Buying An R33

[Astaroth]

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy an R33 GTST, there's a few for sale around here at the moment and I've been thinking about it for a while. Had a VR4 Cordia project going for a while but have outgrown that and since parted her out..

I've read through the FAQ section, found the 'I'm buying a skyline..' thread very useful. I've done a bit of searching but am having trouble finding much more info... never liked the invision search engine

I'm trying to find information specs on GTST's... I'm after the differences between year models mainly, as some of the ones I'm looking at are quite early models (late 93).. but also info on different specs within the same year.

Also some R33-specific info would be great... particularly what tends to go wrong with them!

Thanks

[No Crust Racing]

The search engine on this forum is easily good enough to dig up answers to your questions (which hvae been covered many many times before)

I tend to use the search field at the bottom of a specific forum and construct search terms like so

+r33 +common +fault* (the star covers fault, faults and faulty)

If you can afford series II (96 onwards) I'd go for that.

Remember that as with any car (especially turbo or just performance) a professional inspection, compression test and leak down test are recommended.

Good luck!

[Astaroth]

Gah that's right, I forgot invision groups with +'s

hence 'r33 common fault' turns up 92137283923475034954098 results

Thanks

[Link]

The only problems i had with mine and they seem to be the most common with skylines is the misfire issue at 5000rpm

when you test drive the car bring it over 5000 rpm to check for this - often its sparkplugs needing to be changed, or a new set of coils ($600 odd)

Just do the usual checks and you should be sweet - they arent really prone to breaking down that i know of

[No Crust Racing]

When I bought mine it had a bad earth to the CAS and needed an Oxygen sensor.

My approach to buying cars is pump the seller with questions, if he/she doesn't give up the info - why not?

If after pumping them for as much info as possible you still like the sound of the car - go inspect it yourself. Take a pen and paper, write down EVERYTHING you notice is wrong. If you were told it's in good condition and it's not then walk.

If the car passes your personal inspection (in which you analysed the car like crazy and test drove it extensively) Then it's time for a professional inspection comp/leak down test - as to who pays you can work that out with the seller.

Once you hav ethe results of the pre-purchase inspection comp/leakdown tests you can negotiate a price.

Never be afraid to walk away, there's a lot of Skylines for sale and heaps of crap ones. Be picky!

Good luck and let us know if you buy one =D

[Astaroth]

Sorry actiondan I meant to ask about this:

If you can afford series II (96 onwards) I'd go for that.

Why? Are there significant differences between S1 and S2 or are you just suggesting I get the latest I can?

I only ask because there's one in particular that I'm looking at and it's a 93.

Cheers,

Astaroth.

Edited January 12, 2007 by Astaroth

[No Crust Racing]

I prefer the narrower bonnet/lights on the Series II personally plus the nwer hopefully the better. That's not a bad looking car though - I had those wheels on my Series II =D

[Astaroth]

Yeah from the photos it looks very tidy. It's fairly stock - has a big cooler (600x300 or thereabouts), bov, new HD clutch, pod, exhaust, and obviously the wheels/kit/paint... no internal work or anything though, just the way I want to start.

Comes with a bunch of spares, according to the guy he had plans for it but he's had a kid now and it's not practical. There's seats and trims and stuff plus spare wheels and tyres etc.

135,000k's according to him, not really sure how to check that other than the general wear and tear of the car.

Think I might have a look in the next week or two, will have to give it a good working over. I got burnt when I bought the cordia (hence I decided to do the VR4 conversion)... was young and silly, lot more experienced now so not gonna let that happen again

He's asking $15k, without knowing much about shkyrines I'm not sure how reasonable that is (and of course I haven't seen the car yet...). It still has stock suspension so I'd want to rectify that almost straight away.. so there's money to be spent already

Oh and I meant to ask, do you guys have a 'I just bought a skyline and have some money to spend, where do i start modifying' sort of thread here? Can't seem to find anything.

Edited January 12, 2007 by Astaroth

[Modena]

S2 FTW!

[SKY031]

There's a sticky thread up the top of this section which should have the answers you're after in regards to model differences, with links like this one, which allows you to compare all the different models, and their standard and optional features.

[Astaroth]

SKY031 - thanks for that link, had a look through the stickies but must've missed that one. TBH the differences between S1 and S2 seem very minor so I don't think I'll discount S1's... if I find a good one I'll take it. That purple one I pic'd above is a really nice looking car so if it turns out to be a winner I don't think I'll be worried that it's not an S2.

S2 FTW!

Uh.... ok then.

[R33silverS2]

One of the reasons i bought an s2 over the s1 besides the fact that i think they look better in stock form are some of the extra features like dual airbags, abs, smaller nicer steering wheel, more robust seat trim etc.

I think the s2 generally looks a lot more refined and not as dated with its shaper headlights and bonnet ridge, the stock fog lights in the front bar and the rear wing looks better than the s1. The s1.5 is not a bad option, bigger front bar and rear wing looks good with a nice grille.

[Astaroth]

Thanks for that, might have a search for some photos of the different years... haven't noticed too many external differences but haven't been looking at them side by side..

Have been reading the sticky in the forced induction section, some great info there. The RB30 thread is f'ing great, but I have about 259 pages left to read lol. Cubes emailed me the summary document though (couldn't d/l it at work, thanks cubes!) and it's excellent... that'll definitely be something I think about over the next couple of years.

In the early stages I'd be looking to fit a suspension kit and do all the bushes etc, this assumes I buy the one I pic'd above cause it still has stock suspension. Can anyone link me to a fairly comprehensive suspension mod guide? I've found scattered info here and there but nothing that really covers the lot... the handling section seems more full of brake stuff than suspension I'm basically looking for a guide on a complete suspension overhaul, mainly to give me an idea of how much I would be looking to spend.

Also I'd like some info about ECU's - the most common here seems to be the PowerFC, am I right in that it literally just drops in and requires no modification? Also does it run the car as it came from the factory, everything operates as normal? And assuming it's tuned well does the car start and run like a factory car? When I put the VR4 in the cordia I ran a microtech and she was an absolute pig to start... ran fine once it was warm but cold start was terrible.

Hmmm I think that's enough for the moment. Thanks!

[R3LOAD]

Yeah the powerFC wouldnt be the way to go, it is straight plug and play and there is no cold startup problems that i know of. I've had mine for over a year and its perfect.