Skyline R34 GTT - boost loose about dis hoose
Discussion
So after owning the car for about 18 months and finally getting some pictures sorted out I think it about time for a thread so other can see how I am pissing my money away.
The car started life as as 12k mile Tiptronic Auto that looked like it had just rolled out the factory.
One of the first things I did was go along to a Skyline Owners rolling road day at Surrey Rolling Road where it was immediately lambasted for its "Gay Box" by some bloke called Charlie. It made about 220bhp which is quite a lot below the factory quoted 270ish but that was down to the slush box stealing it all much like the bloke who always goes upto the buffet first and takes all the mini pizzas.
A year past and not a lot happened to the car as it was garaged and only used when the weather was nice at weekends as I was doing a 70 mile commute a day. Suffice to say I got a job closer to home so I could use the Skyline every day and passed my diesel Alfa onto my cousin. First job was to replace the slush box with a manwel (que?) to try and steal some of themini pizzas power back.
Prop shaft and cross beam off
Box off the car. As you can see the ladies went wild
Destroyed steel auto spigot bearing with its copper replacement for the manwel
Exedy Organic clutch ready to go
Now the auto and manual secondry pedal boxes were different lengths. So my mild mannered mechanic mate masterfully mating the multiple parts of the machine together drilled the mounting hole out to where the manwel one is on the firewall and then built up the gap with washers until a bolt could safely be used to stop the brake and clutch pedals moving when compressed
Also a hole for the clutch slave cylinder was required to be cut. This was cleaned up and painted after this picture was taken
Wiring changes were needed so it would start without being in Park which of course it won't be any more as it has a manwel box on it. Other changes were also needed to the reverse switch so it would come on correctly. At first it would come on when you had the gear stick in a neutral position which was rather annoying.
No more auto shifter!
This took around 16 hours in all from start to the car being ready to drive away. Good thing I have friends who unlike me are competent with spanners. A few weeks later it was dyno'd again with the power coming back at 267 which is more like it. Parts and labour for the conversion came in at about £1,000 so in the bang for buck stakes was pretty good.
The car started life as as 12k mile Tiptronic Auto that looked like it had just rolled out the factory.
One of the first things I did was go along to a Skyline Owners rolling road day at Surrey Rolling Road where it was immediately lambasted for its "Gay Box" by some bloke called Charlie. It made about 220bhp which is quite a lot below the factory quoted 270ish but that was down to the slush box stealing it all much like the bloke who always goes upto the buffet first and takes all the mini pizzas.
A year past and not a lot happened to the car as it was garaged and only used when the weather was nice at weekends as I was doing a 70 mile commute a day. Suffice to say I got a job closer to home so I could use the Skyline every day and passed my diesel Alfa onto my cousin. First job was to replace the slush box with a manwel (que?) to try and steal some of the
Prop shaft and cross beam off
Box off the car. As you can see the ladies went wild
Destroyed steel auto spigot bearing with its copper replacement for the manwel
Exedy Organic clutch ready to go
Now the auto and manual secondry pedal boxes were different lengths. So my mild mannered mechanic mate masterfully mating the multiple parts of the machine together drilled the mounting hole out to where the manwel one is on the firewall and then built up the gap with washers until a bolt could safely be used to stop the brake and clutch pedals moving when compressed
Also a hole for the clutch slave cylinder was required to be cut. This was cleaned up and painted after this picture was taken
Wiring changes were needed so it would start without being in Park which of course it won't be any more as it has a manwel box on it. Other changes were also needed to the reverse switch so it would come on correctly. At first it would come on when you had the gear stick in a neutral position which was rather annoying.
No more auto shifter!
This took around 16 hours in all from start to the car being ready to drive away. Good thing I have friends who unlike me are competent with spanners. A few weeks later it was dyno'd again with the power coming back at 267 which is more like it. Parts and labour for the conversion came in at about £1,000 so in the bang for buck stakes was pretty good.
So the next thing after that was to remove the asthmatic exhaust which was keeping the turbo from doing its job properly. A HKS downpipe and exhaust system was bolted without about an hours work which made life a bit more noisy as well as giving a sharper throttle response. Not a lot but enough for you to feel it. Around the same time the air box was also replaced with a K&N air filter with a kit to bolt it straight to the AFM.
After that it was time to get serious. Front mounted intercooler and boost controller were fitted to give a bit more from the turbo.
Original side mounted intercooler
So tiny
Front mounted intercooler
Mmmm chunky
This needed a new hole cutting out as well but once again Nissan had left where they cut it out for the GTR market so it was a simple job. The fit was fairly easy with a bit of faffing about with the placement of the washer jet bottle, horns and trimming a bit off the inside of the bumper so it would not rub on the fins of the intercooler.
Once this was all done the car was desperately in need of a remap so after a few recommendations I took it to Steve at FC Tuning who was doing a mapping day at Dynotech near Dartford. After a bit of mucking about and a spark plug change that would not look out of place during a rally car repair stop (plugs that were in were too hot so the spark was blowing out beyond 0.6 bar boost) the car was mapped.
Video of it being mapped. Watch out for the spit of flame at about 20 seconds
http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj235/armracing...
So the scores on the doors?
Power before and After
Power and Torque
For those without the gift of pictures it came back with 356 bhp and 351 ft/lbs of torque at 0.9 bar of boost. Which is really the max you want to run the standard turbo at if you want it to live for any length of time and not become a mass of ceramic projectiles exiting the exhaust at speed or worse being sucked into the block.
The next steps are to replace the plugs again but with iridium ones of the same heat rating (7 atm) as well as a set of uprated coil packs as the standard ones start to misfire on idle once hot. Following on from those changes it is time for the suspension and brakes to be given some attention as well as some new wider boots.
After that it was time to get serious. Front mounted intercooler and boost controller were fitted to give a bit more from the turbo.
Original side mounted intercooler
So tiny
Front mounted intercooler
Mmmm chunky
This needed a new hole cutting out as well but once again Nissan had left where they cut it out for the GTR market so it was a simple job. The fit was fairly easy with a bit of faffing about with the placement of the washer jet bottle, horns and trimming a bit off the inside of the bumper so it would not rub on the fins of the intercooler.
Once this was all done the car was desperately in need of a remap so after a few recommendations I took it to Steve at FC Tuning who was doing a mapping day at Dynotech near Dartford. After a bit of mucking about and a spark plug change that would not look out of place during a rally car repair stop (plugs that were in were too hot so the spark was blowing out beyond 0.6 bar boost) the car was mapped.
Video of it being mapped. Watch out for the spit of flame at about 20 seconds
http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj235/armracing...
So the scores on the doors?
Power before and After
Power and Torque
For those without the gift of pictures it came back with 356 bhp and 351 ft/lbs of torque at 0.9 bar of boost. Which is really the max you want to run the standard turbo at if you want it to live for any length of time and not become a mass of ceramic projectiles exiting the exhaust at speed or worse being sucked into the block.
The next steps are to replace the plugs again but with iridium ones of the same heat rating (7 atm) as well as a set of uprated coil packs as the standard ones start to misfire on idle once hot. Following on from those changes it is time for the suspension and brakes to be given some attention as well as some new wider boots.
Carfiend said:
Suffice to say I got a job closer to home so I could use the Skyline every day and passed my diesel Alfa onto my cousin
I love this. You got a new job so you could drive the car you wanted.I can imagine the interview now
"So Carfiend, why do you want to work for us?"
"Well you see, my current job is too far away from my house, forcing me to drive a diesel daily. If I work for you, I can drive my Skyline. Oh and er also, the position sounds great and the company seems like a nice place to work and blah blah blah."
Classic.
The Horse Man said:
I love this. You got a new job so you could drive the car you wanted.
I can imagine the interview now
"So Carfiend, why do you want to work for us?"
"Well you see, my current job is too far away from my house, forcing me to drive a diesel daily. If I work for you, I can drive my Skyline. Oh and er also, the position sounds great and the company seems like a nice place to work and blah blah blah."
Classic.
This is exactly what I'm trying to explain to a recruitment agency right now. I'd rather work somewhere in walking distance for £5-8k less a year than somewhere that means I have to run a daily barge to get to. They can't see the logic.I can imagine the interview now
"So Carfiend, why do you want to work for us?"
"Well you see, my current job is too far away from my house, forcing me to drive a diesel daily. If I work for you, I can drive my Skyline. Oh and er also, the position sounds great and the company seems like a nice place to work and blah blah blah."
Classic.
Yeah the commuting was getting on my nerves so it was nice to find somewhere close by. People must really love sitting in traffic and spending a large majority of their waking hours in a car to not get the living near work thing.
The best part is I am still saving money on fuel even after all the modifications versus my old job and diesel commute.
The best part is I am still saving money on fuel even after all the modifications versus my old job and diesel commute.
0.9 is the high boost setting. Other GTTs have been running higher boost that 0.9 on the ceramic turbos. I don't agree with this as while it can take it you don't know how long for and the last thing you want is bits of pottery in your engine so low boost is set to 0.8 with the cutout at 0.86. I do know of someone running the standard turbo at 1.1 bar which is madness imo.
The problem really is that for years most people had R33 GTSTs which have a number of differences compared to the R34 with its Neo engine. The turbo and elbow are larger and the side mount intercooler is thicker which I would expect was done to get the power back up after the emmissions stuff was engineered in.
After the suspension and brakes are done I expect the turbo will be coming out for something a bit bigger anyway. Most people go for a remanufactured hybrid one with steel internals but if you are going to the hassle of changing the thing you might as well get a bigger one. Just no so big you need a top mount manifold and all that hassle.
Again you are right the R34 side mount is ok for 350 bhp but when you start getting around those numbers it becomes a restriction. I honestly haven't felt any lag after the change but then I have set the boost controller to allow boost from 0.45 bar so you get a smoother curve rather than a massive jump higher up the rev range. That and it is shiny
.
The problem really is that for years most people had R33 GTSTs which have a number of differences compared to the R34 with its Neo engine. The turbo and elbow are larger and the side mount intercooler is thicker which I would expect was done to get the power back up after the emmissions stuff was engineered in.
After the suspension and brakes are done I expect the turbo will be coming out for something a bit bigger anyway. Most people go for a remanufactured hybrid one with steel internals but if you are going to the hassle of changing the thing you might as well get a bigger one. Just no so big you need a top mount manifold and all that hassle.
Again you are right the R34 side mount is ok for 350 bhp but when you start getting around those numbers it becomes a restriction. I honestly haven't felt any lag after the change but then I have set the boost controller to allow boost from 0.45 bar so you get a smoother curve rather than a massive jump higher up the rev range. That and it is shiny
.Oh god that damned spoiler.
Yes it is the Nismo body kit one that came on the car as standard. The problem is it is in three parts and they are bolted through the rear wings. So I would need to remove them, weld the holes up and then respray the rear quarters as getting red to match is quite difficult. It is amazing that the nismo bumpers and skirts look amazing but who in their right mind through that spoiler was a good idea?
I have a standard GTT spoiler in the shed for over a year but I have just never gotten round to it as quotes for the work have been between £600-£1200 depending on if I want the whole rear done so it doesn't look like some patch work mess. I would love to put a genuine GTR spoiler on it but they are quite expensive and the other choice would be a carbon big gay wing which again would look a bit ott.
It is on the list and will get sorted eventually.
Yes it is the Nismo body kit one that came on the car as standard. The problem is it is in three parts and they are bolted through the rear wings. So I would need to remove them, weld the holes up and then respray the rear quarters as getting red to match is quite difficult. It is amazing that the nismo bumpers and skirts look amazing but who in their right mind through that spoiler was a good idea?
I have a standard GTT spoiler in the shed for over a year but I have just never gotten round to it as quotes for the work have been between £600-£1200 depending on if I want the whole rear done so it doesn't look like some patch work mess. I would love to put a genuine GTR spoiler on it but they are quite expensive and the other choice would be a carbon big gay wing which again would look a bit ott.
It is on the list and will get sorted eventually.
Video up of the tuning session here http://fctuning.com/fctwp/?p=1416
Have some iridium cooler spark plugs and uprated coilpacks on order now as the standard ones are having problems keeping cylinder 1 firing on idle. Hopefully get those in before the dyno shoot out at SRR this saturday to see if there is any difference.
Just have to find time to clean it before else Lord Vixpy get his hands dirty strapping it down before giving it some stick... no not in that way you dirty lot.
Have some iridium cooler spark plugs and uprated coilpacks on order now as the standard ones are having problems keeping cylinder 1 firing on idle. Hopefully get those in before the dyno shoot out at SRR this saturday to see if there is any difference.
Just have to find time to clean it before else Lord Vixpy get his hands dirty strapping it down before giving it some stick... no not in that way you dirty lot.
Bit of an update and some track action!
Since the last update I have added the following:
Heat rating 8 Iridium spark plugs
Super spark uprated coilpacks
Yellow Stuff brake pads all around
Do-luck braided brake hoses
Dot 5.1 brake fluid
Brake stopper (it braces the master cylinder as there is flex in the firewall as standard)
The coilpacks and plugs were done as the standard ones were not happy with the extra strain from the remap so they went in on Good Friday. Some people were going to church I was swearing at the car due to Nissan making me have to remove the intercooler to inlet manifold piping to get to the panel I had to remove to get to the coilpacks etc... Once it was all done the misfire on idle went away as did the occasional ones at the top end.
The brakes were done in preperation for a little track called Spa Francorchamps. That all went on easily enough and helped improve the braking as the oem setup is a bit soft.
After all that it was time to drive to Spa:
Gratuitous arse picture as we drove into Malmedy where our B&B was:
Cars lined up in the morning
Better throw one in of the view from the B&B
The event itself was the MG owners club european event that lasted for 4-5 days. They had booked the track and we were told lacked numbers whichw as why were were given the chance to attend. Even so we were still demoted to the back of the bus
Now for some action shots!
Some more here if anyone is interested http://www.skylineowners.com/forum/showthread.php?... it will have some of the MGs as well.
My best lap of the day was 3:50 which is ok. The car in some of the pictures in silver with all the stickers is running Toyo R888s and about 700bhp which was putting away 3:02 laps. In our last session the safety car came out to play as well but lost it trying to keep up with the silver one and nipped back into the pits.
The price for 3 30 minutes sessions on the full Spa F1 circuit? 90 euros. Chuck in 130 euros for the B&B along with £80 for the Eurotunnel and 3 tanks of fuel it was a pretty good trip. Hopefully some videos will follow.
Since the last update I have added the following:
Heat rating 8 Iridium spark plugs
Super spark uprated coilpacks
Yellow Stuff brake pads all around
Do-luck braided brake hoses
Dot 5.1 brake fluid
Brake stopper (it braces the master cylinder as there is flex in the firewall as standard)
The coilpacks and plugs were done as the standard ones were not happy with the extra strain from the remap so they went in on Good Friday. Some people were going to church I was swearing at the car due to Nissan making me have to remove the intercooler to inlet manifold piping to get to the panel I had to remove to get to the coilpacks etc... Once it was all done the misfire on idle went away as did the occasional ones at the top end.
The brakes were done in preperation for a little track called Spa Francorchamps. That all went on easily enough and helped improve the braking as the oem setup is a bit soft.
After all that it was time to drive to Spa:
Gratuitous arse picture as we drove into Malmedy where our B&B was:
Cars lined up in the morning
Better throw one in of the view from the B&B
The event itself was the MG owners club european event that lasted for 4-5 days. They had booked the track and we were told lacked numbers whichw as why were were given the chance to attend. Even so we were still demoted to the back of the bus
Now for some action shots!
Some more here if anyone is interested http://www.skylineowners.com/forum/showthread.php?... it will have some of the MGs as well.
My best lap of the day was 3:50 which is ok. The car in some of the pictures in silver with all the stickers is running Toyo R888s and about 700bhp which was putting away 3:02 laps. In our last session the safety car came out to play as well but lost it trying to keep up with the silver one and nipped back into the pits.
The price for 3 30 minutes sessions on the full Spa F1 circuit? 90 euros. Chuck in 130 euros for the B&B along with £80 for the Eurotunnel and 3 tanks of fuel it was a pretty good trip. Hopefully some videos will follow.
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