Hello fellow enthusiasts!
I currently own a privately imported R32 Gts-T and it's my first JDM car. The car had been sitting in a shed for over 8 years after its previous owner passed away. His brother sold it to me due to having to move and no longer had space for it. It's original RB20det has been swapped at some point in it's life to a 1998 model RB20de (not sure what it's out of) and is, as far as I know, quite healthy. other than the engine swap, some off brand wheels, a few interior pieces and that ridiculous wing, the car is pretty much stock.
I've owned the car for about 8 months now however due to being busy with study and travelling i've only managed to do a couple of things to it. Firstly the engine had a slightly higher rpm on idle (about 1500) which was easily fixed by adjusting the TPS. The car also had a pretty serious dint on the left-rear quarter which has been pushed out and painted over. its not beautiful but it definitely looks better than it did! It had a few rust holes in the rear quarters as well that a friend of mine fixed for me as you can see in the pictures below.
I've also replaced the driver seat with another stock one because the old one was ripped up. the door hinges were also replaced because they were so worn out that the door would hit the frame rail when you closed it! The powersteering pump must have buggered seals because it whines constantly, the shifter and steering wheel are falling apart, the sound system doesn't work, the aircon doesn't work and the vents are broken, the windscreen is cracked and the list goes on! it's definitely going to take a bit of work but it's going to turn out great and I'm going to take you along for the whole journey!
Now that you know my car a little better, here are the rest of the things that need to be fixed/replaced:
- serpentine belt
- windscreen
- powersteerig pump
- steering wheel and shifter
- a/c vents
- driver side mirror
- driver side door locks
I have a couple of ideas for the car once it's fixed up (GTR front end, coilovers etc) but if you have any more ideas or questions feel free to comment below! I'm looking forward to hearing your advice in the future and sharing my build with you. thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!
Great post buddy, this is just me but I would personally swap out that wing for an R32 GT-R wing and a Fujimura add on, do the GTR front end like you said and maybe if fund permit an RB25DET swap? You could get away with a second hand HKS/GReddy turbo off ebay or the likes, decap those injectors to save on cost have them flowed and pickup a second hand Apexi PFC and you will have a blast. OR do everything except the GTR front end and remove the rear spoiler and have it as a total sleeper :) I don't know just my 2c, your car so you need to express yourself through it
that's a pretty solid suggestion! I don't really have an engine hoist or anything so I don't think an engine swap would be really possible. potentially down the track I'll turbo it and see how I go from there. I've never really known what to think about the fujimara add on but i'll definitely look into it! cheers!
You need an engine crane to do the swap, pretty cheap to buy these days, I guess eBay will have some if you can’t find one locally.
With @nelkeljdm on the engine swap. Definitely need to swap in an RB25 for those beautiful turbo noises ♥
I think the RB20DE was used in the R32, might be more common in the 4 door version though. There are non turbo R33 skylines as well. That’s a real project you have there, but it’s a great looking car. I imported an R32 Gtst for a friend back in 2002, it was a great car, the RB20 is a bull it proof motor. Not sure about putting a turbo on the DE version though, the camshaft duration is different, could be better to swap it out for an RB20DET motor.
Nice project anyway, good luck 👍
True, I was kinda hoping they'd have the same internals just a different tune but that sounds right. How difficult is it to get ahold of a JDM car in Sweden? My girlfriend is actually Norwegian and lives near Oslo. I visit quite often and miss my cars in Australia haha.
Hi, you can find JDM cars in Sweden, I actually bought my RX7 here. They are much cheaper than in Norway! UK is the cheapest place to pick them up, only problem is the weather over there kills them with rust after a while. I will do a write up about importing an RX8 from UK at some point.. dirt cheap too :)
awesome! looking forward to that
Are you planning to mod the car in the near future? I'm curious about what you're going to do with it. I hope you take great care of it! Cheers! :D
Hey man, probably a few simple mods like coilovers and cosmetic stuff for now. maybe down the track I'll bolt a turbo onto it. Also, big fan haha :)