Nissan Skyline R32 GTR - Group.. A?

[Davie_GLA]

I'm sure it will mate. The moment you stamp on those brakes for the first time will be a proper test of all your prep.

I remember the last track day I did on an R1. I wasn't comfortable until I knew that the brakes had a good, solid lever and bit with nice progression after I fitted an aftermarket radial master cylinder. After that it was game on.

I did fall off mind you but it was talent I ran out of, not mechanical skill

[alexcrosse]

Davie_GLA said:

I'm sure it will mate. The moment you stamp on those brakes for the first time will be a proper test of all your prep.

I remember the last track day I did on an R1. I wasn't comfortable until I knew that the brakes had a good, solid lever and bit with nice progression after I fitted an aftermarket radial master cylinder. After that it was game on.

I did fall off mind you but it was talent I ran out of, not mechanical skill

Well the AP master cylinders should make a pedal much nicer than standard. I think it's all about distance until the reservoir port closes, it eliminates dead travel at the top of the pedal. We shall see anyway!

Glad you're in one piece mate. Hopefully I don't fall off the skyline first time out!

[alexcrosse]

More stuff. Just starting to get some of the big bits ready to fit to the back. Every diff measurement is out. Fantastic.

Also - I've got some titanium dioxide to dye the gears and check engagement for the rebuild now

[frayz]

alexcrosse said:

More stuff. Just starting to get some of the big bits ready to fit to the back. Every diff measurement is out. Fantastic.

Also - I've got some titanium dioxide to dye the gears and check engagement for the rebuild now

Another good watch Alex. Maybe you need a new DTI haha.
It would be interesting to see what the tollerance is on other GTR diffs from factory, just out of interest.

[alexcrosse]

frayz said:

Another good watch Alex. Maybe you need a new DTI haha.
It would be interesting to see what the tollerance is on other GTR diffs from factory, just out of interest.

You know what, in a bit I edited out I said about buying a new DTI lol. I say new... an old mitutoyo. But surely it must be accurate. It is just a cheap POS I bought many moons ago.

I do need to give garage D a call about what they're seen on diffs before. I was going to re-assemble it with some new bearings, re-measure, then call them with the info. Hopefully they can recommend shim sizes and supply them for me.

I don't like getting info off companies without buying stuff at the same time!

[frayz]

alexcrosse said:

You know what, in a bit I edited out I said about buying a new DTI lol. I say new... an old mitutoyo. But surely it must be accurate. It is just a cheap POS I bought many moons ago.

I do need to give garage D a call about what they're seen on diffs before. I was going to re-assemble it with some new bearings, re-measure, then call them with the info. Hopefully they can recommend shim sizes and supply them for me.

I don't like getting info off companies without buying stuff at the same time!

I know what you mean, always feels like a bit of a piss take if youre just harvesting info withoutr feeling like youve paid for that info in some way.
Not sure how local you are to Essex (Maldon), but ive got a Mitutoyo you're welcome to borrow. Also assuming both your parts and measuring tools are soaked to the same temprature which i guess they are, as we are not talking microns here.

Diffs are one of those things that always seem to be some sort of black magic to setup lol.

[alexcrosse]

frayz said:

I know what you mean, always feels like a bit of a piss take if youre just harvesting info withoutr feeling like youve paid for that info in some way.
Not sure how local you are to Essex (Maldon), but ive got a Mitutoyo you're welcome to borrow. Also assuming both your parts and measuring tools are soaked to the same temprature which i guess they are, as we are not talking microns here.

Diffs are one of those things that always seem to be some sort of black magic to setup lol.

I might even take you up on that mate, I'm in Upminster.

Everything is soaked to garage temperature lol

[frayz]

alexcrosse said:

frayz said:

I know what you mean, always feels like a bit of a piss take if youre just harvesting info withoutr feeling like youve paid for that info in some way.
Not sure how local you are to Essex (Maldon), but ive got a Mitutoyo you're welcome to borrow. Also assuming both your parts and measuring tools are soaked to the same temprature which i guess they are, as we are not talking microns here.

Diffs are one of those things that always seem to be some sort of black magic to setup lol.

I might even take you up on that mate, I'm in Upminster.

Everything is soaked to garage temperature lol

I work in Basildon so a bit closer. If you get stuck and wanna try another DTi. Just bell me.

[alexcrosse]

frayz said:

I work in Basildon so a bit closer. If you get stuck and wanna try another DTi. Just bell me.

Oh easy, I work in Dunton, well, when I'm not WFH now.

And will do, cheers mate!

[trails]

alexcrosse said:

Oh easy, I work in Dunton, well, when I'm not WFH now.

And will do, cheers mate!

Not at Ford?

Sorry being nosey!

[frayz]

alexcrosse said:

Oh easy, I work in Dunton, well, when I'm not WFH now.

And will do, cheers mate!

Please dont say Dunton

[alexcrosse]

You both at Ford too? Lol. Comedy.

[frayz]

alexcrosse said:

You both at Ford too? Lol. Comedy.

Im sitting here now. Been a Fordy for 21 years (Comedy gold!)

[trails]

alexcrosse said:

You both at Ford too? Lol. Comedy.

Not me, my dad was brake and chassis supervisor at Dunton, but retired back in 2007.

Funny how many similar characteristics the three of you share. Must be the indoctrination

[alexcrosse]

Well, if you want OEM Engineering speak, I use 'glide path' in the intro of this one.



Really happy with how these pedals have come out. Nice to have bolted something on too.

[MDifficult]

I can't believe i've spent over an hour watching you build some pedals but loved every minute. I know I'm repeating myself but the level of detail and craftsmanship is mind-blowing.

Despite watching all the videos, I've still got a couple of fundamental questions that I'm not sure I know the answers to...

1) Just... why? What is it about 90s racing Skylines that is motivating you to do this incredible amount of work? No doubt the end product is going to be amazing but there must be something driving you to do this? Why this particular model and why this particular build?

2) Where on earth did you get your detailed knowledge about the car itself? I've seen you using the build books etc - is it all from those?

3) How did you acquire all the skills to do what, on the face of it, looks extremely specialist work?

Hope you don't mind me sticking my nose in.. but this is what's going through my head when I watch

Keep up the good work though. It's like watching 'A Car Is Reborn' but about a billion times better.

[alexcrosse]

MDifficult said:

1) Just... why? What is it about 90s racing Skylines that is motivating you to do this incredible amount of work? No doubt the end product is going to be amazing but there must be something driving you to do this? Why this particular model and why this particular build?

2) Where on earth did you get your detailed knowledge about the car itself? I've seen you using the build books etc - is it all from those?

3) How did you acquire all the skills to do what, on the face of it, looks extremely specialist work?

Thanks for the kind words buddy. Really nice people enjoy the vids and build. Certainly adds to my enjoyment of the entire project.


1) There's only a handful of vehicle truly purpose built for motorsport. I mean truly purpose built. I honestly don't think the R32 GTR was ever really designed to do anything but win JTCC. As a ground up exercise that's pretty special.

2) Ties into #1 quite well. The fact this stuff is so hard to get knowledge of makes it more fascinating. It also makes replicas more infuriating to me. A lot is from the books, the red one is pretty valuable for sheet metal work, and white one has some good technical info. It even has a lot of geometry info. I have a large folder of pics of my computer I've collected. The weirder the photos the better. Sometimes I'll even need to pause old JTCC footage to see things.

Then what I said about it being purpose built does come into it a little bit. The architecture of the car can guide you in how and why the change was made. Which is really satisfying.

3) If you've ever owned an old mini you need to learn how to weld. I just try and do my best really, lots of research, and the understanding that practice helps and you're never good to start with

[MDifficult]

alexcrosse said:

Thanks for the kind words buddy. Really nice people enjoy the vids and build. Certainly adds to my enjoyment of the entire project.


1) There's only a handful of vehicle truly purpose built for motorsport. I mean truly purpose built. I honestly don't think the R32 GTR was ever really designed to do anything but win JTCC. As a ground up exercise that's pretty special.

2) Ties into #1 quite well. The fact this stuff is so hard to get knowledge of makes it more fascinating. It also makes replicas more infuriating to me. A lot is from the books, the red one is pretty valuable for sheet metal work, and white one has some good technical info. It even has a lot of geometry info. I have a large folder of pics of my computer I've collected. The weirder the photos the better. Sometimes I'll even need to pause old JTCC footage to see things.

Then what I said about it being purpose built does come into it a little bit. The architecture of the car can guide you in how and why the change was made. Which is really satisfying.

3) If you've ever owned an old mini you need to learn how to weld. I just try and do my best really, lots of research, and the understanding that practice helps and you're never good to start with

Cheers - that explains a lot! (and not a single mention of Gran Turismo on the PlayStation)

[Penguinracer]

It's amazing how different Fred Gibsons Aussie Group A R32's were to the Nismo versions:

https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/australia-bui...

https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/aussie-legend...

http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/02/godzilla-attac...

[alexcrosse]

Penguinracer said:

It's amazing how different Fred Gibsons Aussie Group A R32's were to the Nismo versions:

Yeah you're dead right. People usually favour one or the other. Totally different.

I always found the aussie stuff less interesting personally, its easier to find information because they like to talk about it so much. Much like cross fitters or vegans.

Interestingly the roll cages in the aussie cars aren't FIA compliant, so you'd never be able to race one over here even with a period cage in it. I'm not sure why they didn't carry over the Japanese cage, perhaps they couldn't get the material, or work with it?

Like the aussie cars mine will not have HICAS, but I'd like to reinstate it one day, maybe when I can afford something a bit more capable control wise. Another one of those nice modular modifications.