HCR32 swapped in Japan to RB26

[propeine]

Hello, I'm new and from the USA.  I had never looked at anything more than a picture of an RB before last month but am now the owner of an RB26 swapped gtst that was done in Japan prior to import.  I was told I might make a build thread to document my process.  I'm not sure how interesting it might be to watch me learn an entirely new platform over the next 6-8 months but I'm sure I'll have questions so here we are!

1990 GTST Manual Coupw

Unknown vintage rb26 (black top) swapped presumably in 2006. Japanese title had 2700km marked for 2006 and it only has 23,000km on the odometer now.

Remax front pipe

Tomei Cam Gears

HKS Pod filters

Sorta shitty 3" exhaust (sounds good but not mandrel bent mid pipe)

Nismo Gauge Cluster

Sparco seats

Someone cut multiple holes in the dash for gauges but they are no longer there.

Bilstein Coilovers

GTR FRP front bumper that doesn't fit very well

HICAS block installed

Random temp sensor probe near the mid pipe

I'm sure I'll find more as I go through it.

 

Plans for now are to pour over it this winter while I can't drive it anyway, aftermarket ecu (link g4 most likely) or nistune, wideband, boost gauge, oil pressure. Go through all the 30 year old wires and hoses and make sure everything is up to snuff. Probably remove unnecessary ancillaries to declutter the engine bay, battery and washer fluid relocate to the trunk.  Getting the bumper to fit better and polishing off all the junk on the paint from sitting for years.

 

Plans for next year (probably end of warm weather) will be to likely go holset single turbo as I love how they sound and I made big power on them with a 4G63.

[niZmO_Man]

Nice. First thing I'd do is retrofit the headlights, brackets can be bought from lightwerkz

[propeine]

9 minutes ago, niZmO_Man said:

Nice. First thing I'd do is retrofit the headlights, brackets can be bought from lightwerkz

Retro to what?!

[djr81]

Guessing he is advocating N1 headlights.  Personally Id stick with what you have.

[propeine]

Oh I forgot, recoating the hood and fitting an actual grill are high in the list this winter too.

 

As for the headlights maybe he meant HID retrofits? 

[djr81]

Maybe.  The Skyline headlights are rubbish.  From memory you need to make changes to GTST headlights to allow them to fit a GTR grill

 

 

 

[niZmO_Man]

Sorry I wasn't clear, change the projectors. One, they're RHD; two, they're garbage.

https://www.lightwerkz.net/index.php/components/retrofit-brackets/nissan/nissan-r32-d2s-brackets.html

G5-R LHD projectors, Denso slim ballasts (or your choice of aftermarket), Philips or Osram D2S bulbs

[Tenny]

Congratulations mate. Pretty great feeling owning your first skyline!

Plenty of knowledge around here if you end up needing help!

 

[propeine]

6 hours ago, niZmO_Man said:

Sorry I wasn't clear, change the projectors. One, they're RHD; two, they're garbage.

https://www.lightwerkz.net/index.php/components/retrofit-brackets/nissan/nissan-r32-d2s-brackets.html

G5-R LHD projectors, Denso slim ballasts (or your choice of aftermarket), Philips or Osram D2S bulbs

Gotcha.  I kinda wondered if thats where you were headed.  They are indeed very dim.  Lower on the priority list than much of the other stuff but I did it a long time ago with Lexus RX330 projectors in my Talon (Eclipse).  Its a ~300-400 dollar adventure after all.

 

5 hours ago, Tenny said:

Congratulations mate. Pretty great feeling owning your first skyline!

Plenty of knowledge around here if you end up needing help!

 

Thank you! Since 2002 and Gran Turismo 2 I have been waiting to own one (forbidden fruit and all that), so yes its a heck of a feel.  I'll definitely need the knowledge and have gained some in just 2 days here!

[propeine]

Who designed the plumbing on these things?!  Don't get me wrong its neatly done but holy hell is it convoluted.

Got the HICAS bits removed today.  Bit of a pain in the butt due to all the other stuff in the way but then again, thats exactly why I'm removing the unnecessary things.  Currently just looped to stock cooling lines but maybe move all that crap eventually.

Battery is out and being moved to the trunk, probably going to relocate the power steering reservoir this week as well.  I anticipate needing the space where the battery was for meth eventually.

Where do people relocate their boost control solenoid?

 

[GTSBoy]

1 hour ago, propeine said:

Where do people relocate their boost control solenoid?

RB20 R32 doesn't have one.

Where you relocate it on an RB26 is really up to you. It's on the passenger side on RB25s because it's simpler that way. The boost source is at the turbo. It's on the driver's side on RB26s, because the boost source is the plenum. Nissan could have put the solenoid on the turbo side on the 26s, but it's pretty crowded over there. And hot. So I guess they chose based on those considerations.

Don't make the lines any longer than you have to.

[propeine]

Alright, new questions have arisen gents.  I'm still in "clean up and learn" mode.

 

Does anyone relocate the wiring for the MAF's, injector resistor pack, etc through the fender?  Above the inner fender that is.

Does anyone relocate the injector resistor to a similar area?

If I can do both of these things the wiring is entirely "clean" in that area once I move my power steering reservoir forward to the rad support.  Only wires towards the middle/rear of the motor are the O2 sensor wires and some unknown plug that had nothing in it.

 

Is there any reason I can't just run an oil cooler on the passenger side to the rear of the power steering pump?  Once again, tubes everywhere driving me nuts now that they have no reason to run to the drivers side I'd like to eliminate all that.

 

I've got to make some phone calls tomorrow but I see a lot of Haltech support rather than link here in the USA.  Anyone have any opinions?  Additionally Link specifically says you have to run the boost solenoid on the passenger side much closer to the turbos so I guess  I'll be extending that wiring and moving it either way.

 

Finally, any opinion on ISR rear camber arms?  I need something and these are much cheaper than most of the others.

[GTSBoy]

Never relocate wiring from in the engine bay to near the wheels unless you are going to lose points for it in a dolphin waxing exhibition. Why make them more prone to damage from road thrown debris? Why make them harder to access?

Oil cooler on the LHS is fine.

As to adjustable arms. Cheaper is not a solid reason to buy these things. There are many many different arms available. The cheap ones are bulk Chinese manufacture and may be suspect in terms of overall quality. Of course, they could be fine - but you won't know until it breaks and puts you into a truck. The spherical joints on the cheap ones simply cannot be high quality, that's for sure. The really expensive brand name ones are usually top quality, but charging more than they are really worth. In the middle, you get brands like Hardrace, that are definitely good. I have them on the rear with the hardened rubber bushes (rather than spherical joints).

[djr81]

Couple things:
You dont appear to have a boost controller - not an electronic one atleast.  It looks like the standard RB26 system is in place still.

Stay away from rose joint suspension arms on a road car.  Rubber bushes are fine.  Also poly bushes are fine.

Also a tiny oil cooler is more than enough for the power steer system, particularly after you have deleted HICAS.

 

[propeine]

28 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Never relocate wiring from in the engine bay to near the wheels unless you are going to lose points for it in a dolphin waxing exhibition. Why make them more prone to damage from road thrown debris? Why make them harder to access?

Oil cooler on the LHS is fine.

As to adjustable arms. Cheaper is not a solid reason to buy these things. There are many many different arms available. The cheap ones are bulk Chinese manufacture and may be suspect in terms of overall quality. Of course, they could be fine - but you won't know until it breaks and puts you into a truck. The spherical joints on the cheap ones simply cannot be high quality, that's for sure. The really expensive brand name ones are usually top quality, but charging more than they are really worth. In the middle, you get brands like Hardrace, that are definitely good. I have them on the rear with the hardened rubber bushes (rather than spherical joints).

The S14's, and my both my Subarus have the wires in the fender wells so I didn't make much of that.  The person who routed the wires from the RB26 swap didn't do it in a manner that is easy to follow or where the factory tie points would have been.  I'm not entirely sure where a lot of it is is SUPPOSED to live but I'm sure it wasn't intended to be wedged behind the power steering reservoir.

Oh I don't want to go cheap for the sake of being cheap.  ISR seems to be an actual name as opposed to china special.  Just don't want to overpay for someone's fancy name.  I'll look into Hardrace if they're available in the US.  I like the idea of bushings over rod ends.  I don't recognize most of the names in the Nissan world just yet so this is more of a query of who is worth giving money to.  Cusco is the only one I recognize.

2 minutes ago, djr81 said:

Couple things:
You dont appear to have a boost controller - not an electronic one atleast.  It looks like the standard RB26 system is in place still.

Stay away from rose joint suspension arms on a road car.  Rubber bushes are fine.  Also poly bushes are fine.

Also a tiny oil cooler is more than enough for the power steer system, particularly after you have deleted HICAS.

 

Nope just the factory "PCM" system.  The Link G4 recommends an aftermarket one on the passenger side.  Just in the planning stages on that but will need done prior to spring anyways.

Sounds like a heck of a plan to me.  Less grinding/squawking from the inevitable crap in them.

I've got a spare cooler around here somewhere.  Just need to find it.  Maybe 6x6.  Probably overkill but the cost is right and it shouldn't hurt anything.

 

Thank you again!

[lidz]

I've got a load of SPL adjustable arms on my Z32, all of which are interchangeable with R32. Might be worth a look if open to rose jointed arms. Very good reputation, excellent quality & a bonus possibly for you is American made.

Looking at the ISR website I can only see Front upper camber arms, which did you need? The front's listed are the generic midori style jobs out of china.

[propeine]

53 minutes ago, lidz said:

I've got a load of SPL adjustable arms on my Z32, all of which are interchangeable with R32. Might be worth a look if open to rose jointed arms. Very good reputation, excellent quality & a bonus possibly for you is American made.

Looking at the ISR website I can only see Front upper camber arms, which did you need? The front's listed are the generic midori style jobs out of china.

http://www.isrperformance.com/isr-performance-rear-upper-control-arm-nissan-240sx-89-98-s13-s14/

Those ones.  Also fit the rear of the R32.

Seems that my options are VERY limited for poly bush setups in the US unless I buy them to swap out for rose joints or make them myself.  I know people with mandrel benders and work in a weld shop so there is that.  I also have a mill and lathe in my garage if I wanted to make a voodoo type arm but thought it would be easier to just purchase. 

 

I'll check SPL too.  I remember them being somewhere in the middle of the road price wise.

[GTSBoy]

In all seriousness, the harder rubber bushes are superior to life with poly bushes. The level of compliance is still nice and low, like poly, but they don't end up squeaking. Not that all poly bushes do, but it is a serious risk (serious for those that can't stand it!)

[Jorgen]

Oh, never seen 80s Recaro seats in a R32 before, they look oddly great in the car. 

[patrick g]

Hello all. Sorry to bring back a zombie thread, but I feel it’s appropriate as I purchased this car from propiene in May of this year. My name is Patrick and I am near Cleveland, Ohio USA. I’ve wanted a skyline since I was in my early teens and playing Gran Turismo. 
 

As part of preparation to buy one I sold a 68 Toyota Corona, 67 Sunbeam Alpine, 94 Mustang GT, and 90 Infiniti Q45. Replacing 4 cars with one I love was the best decision I’ve made in a while. A couple weeks ago also sold my LS swapped 75 280Z because it was getting no use.
 

 If anyone is interested I can go over some of the things he did as well as some of the things I did. I’ve been enjoying it very much and I’ve put over 2,000km on it since I got it.

The seats are much worse for the wear as the fabric is just falling apart from age. I love how they look and feel but will have to save up to get new upholstery or have them redone. I picked up a set of generic black seats to toss in over winter if I feel motivated to do so to preserve the foam on the recaro seats. 
 

What propiene thought were Bilsteins are actually Öhlins road and track coilovers. He did add an ebay sourced GTR style frp grill but it definitely needs my help over winter to get it looking better. 

Car now has the Link ECU and it is running pretty good, the tune needs help while it’s cold but runs amazing when it goes into closed loop. It’s way rich in open loop. Not long after purchase one of the coils failed due to cracking and instead of gimping them along with epoxy I just did the LS coil conversion.
 

 The biggest change thus far has been swapping to a set of Nismo/Rays LMGT4 wheels. 

I’ve taken it to autocross and am hoping to make it to a dragstrip before they close for winter, that’s rapidly approaching. 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by patrick g
Added info