Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hey guys and girls,

I have recently started shopping for an R34 GTR.

I was originally looking for a close to stock example, however I have been offered one which 1 year ago, apparently had a complete engine rebuild with forged pistons, racing valve springs - etc.

Anyway, the owner has not been able to provide me any specifics as to what was actually done as they 'do not know much about cars' and no receipts (as of yet) are available for the work done, just that someone called 'rick shaw' (anyone heard of him / them?) did the rebuild because the owner had further plans for the car - power wise.

However, my worry is - for all I know the car could have had a blown engine? or maybe none of the work was done at all and the internals are still stock? or maybe if work was done - it wasnt done properly? As with any used car, I'd have to get it checked thoroughly before purchasing. But is it even worth the risk!?

What are your thoughts / advice in regards to this? Is this a car you would just potentially walk away from buying? Has anyone here been in the same boat or had any similar experiences? If so, please share your thoughts and advice!

I'm a complete n00b when it comes to R34 GTR's in general. I previously had an R33 GTR and have spent most of my life obsessed with them - so I knew my car inside out, i could pull stuff apart, knew what to expect with wear and tear, costs involved - etc without too much worrying. But is there anything in general (especially given the age of the cars now) that I should look out for with the R34 GTR?

Cheers!

Chris.

Edited by KR4-GTR

I've heard of him, if its the one i'm thinking he specialises in rotary's I thought and has quite a good reputation. Not too sure though if he does anything else.

Try having a search on Ausrotary or:

Ric Shaw Rotary

35 Parramatta Rd, Five Dock, NSW 2046

ph: (02) 97167690, (02) 97985713

Edited by Scottydoo

Rick Shaw Racing are a big name with rotors. That said, I dont know what they're like with GTRs.

The easiest thing you can do is, call them up and ask them about whether they did the work or not.

And there's nothing wrong with buying a rebuilt car as long as the work was done right from the start.

Good luck with it all mate. There's so many GTR's out there for sale that you should go and look for as many samples as you can before you make the big decision.

Thanks for the info guys, thats a great start and heaps of help! ;)

I will be looking at quite a few examples - i promise! it took me 3 years to find my old gtr, i'm a pretty fussy person - especially when it comes to my cars.

With the market how it is at present, its great to be the buyer - as you have quite a few to choose from, however on the flip side - it does suck to be selling.

Cheers again!

Edited by KR4-GTR
  • 2 weeks later...

Hey guys,

I've noticed that SOME of the R34 GTR's appear to have a bit of rust around the brake light on the boot lid. Another area to check appears to be around the spoiler.

Are there any other obvious areas on an R34 GTR which are known to possibly have rust?

Or are there any other flaws causing common faults which should be checked?

Cheers!

Edited by KR4-GTR

^^^^ they're common rust spots and easily attended to.

Steve at Just Jap recommends that the VIN# be traced to see if the car's background stems from Hokkaido (where the roads are salted) and then scrutiny of rust elsewhere needs to be super-vigilant

I have to say I always get wary of people who get hazy when mechanical issues are mentioned - "I'm not a mechanic, but..."

There are a LOT of supposedly low-km cars getting around in Sydney that have had the kms brutally wound back. It's got to the point where I joke with my guys in Japan whenever we see grade 4 R34 GT-Rs with 180,000km going through auctions being hotly bidded on, that "that one's going to Sydney"...

^^^^

Because I'm intrigued by what you've just said > eclectic because of cross-referencing from PI > and now a sleuth,

my questions are...

If the Yakuza are behind the bankrolling of auction houses in Japan, would there not be some 'phantom-bidding' at several items at auction just because these cars are going overseas?

If so, is it legal or illegal to carry out this practice in Japan?

Are they the people responsible to fudging odometer readings?

Do they have an active interest in www.skylinesaustralia.com or EVO forums for that matter (yes, incl Indonesia, UK, Thailand etc) to check on market demands & prices?

Because of commission rates, it would be in their interests to keep prices inflated would it not?

I don't mind that these Qs are answered off-air.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • OK, that is a helpful description, because that sounds exactly like a bleeding issue in the clutch....these are hard to bleed manually even when the damping loop has been removed. I'd suggest bleeding again....start by filling the master cylinder up and opening the bleed nipple. Come back and check every now and then that the master cylinder is not empty. Let it gravity bleed for a few hours and see if that improves
    • I replaced the whole clutch line with the chase bays braided hose, I think it removes that loop, is it the short hose that comes immediately off the slave or is there a drawing in the manual to find what you’re referring to? It was just re-bled when I upgraded to the nismo slave, old slave worked fine but I thought that might help, didn’t change a thing. It’s like the first half of the pedal is pushing air and then when it finally actuates the master the friction zone is tiny. Makes it practically impossible to launch the car
    • Yep, that was one of the things we learned fast in the past with our MX5. When you drive with the top down, you are effectively standing out in the sun, 100% of the time, and not getting in any shade (because roads aren't shaded generally!). Just like standing out in the middle of a field on a sunny 27C day is a bit of a bad plan, so is sitting in a MX5 without sun protection.
    • I also just ordered some Frankenstein bolts and side mounts to fit a hard top Just in case I do find one, basically so it doesn't need to be fixed to the car with only the front latch.......and then gaffa tape to keep it in place for the RTN journey from wherever I get it
    • If your temps are fine now, you probably won't have any issues with where your vents are as they don't look right up at the windscreens high pressure area, so any differences when giving it the beans for extended happy laps would be minimal, but, they should vent heaps when stuck in traffic  Much like how that reverse cowl on my SS let "visible" heat out when stationary, but, because it was basically at the windscreen my coolant temps on the Hwy actually raised because air was being fed into it at speed (110kph), to only come back down to around 90° when I got off the Hwy And your 100% correct about the NC currently not needing vents, but, if I was to add a turbo, and a oil cooler and intercooler in front of the condenserand radiator, and then take it to the track???? It is apparently a recommend requirement if I don't want to worry about coolant or oil temp issues, but, any of the above are possible scenarios, over time As it sits now, with the triple pass radiator and stock air conditioning system, I have absolutely no issues with either temps or air conditioning efficiency, I've been basically daily driving thie car for the last month, both on the Hwy, and peak hour, bumper to bumper traffic, but, that's pretty much expected from basically a standard engine  Talking about no issues daily driving, it was 39° the other day and I was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the M5 and then M7, with the top down, and with the air conditioning blowing nice cold air on my feet, balls, and face, well, there was one issue, my head and arms got pretty sun burnt Note to self: leave a hat and sunscreen in the car for such days 🤣
×
×
  • Create New...