Nzm.031's R32 Gtst Ground Up Build.

[NZM.031]

Hello Everyone and welcome to my first ever build up thread.

this project has come as a result of being a bit silly on our public roads... which i has learnt me a well good lesson... DONT DO IT!

the planned finish date somewhere in between 2011 and possibly 2012 (depending on finances), i will do all the free labour jobs first up, which should take all of 2010 and then start on the buying of actual parts in 2011.. then its just a matter of money. Being a mechanic, i will be doing all the spanner twirling, the old boy is a machinest so i will be calling on him to help out with fabricating of things.

This car, nicknamed Rach (after Rachel Green from Friends) is planned to be a super neat, super clean track car with a number plate.. i enjoy drift and time attack so this will be its primary job... it will be completly refurbished from top to bottom, look fairly standard on the outside, retain the RB20 with a moderate power level.. but with lots of suspension work and weight reduction and weight placement up the ying yang.

i have been keeping tabs on how much everything weighs as it is removed and ill be removing everything that is not necessary.. id like to attempt all those little things that narks say is a waste of time and effort and hopefully prove them wrong, im not one to just up the boost to make up for terrible weight balance.

the influences are heavly on Nigel Petries S13 Silvia, his car inspired me to take mine to that kind of level.. but many ideas are picked up from dozens of other cars.. i have HPI magazines strewn throughout the house looking for ideas.

im a few months into it so the stream of updates should be able to be kept steady.

so, lets begin with a small intro.. one sentence can describe me... i mow my lawn once a week, every week and i wash my mower after each and every use.

heres the car when i first got her...

and after a wash ...

add one HDI fmic...

and some cusco coilovers and Panasport G7 rims...

and that was how she stayed... until a nasty gutter jumped out at her and ripped her to bits..

actually, it was a dampish morning, rear tyres were kablanked, front tyres were sgaglanked and i came in too fast like ally ally ally shckablank, understeered straight into the gutter, front suspension was danked, twanked and danked..

as you can see... the end of the crossmember is mangled.. the control arm is mangled, the steering knuckle is broken, the top control arm is warped, the brake line has snapped, the castor rod has snapped... and the front and rear wheels werent much toast..

we had to strap the steering knuckle together and also strap the control arm forwards just to get it to move... getting it on the trailer was a bitch especially with two flat tyres on one side... CHECK YOUR SPARES PEOPLE!!! mine was dead flat and it popped off the bead making it pointless.

and here she sat... for 4 months while i decided what to do about her.

Cheers

Linton

[DJRIFT]

Nice write up.

welcome to the GTS way of life

Ben (savman) and I have been traveling down this track for a while now. if you need some tips and tricks sing out. ive done most of it before but can never remember untill i go to do it again.

[NA_Goodness]

I'll be keeping an eye on this one! Good plan so far

[NZM.031]

thanks DJRIFT... ive been watching savmans build aswell.. should be tidy as when he gets it finished... mine wont be built for competition like his will.. i can justify having this car even if i only do a few track days a year.

1st update..

twas the night of our year anniversary when i decided to keep her and go mental.. for 4 months i had been tossing up whether i wanted a GTR or not.. but the things i wanted to do to the car were too nasty for me to do to a GTR, as i have so much respect for the car.. so basically.. i will have both... one a a nice R32 GTR, fully restored and very mild, the kind of car you'd take home to mother... and one nasty suicide girl.. that your brain tells you is pointless and expensive to keep, but is completly mindblowing in other areas

after driving Bakes' R34 GTR, i realised that the GTR and GTSt's are 2 completly different cars.. one is not better than the other.. and the GTR did not suit my driving style, i like to brake hard, throw it in the corner, catch the oversteer and punch it out.. the GTR felt a bit too delicate for that.. and it was farking heavy.. but damn quick and an awesome drive never the less.

so the strip down began.

at this point, i needed to get it back rolling so a chasing parts we went..

R33 Lower Control Arms

New Crossmember

and i got a matched pair of steering knuckles... obviously.. but i dont have a photo of them yet, considering getting them modded by one of the silvia guys.. they are doing marvellous things over there.

oh, and check out my makeshift castor rod.. think i might market these bad boys.... or not.

[NZM.031]

now the wheels can be put on... me being a sook, i couldnt stand the sight of having the standard wheels on, so i put the 2 good panasports from the RHS, onto the LHS so i can bear to look at it... the RHS is against the wall so you hardly see it.

now that it was back rolling... i can move it forward and backwards.. hooray!!

now i could get the engine out (my garage roof isnt high enough to get a crane in there)

and the engine is out and on the stand.

until next time folks..

[XRATED]

I can see a super light rotating mass, revvy, elastic rb20 with a 10k rev limmit, GTRS and itb roar- in your future.

mmm...

Good luck mate.

[NZM.031]

I can see a super light rotating mass, revvy, elastic rb20 with a 10k rev limmit, GTRS and itb roar- in your future.

mmm...

Good luck mate.

shhhhhhh.... your not meant to read the back of the book first.. actually.... replace the GTRS with a nostalgic t04 (with magic dust inside) and your pretty well on the money.

[XRATED]

Great minds think alike.

Your right about the gts-t v's gtr thing too. I love my pride and joy- 400rwkw 32GTR... but I do love the thrashability, steering angle and super revvy 20 of my GF's (ha haha my drift car) gts-t... it has some great susp under it.

Cheers

J.

[lawler]

Sorry to hear about the stack. but this Looks like it could turn into an interesting projected

[NZM.031]

the stack was a blessing really... noone else was involved, the car wasnt greatly damaged, but enough to make me wake up to myself... not that i was a rat bag and endangering people and what not, i was always restrained and a back road hoon, but it makes you realise just how easy and quick things can go wrong, and your in a 1200kg missle.. this car will come out for the odd cruise, the odd show, the odd drive every now and then, but mainly on the back of a trailer and off to the track.

heres some more pics.

with the engine out... i was left with the usual mess of shit and corruption,

and 20 years worth of built up gunk... mainly p/s fluid from bad hose clamps and bad hoses..

Spray and Wipe is your friend

so now that the engine bay is nice and clean... its time for a lick of paint.

starting to prime

and all primed up ready for paint

now the fun part, starting to paint

and finished painting... looks sweet now, i chose Takeuchi Dark Grey.. or Machinery Grey in the common tongue... simple choice really... i first saw it on the red Garage Defend R33 GTR, and then NP's S13, it suits any colour car, doesnt not stand out, does not cause a black hole, its easily blended, and best of all, its cheap (free) through my work.

now that the engine bay is ready to start bolting stuff back in, its time to move on to the interior

it was a really neat, stock interior..

and den.... this was the point of no return, as i labled all the wiring i had my first double take.. do i really want to do this??

hell yeh i do... theres about 10kg of wiring under there, most of it for the stereo and air con. the blower unit, evaporator and heater core all way 3kg each... so 9kg gone

now its dry ice time... i shouldve done it over the christmas break but i had other things to do.. i started to try chiseling it off.. as i have time to spare... but after getting one corner done in half an hour.. i thought F#%k this.

the dash will be going back in with the centre console just for a bit neater look, and ill make vent system to the original vents for fresh air, but no fan or a/c.

does anyone know how hard it is to cover the dash pad in suede or alacantra?? i mean is it hard dash shape to cover or should i just get a trimmer to do it?? i read up about flocking it, but its too messy and too much work, when all i really need is to cover it, plus suede looks and feels nice.

ive almost caught up to where im at, so i better get cracking and do some more to stay ahead of the thread.

cheers

Linton

[sav man]

just goto spotlght and get some suide (after they growl at you for having a penis), and do it yourself. it's not real hard, damo did it to his car, and we'r doing to mine

[NZM.031]

just goto spotlght and get some suide (after they growl at you for having a penis), and do it yourself. it's not real hard, damo did it to his car, and we'r doing to mine

do you know what he used to get it nicely into the sharp angle under the vents. as suede marks real easy.. a credit card or plastic applicator or something?? or just push down with fingers??

hahahahahahaha... noted.... ill send the mrs, better yet, ill get the old girl to get it for me... i get growled at enough at home..

cheers.

[sav man]

pretty sure he just gave it a good fingering.

[NZM.031]

pretty sure he just gave it a good fingering.

SELECTA!!!

[NZM.031]

Bit of an update.

splashed out and bought some bits over christmas.

one thing i have always wanted this car to be was old school... with a new school spin.. so the turbo choice both nostalgic, and sentimental.. sort of.

this is a t04 that i bought off guiltoy many years ago, he had done a few mods to it, and then i did a few mods to it.... put it on my 33, and then sold the 33 with the turbo on it.. i remember the guy that bought it (hey mitch ) took the turbo and lots of good bits off it, so i hit him up, and sure enough he had the turbo in his garage.. needs a rebuild though.

you can fit the inlet of the RB20 turbo inside the t04 inlet

it has a VG30det rear housing and steel wheel, so my nice kakimoto dump pipe will still bolt straight up.

the size difference is fairly substantial.

now i may get flamed for this turbo... a 2530 or GTRS maybe be a better option, sure... but this car isnt about better.. its about being mine.. and i remember good things about this turbo on the rb25.. power figure is irrelevant, especially as its not accurate (old school bosch dyno, analogue dials).. it read 267rwkw on the 33 on 17psi boost... that was the absolute max for the injectors.. but compared to the 180rwkw it pulled before the turbo, that is all thats needed to go off... the turbo provided a 90kw increase..

like i said though, that is irrelevant, what is relevant is the way the turbo boosted and how hard the car went on the road... with 255 pirellis... wheelspin was evident coming on boost in 3rd gear.. nuff said. it may be a freak turbo, it may just be a good combo, it may have been a freak engine.. but it wasnt laggy, and made good power.

another thing i picked up, was this complete s14 steering system... rack, pump, crossmember, lines, the lot. $20 off ebay!!!

as ive removed the hicas completly.. i wanted a 2ws pump and rack... and ive read that the s14 rack has more lock with less turns than the r32 one... maybe so, maybe not.. ill let you know when its cleaned, painted and installed.

ill be fitting it with new tie rods and ends, and some steering spacers.. interesting note is the r32 tie rods remain the same thickness throughout, whereas the s14 ones taper in halfway down..

there is a small weight saving in the s14 stuff... the pump is 2kg lighter, the rack is 2kg lighter, and the tank is a few grams lighter, being small and plastic.

now to figure out a way to mount the pump low, where the a/c used to be....

cheerio.

[DJRIFT]

hey mate good choice with the turbo. if you like it and it worked before than stick with it. im also a fan of the stock looking turbo setup.

as far as the S14 gear goes. in our experience the rack has no more length (or lock). an r32 rack with lock spacers and modified lock stoppers is the best bet. the next step after that is some NP hyper nuckles. soon to be added to my car.

as for the s14 PS pump ive never tried to fit one. we have however fitted r33 pumps as they are very similar looking (if not the same pump) and have a single outlet. the PS fluid canister is plastic and light weight. and they bolt up to the RB20 engine mount with the use of a washer for perfect spacing. ive also changed to a r33gtst harmonic balancer on mine as they are lighter and have a 3PK belt space for the PS where as the rb20 has the 4PK spacing.

ive mounted my PS pump where the AC used to be and it was just the case of making one of the mount holes oval and making a small metal bracket to pick up the mount. it wasnt as easy as first thought but id never seen it done and its lower centre of gravity ect bla bla crap crap bla. i like to do things different to. it may be easier to fabricate a new bracket if you know some one capable of doing so. i like to work with what i have so i made mine fit.

sorry if it seems like im stealing your ideas im just sharing the knolage base. im keen to se more people develop and create than simply buy and bolt on. your turbo is another good example.

[NZM.031]

DJRIFT, i would have gone the R33 gear, had it been available, and had it been $20 , and it may be alot of work, but id like to keep the s14 stuff as its designed to work completly without hicas, im considering NP's Wonder Knuckles... but ill wait and see just how much lock i have before getting to that point..

you can see here that the s14 pump clearly doesnt fit in the original RB20 bracket

the reason being that the middle section of the rb20 pump has a cutout

i pulled the pumps apart, but internally they are different, so theres no swapping bits over

the shaft in the rb20 pump is one with the pulley, whereas the s14 has a removable pulley... at this stage i thought the only thing to do was either make a custom bracket... or machine the end plate, after a chat to the old boy, machining the end plate was out.. then i found this.

with a small amount of filing.. the s14 pump fits neat as in the alloy a/c bracket... 2 birds with one stone!! its mounted where i want it, and with a bit of butchering of excess material, it will be on a light weight alloy bracket..

or so i thought..

it sits a little far back to be of any use.. dammit

so the idea is there... now the ideas i have are to make an adapter plate to move it forward 30mm, or make a custom bracket again.. i think ill make the bracket as it will be lighter and i can make it where i need it... so next question... to weld one up... or machine it out of one block??

cheers

Linton

[Bakes]

Great thread man. Knowing this guy, I have no doubt that this car will turn out awesome!!

p.s: Just because you are busy with your car doesnt mean that you are getting out of buiding a pod box for mine. Muwahaahhahahhahaha

Also, the zils told me she is a little upset that you said she has a weight problem.

[NZM.031]

haha, quite the opposite bro... i need to build you a box, and many more in order to pay for this mofo.. ive rearranged the garage so i have room to be back in production and have started getting supplies... Garage Debris airboxes are back in business.... nearly.

being a qualified personal trainer... i am happy to help your zils with her little weight problem.. as you can see, im quite ruthless.. you just like the extra cushion she has..

im willing to reearange my thoughts if she wants lend me the keys and have another go at rearranging my vertabre.. haha.

[NZM.031]

sup peeps... nothing really to update... other than the decision has been made to respray the old girl.. its a bit slow at work so been playing in photoshop

picture this... but with hand rolled verandah flares! (and probably gunmetal grey wheels, maybe some r34 gtr wheels with bolt on spacers)