Xavier's Build Thread

[gtsttrk]

Hey guys and gals, so I thought that I'd finally start a build thread after owning my car for a year now. It's a white 1997 series II gtst. It was largely unmodified when I bought it off a mate for the very good price of $6,500.

The engine is untouched apart from a turbo back exhaust, which I believe is actually a fujitsubo but I may be wrong. It's running the standard cat as my mate previously got one but it was incorrectly sized and didn't fit. I've spoken to George over at venom and he's advised me on a 5' 100 cell cat. Best flow and he said that it would be suitable for any serious upgrades down the track. I'm a bit nervous that it would scrape but George said a few guys had already fitted it and had no issues, even with mildly lowered cars. He said he'd contact me in a couple of weeks when they get in the new ones with the temp sensor hole.

To go with the cat I've also got a Just jap split dump that will be going on at the same time.

As I've been at uni for the past year I haven't been able to really do anything on the car, but I've upgraded the rear speakers with a pair of Polk 6x9s. Great sound but am going to soundproof plus get a new shelf done. Parcel shelf it rapped and botched by a shitty install at Autobarn. Learnt my lesson, never again!

Pics to come and more info to come tonight/tomorrow.

[Willis]

Sounds good. Grab some pics mate and throw em up!

What state do you live in?

I wouldn't bother with "hi flow" cats if you dont have to, just gut the existing cat or get a "de-cat" pipe from ebay. =]

[adamskill]

Sounds good. Grab some pics mate and throw em up!

What state do you live in?

I wouldn't bother with "hi flow" cats if you dont have to, just gut the existing cat or get a "de-cat" pipe from ebay. =]

Not a very good idea at all. not every one likes running illegal mods that have very minor gains at an almost stock level.

[gtsttrk]

So been a long time since I posted in here and a lot of things have changed! Unfortunately my skyline came to an end in a car accident. Luckily no one was injured or killed etc, and fortunately no one else was harmed. After the call to say the car was a write off I began my search. Rather than going another auto I decided I'd aim for a nice manual. I decided to skip car sales and bean searching through SAU for a nice one.

I ended up buying Alr33x's GTST.

I had a service done and the roadworthy, and couldn't wait to start getting the mods done! Rather than going out and putting the mods on one-by-one, I've slowly been stockpiling parts to put in one hit.

Currently installed on the car is a blitz(?) return flow, aftermarket coilpacks (believe they are splitfire), k&n panel filter, split dump and I believe an aftermarket cat.

Ready to go on I currently have a custom exhaust (courtesy of Alr33x), the 100 cell cat, a Blitz sus power air intake (which I will be using in conjuction with a CAI), GTR fuel pump, HKS SSQV & EIDS stabilizer (unsure if this will be used, very NFS, if I do use it will most likely plumb it back), and I'll be purchasing a CES split dump to complete the exhaust.

Interior wise the car is stock however I've put on a Nismo titanium shift knob which I'm loving!

I replaced the 17' wheels that came with the car with a set of Rota P45R2's. Black 18 inch all round +12 running stretched rubber. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea but that's how they came!

The parts I have should be on soon but I have a lot more to come! Just need to decide on a workshop to get it all underway and future tuning. Thinking doctor drift possibly.

[gtsttrk]

So for those of you that are interested I'm going to go through some of my future plans forthw car. I'm not after a huge drag monster or a dyno king but rather a nice street car that I can hopefully get down to some vic drift days.

ENGINE:

Plazmaman pro series FMIC and (possibly) forward facing plenum.

Metal intake pipe.

CES split dump.

Larger injectors (yet to be determined but looking at IDs)

Larger fuel pump

Z32 AFM

EBC

Look at turbos down the track, not really looking at hi-flowing though.

BODY:

BN Sports kit

Widened front fenders

GTR rear fenders

INTERIOR:

Leaving it largely stock but removing the front seats and replacing with Bride seats. Possibly fixed back for driver and recliner for passenger.

[gtsttrk]

Getting my tax back soon, so should start a bit of savings for the build

Supporting hardware that I've become set on are:

Tomei solid lifters

Tomei valve springs

Tomei cams (260 10.5mm intake and exhaust)

HKS cam pulleys

Jun oil pump

Nismo fuel pump (happy to pay the extra for this bee the Bosch/Walbro items)

Nismo 740cc injectors

Apexi Power FC

[Miguelone]

Car didn't come with the Weds I'm guessing?

[gtsttrk]

Nah unfortunately not. Beautiful rims!

[gtsttrk]

Been a bit bored lately so decided to have a bit of fun so stickerbombed the petrol cap and glovebox. Yeah, most people hate it buy I have a the original glove box and petrol cap! Got myself some spares for this project

Sourced all the stickers online, cleaned the surfaces and started. Finished off with a few layers of clear coat.

It's JDM Yo!

Edited September 20, 2012 by gtsttrk

[gtsttrk]

Okay so last week I unfortunately got rammed with massive dildo by the Po-lease! Had three minor defects, (rims, tyre load rating and front bar) which has resulted in me getting my first ever defect. As it was three minor it equalled a major. To be honest, the cop wasn't a bad bloke, and as I needed to fix up the front bar he said he wouldn't make me get a RWC.

So this weekend I've sourced myself a 400R front bar, raised the coils and now just need to get the bar fitted and old rims on.

The car has been booked into DT panels for this Wednesday, and in addition to the bar I'm having my Ganadors fitted. I'm also going to take the time to get the rash on the rims, and have them powdercoated midnight purple.

[gtsttrk]

So while the new frontbar looks the good, I've got to say it's a bit of a nightmare. Car is still raised on the highest setting on the coils but this front bar literally scrapes on so many driveways, bumps etc! GTR bumper never did, and that was with the coils running on a mega low setting!

[Aubrey107]

Loving the progress. Any new updates?

[gtsttrk]

Nothing really mate, got my 100k service coming up next week. Decided to upgrade my fuel pump while I'm at it, just waiting for the Walbro GSS342 to arrive.

Replaced the timing belt and water pump about 7k ago, so hopefully even though it's 100k I'll save a few dollars through some maintenance/repairs that's already been done. Probably get the spark plugs regaped down to put 0.8(?) I think too.

[gtsttrk]

So the car is currently in the shop at the moment, and I can't wait to get it back.

The plan was to switch the split dump elbow, to a bellmouth dump, swap out the cat that's currently in there now and replace with the venom 100 cell cat and remove the stock cat back. However after a bit of consultation my mechanic advised that we leve the split elbow and cat in this stage, and only replace from the cat back. To save me a bit of coin at this stage, so that's we did. I know it's open to a lot of debate and conjecture but he advised me that unless I'm planning to run high levels of boost than the current system, in conjunction with the 3 inch cat back would be more than substantial.

The stock fuel pump has been replace with a GSS342 to support future mods. Blitz sus air cleaner has replaced the standard airbox (with cold air routing), standard blow off valve has been replaced with SSQV (yeah, a bit of wank I'll admitt, but I can't stand the standard. It's also being used in conjunction with the HKS EIDS, so it should hopefully avoid many of the problems that can be encountered.)

Next stage of mods include injectors and ECU choice. Was thinking either the 555 or 740 Nismo side feed. In terms of ECU I'll have a suss what my prospective tuner is most comfortable using.

[gtsttrk]

So I got the car back last night an it's terrific! The exhaust is far less restrictive than stock (well, as far as a placebo goes at least ), and it's breathing much easier now with the pod and cold air intake.

The only thing of concern is how loud it runs now, but that's to be expected as the exhaust isn't running a muffler.

Replaced the power steering pump as the existing was on it's way out, and also replaced a noisy bearing. Honestly is driving VERY well now.

Looking forward to purchasing the next mods.

Twin blast pipes, look a LOT better than than stock system IMO.

[gtsttrk]

So nothing huge, but got some braided brake lines off Basti. He bought them in the last GB but didn't end up using them so am very happy with that.

Gotta take the good with the bad however. Walked out to find someone has managed to dislodge part of my front bar. No real damage which is good, and it hadn't been painted yet either but they've knocked out one of the screws.

Zip tied it back on for the meantime.

[gtsttrk]

Okay so been a while since my last update and have a few things to add.

Seeing as I only basically got the 400R bumper to pass the defect I'm looking to get rid of it and either put the GTR bar back on or go to a full BN Sports kit. I've loved this kit since I ever become familiar with the 33's and I think they really suit the look of the car. I'll probably be going with the BN kit, in conjunction with some D-Max +30mm front fenders.

Searching for some rims at the moment and have my heart set (I think) on some XD9's, potentially these will be on in around 4 weeks if everything goes to plan. 18x10 +18 all around I'm thinking.

[gtsttrk]

So car went in yesterday and got the braided lines fitted and removed the stock steering wheel with an OMP one.

But on the base side, got rear ended on the way to uni, wasn't my fault so it's being all sorted through insurance. Will get the Ganadors fitted while in.