Andy's R32 GTR
Discussion
Hi all, I've been lurking on the site for a couple of years now but only just signed up.
I've had my first car (a MK4 Astra 1.6) since I was 17 which I'm still running as a daily. I see the same advice keep appearing on here; don't spend money on modifying your first car, save it and get something decent in a few years. Well, its good advice, 7 years later I had enough to get something I've been wanting for a long time.
My search started in the first half of last year. I'd been researching quite a bit before that and come to the conclusion that to get the colour and condition I was after, I'd have to import a car from Japan. I decided to use japaneseusedcars.com as an agent as you get to pick the car from the auctions yourself and they then inspect it prior to bidding. They were brilliant throughout the entire process. I had one car rejected as it failed their inspection and couple of months with nothing suitable appearing in the auctions when finally, this pops up.
It's a 1990 R32 GTR in the rare TH1 Dark Blue Pearl. Of the 40,000 or so they made, 280 ish were in this colour and it ended up as a special order. Also being one of the early cars its 50kg lighter at 1430kgs. The colour changes with the light and goes from looking almost black to a deep blue metallic. Its only had a couple of mods too which is extremely unusual. A Fujitsubo Super R exhaust, R33 GTR wheels, a CD player and an Apexi speed/rev meter and thats it. Exactly what I was after with reasonable mileage (96,000 kms) and full history present. Put in a bid and had a couple of days to wait for the auction to happen. They're 8 hours ahead in Japan so the auctions happen overnight here. Woke up and checked my email the morning after. I'd won the auction. No going back now!
Pics at the docks in Japan:
Cue a month and a half of nervous/excited waiting to pick the car up at the docks in Southampton.
Had sorted my insurance a while beforehand except they didn't mention that they were only giving me 14 days to get the car registered and provide them with the registration number. Great! Rear fog light was fitted in a hurry and then I drove it straight down for the MOT. It conked out at a set of traffic lights which was slightly embarrassing but it did start up again after a couple of minutes. It wasn't quite running right but I planned to give it a full service after the MOT anyway. It flew through, not even any advisories so that was a relief.
Had some fun at the Bristol DVLA office who were very helpful, it was the insurance company that caused issues as they hadn't put the vin number in the right place on the certificate. It then took them an hour and a half to fax it through. Registration number and tax disk came in the post two days later. Result!
On to the service. I did all the work myself with help from my Dad. I changed the timing belt and the water pump as well. It was reasonably straight forward although the crank pulley bolt put up one hell of a fight (The starter motor trick only bent the breaker bar!). In the end my Dad had a tool fabricated at work to clamp to the pulley and lock it in position. Was then a case of levering a bigger breaker bar with my leg to get it to break loose.
Problem pulley:
New water pump, tensioner and idle pulleys:
Next task once I'd put it back together was the spark plugs:
Bit of a surprise in the first spark plug chamber, must have got in there the last time the plugs were changed:
I fixed the running issue by resoldering one of the AFMs which is a common problem.
The conditions have been awful therefore I haven't had the chance to drive it much so I'm looking forward to better weather. The steering is fantastic and it certainly shifts alright. Oh and the noise! There's a few little scratches to sort here and there but for a 22 year old car it's in remarkably good shape.
Shines up alright after a wash. (Pictures are a bit dark, I was running out of light).
Updates and pictures may be slow coming it depends on the weather.
Easy on the Datsun jokes please.
I've had my first car (a MK4 Astra 1.6) since I was 17 which I'm still running as a daily. I see the same advice keep appearing on here; don't spend money on modifying your first car, save it and get something decent in a few years. Well, its good advice, 7 years later I had enough to get something I've been wanting for a long time.
My search started in the first half of last year. I'd been researching quite a bit before that and come to the conclusion that to get the colour and condition I was after, I'd have to import a car from Japan. I decided to use japaneseusedcars.com as an agent as you get to pick the car from the auctions yourself and they then inspect it prior to bidding. They were brilliant throughout the entire process. I had one car rejected as it failed their inspection and couple of months with nothing suitable appearing in the auctions when finally, this pops up.
It's a 1990 R32 GTR in the rare TH1 Dark Blue Pearl. Of the 40,000 or so they made, 280 ish were in this colour and it ended up as a special order. Also being one of the early cars its 50kg lighter at 1430kgs. The colour changes with the light and goes from looking almost black to a deep blue metallic. Its only had a couple of mods too which is extremely unusual. A Fujitsubo Super R exhaust, R33 GTR wheels, a CD player and an Apexi speed/rev meter and thats it. Exactly what I was after with reasonable mileage (96,000 kms) and full history present. Put in a bid and had a couple of days to wait for the auction to happen. They're 8 hours ahead in Japan so the auctions happen overnight here. Woke up and checked my email the morning after. I'd won the auction. No going back now!
Pics at the docks in Japan:
Cue a month and a half of nervous/excited waiting to pick the car up at the docks in Southampton.
Had sorted my insurance a while beforehand except they didn't mention that they were only giving me 14 days to get the car registered and provide them with the registration number. Great! Rear fog light was fitted in a hurry and then I drove it straight down for the MOT. It conked out at a set of traffic lights which was slightly embarrassing but it did start up again after a couple of minutes. It wasn't quite running right but I planned to give it a full service after the MOT anyway. It flew through, not even any advisories so that was a relief.
Had some fun at the Bristol DVLA office who were very helpful, it was the insurance company that caused issues as they hadn't put the vin number in the right place on the certificate. It then took them an hour and a half to fax it through. Registration number and tax disk came in the post two days later. Result!
On to the service. I did all the work myself with help from my Dad. I changed the timing belt and the water pump as well. It was reasonably straight forward although the crank pulley bolt put up one hell of a fight (The starter motor trick only bent the breaker bar!). In the end my Dad had a tool fabricated at work to clamp to the pulley and lock it in position. Was then a case of levering a bigger breaker bar with my leg to get it to break loose.
Problem pulley:
New water pump, tensioner and idle pulleys:
Next task once I'd put it back together was the spark plugs:
Bit of a surprise in the first spark plug chamber, must have got in there the last time the plugs were changed:
I fixed the running issue by resoldering one of the AFMs which is a common problem.
The conditions have been awful therefore I haven't had the chance to drive it much so I'm looking forward to better weather. The steering is fantastic and it certainly shifts alright. Oh and the noise! There's a few little scratches to sort here and there but for a 22 year old car it's in remarkably good shape.
Shines up alright after a wash. (Pictures are a bit dark, I was running out of light).
Updates and pictures may be slow coming it depends on the weather.
Easy on the Datsun jokes please.
Looks alright, I suppose, if thoroughly awesome cars are you thing...
Nice write up. I remember the 6 weeks I had to wait for my MR2 turbo. Worst 6 weeks ever. Luckily mine didn't require any work at all when it got here. Lovely looking car though, and the R32 was always the nicest after the Hakosuka. Hope you enjoy.
Nice write up. I remember the 6 weeks I had to wait for my MR2 turbo. Worst 6 weeks ever. Luckily mine didn't require any work at all when it got here. Lovely looking car though, and the R32 was always the nicest after the Hakosuka. Hope you enjoy.
very rare colour too! Keep up the good work OP.Thanks guys. I'm certainly going to keep it completely standard exterior wise. I'm unsure what to do with the turbos at the minute. The standard ceramics do have a habit of losing their exhaust wheels. It'll only be light upgrades or rebuilt originals though.
Next job is a 4 wheel laser alignment. I forgot to mention I had to fork out for 4 new tyres to get it through the MOT (mobile fitters FTW!) so I want to make sure everything is straight and true. I'll also be redoing the underseal at the earliest opportunity for peace of mind. Other than that its just going to be light restoration work, sorting out the couple of marks on the bodywork. There's a very small bubble on the dashboard in the indent above the glove box, which you can just make out in the interior pic and a couple of bubbles on the trim on the inside of the B pillars.
I'm waiting for a break in the weather to get some better pics and I'll try and record some video as well.
Hopefully get it to some meets/shows around the somerset area this year.
Next job is a 4 wheel laser alignment. I forgot to mention I had to fork out for 4 new tyres to get it through the MOT (mobile fitters FTW!) so I want to make sure everything is straight and true. I'll also be redoing the underseal at the earliest opportunity for peace of mind. Other than that its just going to be light restoration work, sorting out the couple of marks on the bodywork. There's a very small bubble on the dashboard in the indent above the glove box, which you can just make out in the interior pic and a couple of bubbles on the trim on the inside of the B pillars.
I'm waiting for a break in the weather to get some better pics and I'll try and record some video as well.
Hopefully get it to some meets/shows around the somerset area this year.
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