Looked At My First R33 Today...

[juzz88]

Went down to the dealer to test drive this puppy today

Burgundy R33 from CarsGuide

All looked good from the pics, but it wasn't until I got it to my mechanic that he was able to show me a few things wrong with the car.

Burgundy R33 Web Album

I can't believe I didn't spot this myself, but the car had obviously been resprayed, and the colours did not match up at all as you can see from the pics (you can even see it from the pics the dealer has up on the site, but from close up it's even more obvious).

The handbrake handle was broken. You don't need to be Einstein to figure that out once you get in the car, but it wasn't mentioned to me when I rang them.

But what interested me the most was the fact that my mechanic seems to think that where the air intake has been put in, they've cut through the body of the car to fit it in. Can anybody else notice that from the pics I took? I didn't quite get what he was talking about.

There's also holes in the body just behind the front left wheel and the front left of the bonnet isn't even. It's slightly pushed in. If you look at the two photos I took of the bonnet you can see the first pic isn't even.

The mechanic picked all of this up in a matter of minutes. There was also moisture build up in the headlights which I forgot to take a photo of too. He didn't even bother getting it up on the hoist, he just said to keep away from this one.

Also, how is a heavy duty clutch supposed to feel? Because the dealer told me that it has a heavy duty clutch, and to me (and the mechanic) it was VERY sensitive and very easy to stall. Taking off in 1st in that thing is a nightmare. Are all heavy duty clutches like this? If so, I'm gonna stick to stock lol.

My mechanic told me I'm better off going private with cars like these and look for one that's been taken care of. Preferably by someone older. So if anyone knows any older and mature R33 owners that are selling their cars, let me know lol.

BIG eye opener. I'm gonna have to be very careful. I'm seriously considering importing too. Hopefully the IronChef or someone can find me a nice clean R33 in good nick.

[juzz88]

^^^^^^^^^ I realise that's a lot to read

But if you guys can just answer my question about the clutch.

Do Heavy Duty Clutches all stall that easily? Is it something you just have to get used to when taking off? Or does that one sound f*#ked?

Cheers.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

HD Clutch will usually be 'harder' than stock to drive.. You just get used to the clutch you drive and then it's easy

Car could have had an aftermarket bodykit and returned to standard.. So not always bad

what do you mean the handbrake is broken? Where exactly?

Where the air intake is.. there used to be an Air Box with panel filter.. So that's been removed and replaced with a POD filter.. there are holes underneath that from factory for the intercooler.. How did he make that assumption? Check the holes and you should be able to tell if one has been cut...

Those holes don't look good though.. Looks like rust holes.. was there rust around the holes at all?

Bonnet height isnt a big one either.. there are rubber mounts under the bonnet.. to adjust the height.. once again.. could have had an aftermarket bonnet in it and returned to stock to sell to dealer, as dealers not going to give extra coin for the aftermarket goodies..

If I was paying a mechanic i would be wanting them to look under the car.. Check the engine for compression.. If he's hinting that this car has been in an accident I'd be looking for more proof than that IMO.. But at the end of the day.. If you don't want that clutch.. then don't stress on that car anymore..

[mad082]

1. looking at the pic of the back bumper, it doesn't mean the car has been resprayed but it's simply had a different bumper put on. in this case though i'd say the car has had a respray for reasons pointed out in my 3rd point.

2. as craig said, the bonnet is also no biggy as there is adjustable rubbers that alter the height of the bonnet.

3. the car has however been in a front end accident by the looks of it. that explains the 2 holes under the guard. it also explains all the wrinkles around where the cooler pipes go down to the cooler.

[juzz88]

Sweet thanks for the help guys.

Yeah I wasn't big on that clutch, but I slowly got used to it the more I drove it. I guess after a couple of weeks it would become second nature. I'm hoping to run 200rwkw when I eventually get my car, so I'm guessing even if I do find a car with a stock clutch, it won't last very long.

I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

[mad082]

the newer the clutch the more bite it has to it (how quickly it starts to grab once the flywheel and clutch plate and pressure plate all connect together). heavier clutches just feel a bit different because it pushes against your foot much harder. once you get used to it it's fine. my first car was a manual falcon and the clutches on them are as hard as a heavy duty clutch in the skyline, so the first time i drove a 4 cylinder i nearly put my foot through the firewall because the clutch was so much lighter.

[juzz88]

What do you mean lighter?

The heavy duty clutch in the skyline I drove was "harder" to drive because it was more difficult to drive than the clutch in my Prelude. In terms of "hardness" or firmness. The skyline clutch was much lighter. The clutch in my Prelude pushes against my foot quite hard, which is what I'm used to. Hence why I kept stalling the skyline, because I was taking my foot off too quickly and the car just stalled. Does that make sense?

Basically the clutch in the Skyline only had a very low "friction point". I couldn't pull the clutch out very far before it stalled. Whereas with my Prelude I can pull the clutch out heaps without stalling.

Is that normal for a Skyline? Or is that just how Heavy Duty Clutches work?

Cheers.

[mad082]

usually a heavy duty clutch will have a heavier feel to it. so it should be hard to push in. there are a few that don't though. i'm guessing this was one of them if in fact it actually was a heavy duty clutch. how it compares in weight to a prelude clutch i couldn't say though.

as for the friction point, that varies from car to car as they can be adjusted a bit to alter where the friction point is. doesn't really have that much to do with where the friction point is.

[JiN_MaN]

Not worth buying,

A very average example asking a bit of coin. The holes in the metal shouldn't be there, possibly from the factory tow hook being taken off? Either way it will fill up with moisture over time which i bad + all the other things you have mentioned and look closely under the air filter in the engine bay, looks to have had a small hit because the metal is bent around the pipe work.

Stick to private sale and when you think you have found one and have looked at everything, if your still happy get an independent test.

[jiffo]

Another rough FMIC install.

The metal around the pipework to the R33's SMIC is a thin as alfoil.

Only takes one solid bump into a concrete wheel stop with the cross over pipe and your bodywork will get torn by the cooler pipes, just like in those photos.

Similarly the 2-holes that would normally have the SMIC bracket. If the car still had the inner plastic guard fitted, you wouldn't even see in there. The fact that the inner guard is gone is more of a worry to me. May have ripped off from a blowout, but worth a close look.

I'd suggest taking someone with you who is more switched onto Skylines, to get an accurate assessment.

[Kinks]

1. looking at the pic of the back bumper, it doesn't mean the car has been resprayed but it's simply had a different bumper put on. in this case though i'd say the car has had a respray for reasons pointed out in my 3rd point.

2. as craig said, the bonnet is also no biggy as there is adjustable rubbers that alter the height of the bonnet.

3. the car has however been in a front end accident by the looks of it. that explains the 2 holes under the guard. it also explains all the wrinkles around where the cooler pipes go down to the cooler.

+1. Lowered on its guts, rear bumper non matching, front bonnet doesn't line up, creases/wrinkles in the front engine bay where the cooler hose goes.. random holes underneath.. broken handbrake with cosmetic boot torn and falling off, red gearstick boot and cheesy shift knob, shiny oil filler cap, boost gauge in head impact area, random breather pipe cable tied to coolant bleed bolt/intake plenum... no... that car's been in an accident and was owned by someone who didn't treat the car nicely. it's a hack job.

that compliance plate looks a bit off as well. I'm not sure if this is always the case but the last 6 digits of my VIN match the chassis number on the nissan build plate. I've never heard of a "Nissan Oz Skyline" either, sounds very suss.

my advice to you is go look at a bunch of different R33s. then pick the best one and show your mechanic. you only get to know what you're looking for when you have been looking a while, don't rush things because you inherit all the history of the car when you buy it. take it from me these cars are beautiful if you find a good one. they are so easy to drive with a stock clutch as well, obviously that has been changed so it bites really hard. the very first time I got in my mate's R33 with a stock clutch i heel-toe downshifted it and matched revs perfectly the first time. if it drives like an abortion it probably is.

[tiberis]

yeah, +1 for having the VIN number match up with my nissan build number.

Just for reference, the Nissan plate build code is a real code for a R33 skyline built in Jan '95, and it is a manual turbo. so all that checks out...

but it's up to you if you want to have a car with that history... i know that my R33 has had a small bit of a front end already (noticed that the front bumper was different and that some of the mounts for the head lights were cracked) but i got the car for cheap so it didn't bother me that much (like, half the price).

[DarkRyda]

To be honest i have no idea why you went to a dealer in the first place there are a lot of well maintained skylines being sold for a similar price under the sales section of the forum i would have personally started there or on carsales i believe Private sales are better for second hard cars than dealers. Some good points made by the previous posts above though! imo i wouldn't buy it, search for another one im sure you can find a much nicer much cleaner one on here or carsales.

Edit: My bad just saw you where new on here just thought id give you my opinion Also check the reg / vin with your transport authority (e.g. Vic Roads) they can normally tell you a lot about the car stolen history, damage history, finance etc...

Edited September 1, 2010 by DarkRyda

[juzz88]

Thanks for all the replies guys. All very helpful.

Yeah I'm definitely staying away from this particular R33, but the positives are that I learnt a lot about what to look for when looking at cars.

There are a few really nice R33s on the other side of town (all the ones in the Western Suburbs seem to be in a lot rougher condition lol) that I wanna take a look at. I just need to find the time to go have a look because I work on weekends and don't want to go see a car at night.

May have to wait until daylight savings starts unfortunately, or start looking at importing.

In regards to that clutch, I'm glad to hear that all heavy duty clutches aren't that weak. Because that one was REALLY annoying.

If anyone else has anything more to add please keep the posts coming, I'm learning a lot.

Cheers.

[PM-R33]

"Heavy Duty Clutch" unfortunately is a very broad term. The clutch in it could be anything from a button, solid centre, single organic, twin plate, triple plate, carbon fibre, well you see my point. Every clutch has a different feel to it and also has a different feel to it when it is new/cold/worn in etc. So obviously without knowing what clutch was in it and your lack of experience with aftermarket clutches, you can't really blame the clutch. For example my clutch is an absolute pleasure to drive, however you may stall it every time you drove it and think it was a rubbish clutch because you are not used to it. See my point?

As to importing one, you would be silly to do that (not to mention this country doesn't need more R33's being imported lol). There is that many available to choose from it is a buyers market. Most people can't sell Skylines for months and months so you are in a perfect oppurtunity. Not to mention you can look at the car, test drive it, get it checked out which with importing you really can't do.

[juzz88]

Button clutch. That's what my mechanic said it was. Not really into them if they are all like that lol.

Yeah there are a few cheap R33s going around, I may have to try and make an effort to get to the other side of town to have a look at a few.

There's one I like that mentioned that it has a broken speedo. How much are they to fix roughly?

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

Yeah I got a button clutch.. They are hard as hell to hold down.. Fucking annoying in peak traffic as your trying to hold your foot down all the time.. Neutral FTW? LOL...

But you have very limited play and I wouldnt recommend if it's just your daily driver..

Speedo depends on what is wrong.. If it's just the cluster itself, you could easily just pick one up from the wreckers and just replace it.. But I can tell you now.. Cheap can cause problems.. They are cheap for a reason.. And can cost you more in the end anyway..

[juzz88]

Ah ok. I think the speedo is just not working. As in it's at 0kmh all the time.

There are quite a few R33s for 10k. Do you think this is too cheap? From looking at carsales, a lot of the ones that cost more don't have any lower ks or more mods, the owners just want more for them from what I can see. Obviously I still need a mechanic to go over them.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

LOL not always true.. First one to mention.. Don't trust the klms.. Most are wound back before import or while over here.. heck if the speedo isnt working.. are the k's ticking over? If you got a new cluster.. that k's would then be overwritten.. Example on that one.. I bought my 34 with 52k on the clock.. I purchased a S2 speedo and it now displays 75k on the clock LOL..

Look at condition of the car.. the drivers seat, pedals, carpet, steering wheel.. Do any show signs of wear? Also get a compression/leak test done.. Will show condition of the motor.. If you have a win on both of those you know you got a good looking car and a healthy motor..

10k isnt too bad.. Depends on the series.. I recommend doing your research about what to look for and understand the basics on the skyline so you know what to look for and why.. Also the general costs on having one.. There is a thread on here about what to do in terms of pre-checks..

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

Here you go.. Sticky in this section also.. Just go through the threads you want to know about

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Sk...ne-t113261.html