Thanks for the add

[DRoc81]

My son recently purchased a 93 Skyline GTS25 (NA), I am hoping to get some insight as to what potential this car has.  I have auto mechanical experience, and I am capable of working on this vehicle, but I know nothing about it.  Where's the best site to purchase parts (maintenance, repair, upgrades)? What kind of upgrades are available? 

Thanks again and I look forward to any information that you all have to offer!

 

Darrick

[GTSBoy]

Well, the NA RB25 is nothing special in terms of the amount of power it makes stock, nor with any easy mods like extractors & exhaust, opening up the intake tract, etc, etc. And just like any small capacity NA engine, getting lots of power out of them takes a fair bit of money and, depending on how far you go with big cams and high compression and so on, quite grumpy to drive.

So, boost is the answer. Many many many of them have had a turbo added. This is easy enough. Same as for any engine. Need the things you need to bolt on the turbo of choice, fuel system and management upgrades, clutch, stronger gearbox ( you do not want to run a boost RB25 through the NA box), diff, brakes, etc, etc, same as you would for most other NA+T things.

Some much smaller number have had a supercharger added instead. These are good and cool, but have nowhere near the potential of the turbo route. All the same required upgrades apply.

So, potential? Anywhere from not much to quite a lot, depending on how much effort and expense you want to go to. Is there value in the effort and expense? Objectively, no, there is not. If you're gaining enjoyment and don't mind blowing a lot of money on the project, then that's where the value is.

Parts? Nissan dealers for some. Many many on-line vendors who do Japanese manufacturer spares (buy buying them from disposals at dealers around the world, direct from manufacturers, increasingly from Chinese knockoffs, etc) and warehousing them in Dubai or similar places. Amayama, Partsouk, etc etc. There are quite a few. Some local to Australia, some local to Europe, some local to the US.

You can upgrade literally everything. For an NA, unless you're going to boost it, there's little point going past a nice exhaust, as I said above. After that (well, actually probably even before that) you should concentrate on making it handle the best it can, good brake components, light wheels and tyres, and just make it something to enjoy throwing through the curves. You'll never, ever win any drag races, so it needs to be taken as a nice point-to-point car. Throw in some Recaros or Brides, nice Momo wheel and gearknob, so it's pleasant to be in (because god knows, the inside of an R33 is not a pretty place!!) and away you go.

[MBS206]

52 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

 (because god knows, the inside of an R33 is not a pretty place!!) and away you go.

Speak for yourself, I love the R33 interior.

32 is blergh. I like the 34 interior too.

Then you start getting much newer in most cars and they all turn back to blergh. 😛

[GTSBoy]

The R32 suffers from an instrument binnacle that is uncomfortably close to the design of a VN Commodore's. But beyond that, the layout of the rest of everything, and the materials (ie the vinyl coverings on dash, armrest, etc) are acceptable, and the patterns on the fabrics are not as blergh as those in the R33. And R33 seats are....quite unattractive. I know it's only small details there, but I reckon the R33 got worse than the 32.

But the big blergh is the overall shape of the dash on the R33. It's just has that whole Maxima/Pulsar sort of look to it. Nothing special at all. Generic Nissan sedan. Whereas, at least the R32 dash/binnacle was different. Less a wide expanse of boringly curved plastic. More a "cockpit" sort of look, even if nowhere near to the degree that the A90 Supras got.

R34 seats look good on their own, until you realise that they are indistinguishable from the shape and fabric on 70 other Japanese cars. And the foam bolsters on them suffer even worse than the earlier cars. Other than that I don't really have an opinion the rest of the R34 interior. I took the bits of the R34 I wanted (brakes and engine) and added them to the best external appearance Skyline in the modern era (the 32). So nyerr!

[Predator1]

Big single, and seqy. #sorted

[Ozdavroz]

I love my R32 interior but then I also love the generic 90's nissan vibe from R33s/S14s/Pulsars etc

4 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

the best external appearance Skyline in the modern era (the 32).

100%

[luke gtr]

Welcome.

Potential is similar to pretty much every other car.

Comes down to your budget and engineer(to make it legal).