demoncamber wrote:That's what I've read so far. Oil issues and stock turbos. But the oil issue is more than just the pump can fix isn't it?
The crank collar on R32 GTRs up until ~94/V spec is too narrow where it meets the oil pump drive. This issue has caused sudden and catastrophic results following a loss in oil pressure. When I was talking with Hatanaka, the chief of the Iruma JUN shop, about it (JUN makes an extended crank collar for the purpose of machining onto the existing crank), he told me that it's primarily due to turning too high of an RPM, 8K or higher, without addressing the issue.
Either you machine a new collar onto your crank, or you swap cranks (both of which will cost you about the same...a grand). If you're going the rebuild route anyway, it's a no-brainer. Spring for an N1 crank and get yourself some nice bearings, pistons, rods, and hardware to keep it all together. Most guys will also spring for an N1 or JUN oil pump with the REIMAX gears anyway (though at this point, their necessity is debatable...some assert that the added oil pressure from the higher output pump causes TOO HIGH of a flow in the head).
If you don't address it, it could last a long time, or it could last until tomorrow. You will certainly limit your power by shying away from 8000 and not fully utilizing why an RB26 is such a great powerplant.......a finicky, but great powerplant.
As for the GT-R in general, even a car with 80K miles from 1989-1990 is still no spring chicken. It's an old, old car with typical Nissan problems and I would not plan on using it as a daily (here I am talking out of both sides of my mouth...but I can't have two cars currently or I would). Coilpacks die, igniters die, the CAS dies, the MAFs die (clean those habitually), you've already mentioned the OE turbochargers, and the HICAS rears its ugly head like it does on many Nissans.
My personal car has around 75K miles and a beautiful chassis with nice paint, but it needed new pulleys, timing and all accessory belts, all fluids changed, all vacuum lines, and I recently had to replace all the coolant hoses as well as a metal coolant tube piece which was corroded pretty badly after I pissed away the whole system rolling down the road. The shaken (Japanese inspection) had run out on the car approximately 3 years before I took possession, so the odds of it being neglected for at least a little while was pretty high.
Doing all that work adds up, even if you do it yourself...and that was just to get my car to a reliable baseline. What will you do when your daily driver goes down for a part that will take a couple months to arrive from Japan?
There are many many more out there that suffer from cancerous rust, so be careful about where you purchase the car as well. Do your diligent research and try to avoid buying a car from Okinawa or predominantly coastline or snowy areas (difficult in Japan) if you can help it. Gets tons and tons of pictures of everything.
Having said all that, many people will be disappointed when these cars become more commonplace in the US...but not to some, and their potential will be open to those who are willing to pay what it takes to keep the car fresh. Don't buy it to look tough in a parking lot, because no one else will have to charge a grand on their credit card and wait a month to fix their car.