Upgrade or convert?

[rs73]

After being a manual driver for 12 years, I had my first R33 auto.... now I wish to go back to manual again... R33 manual for sure. R34 is now still too expensive, n R32 styling is a bit too outdated for my taste.

Should I:

- Do conversion with the help of skyline specialists like ICE, etc.?

Problem is I dun have time to hunt for parts nor enough

mechanical knowledge of parts, so it's gonna be expensive

to ask someone else do all the shopping! Prob up to $6K...

or

- Trade in at the dealer (dunno how much they're gonna value

my 93 R33 auto with sunroof) and prob pay lots difference

(could be up to $10K) for a good replacement?

or

- Sell privately, then import thru J-Spec/Geoff etc?

Coz too bad importers don't do trade-ins. Problem is

ppl have only been offering my R33 up to $16K only,

even tho it's in exc cond, 44000kms & got a great audio/alarm

on it. I believe I should get more than $16K!

or

- Bite the dust n suffer? Wait 3 more years or so till the car fell

apart or till I got enough $$$ for a 2nd hand 350Z of less than

2 yrs old?

[Guest INASNT]

sell , save and get r34 gtr N1 NUR

[XCUZME]

ur selling your car on ebay arent you

[Shell]

if you don't really like the auto, 3 years is a long time to have to cruise around with it

personally I would sell, and import a manual one.

OR i would keep the car and do the conversion but only if:

* you've spent heaps of $$ on mods that you won't get back

* no one wants to buy it at a fair price

* you have some deep emotional attachment to it

if you've been offered 16K and a conversion would cost 6K...there's 22K you could spend with an importer which will get u a very nice manual one...even a seriesII for that price!

[predator]

- Sell privately, then import thru J-Spec/Geoff etc?  

Coz too bad importers don't do trade-ins. Problem is  

ppl have only been offering my R33 up to $16K only,  

even tho it's in exc cond, 44000kms & got a great audio/alarm  

on it. I believe I should get more than $16K!

Thing is, the majority who would be a potential buyer are going to 18-22. Its hard often to get the money/loan at that age, and then the extra $3k or so insurance on top of that. In a way its a niche thing and not everybody wants to pay that much for any car at that age. I remember at that age $5k was like my max for a car!

16k is fair and what i have seen a few around. That is what they go for around here in Melb for a standard GTS.

If you go to dealer, you'll probably get screwed over on a trade-in and then probably screwed over by the dealer yet again if you go that option. Not recommended if you ask me. Stick with the private sale, and keep saving for the difference - much as it might be painful.

Conversion, looking expensive - if you want the real thing then its probably better just selling the old and getting the real thing.

[_turtle_]

i think you should just put up with it for a few more years if you can. else, sell it and buy a manual. too much hassles with the conversion. its a bit of a hassle to sell the car as well, as there are a lot of tyre kickers around who are time wasters, but you'll get a better price that way.

[meggala]

convert it I did to mine and have no regret it makes teh car very nice to drive plusyour car is in re~~~y good condition

meggala

[kil41t]

I say sell it and get one of the brokers to help you. You could get a cheap 1K car from the auctions for transport while you wait.

Doing conversions is generally only good if you can do it yourself or can get a mechanic that you can really trust coz there can always be things that go wrong with a supposedly simple conversion like this...

[Guest INASNT]

Originally posted by rs73

Aren't you suppose to be shopping for laptops in TAIWAN?

I already got a P4 2.4 ASUS laptop with all the bells and whistles the first day i was here! :shake:

[_turtle_]

hey rs73, i was looking through the trading post last nite and saw an add for manual conversion kit for R33 GTS-T. $1700. I think with some bargaining you could take him to $1500. not sure exactly whats included, if you want i can find the add and pm the details. dunno how much labour would cost u.

[ice180]

If your happy with car and its condition etc wuld be worth it to convert guy on here Googz got his Series 2 done by Hills Motorsport in Sydney for 2 grand inc all parts and labour which was a bargain plus $600 for a HD clutch. The gearbox is worth anywhere from 900-1200 alone.. Not a fun job and harder on the R33 than the R32 b/c you have to drill the holes for the clutch cylinder even though they are pressed already. also putting the pedal box in is not a fun job steering column has to be dropped or come out some of the bolts are a bitch to get to... lots of fun if you like spending time upside down in cramped positions hehehe. gearbox and clutch part is pretty straightforward.. and I think you need the manual tailshaft also.. also need a good auto elec to get rid of the inhibitor switch for the auto, wire the reverse lights up and also do the speedo. Maybe also want to get a manual dash to get rid of the auto shift indicator... so yeah bit of work involved Googz got a very cheap price, but 6 grand is a joke I'd estimate the 3 - 3,500 mark as reasonable including all parts and labour could be done in 2-3 days... ICE and another guy did most of the work on the one I did so they should be fine with it.. Guy on here Skyline33 - Ahmed can get you all the parts you need, he has saved my life many times offers reasonable prices and will deliver plus he is a very honest guy... Free PLUG hehehhehe... Some of the clutch bits and pieces etc can be abit hard to find. easiest is to find someone wrecking a manual half cut etc. Unfortunately autos go much cheaper in Japan due to being less popular but the much cheaper price can make them attractive for conversions as often advertised by Geoff Risbey even for R34 GTT's 180sx's etc. Lot of cars in Japan that come up for auctions have already been done. Saw a Supra RZ TT auto go very cheap the other day... hope that helps... if you like your line the convert it heheheh.

[predator]

There is just something about a manual in being able to make the car scream before you throw her up a gear, especially in a turbo. Short-throw is awesome fun stuff too, bang, shhhh, bang, shhh :bahaha:

[akeenan]

yo sell it via the trading post, then import a new r33 manual!

[akeenan]

it would probably work out cheaper to sell and not do a conversion

[nissaner]

yup... like most ppl said b4, sell it for 16k and get a manual gtst... i've seen many of them going for around that much from prestige and j-spec's mailing lists...

or even better save around 5-6k, and then series 2 is waiting for ya..

[_turtle_]

i think Dean from UPI does trade-ins. u should give him a try. as for Jeremy, i don't think i've ever heard that name mentioned on the forums.

[_turtle_]

Ultimate Performance Imports

Japanese Vehicle Brokers & Compliance Centre

2A Corr Street (off Bignell Road),

Moorabbin 3189, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

Ph: 03 8309 6906

Fax: 03 9576 5724

Mobile: 0411 691 744

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.upimports.com.au

hes nick is vspecv on the forums, i just copied and pasted the above.

[slip]

I have converted my car from auto to manual. if you can find a manual one for a good price do that, because the conversion may cost you $ when it comes to resale value.

[Guest azn4ob]

try this guy his in canberra this is his email... just get a qoute from him [email protected] his got a web site.. but i can't remember it rite now.. i'll go find it 4 ya

[rs73]

Before I continue on.. Thank's guys for all the inputs...

I am now getting tempted with the idea to do conversion, mainly because:

- My car is in pretty much immaculate condition

- Sunroof & my favorite red colour

- ABS which is hard to find in series 1

- Dealers only quote my car's trade-in values as low as

$10K due to the fact that it's auto. Even if I add mag wheels

and 3" exhaust on it, they will only give me $1500 extra top,

means I only get $11,500 out of it which really suxxx.

- Private selling was only expected to reach $14-15K only..

because now dealers can sell autos at $19K including 3yr

warranty, etc. So no one will pay that high for auto anymore.

However I also noted that the manual & auto skyline's diff ratio are different. The build plate says RC43 for auto (4.3 diff) and

manual got RC41 (4.1 diff).

Does this mean that I also need the diff????? This sounds getting very expensive... Does anyone know if I have to change my diff from 4.3 to 4.1 as well?