Hachi's Long Overdue R32 GTST Build Thread

[Hachi]

Okay so finally I am putting a thread together for my R32 cause otherwise I just never would, it's gonna be kinda fucked at ya in chunks as I've shitloads done and it's a matter of getting all the pics together. So early in 2013 I was looking for a 180SX to buy as I always wanted one, I had some money and I needed something to work on to keep me sane. Instead of finding a 180, I ended up buying this R32 which had been on donedeal for a few weeks for €2600. The price had dropped down a bit when I first saw the ad and I reckoned it looked okay. I was going to Paris for a week to visit family and decided that if it was still available after I got back I would go for a look. After going to looking at it, it transpired that it had a horrible misfire issue (possibly the reason why no one else had bought it beforehand). With the helpful advice of alanopel, I decided to make an offer and got the car for a decent price along with some spare parts.

This is how it looked after I got it home.










And the spares parts that came with the car (Except for the Sparco wheel)



The car had been off the road for quite a good few years, about two in the prior owners hands and then some more by the owner before him. Most of its time has in the country has been spent as a weekend car or sitting in a garage and I could believe this as it has 97,000KMs on the odometer.

There wasn’t really any spec list on the car, it was pretty standard with the usual bits put on;
Wedsport wheels
Catback Exhaust
HKS Airfilter
Apexi Boost Gauge
Carbon Fibre Bonnet (Faded)
Blitz BOV
Steering Wheel (Thing looked like it came out a UFO!)
Gear knob (Another complete eye-sore!)

Even before I had the car bought I knew that I would be aiming for a 90’s-ish style, not because I’m cheap but it goes better with earlier JDM cars I think. When I was sorting out the paperwork and cash with the sell I spotted an awesome SARD boost gauge in his kitchen from one of the cars he was breaking and I ended up buying that off him as well because it went perfectly with what I wanted.




……. JDM Tyte Coke can around the gauge too!




The first thing to happen with the Skyline was to get rid of the steering wheel and gearknob. So they got replaced with a new Sparco wheel I have had for years and a Trust gear knob which I bought from Juice. Quickly afterwards I changed over the boost gauge.

(Original Wheel & Gear Knob)



(New Wheel & Trust Gear Knob)




After this I moved onto dealing with the smaller issues of sorting out the missing indicator and sealing the rear lights to stop water getting into the boot. The Indicator was the usual case of a broken tab. So for a simple a quick fix, I got a piece of plastic and cut it to the shape of the missing tab and then plastic welded it onto the indicator. Not beautiful looking but it’s still holding strong.






I was finding that small pools of water were forming in the boot so decided I would deal with the problem before it was too late. This was just a case of checking seals and eventually tracking the issue down rear lights on one side where they had been removed before and chunks of the sealant were missing from it. I used a black silicone sealant to line the back of the lights on both sides before re-attaching them, I haven’t seen a drop of water since in the boot.

(Just to make sure there were no hidden secrets to explain water getting in……)





That's all I got at this second for ya, I'll throw up more soon........Stay Tuned!

[derek89]

Good work so far dude and a cheap find!! I really need to start a thread on my 32.

[Hachi]

I wanted to take care of some styling issues, at first I was tempted to repaint of the Weds that the R32 was sat on but gave up during the prep and instead bought a mixed staggered set of wheels in the form of 17x9” Volk Rays VRX-10 up front and 18x9.5” Work Rezax at the back. To get these to fit I had to do a subtle bit of inner arch rolling and a set spacers up front to clear the brake callipers.




Another thing that needed seeing to was the paint on the front bumper, as can be seen there was a big patch of paint missing, so I sanded down the whole bumper and then primed and painted it.




I have to admit, I am pleased with how the bumper came out




One part I wanted to get rid of for ages was the Blitz BOV since it wasn’t connected properly and the Standard BOV was still in place and connected up, so there was no point in the Blitz item even being there!




To get rid of this, I machined up a plate to block off the mount for Blitz valve on the intercooler pipe. The plate is a bit overkill it considering most people would cut a plate out of sheet material, but I didn’t want it leaking. Also it was an excuse to use my milling machine.






After this was done I needed to get the car NCT’d I had one booked and just needed to get the headlights aligned and tracking done. The garage I brought it to also did Pre-NCT checks for free, so I got one done expecting all to be good………… Not the worst, but it was far from good.

The list of parts worn and needing to be changed that I got back included;

- Track Rod Ends
- Front Drop-links
- Right Front Balljoint
- Left Front Kingpin bearings
- Exhaust mount rubber
- Battery Clamp
- Brakes also needed attention

I had a think about sending it through the test anyway after this, but after talking with my dad we both came to the conclusion that I would just be wasting money since I knew I would be buying the parts anyway. After thinking about it further and my dad putting ideas in my head, I decided that there is no point in changing a couple of the parts only for others to wear out and need replacing, so I would just do them all in one go. At this point I made a list of every part I would need and start tracking them down, unfortunately as I was in college and no proper income over the year it took a while to get all of the parts together. As it stands this is the current list of parts;

- KTS Pillow Tie Rod End Set
- KTS Reinforced Tie Rod Set
- Hardrace Hardened Rubber Bushings – All around
- Mintex Brake Pads
- Brake Discs
- Cusco Tension Rods
- Cusco Coilovers
- JIC Magic Front Upper Camber Arms
- Kaber Performance HICAS Lock-Out Bar
- DriftWorks Rear Camber Arms
- GKTech Braided Brake Lines
- Ball Joints Front Lower Outer
- Ball Joints Rear Lower Outer
- Front & Rear ARB Drop links

Also picked up another couple random parts;

- Tomei Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge
- Momo Quick-Release Hub
- Kaber Perfomance Hicas Lockout Bar
- DriftWorks Rear Camber Arms
- GKTech Gearshift Bushing
- Nissan OEM Key Blank
- Nissan OEM Cam Cover Rubber Pipe
- Walbro 255 l/hr Fuel Pump
- Walbro Fitting Kit
- Greddy Magnetic Drain Plug
- Bride Brix Recliner.

(This was from about January)




So that roughly brings me to about a month ago. After months of eagerly waiting to finish college as I hadn’t a single moment of free time. Luckily for me, about the same time as I finished college a friend of my dad had sold all the equipment out of his workshop and so that left me with the perfect location to work on the Skyline giving me the opportunity to properly strip down the suspension, clean it up and replace everything with the new parts and shelter from the Irish summer.




........ More to come soon

[Hachi]

Good work so far dude and a cheap find!! I really need to start a thread on my 32.

Thanks man, It was a bit of luck I suppose and they weren't in demand as much back then from what I remember. Definitely do, I have to say it only gets harder with time haha

[Spartacus]

What are the plans for the body? Glad its being saved from what it was.

[Hachi]

What are the plans for the body? Glad its being saved from what it was.

As far as the body goes, if it's with me long enough and I have the funds it will get a full respray. I'm not much of a fan of kits on R32's (That's not to say their aren't some awesome kitted liners out there)

[drifter kid]

Cool car enjoyed the read is it back on the road yet?

[Hachi]

Cool car enjoyed the read is it back on the road yet?

Not yet, I have an NCT booked for August. I finished up most of the work last week, I'm just caught up on a charging circuit issue at the moment, but I'll go into more detail about that in one of my next posts.

[Stevo]

They were the days of cheap cars

[jonnyrb]

Oooohhh good stuff, the day of picking one up for that money are well gone. love last picture, wheel suit it to the ground, keep up the good work!