Buying a 3R

[dinsdale]

I've done the usual searches on buying tips but am a bit confused as to which upgrades apply to the 3R. I'm looking at the 3ltr R rather than the 2.5 and would appreciate some guidance on which upgrades are must haves and which are nice to haves.

The car will be used on the road mostly with the odd track day.

Cheers

[leeshell]

Here shows you the specs of the different models:

http://www.gto3.com/models/index.htm

IMO the mods are down to what the individual wants. All the Noble variants are great cars...

Personally I like the 6th gear which comes as standard on the (majority?) 3R.

[BobE]

A quick re-cap on the models. The starting point (after the M10) was a 2.5L M12 the M12 GTO, then a 3L version the M12 GTO 3, then a 3L vesion with certain updates including faired in headlights - the M12 GTO 3R. After that came the M400 which was a significantly updated 3R. The production of some models overlapped so a 3L GTO could be bought alongside a 3R etc. During the manufacture of each model various updates were introduced and you need to check these have been done (for instance the front radiator fans are mounted on a shroud to give improved cooling performance etc). Basically the later the car the more improvements were incorporated at the initial build. Obviously a lot of modifications have also been made subsequently by the owners.
The important features/mods are:
1. An LSD - this can protect the gearbox from impact loading caused by a spinning wheel suddenly finding traction - as well as obviously giving greater traction.
2. A 6 speed gearbox is considered more robust than a 5 speed - by some. If the car has had a gearbox rebuild it`s a worthwhile if the gears have been shot peaned to improve their life. This is especially true if the car has been re-mapped to give more torque (and power).
3. If you do go for a 2.5L early car check it has the later ECU that is more reliable and can be `mapped`. (ie different engine management parameters can be entered).
4. If you are taking the car on a track then ensure it has a TDS (a `track day sump`) fitted to prevent oil surge in the sump under high lateral and longitudinal accelerations causing a drastic oil starvation which will wreck the engine.
5. The standard exhaust systems are mild steel and basically fall apart - as well as restricting the engines power output. Full stainless systems (dual rather than single) are available from Haywood and Scott, Roush etc. If any significant change is made to the engine/exhaust/turbos etc make sure the engine has been remapped on a rolling road or damage can result.
6. The wiring to the fuel pump is very thin as fitted by the factory and at high speed (high fuel consumption) the voltage drop within the wires can limit the output of the pump which isn`t a good idea as the engine could run lean.
7. The intercooler can be marginal at high ambient temperatures - especially on track - and updated versions are availble from companies such as Proalloy.
8. A similar situation exists for the water radiator at the front of the car.
9. Again on track, the engine oil temperature can get very high potentially increasing engine wear (or worse) as the standard water/oil cooling arrangement has limited performance - so some people have fitted front mounted oil coolers.
Now the standard car has no major draw backs and basically the above mods just improve the situation. To incorporate them scratch will cost a significant amount of money so cars fitted with them already are more sought after/costly. As with any car of this type, history and condition are important - including how much track use it has had as this will increase wear considerably.
If you look through other threads you will also see items on turbos/chassis condition/aircon etc.
I hope this helps.

[dinsdale]

thanks gents. very helpful