R33 Gtr Series 3 - Perth Wa

[2fardown]

Hi All,

Thought I would post up some details on my recent purchase. Have been a member on these forums for 14 years, though disappeared for a while when I sold my old R33 GTST around 2004.

Have owned a few cars since then, such as an S15 200sx, which I kept relatively stock. Followed by an 11 second XR6 Turbo that had a few bits & pieces. My last car was a 2007 BF FPV Super Pursuit ute, which was supercharged, cams, water / methanol injection, etc.

I relocated to Perth from Brisbane last year and decided to sell the ute, at which point I missed not having a performance car, so decided to go down the R33 GTR route. I looked at a midnight purple one on the Sunshine Coast before I left, which was described as 'good condition', only to be found to have lots of body filler in the passenger door, no air con compressor and a pair of HKS GTRS turbos that surged..... I then looked at one here in Perth, which presented fairly well, though had a leaking rear main seal, and before I left the first viewing, the owner informed me that it was leaking oil into the coolant. I obviously passed on this one, and subsequently saw it appear on Car Sales at a Dealer (hope that leaking head / gasket was fixed....).

So I looked at a 1997 Series 3 in February, which had a few mods and checked out well. I decided to make an offer and a week later the car was mine.

Details are:

1997 Series 3 R33 GTR

KR4 Silver

Power FC djetro

Nismo clutch

Greddy intake kit

Nismo suspension

Nismo fuel pump

19x10 wheels

-5 turbos

Alpine sub and amps (not sure whether I'll keep this...)

Overall the car is in excellent condition, and happy with the purchase. My plans are to just to maintain it well, and enjoy it on the weekends. Not going to go crazy with engine rebuilds or bigger turbo/s.

I'll be posting in here what things I've had to replace / repair along the way, which will serve as a bit of a journal.

Hope to eventually meet up with Perth based enthusiasts at a track day or meet.

Enjoy the pics.

[2fardown]

First thing to resolve on the GTR was a strange whirring noise when the car was at operating temp and why it kept destroying power steering belts. After a bit of investigation, I determined that the noise was coming from the timing belt and the aftermarket Ross harmonic balancer was not aligned correctly to the power steering pump pulley. Knowing how serious a problem could be in relation to the timing belt, I booked it into a local workshop and they began looking into the problem.

1. First problem was that the timing belt was way too tight.

2. The Ross performance harmonic balancer was from 2012, and has a known alignment issue.

3. Who ever recently replaced the timing belt, failed to inspect and replace the leaking crank and cam seals, so they were leaking.

4. The previous owner obviously took the cam covers off and painted them red, though decided to use standard set screws to torque down them down. This caused the gaskets to be pinched and started leaking.

5. The half moon key way on the front of the crank was also damaged. So this was cleaned up and replaced.

All of the above has been rectified by doing the following:

1. Get rid of shitty Ross harmonic balancer, and replace with Nissan OEM item.

2. Replace cam & crank seals and cam cover gaskets & bolts / washers.

3. Fit new idler / tension bearings and Nissan OEM timing belt

4. New key way

There is a valuable lesson here, and that's if you're contemplating to attempt this type of mechanical work and you don't know what you're doing, then take my advice and leave it to the professionals.

[HOOAH]

NIce purchase. Hope to see further updates!

[IMACUL8]

Welcome to the best state

Car looks very nice - well done.

Did you buy that here locally in Perth?

Amazing how good that silver looks.

Congrats Dan

[2fardown]

Yes bought locally Dan. Look forward to taking it out to the strip to see what it runs.

Hit me up if you're ever out and about. Would love to check out your beast.

[2fardown]

Decided to paint the mesh on the front grill today. Annoyed me that the paint was starting to flake off to reveal the steel underneath. Bought some pressure pack black, masked it up and gave it a few coats.

Also had a play with the hard wired Bel STiR Plus radar detector. Nice bit of kit, and one of the advantages of living in WA

[Piggaz]

Best colour on a 33.

[2fardown]

Absolutely loving this car. Completed a performance driving session here in Perth over the weekend. Gave me the opportunity to stretch its legs. Car performed flawlessly, though have notice it has a tendency to understeer. Might have to look into this a bit further.

Next step is to take it to a proper track and give it hell.

[IMACUL8]

Great job - was that through a club?

Cars looking great - well done.

[2fardown]

Cheers mate. Was just through MC Motorsport, though there was a group of guys there from a local club.