Virgin Skyline Owner

[white'line]

hi everyone

i recently bought a 1987 turbo manual skyline (2 door) for 6000. is in excellent condition with new paint (white) and has an r32 turbo on it.

i'm completely new to the whole jap car turbo thing...my previous cars have all been classic aussie v8s and though i still love them i just cant afford to fix things like rust and hunt down non-existent parts anymore, so i decided to go the quicker, cheaper option!

so yeah, as i said, i dont know much about these cars, just what i have read on the net about there build, date basic engine specs etc.

the main questions i have are regarding exhaust systems, engine and turbo upgrades, and weak spots in the cars.

exhaust systems. Does the car need the huge cannon on the back for power and/or stable axhaust flow or can i remove it and put something more conservative and quiet on it without losing too much power? if so, how much power am i looking at losing?

engine upgrades. how much will it cost roundabouts for an engine reconditioning. is it worth it or should i just get a new engine? can i put a turbo engine from a later model in it? how much would an engine from an r32 be? i think my car is only a single cam? how do i confirm this?

turbo upgrades. as i said, the car has a turbo from an r32 on it and although the guy said you dont have to do any mods, is there anything i need to be aware of? are they as compatible as he states or will i need a bigger radiator, intercooler, adjust anything...? how much is a new turbo/bigger turbo and what modifications will i need to make to the engine/driveline so that it doesnt blow up?

lastly, weak spots. do the r31s have any trouble spots, leaks, rust etc or malfunctioning parts that i should know about?

thanks

Daniel.

[Mr Italy!]

With a turbo charged engines exhaust, the least amount of restriction is the key. So pretty much the less stuff that gets in the way of the exhaust flow, the better. So by adding a another muffler or making a super-dooper sound killer you'll most likely be restricting flow... which will result in a loss of power.

[Col-GTSX]

Hey Dan welcome to the turbo world...

All of the questions you have asked can be found buy doing a search on the different topics...

Although the weekspots may be harder to find...

The weekest part of any R31 is its ignightion system. Make sure you go and get an really good alarm system to ensure you have the car for a good length of time...

As for engine upgrades there are a million and one topics...

I personally did a rb26 in my first GTS-X as this had the most potential...

Turbo options... Well an rb26 in a Hr31 is standard format is fun... You can always bump the boost up a bit too...

Leaks... Watch you power steering pump main feed line... From the res to the pump...

Thats about it....

[white'line]

any figures on how much power i'll lose? if its only a few horses i dont mind. how can i quiet it down then...will this simply have the same effect as replacing the "cannon"?

thanks

[Col-GTSX]

A full 3 inch system can add quite a few horses and should be your first mod...

A system from tuebo back will set u back around $800

[white'line]

so these cars are often stolen then i take it. are they hard to come by? so the car is a gts-x?? man im new to this

[Col-GTSX]

Well they are easy to bypass if you know what your doing....

Stolen by joy riders mostlly....

If it has 2 door and its a turbo it could be either a GTS with motor transplant or most likelly a GTS-X.... If it were a GTS-R then you would have paid a whole lot more due to they are very rare...

[Col-GTSX]

Is the top of the enigne red and black or silver and black...

Also if its red does it have NICS or ECCS printed on the plenium??? Thats the bit that the throttle body is bolted too...

[white'line]

red and black...i dont know about the other parts...would have to check it out later. what does red and black mean?

[Col-GTSX]

The red and black is the right motor for that vehicle...

So the owner just replaced the stock turbo with an r32 item then you said.... I did this upgrade once and found it the same... Once you go to the r33 turbo you will see and hear a difference....

I found the r31/32 turbos to maje little or no difference... Sounded a little different but perfomance was the same...

Check out the NICS/ECCS thing tommorrow and post it...

[Mulkers]

Welcome.

I am glad to see an appreciation of the value-for-money and performance that these cars offer, as opposed to the ususal v8 mantra; big blcok + high stall + 9 inch...

anyways...

Some basic mods would be to free up the exhaust; front and dump pipe, a high flow cat, and a cat back.

Good quality, quiet(er) ones can be had for ~ $1000.

A front mount intercooler, and a boost controller would be the next move,

or possibly an upgrade to the ecu or turbo.

Also, a suspension upgrade, such as fully adjustable coilovers, will give great results to handling, and fun factor.

Weaknesses of rb20dets include; coilpacks, ceramic exhaust wheel of the turbo... not too much else, until things get serious.

The R32 turbo should be good, as it's wastegate actuator is set at roughly 10 psi, as well as it is larger than the r31's.

Do you have any pics?

Good luck with your car, enjoy!

Edited February 6, 2006 by Mulkers

[TTT]

exhaust systems.  Does the car need the huge cannon on the back for power and/or stable axhaust flow or can i remove it and put something more conservative and quiet on it without losing too much power? if so, how much power am i looking at losing?

the car does NOT need a huge cannon. You can change the rear muffler to what you want, and maybe add another resonator muffler between the cat and the cannon you now have and it will quieten it down a little more.. just try to find ones that are the same diameter of the piping.

You will lose a little power.. not much

engine upgrades. how much will it cost roundabouts for an engine reconditioning. is it worth it or should i just get a new engine? can i put a turbo engine from a later model in it? how much would an engine from an r32 be? i think my car is only a single cam? how do i confirm this?

Don't need to do a recondition unless it has a problem.. why bother..

yes you can put a turbo engine from the same family.. R32, R33, R34 etc..

Your car has the NICS RED TOP RB20det.

R32 came with the ECCS SILVER TOP RB20det which made more power and torque.

A silvertop from an R32 costs about $1000 for the complete motor. Probably less if you look around.

Your car is NOT a single cam, it is a DOHC like the R32 and so on.

turbo upgrades. as i said, the car has a turbo from an r32 on it and although the guy said you dont have to do any mods, is there anything i need to be aware of? are they as compatible as he states or will i need a bigger radiator, intercooler, adjust anything...? how much is a new turbo/bigger turbo and what modifications will i need to make to the engine/driveline so that it doesnt blow up?

no other mods are required for having an R32 turbo on your car. it is only a VRY MILD upgrade if that even. A bigger turbo than that which you might want to do is the turbo from the R33 series skyline which has the 2.5L RB25det engine.

This turbo is a good upgrade for RB20 owners (red and silver top).

Cost varies from about $350 (which I had paid for my one back a while ago) to about $500

Even that turbo bolts right in without any other mods as long as you get the first "ELBOW" shaped pipe from the turbo to intercooler with it.

lastly, weak spots. do the r31s have any trouble spots, leaks, rust etc or malfunctioning parts that i should know about?

apart from the skyline's Ceramic exhaust wheel which tend to fail when an increase of heat and speed (due to increased boost) I don't think there is anything that sticks out.

as for more modifications, follow the path of the air..

intake - free up the air filter(get cold air in)

intercooler - a front mounted intercooer (FMIC) is a good upgrade.. kits can be had for about $550 these days from Just Jap.

Full exhaust - it is common for people to get a larger exhaust from the CAT back to the rear muffler.. so the exhaust from the back of the turbo (refered to as the DUMP PIPE), down through the FRONT PIPE, to the cat can be upgraded.. as should the cat if not already done.

all these goodies can be bought from these forums.

BATMBL (a member of these forums) sells these exhaust bits and occasionally sells air filters too.

Hope my essay helps out.

TTT

[Col-GTSX]

GTST.......

There was also a ECCS red top motor found in the later mid 87 onward..... They have interchangable parts with the r32 silver top....

[white'line]

thanks everyone for that, really opened my eyes. your "essay" was incredibly helpful gtst, thanks.

ive noticed a slight leak from the oil catch can where it connects to the exhaust manifold. seems to be leaking exhaust smoke...any suggestions? seems to be a solenoid or sumthing. has wires coming out of it but screws into the exhaust manifold. ANY suggestions are appreciated as to what this may be.

also, the turbo makes a whining sound which i have been told is spooling. is this all good or should i be worried.

the lag on the turbo is also pretty long unless you double clutch. any ways around this?

and does anybody have a fuse box diagram in english? mines in bloody japanese...

[white'line]

also, how do you eadjust the boost without a boost controller? is there a manual setting under the bonnet?

thanks

Dan

[D-limo]

Hi Dan.

My advive for you power wise is some DIY cold air induction for the pod.. Then purachse a "DR Drift" boost controller.. $35 delivered. People have had very good results in reducing turbo lag with it. Will be usefull later on if you start looking at a front mount, bigger turbo etc. Or you could bump it up to 12 psi now and start pushing things a bit.

[email protected]

This is all asuming you have at least a cat-back exhaust fitted...?

It is possible to modify your wastegate actuator to change boost pressure but really isn't worth it when compared to the DR Drift controller. Really good piece of kit at an awesome price

Have you got an after market bov installed? Trying o figure why you need to be double clutching to keep boost up Remember these engines are designed to rev higher than most V8's..