My Ecr33 Gts25T Type M Build Thread

[Crazy Xav]

Thought I would finally get around to starting a build thread of my car.

Ive had her about a year now and has been nothing but head aches the whole time (never bought a skyline for reliabilty anyway)

Its a 1993 GTS25T, Wine red, 125,000kms and for the age is quite a tidy car.

came with a few mods, Teins, a set of Roh Drift R's which I actually like and think suit the car. FMIC and a HKS Silent power exhaust and a few interior bits.

I had never owned a turbo car before so I was wary about purchasing one, I spent a while deciding what to buy (I almost bought a VL Turbo -.-) I decided on a R33 Skyline as they were quite cheap, comfy and good bang for buck.

Lots of searching on Gumtree and carsguide let me to quite a few examples, one of which the bloke didn't speak a word of English and wouldn't let me test drive it!

Then I found mine, had a look at it, test drove it, did the usual checks, fluids, tyres, undercarriage and panel fitment etc.

all checked out, handed over the cash and was on my way.

Being my first drive I was babying her, I always make sure I get a new car home for a fluid change before I drive it the way I drive a car.

Almost made it home (about a 2 hour drive) temperature guage shoots up and the car started blowing white smoke out the tailpipe.

I've been working on cars for a few years now and its generally easy to identify the cause of smoke by its colour.

I let the car cool down a bit and sure enough the oil is milky, started her up to see how it idled and it was knocking and stuttering to shut her off and called a tow truck.

It stayed in my yard for a while until I sold my VL project, to make way for the Skyline to sit in the shed.

we decided it was either a cracked head/head gasket. Not knowing too much about the car I decided to buy a second hand low km engine and replace it, I was on a budget after just purchasing the car.

Very untidy engine bay!

All the ancillaries were in good order, albeit a bit filthy so we decided a short motor would be the most cost effective and be a good learning experience for me and my mates.

Found a Low km S2 RB25DET Short motor for an absolute bargain, ordered that and a few goodies.

ASI radiator, Genuine Nissan 100,000km service kit, new radiator hoses, plugs, gaskets, some nulon 10w-40 and a good coolant.

When the engine arrived we decided we couldn't leave it in the filthy state it was in so we gave the covers a good sand a paint.

While a few of us did that the rest of us got to pulling the old motor out, took us a while, especially the gearbox/motor bolts, they are an absolute b*tch!

Progress! this was at 2am with many beers sunken. I'm lucky to have such good mates that have put their time into this car, One of which has now purchased an R34 GT-T

When we pulled the motor out we found a Heavy duty clutch, in almost new condition!

Just a little excited that its finally out.

so set about stripping the engine down and prepare the new one for drop in, had all new gaskets and seals.

While the bolt on's were off we decided to clean them up a bit, Inlet manifold was pulled apart and wire brushed and degreased, intercooler piping was degreased and exhaust manifold painted with high temp exhaust paint.

in hindsight I regret that as it burned off pretty quickly!

the next couple of days were spent preparing the new motor for install, timing belt, main seals, bolting on Inlet manifold, exhaust manifold, turbo and front pipe, took us a while between work and sleep, If I didn't have to sleep I would have so much more time for activities!

On the crane almost ready to go in! Shannon checking a few bolts, learning for when he has to do this to his R34, after all it is a Skyline

it was about 3am and we were all drunk and starving so we cranked out the bbq in the drive way as peter tried to eat the RB

No passers by were keen on a snag though.

We ended up calling it quits, we were all tired and my missus was getting quite grumpy that I had been practically living in the shed since I got this car.

working week finished and we got back into it!

got the engine back on the crane and got everyone on board, took us about an hour of trial and error getting it on the right angle and to line it up with the gearbox.

Engine in!

I spent the next few days getting all the little things done ready for startup.

Very tight fit, the fan had already been cut when the FMIC was installed.

As it is now 2am I will be leaving the thread as is for now.

I will be updating this regularly as the car has come along way since this engine change over and is currently in the process of some BIG changes.

Its been a great learning experience so far and I know my car extremely well and have become quite attached. I would not have been able to get this far with out SAU and its knowledgeable members, my mates who hate my car now! and my Wife who brought us sandwiches and beverages as we worked.

[Crazy Xav]

Been very busy with the car and other things, My wife and I are expecting a baby girl in january so ive sped things up a bit to make sure we get the car finished for summer.

New parts

Wolf 3D V4 ecu

Denso 850cc Injectors

Walbro fuel pump

Fuel pressure regulator(yet to be fitted)

Slide Industries FFP (Greddy copy)

Braided steel turbo lines

Hybrid steam pipe top mount manifold

38mm External wastegate (yet to be fitted)

Hypergear ATR43G2.5

Will be getting a new o2 sensor and EBC In the coming weeks and when I can afford to shes off to get the Front/Dump pipe & Intercooler piping to suit the FFP.

Unsure of whether I will run the pipe through the hole from the previous cooler piping or will need to cut a hole in battery tray.

Interior is more less where I want it, New gauges, JVC head unit, dash fascia colour coded, Nardi wheel and DRIFT carbon gearknob with leather gear/handbrake boot.

Once my shed has been cleaned up (got a new workbench so its a disaster zone atm!) I will get some better pictures and update with any progress.

[Miguelone]

What's the extra stalk behind the wiper stalk for?

[Crazy Xav]

Was for cruise control, system has since been removed.

[kosmo90]

It's looking good so far, great to have such good mates as well.

[Crazy Xav]

Cars on hold atm as my wife is unable to work so money is tight but I have all the parts needed so once I have the funds Im getting the beast towed to a fabricator. Will take some progress photos soon. I scored a new bootlid and S2 wing for $100 as mine was rusted and faded but being a S2 is slightly lighter on tone but still better than rust.

[Crazy Xav]

Thanks mate, its coming along, Im very patient as I want it done right the first time. How is skyline ownership treating you? Hopefully mine will actually be reliable for a change

[Crazy Xav]

Hey guys it's been a while since I really did any more to the car so thought I'd get my lazy ass to the shed and get a few of the smaller jobs out the way.

Had a few parts arrive during the week (wastegate, FPR, drivers side cooler piping)

Installed the 38mm wastegate, hooked up vacuum lines for wastegate. oil return, water feed and water return bolted up, all new braided steel lines. Turbo torqued up. Inlet side intercooler piping dummied up, used a 2.5" hole-saw filed down to fit pipe. All measured within 1mm

Decided to paint a few bits too, since oxidized steel and brown plastic seem out of place in the engine bay.

CAS painted to match timing cover and painted an ugly brown electrical box of some sort near the wiper motor.

Awaiting a reducer for throttle body to cooler piping, Turbotech V2 boost controller, braided fuel hose and 1 speedflow fitting for fuel rail return line. Its a very tight fit back there so a 180· fitting is required. Finally got around to changing the fuel pump, got to the tank and found a tidy Bosch 044! Too easy

I will be contacting Stao for my dump pipe flange in a few weeks, then there's just the dump pipe/front pipe and a idle air hose and a couple of vacuum nipples.

Hope someones enjoying the read, I will keep this thread updated with any more progress.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Crazy Xav

[33gts25t]

Did you put the front facing plenum on with engine in car? was it a pain?

[Crazy Xav]

Yep, did all the bolt ons with the engine in the car.

There's not much room under the plenum, so its crucial to make sure all the hoses are fitted correctly, I had a mate hold the plenum up while I fitted the oil cooler pipes etc before it was bolted up.

[BOZ22N]

Looks good bud.

Babies and cars are hard work to balance so thumbs up to you.

Just a quick bit of advice please move the power steer reservoir forward so it does not boil. You just need to make three little bits of flat bar up to space it away.

[Crazy Xav]

Thanks mate. Luckily i got a decent promotion at work when the wife found out she was expecting.

Got a few mounts to fab up in the coming weeks, P/S, Accelerator cable and FPR.

Cheers for the advice mate.

[Crazy Xav]

Has been a while since I have been able to get on here with some progress, so I thought I would get a few new shots up.

Fuel pressure reg is fitted up with a steel mount that took 2 mins to do

Fuel lines are all fitted up, Cleaned fuel level sender while I was direct wiring the Bosch 040.

Pulled her out of the shed on a nice day and gave it much deserved clean!

The wife also helped polish the wheels with autosol, Brilliant stuff!

For the moment I've done all I can do, The rest will have to be fabricated.

The serious stuff should start in around 2 months so me and my mates are getting excited to enjoy all the hours put into the car! wont be long fellow SAU'ers

Im interested to know how people mounted their throttle cables with the aftermarket plenum.

It seems majority use the standard mount but I cant get it to work all that well (angle is terrible and would most likely cause the thing to snap.

Bought some black mesh for the Bumper and grill, Took about 2 hours to install as the bar had been hacked up for FMIC install so some creative thinking was required

Where were at with the engine bay at the moment. Not very stealth which I am regretting a little since i saw alot of coppers on my drive home from work.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Crazy Xav

[Crazy Xav]

Well this is the end of my build, Car is no longer mine as of this weekend.

Now the happy owner of a Z32 300ZX, 25th anniversary model.

I will get into another Skyline one day but it will be a GTR

[Crazy Xav]