BK, about time for a build thread ? - 1995 R33 GTR V-spec twin turbo

[BK]

Hi all SAU legends. I feel like this is maybe the newbie post I should have made over 15 or so years ago. Kids are in bed and the Bundy is flowing so lets see how we go, bear with me !

I'm Ben and I've been on SAU since late 2003, had the GTR's for a long time and thought it really is time to document the cars properly. I am so slack and even went off SAU for about 5+ years travelling overseas, but reality hits and now I have two awesome little girls. I have always had something in the works but things got serious again with the cars all of a sudden a few years ago. I think it's about time for some build threads on the cars to hopefully shed some light on the work we have been doing, more so for myself to have a record of what has been done over the years. Maybe someone will find some of the stuff cool, interesting or just downright retarded sometimes !

Ok I've just turned 40 so time is becoming increasingly scarce these days to do things car wise, but I am determined to try and make the time now for all things GTR related. I've always loved cars to some degree and have had a bit of a mixed bag over the years. My first car in the 90's was a shitty Holden panel van with a 186, can't even remember what it was HR, HT, HK, anyway it was cool for about 5 seconds. Sold that for $500 and got this super awesome yellow RA40 Ceilica. Now I thought this was the shit, but found out that it too sucked. I actually started racing things like Karts, MX ect. from around 5 years old so always had the speed bug up into the teens when I could buy a car, so I thought lets go looking for "fast cars". Around 97 I think I thought turbo S13 SR20s were cool. Went to Adelaide to buy one, test drove one and somehow ended up coming back with a 92 turbo Supra. This was my revelation on turbo cars for sure.

Owning a 70 series Supra was awesome, until you realised unless you had a 2JZ it too was average. Down at trade school in Melbourne around 2000 I drove some 2JZ Supra's and again was hooked. This was the cars to have I thought and I must have one. Looking high and low for something (a Toyota 2JZ in the early 2000s) that met the right price for a couple of years was difficult. Just couldn't find the car I absolutely wanted. Now being a Zoom / HPI reader at the time Martin Donnon, Mark Tilbrook and Denso ? at Tilbrook Auto and Dyno in Adelaide was always frequently featured, always pushing the early Nissan Skyline GTR development as the pinnacle of turbo performance cars. Now I was in Adelaide quite frequently for music gigs like the Big day out around that time in my life, so I thought I would pay them a visit during one of my many visits to Adelaide.

Met Mark T. at the workshop in early 2000's and got properly introduced to these things that we had only seen at Bathurst on channel 7 years ago that he was working on. Well all I can say is the rest is history, as I can definitely say from that 2000ish real life exposure to these cars that had this unfamiliar 4WD layout and RB26DETT Nissan thingy in it, I was definitely a changed person. It was now my mission to obtain one of these gee tee argh things. After searching carpoint (remember that ?) and the trading post for a couple of years and dreaming I happened to have to go to Melbourne for training in around 2002. I had lost my license at the time (don't ask - short story is got DUI'ed for six months in Maccas drive thru in a Bright red Supra. Yes I know - being a total fkwit in their early 20s) and thought I'd take the opportunity to check some cool cars out.

Now I was looking at all R32 GTRs at the time generally starting at about high $30k - $40k upwards back then. Went for some test drives in them (shhh!) and was pretty much sold on a black 92 R. All cars I was looking at then were pretty much R32 as R33s were still fairly recent cars and 34s were still being sold new, so they were out of the question. Seems like deal had been done, then I happened to pick up the paper in while I was in Vic. and saw this "1995 BCNR33 V-spec - 60XXXkm) for sale. Smallest little ad with bugger all detail, but with a mobile number. I thought F it I'll call this guy and see what he says. Says he's at Craigieburn and will take me for a drive in the car to see if I was interested. Sooo, I caught a train out that way and waited for a random dude to pick me up hopefully out in the middle of nowhere. Waited for like an hour, thinking great, that was a waste of time. Then to my complete amazement at this train station, a car type that I had never seen in the flesh before pulled up in front of me. Italian sort of looking dude rolls down the window in front of me and says "you Ben looking at a GTR ?", I reply "yep" and get in. The guy must have been in his 50's, and picking up this 190cm tall, skinny adolescent looking guy must have thought seriously WTF, what a waste of time.

I remember the guys name was "Steve", and said he'd take me for a spin anyway. He was the importer and first owner of this car in Oz. I 100% I guess he thought he was taking some young karnt just for a joy ride, but to his credit he still followed through after what must have seemed like a complete waste of his time. He took me somewhere windy up around Whittlesea ? (I think) and then got to some straighter quiet roads. Anyway he come out of a corner onto a freeway onramp of some sorts and gave it full stick. Holy. Shit. My immediate reaction was this car wants to rips the tar straight off the road - in my mind it had that much grip and had never experienced anything like it. He must of wanted a drive because I'm sure we covered quite a few kays that day for a test drive - I dunno 100km ? Anyway he said it has been fun and went to drop me off back at the train station. As we got closer to the station I said if he knew where the closest Commonwealth bank was. He said sure and took me there probably thinking I needed cash to get home. When we arrived I went to the ATM, got $2000 cash and gave it to a total stranger for a deposit on this car. " I will be back with a bank cheque for the remaining balance in an hour" I said, "the car is sold !".  Completely taken aback was this guy. A dude wearing heavy metal t shirts swinging him $2k for a deposit on a car he didn't expect to sell. I came good and gave the outstanding balance in a CBA bank cheque. I had actually been prepared for this day and already had been paying off a loan for a while for a car I yet did not have, hence so powerful was the motivation to obtain one of these cars.

Next day got the car shipped with CEVA from Melbourne to Alice Springs immediately, took about 11 days. Now at that time I still don't have a license, have to stay in Melbourne to complete more training and have the car shipped to my old mans workshop. Car arrives before I get back. Said to one of his workmates we should take it for a "test drive" when it arrives without telling me. When I call up about the car arriving safely the old man replied - "yeah she's at my house safe and sound. Gee mate, she gets up to 240 pretty quick !". "Huh ? What are you talking about ? Have you driven it ?" was my confused response. (Disclamer - NT had and still has on and off open highway speed limits depending on who is in Government. It was open most of 1990 - 2014). Pretty much sums up the story of my first GTR purchase and the beginning of a life long love / hate relationship with them.

I wish I had some older photos but this is how this February 1995 BCNR33 with currently 82000km sits after owning her for around 17 years. As far as cars go I'm not sure I could put a price on her, or ever get rid of it. Maybe when I'm very, very old she'll go. The sentimental value, length of time of ownership, condition of it etc. means the car is with me for a while yet....

I will also be starting build threads on my two 32 GTRs soon, although they command nowhere near the same attachment as this car.

Well that's about it for tonight, more info soon.

 

[Duncan]

About bloody time for an overdue intro!

I reckon we crossed paths back in the day; I had my blue r33 gtst up there for about 18 months when I worked down at the base in 2003-04. Used to love the commute to work, no speed limits or traffic (unless I was going at the same time as all the buses). Damn hard to find 98 octane though, if I remember right there was only 1 BP that sold it, for any price they wanted.

[BK]

Hi again Duncan. Definitely, as I was working at the base in 2003 for AMEC. We still only have 1 BP Ultimate 98RON pump and 1 Caltex Vortex 98RON pump. Below is the current state of the car, which I will keep updated on this page.

Feb. 1995 NISSAN BCNR33 SKYLINE GT-R V-SPEC

BCNR33-002155

ENGINE

·   Standard  R33 05U RB26 – sump to head. Compression at 160 -165 psi and valve clearance still within factory spec.

·   Apexi Power FC (L-Jetro) ECU and FC commander - EL version

·   Apexi FC boost control kit

·   NGK Iridium IRI Iritop 7 (BCPR7EIX) spark plugs – 0.8mm gap

·   Nismo oil filter

·   Apexi 80mm super suction air filter kit

·   UAS alloy radiator air guide

·   UAS top mount oil / air separator kit

·   SFS red silicone upper and lower radiator hoses

·   Blitz V-spec LM tube and fin intercooler 620 x 300 x 102mm

·   Trust/Grex 10-row oil cooler kit (filter relocation and 70 degree thermostat) 299 x 143 x 50mm

·   Tomei metal throttle / plenum gaskets

·   HKS metal exhaust manifold gaskets

·   Power Enterprise kevlar timing belt (at 70,000km)

·   2 x Fidanza adjustable camshaft gears

·   2 x HKS GT-SS metal turbine ball-bearing turbos

·   2 x HKS adjustable wastegate actuators set at 18 psi

·   6 x SARD / Denso / Power Enterprise low impedance 700cc injectors (Std fuel rail)

·   Nismo 280L/hr in-tank fuel pump (Std regulator)

·   2 x Nissan 80mm Z32 airflow meters

·   2 x Apexi Z32 airflow meter connectors

·   Factory Nissan R33 GTR RB26 coilpacks (new)

·  Kameari 42.7mm stainless turbo manifolds

·   HKS stainless O2 sensor / dump pipes (split wastegate pipes)

·   HKS 2 x 70/85mm stainless front pipe

·   Sprint mufflers custom 90mm stainless cat to muffler section (resonator delete)

·   HKS 95/120mm stainless Hi Power muffler

INTERIOR

·  Formula 1 tinted windows 20%

·  GT-R seat covers and genuine Skyline GTR mats

·  Omnitronics 1-5 min. turbo timer

·  Omnitronics PG-3000 security

·  Alpine CDA-9807 4 x 50w CD/MP3 head unit

·  Nismo 320km/h white gauge dash cluster (replaced at almost 70000km when the original tacho failed)

·  Autometer 52mm white phantom boost gauge

·  Autometer 52mm single a-pillar gauge pod

·  Impul racing brake and clutch pedal set

EXTERIOR

·  Nismo R33 400R clear front indicators

·  Nismo R33 N1 intercooler bumper vents

·  Nismo R33 N1 bonnet lip

·  Nismo R33 N1 GT-R carbon fibre wing end caps

·  Nismo R33 N1 carbon fibre rear wing blade

BRAKES AND SUSPENSION / HANDLING

·  Cusco brake master cylinder brace

· Brakewest ADR stainless braided Teflon brake lines

·  Std Brembo four-piston calipers

·  Front Project Mu HC+ pads

·  Std Brembo twin-piston calipers

·  Rear Project Mu HC+ pads

·  DBA 4000 ventilated rotors front and rear

·  Std front and rear adjustable strut braces

·  Whiteline polyurethane front upper control arm bushes

·  JJR aluminium rear subframe bushes

·  JIC front turnbuckle castor tension rods

·  Ikeya formula adjustable front upper control arms – 0 – 4 deg camber

·  JIC adjustable rear upper control arms – 0 – 3.3 deg camber

·  Cusco adjustable front steering tension rod

·  Whiteline 22mm front swaybar – BNF27Z

·  Whiteline 22mm rear swaybar – BNR11XZ

·  Whiteline swaybar links and bushes – KLC008

·  Standard V spec GT-R shock absorbers

·  Midori Seibi RED / track digital G sensor

 

 WHEELS AND TYRES

 

·  Rays engineering Volk racing TE37 ’06 forged 18” x 9.5”(+12 offset)

·  Rays engineering carbon/aluminium centre caps

·  Rays engineering hex wheel nuts - blue

·  Yokohama Advan Neova AD08R - 265/35R18

DRIVELINE

·  Std F160 open front diff

·  Std Active R200 (FC41 type) rear limited slip diff

·  OS Giken 5 speed (3 speed crossmission gearset) transmission (series 3 synchros) with standard input shaft. Standard 5^th gear and centre plate retained.

·  ATS spec 1 carbon triple-plate clutch kit with 1350kg pressure plate and 6.5kg chromoly flywheel

·  Nissan full push conversion kit w/ R32 GTR slave cylinder

·  APP push braided clutch line – master to slave

FLUIDS / OILS

 

·  Engine oil – Castrol Edge 10w-60

·  Coolant – Castrol Radicool

·  Power steering – Castrol power steer fluid

·  ATTESA / A-LSD hydraulics – Castrol ATF Dex III

·  Transmission – Castrol GL-4 Syntrans 75w-85

· Transfer case - Castrol Transmax Z

·  Front diff – Motul Gear competition 75w-140

·  Rear diff – Motul Gear competition 75w-140

·  Brake fluid – Castrol React Performance Dot 4

TUNING

·  Power FC DATALOGIT interface

Boost- set at 19 - 21 psi  (1.3 - 1.45 bar)

[hardsteppa]

that's sweeeeeet Ben...glad you rolled with that Bundy vibe, nice 33 there

[BK]

Cheers man ! Had to put a new battery in it today. A few more shots around the car...

 

[BK]

Made a couple of changes to the car in preparation for Red centre nats 2020 Motorkhana. Ditched the Advan V103 275/35R18 for some Advan AD08R 265/35R18. Front camber reset to -1.5 and rear to -1.0. Midori Seibi red digital G sensor installed to replace existing analogue unit. New radiator clutch fan installed.

Removed Splitfire coilpacks and went back to genuine new Nissan RB26 coilpacks with fresh NGK BCPR7EIX plugs gapped to 0.8mm. Full rebleed of Active LSD and ATTESA system. Finally a slight retuning on the Power FC, settling on 1.35bar

Must've worked out, car feels great. First competition for the 33 in nearly 3 years.

[BK]

Car is really sad because of its stupid 32 brothers....Hasn't been washed since last event or even moved in over 3 months....

Don't worry, you're still my favourite

[BK]

So it was finally time to get the R33 out of it's annual hibernation for Red centre nats 2021 racing and show event.

I gave it a mechanical check over, service and replaced the fire extinguisher before competition to get it ready for defending it's 2020 motorkhana title. Mission accomplished, 2 in a row !

Definitely still my favorite car ever 😇

More photos and videos to follow from the event when I can obtain them from my nephew, sister, missus etc.

[Shoota_77]

Top job!  Should have won Mr Consistent too! 😂
It’s an awesome back story to your car!  You must have paid decent money for it buying it while it was still a relatively new car?  

 

[BK]

On 07/09/2021 at 7:42 AM, Shoota_77 said:

Top job!  Should have won Mr Consistent too! 😂
It’s an awesome back story to your car!  You must have paid decent money for it buying it while it was still a relatively new car?  

 

Cheers Ewan, it was high $50s from memory. The car is so well setup and composed - it really inspires confidence when pushing it hard. 

It still impresses me that I've got it handling the way it does with a lot things people, especially on this forum consider to be shit. Including:

-Still retains electric HICAS and rear active LSD. I dunno about other people, but my experience with the diff is if it's bled properly it works really, really well.

-Runs a Power FC with MAF. The car is tuned well and has had only minor tune touch ups over the last 15 years. Why would I change it ?

-Has twin low mount turbos which are HKS GT-SS, or Garrett -9 equivalent. Internet can say what it likes about singles being superior on an RB26, which they are in most cases as I have one, but the twins still have their place in the under 350kw at wheels bracket.

[Shoota_77]

I think we’re all guilty of changing things that realistically don’t need changing…. I’m massively guilty of that.  Probably a big (the main??) reason why my car is still not on the road if I’m being honest with myself!

A well balanced car is probably more often than not the less modified car!  The power is right, it’s not too aggressive, handling not too stiff, etc.  Sounds like you’ve got it just right!

[r32-25t]

On 07/09/2021 at 11:28 AM, Shoota_77 said:

I think we’re all guilty of changing things that realistically don’t need changing…. I’m massively guilty of that.  Probably a big (the main??) reason why my car is still not on the road if I’m being honest with myself!

A well balanced car is probably more often than not the less modified car!  The power is right, it’s not too aggressive, handling not too stiff, etc.  Sounds like you’ve got it just right!

I reckon my -7 e85 set up was one of the best I had in the car, it was fast without being scary and cheap to do. If I had a second gtr i would do that again and have this one to scare the shit out of people lol 

[BK]

On 07/09/2021 at 12:21 PM, r32-25t said:

I reckon my -7 e85 set up was one of the best I had in the car, it was fast without being scary and cheap to do. If I had a second gtr i would do that again and have this one to scare the shit out of people lol 

Precisely the reason I bought a 2nd GTR with the blue 32 back in the day, as I couldn't bring myself to massively change the engine setup on such a nice car.

Everytime I drive the 33, I realise I'm not really sure I like R32s and how much of a better car the 33 GTR is than the 32 GTR as a model.

[BK]

Stupid time consuming R32s...

I will start you this month I promise 😄

[BK]

It's alive, it's alive !

[BK]

Needs a wash after hibernation, but otherwise ready to race.

 

[BK]

Worked all day today getting the cars ready just to get turned away from scrutineering tonight at our allocated slot at 19:30 for the white 32 and 33. Grrr, now we have to get all 3 cars done tomorrow which will probably take all day, and it's supposed to be raining...

Anyway here's probably the first time all 3 GTRs have been in the same location at the same time ever.

[White GTS-T]

What did they knock you back on?

[BK]

On 01/09/2022 at 6:57 AM, White GTS-T said:

What did they knock you back on?

Nothing - just too many cars, so basically just being useless. I came on time at my slot, then they just said nope. They can't get through 1000 checked in cars in 3 days apparently...

Just jumping in the 33 now to try and get through as quick as possible. If I get any shit I'm not going to take any shit - they are the unorganised and incompetent ones.

And yes it's raining, the joy.

[BK]

2 scrutineered, 1 to go.