on mine aswell:rolleyes:, lucky I run my own garage!

Keep the updates coming:thumbsup:

alex
 
#6 ·
I only have my own garage and 3 spanners! More will come tonight, just going to have some dinner first! I did look at your car alex, in it's former life compared to the amazing machine you have created!! I loved those SSR wheels that were on it!
 
#8 ·
Next was stupid MOT and stupid seatbelts failing because they didn't retract on there own due to the awesome roll cage, so the answer was harnesses!



Note the raised centre consol, yet to see another R32 with that.



Can't remove the base of the rear seats as the cage wont let them come forward.



I managed to get an R - VIT of off the moleman and wired it in, tried it up by the rear view but wasn't great and have moved it since, good for displaying speed in MPH and also revs and keeps hold of peaks and also can record and playback settings, good for launches etc.



I set the rev limit alarm for 7200rpm, it flashes red and beeps at me!



So next after my first trackday in the car it highlighted the need for an oil cooler! big time! I got a one of custom design with a GREX mount off the block which allowed me to tap oil pressure and temp gauges into, earls braided hoses and a setrab cooler (16 row from memory).



This is a pic from the donor car so you get the idea of the position behind the bumper, incase you were interested!!



Cooler in position with custom made air diverter



I mounted it on the nearside wing and it was a squeeze with the pipework but it does fit. I was considering chopping the arch ***** to allow airflow but after a hard test it cools the oil sufficiently as it is. Along with this went an aftermarket Greddy oil pressure gauge which i mounted on the dash, engine is pulling excellent pressure with 6 - 7bar from cold and 2.5 bar at idle, happy with that, esp on an R32!






Next along with that came an oil temp gauge and things in the dash were looking a bit dodgy.



I needed to neaten things up and not look like i was on my driving test with my head all over the place looking at gauges. I picked up this baby from ahapartridge and set about moving all the gauges into position.



So i checked the position and made sure i was happy with it, also relocated the TT into the clock recess, it didn't come with a clock but i'm not bothered, much rather have a TT!



Then started smashing the dash up! Note new R-VIT position, much better.



Test fit the gauges and get them into place:





Now to check them, i think they look awesome and the gauge holder is perfect to see whats going on, also got warning lights just incase!

 
#9 ·
After a few rainy days out like this, :bawling:



The rear N1 lip was rusting at a silly rate and i was having kittens as to whether it had penetrated the boot or not. Luckily it was just the ripply lip. I got this Carbon one quite cheap, it has a little fading from the sun but is none the less nice and weighs next to nothing compared with the surprisingly heavy Nismo item. I cleaned up the surface and stuck it in place by eye hoping it would work well, balanced a spare wheel on it to keep compression and checked it the next day. sorted! :thumbsup:






I picked up an original spoiler but it's just so heavy i can't bear to put it on, still deciding on the exterior choices.



Next the front brake discs needed changing so i got some EBC discs and pads to go in.



Boozing is not recommended when changing brakes! While i was there i found APP braided lines all round. Result!!

Along with that went a cusco brake stopper. This is easily THE best brake mod you can make and really firms up the pedal for response, cheers DaveW!



Still hankering after some awesome brakes! Believe me the car needs it!
 
#12 ·
Yeah that's right, clutch in and it goes, clutch out and driving it's there. The bearings about £80 i think mate, but as you say i've gotta strip the box etc. It's held out for the last 2 years and 3 trackdays! I'm sort of used to it now and don't really think about it! ;)
 
#18 ·
Nice work fella, keep the updates going!
:)
bob
 
#24 ·
With another winter advancing and the added electrical goodies, the battery was starting to suffer. It needed to be swapped for a new one so i asked for suggestions. This is what i had to start with which is still the one it came over from Japan with. You can also see the old breather set up i had on the go which wasn't very good! I'd run out of the greddy hose i got with the kit and needed to source some more. :thumbsup:



I eventually ended up with this stinger gel battery :clap: and it hasn't let me down since, even when the car hasn't been driven for a month or so! I eventually plan on relocating this to the boot and freeing up a bit of space for other things. I needed to get some new terminals to get this fitted and halfords supplied. Looking forward to ditching it in the back. I've seen a whole kit at DB Power for around £100 which has everything you need.



Also i eventually sorted the piping for the oil catch tank, which i got from a local hose supplier. The old pipercross breather filter just fell to bits and oil vapour was getting everywhere, I decided to plumb it back to the intake by the turbos. This way i am still getting oil in the tank but the system is closed so no funny smells or vapour in the cabin.



More to come soon! :thumbsup::clap:
 
#28 ·
With me doing some wiring with the gauges and fitting a few new parts and doing some trackdays i thought it best to put one of these in just to be safe. Also makes me grin when new passangers get in and see it!



I also managed to get some new wheels. Trouble was i only had 3 but i test fitted them to check the offset, style etc! I thought it'd just be a case of contacting a trader and waiting for one more to arrive. Should've done more homework!



Check out the badass offset!



So i had myself some amazing Advan RG in 17 x 9.5 et14. After a while of pestering all the traders in Japan fromn this forum and even just some people who lived in Japan, it became apparent that i was not going to find one of these now discontinued wheels. Lesson learnt there trying to be a cheapskate! After a while one turned up and i now have the set and am loving the cars new look with them. I've kept the other 17's for the track and have since sold on the 16" originals.

So the car was ready for the GTROC meet at Japfest castle coombe and i think it looked ok on the club stand, those who were there may remember it???



More to come! :thumbsup:
 
#33 ·
So I thought i'd take advantage of the membership and purchase some things from the club shop. First was the baffled Twin Turbo pipe. This way i could improve the flow of the turbos whilst retaining the Super induction box.



The quality of the product is fantastic and just goes to show how dirty the original item is! After sticking the TT plaque back on it was back to normal in the engine bay, although with a nice clean pipe! Didn't bother with the polished one as i'm not really into bling and i have better things to spend my money on! Function over aesthetics?? To a point i suppose.;)

BEFORE:




AFTER:



Had to take the car out for a spin after that and see how it performed. I must say i'm very impressed with the way the car drives at cruise and how it builds boost. It's hard to describe but it definetly makes it feel smoother. Thanks very much IanC!
 
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