JDM BCNR33 in the Alps

[decryphe]

Turns out I'm mostly just active on this forum, not on any of the others, so I'll semi-blog here instead. There's been some progress (finally) on one of my other projects that could be fun to write about and interesting.

(Original post on Skyline-Forum.de from 2020 for additional history)





Specs:
- 1995 R33 GT-R in Midnight Purple
- OEM front lip and Nismo spoiler (carbon lip and spoiler had to be replaced for registration)
- Halogen headlights (xenon had to be replaced)
- BBS LM wheels
- Tein suspension
- Mostly original but partially incomplete interior
- Rear wiper delete
- Reverted the front big brake kit to stock (homologation would have been prohibitively expensive), but may upgrade to an Endless kit (there's Swiss papers for GTRs for a specific kit)

Engine:
- Stock internals (as far as I can tell)
- Link ECU (GTR-Link direct plug-in), Link wideband
- Coilpack swap, new sensoring and triggering
- Stock parallel twin-turbo setup with bigger snails from Tomei
- Blitz SUS metal pod filter intake
- Electric fans on Koyo radiator
- Kakimoto dual-tip exhaust, new downpipe pre-cats and new main cat (I need to pass full Euro2 test)
- Reverted the gasoline catch tank and redundant fuel pump setup
- Replaced the power steering pump (broken bearings) with an upgraded one from the Navara
- Replaced clutch and rear main seal (was leaking)

Definitely still to-do before registering:
- Reinstall window washer fluid reservoir and pump
- Source a new air bag cable, it's currently missing
- Fix or replace the ABS, potentially with a modern Bosch ABS
- Install a short shifter, stock throw is surprisingly long
- Confirm all little lamps actually work that have to work (incl license plate lights)
- Confirm I have all the papers for suspension

Some other observations since my post in 2020 include a probably faked mileage, I don't think it's done only 60k km. Doesn't bother me, mileage doesn't mean much, it's more about how the car was treated during its previous life.

Plan:
First, I'll make sure all mods are finished that need to be done for homologating the car in Switzerland. After that I'll keep completing/restoring broken trim pieces and not-quite-working things. The goal is to build a nice week-end cruiser, and enjoy it on the nice Swiss roads. The car is tuned to approx 400 PS and 450 Nm, classic 90s turbo setup (with 90s lag) for good streetability, no chasing of dyno numbers. It should approach OEM reliability as much as possible, even though GTRs were always a bit of a diva, even from factory, compared to what I'm used from my Toyotas.

This week-end is my first drive on temporary plates since I bought the car in 2020. Back then I also drove it only once due to being highly illegal with its straight-piped exhaust. Corona-time supply chain issues and following massive backlogs at mechanic and tuner delayed the project a lot. I'm hoping to have it registerable next summer... fingers crossed.

[Ivan141]

That's quite a lot of work, I hope you can get it registered soon.

[banpei]

Last year, we spoke briefly about the Skyline, and I was, back then, surprised you hadn't passed registration yet. Good to see you're back on track!

About the mileage: mine got exported with certified mileage. The exporter told me they basically looked at the dash, checked it was the "original" dash, looked at the inspection sheet, which didn't say the mileage was off (as it never had been auctioned before), and they were "convinced" it was authentic. They then wrote this on a document and put a sticker on the windshield. In my case, I have some shaken forms to back up the mileage, but I see a lot of loopholes you can go through in this process to fake the mileage if the car has never been auctioned before.
Like you said, it's more about how the car has been treated throughout its life. If the Skyline wasn't trashed around and only had the occasional power run, I don't see why a 160k car would be worse than a 60k car that drove most of its life as a weekend warrior on the various tracks of Japan.

[Koen Bongers]

Nice collection of JDM icon's you are creating!