I've been looking to import a early model r32 gtr for the longest time but the single thing that has been holding me back is the reliability of the rb26. I know the oiling wasn't great on those cars but can that be fixed with some mods? Would that allow it to rev to 9k like the r34 gtr? Would a dry sump oiling system help? I'm on a loose budget so I am probably looking at importing (or buying an imported) 89'. There are a few for sale in my area but it would cheaper to import one. I would keep it stock for the most part to keep it more reliable since I don't feel like waiting for parts from japan and there are no skyline specialists to fix it when something goes wrong.

You have competing interests that must be dealt with. What is your obsession with 9K? CA18 guys have the same silly fixation on a number.

You have no local support, a finite budget and you say you want reliability, but you are entertaining a dry sump and want to bounce it off the redline. Make up your mind

Reliable
Powerful
Cheap

You can only have two at a time.

You build a reliable and powerful car, but it sure nuff won't be cheap.
You can build a powerful, but cheap car, but it won't be reliable at all, join triple A, you will need a tow truck standing by.
You can build a reliable car cheap, but you will have to be realistic about your power goals.

The last one is where I have spent most of my car life. Sure, it's great to be the alpha dog, but when the dog breaks all the time it starts to seem like the average car that works consistently is a lot more fun in the final analysis.

I would encourage you to forget about an arbitrary number of any kind, power or RPM, boost figure, whatever psuedo-pen15 length you fancy and focus on RELIABILITY! You have limited budget and support so focus your efforts on bulletproofing your car first. You are going to have a lot more fun and build a solid foundation for later upgrades.

The RB26, IMHO, is highly overrated. It's a great engine, but it's not magical ad it has very documented flaws and proven limitations. People will disagree and rush in to defend its honor, blasphemer that I am, but 600hp is about the sweet spot. If you have bottomless pockets, sure, you can go over that and still have decent reliability, but that seems to be the demarcation point where you have to start reengineering things and bringing really talented folks to your aid. As you approach your build, target 600hp with the parts and work you perform to your long block. If you know you want more, same methodology, but target 1000hp to ensure 700hp is reliable.

Oiling system, biggest weak spot on these engines. Start with a 33 or 34 engine. You have to have the better crank drive eccentric minimum. the 32 for some reason I will never understand had an eccentric that only engaged half the oil pump gear. There's no reason this should be. The CA18 of the same vintage was fully engaged with an eccentric a country mile wide so they knew the right way at the time; it's puzzling.

I have seen restrictor pills for the head feed to minimize oil delivered to the head and drainback solutions to get what gets there back out as best as can be accomplished. The theory being that oil is pooling up there and starving the engine. People a heel of a lot more experienced and knowledgeable than I value these mods so there must be some truth to it. I would believe the hype on that and do likewise. OIL PUMP. You need a top notch aftermarket oil pump and they cost big bucks, but when weighed against the risk to all the other money spent on the engine build it sort of makes sense.

You should never allow that pickup to be denied a deep pool of oil to draw from. At minimum install a baffling system to prevent oil sloshing around and exposing the pickup and generating aeration. Increase capacity if you can afford the weld on sump extender; more oil capacity is good. A quality oil cooler is good insurance as well. Make sure you get one with a thermostat bypass so you don't inadvertently delay engin warmup by cooling it 100% of the time. That would hurt not help.

The stock crank is not fully counterweighted making high RPMs more difficult and likely to induce nasty harmonic vibration. Cheap insurance is an aftermarket harmonic balancer, but ideally it should bolt up to a fully spun balanced rotating assembly where all the components have been dynamically balanced together. Let the balancer be the final line of defense, not the only one.

RB26 rods and pistons are pretty stout, but it's false economy to try and reuse them. Aftermarket forged rods and pistons from any reputable company are more than adequate for your build. Special coatings, cryo treatment and the like are neat, but not "must haves" on a build like this. Any quality metal head gasket that delivers the compression ratio you want should do.

For valvetrain, you already have the solid lifter arrangement so new buckets and shims with some slightly stiffer springs and top them with a set of reasonable cams, 264s should do fine. I've been told by the guy that built my 26 that it has 272s in it. How he got it to idle that smooth is beyond me. Cams like that are usually a little lopey.

Get yourself a nice pair of ball bearing turbos and hang them off some stainless manifolds or have the stock manifolds ported and extrudehoned for a secret squirrel setup. Run it with a nice standalone or a plug in solution like a Power FC or Haltech and have a good tuner set it up. You will need a solid fuel delivery solution. I would go with a big pump feeding a surge tank with a pair of pumps sending it on and at least 1000cc injectors, but consult with your tuner and see what they prefer.

That's a lot of information to take in. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain that all to me. I feel like I was exaggerating a little bit with the 9k red line but I kind of want to get it over the stock redline. I have an E46 M3 which revs to 8k and I absolutely love high revving i6 motors. I completely agree with you that's important to make it reliable first. If I ever do get my hands on the gtr, I would just slap on an intake and turbo back (or straight pipe ) exhaust for the mean time and just work on reliability. The R32's engine sounds like they're a hot mess. I really do love the looks of them but since parts are scare, I think I may just wait till the R33s become eligible to import. That or I would keep my R32 bare bone stock. I would be beyond satisfied with 600hp. I don't track or drag race my cars so it would be silly to have more than that for the street. Hell, even 400-500hp would be nice. I'm peaked out on my m3 at 350bhp since it's NA.

How much would you estimate it would cost to get a early model r32 gtr more reliable? I know you said the aftermarket oil pump are big bucks but how big exactly? I'm hoping to budget 10,000-15,000 USD for a good condition skyline and maybe $3000-$4000 for maintenance, and reinforcing the reliability. I was also considering a supra but I've always been a Nissan fan ever since my first car, a 88'300zx. oh on a side note, how are the rb20s for reliability making stock-ish hp. I've always wanted a Fairlady 200zr my whole life.

Dude, you have an M3, you win! I love those. You will be disappointed in the build quality of a rusty old R32.

I've owned mostly RB20DET R32s and the 20 is a masochist; it loves abuse. Pound for pound, they will lose to an SR20, but they are very tough engines and not a waste of time to mess with if you are looking for 300-ish all day long. The 200ZRs, however use the first gen redtop RB20 which is inferior to the second gen silvertops. The redtop hada screwy manifold and multipiece crank girdle. Something to get you thinking.

1. The 200ZR qualfies for the 25 year rule right now.
2. It's not the "cool" car everyone wants so no "fast and furious tax."
3. other than the engine and RHD specific bits, is pretty much the same 300Z that can be found in your local junkyard and Autozone parts inventory
4. Switch oil pans and motor mounts and the 26 drops right in place of the 20.

http://usedcarnews.jp/archives/22853


Here's what the market looks like over here.
Type I
http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/g ... 15004.html
http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/g ... 05001.html

Type II
http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/g ... 10001.html
http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/g ... 00003.html
http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/g ... 15009.html
http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/g ... 10001.html
http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/g ... 19001.html

This one already has a 25 swap, but you want as close to bone stock as possible to import.
http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/g ... 28001.html

Damn F&F tax. I can't believe I didn't look more into the 200zr. Thank you so much for opening my eyes lol. Yea if I ended up getting a R32, I would have had to sell the M3 and live with something that doesn't have the same ergonomics of a bimmer. I would be perfectly fine with 300hp from an 80s car. I don't car that much about speed per se but rather the experience and confidence that the engine won't detonate. Like my M3 for an example; it's not the fastest car in the world but the engine has so much character. If you listen to your ears, they will tell you to shift at 6,000 rpm. Sometimes I have to watch the tach because it feels like i'm the revs are going into uncharted territory. I honestly miss my 300zx so much. It was only the NA model but that car was amazing. I love the looks of it and how it handled. Not to mention the t tops lol.

I always made sure to find and buy part-cars to keep my 300zx in perfect condition


The 1st type II you liked me too is the most beautiful z31's i've ever seen. The wheel fitment is spot on. I absolutely love silver cars.I'm beyond sold on the 200ZR I knew they were rare but it seems like they are more common than I thought. I love how they won't get unwanted attention as well. Now since I know they're out there, the issue is getting them from japan all the way to New Jersey. I seen a couple of export companies in japan but I feel like once the car is on the cargo ship and they have your money, it's your problem now to get it through customs. I feel like you can really take a whole day and just read and do research on how to get a car through customs. I'm close to Canada so finding a 200zr there and driving / trailering it home is also an option if I knew how to do the paperwork.

See, now you got me looking for stuff.

Get your spunk rag ready. It's even a T-Top.

Just playing Devil's advocate, but you could throw that money at the M. I'm partial to the E30s.

This isn't fair lol. The e30 m3 circle jerk is going hard and strong so there is no way of getting one for a fair price. Now the E34 M5 is anther story. A friend of mine had an imported euro 3.8L model and that car was insane. I have a fair share of bimmers myself. I have a E38 740il and a 5 speed E39 530i. I think it's time to go JDM and turbocharged. Having a screaming naturally aspirated engine is fun and all, but boost is so much more fun lol. If I ever figure out how to import a 200zr, the 530i is going to the chopping block. I wonder if you can fit a 2jz in a z31 chassis.. It won't be moral but just imagine that lol.

So does that goo-net website export to the states or did you just google some 200zr's lol. How much money is that silver car (first type II link)? It says 108 yen so does that mean 108,000 yen?

I wanted a one series M bad, the perfect BMW for a psycho like me who wants to be classy while acting really stupid. I almost pulled the trigger, but I would have had to sell off everything else. The BRZ only required getting rid of the RX7; I got to keep the GTR.



No, that's the Japanese version of AutoTrader. You will still have to find an importer and please be very careful picking one, tons of shady SOBs out there. The Goo site will give you some idea of what the market looks like. Know that dealers are paying half what you see there so if your importer is claiming prices way out of whack with the market on this end plus their costs you know they are up to no good.

People who had the chance to buy a one series M brand new are the luckiest people out there. This bmw dealer around me sold them for msrp with no markup for around 47k and now for a used one they're 65k+. I believe the 1 series M uses the N54 engine which is perfect for tuners. I wanted a 335is for a while but the N55 in them aren't nearly as tunable. Some say in time, the N54 will be the next 2jz. I think they recently broke 750rwhp. I guarantee in anther 10 years, they will be seeing over 1000hp.

When you say rx7, are you talking about the FD RX7!??!?!? If so I am extremely jealous. I want an FD so bad but I would never put up with a rotary as much as I love them.

It seems like there is mixed reviews about Japan-Partner. I think I may have to do some researching here on this forum to see who people used to import cars. I found one guy which sends you a list of cars at auction and you tell him how much to bid. I think his company is called Pacific Coast JDM.

I'm surprised there are not a lot of JDM import dealers based in the states which buys cars from overseas and sell them like a used car dealer. I think that anyone who does opens a dealer like that would make an absolute killing.

Nope, FC3S. I miss my rotary, but it was either that or the GTR and the R is the dream car I can get.

I think I need learn Japanese and move to japan lol. Or Canada, they got a lot of skylines. I forgot how pretty the Fc3s are. the one in the states are terrible. Seeing a R32 just makes me even more sad because I can't have one cheap lol. I just did some researching on one for sale locally and the cheapest one I found was 20k usd and from there, they go up to 28k. I think I might just have to buy a NA supra since they are pretty cheap. At least they are accessible here in the states. It seems like the NA ones aren't as desirable so they don't get the f&f tax. I think I might contact some exporters and see what they say about the 200zr since they're awesome. Hopefully they're not all rusty. Mine was a rust bucket.


I seen a supra today. It hurts me to see it so neglected. It was parked at a old folks home.

I just want the 2JZ-GTE, keep the fat body. I owned an 88 Supra that was heavy, but very fun with the 7M-GTE; great car. Over here they could be had with the 1JZ-GTE, a truly epic engine.

It seems like you've owned every desirable jdm car there is lol. They make a great candidate for a 2jz swap lol. Speaking of 2jz swaps, some guy decided he didn't want his turbo'd S54 in his m3 so he is currently putting a 2j in it http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=495751 It literally blows my mind that this guy had one of the best turbo kits there is for his M but he rather have a 20 year old toyota engine instead. What also blows my mind is the price for the 6 speed manual to go with the 2jz. i forgot the name of the trans but around here, it's avarage cost is $8,000 used.

I see your 2JZ in a BMW and raise you 2JZ in a GTR; my "perfect" car.

I concur. It's all good until a die hard enthusiast pours sugar in your gas tank for putting a dirty toyota engine in a nissan haha. It really doesn't get better than that. Perfect body, perfect chassis and perfect engine. I really love un conventional things. Since M3s typically have quad exhaust tips, mine does not. I have a 3.5" straight though single exhaust from the header back to a custom single exit rear diffuser lol. No one believes my car is a real M until I pop open the door to show them the vin lol.




Hell, I may even throw a 2jzgte into a 200zr lol. it should fit with some elbow grease.

They should market a 2jz viabrators for women

People who know me think I've had an aneurysm because I changed the wheels on the new BRZ and announced "I'm done!" I change everything, but Toybaru built a car almost perfectly and what isn't absolutely perfect is close enough that it doesn't bug me much. Comfortable, fun daily driver, what should I change? Turbo kit? Why? Oh, you want to drag race me? I'll just use this key.



Triple plate clutch and lazy sledgehammer of a boost curve, drive that to work every day, have you lost your friggin mind? I got the Toybaru for that.

Haha yea wheels on a brz are the only thing in need of changing. Boost in them would be nice but like you said, you have a gtr for that. If I had a brz the only thing I would do to it besides wheels and tires is unequal length headers. Gotta unleash the roar of the boxster motor. I think I'm in a need of a better daily driver as well. I usually take the 530i every day because it's better on gas but it's too boring despite the 5 speed. I really like my 7 series but it's V8 is very thirsty and not that reliable. Vanos is the enemy as well. I'm fortunate enough to only have vanos issues on 1/3 of my cars lol. I would never consider a Ford but those Fiestas with the 1.0L turbo 3 cylinders with a standard 5 speed manual seems pretty awesome for a DD. Usually when I look for a car to buy, I usually base it on it's motor lol. I briefly had a b8s4 for a few months. Chose it because of the motor. The 3.0TFSI was amazing. The sound of the supercharger was intoxicating. The motor drank oil more than you can believe. I'm staying far away from any Volkswagen related car lol. From what I can tell, anything Japanese is the way to go. All of my motorcycles are jap and they're all amazing. Sometimes they're a pain to work on but they're beyond reliable.

Is your gtr a single turbo conversion?

Not just for the sound, an UEL header smooths out that torque dip nicely and believe me, that dip is there and it is VERY noticable. It's like the worst boost lag you ever felt or a two stroke before it comes on the pipe. If the BRZ was my only car I would hand it over to a mainland shop and get some boost under the hood, but it's my "nice" car so it's fine. I can cruise to work at 100mph in my comfy and heated leather and alcantara seats pumping tunes and video through my factory not bad at all six speaker system with the AC keeping me from getting sweaty.



I have to be careful. I have some sort of mental condition where I have to mess with stuff and with the amount of go fast goodies they make for the twins it's like a recovering alcoholic sitting in a bar trying to tell himself the glass of soda is all he needs.

Mr. K help me, That blower whine sounds like sex noises!

Lol if you like that, you'll love what I did with the S4. I put an external mic under the hood and captured this masterpiece. This supercharger will put mustang owners to shame


Roots superchargers are the best. I wish centrifugal superchargers made noise I can't have a roots in the M3 because of the ITB's so the centrifuge is the only option. I know I can get them done with straight cut gears but that still I have no idea how to go about doing that. Where are you located that you get to go 100mph to work and have an abundance of cool cars lol. Do you ever get any BRZ hate? I feel like everyone has mixed feelings about them. I remember tons of ignorant people who bought them assumed that they were AWD (since 99% of subbies are awd )and then they were getting stuck in snow left and right

It's starting to freak me out how similar our tastes run because that's silly and I love it.

Haven't had a single instance of hate. People almost rear end other cars looking at it, total strangers give me thumbs up and people come up to me in parking lots and ask to take pictures. It's damned near embarrassing and I am not accustomed to being embarrassed. I mean, I do a lot of embarrassing things, I just don't give a s***. I usually have cars that look slower than they are and attack anything like a rabid chihuahua, but this car looks fast as hell and it isn't so now I am trying to roll nondescript and not look like I'm looking for a scuffle. Look at it, though; it's wearing booty shorts, a wet t shirt and the hint of a tramp stamp, nobody would believe it's not looking for action. Some guy in the parking lot was climbing into an EVO VI one day and bird doggin me hard. I pretended to be looking for something in the glove compartment until he left. His look of disappointment told me he thought all Subarus were WRXs. Nope, not the Subaru you're looking for.



If the BRZ/FRS forums are any indication, WRX guys seem to be pretty cool about the car, not a lot of bad treatment from the AWD cousin. Subie guys are a bit different, though. I don't think if all Nissans were a certain way and suddenly there was a new car that deviated from that the villagers would leave their torches unlit. Look at how they fight over which motor somebody uses. Even if it's another Nissan engine, somebody has sand in their vag about it.

I'm not a fan of the Subie engines and I've always thought they sounded goofy, but this one lacks that wet fart rev. Funny enough, I still don't like the "boxer sound," but I want to put an unequal length header on it to get that sound because a Subaru just seems odd without that trademark noise. This one is a necessary evil and if it acts right I'll leave it alone.

Haha I try to stay as open minded about cars as much as possible. I still can't figure out why people rice out their civics and drive their cars scraping the ground static, without air suspension. I like a little low but people take it way to far. I still don't know how I feel about stretched tires lol. They seem dangerous and I feel like people's lip of their wheels would get banged up constantly. I really wish american cars had nice interiors. I would rock a C5 Z06 any day of the week if their interiors didn't make me gag.

I think it sounds like you need some tinted windows in the brz lol. The boxster engine rumble doesn't sound really performance oriented. It sounds like they don't like to be revved at all. It's like a bucket full of low end torque. The sound also reminds me a lot of a Kawasaki Ninja 250. Those bikes have a parallel twin so I see where they get the sound from. I think it's undisputed that I6's make the best sounds lol. It was so hard to get all the rasp out of my exhaust. I like a little rasp but since my engine is so high compression, the rasp is overkill. I REALLY wish that the R35 gtr kept the straight 6 motor. V6s sound funky. I think the evo is the only good sounding 4 banger. The sounds remind me of a sports bike. Every time I hear a V8 I always relate it to some douche in a mustang. The Jaguar Ftype is an exception. Best sounding car ever. I LOVE the overrun burble and popping sound so much. Looks like if I want a car with an exhaust that pops and crackles, i need a Neon Srt4. It would be a cold day in hell if I got one of them. Their community totally ruin the SRT4 (and the FWD did too ). I wish more manufactors made V10s, they scream so much. I'm really surprised how crappy bmw's v12 sounds. I wanted an 8 series with a v12 but it just sounded like crap. I think Italians mastered the art of v12s lol.


^ don't pay any attention to my oil temp, the sensor broke lol. If I change it, that means draining the oil.. If this was a normal car I would not mind but this oil cost $17 per litre and I need like 6 of them plus a filter. I hate special M performance oil. See if I had a 2jz in my car, the oil would be cheap lol. All the more reasons to justify a 2jz swap


I think I cracked the code for M3 exhausts. Listen to any other E46 exhaust and you'll understand why lol. I have to put up with a lot of drone. This exhaust is actually the quiet version. I had the straight pipe version in and it was INSANE. I had to drive 400 miles to bimmerfest straight piped, all highway miles. I'm surprised my hearing is still working

In my top engine sounds some selections include the rotary with any sort of aggressive port.



The lope of just a set of rotors is different and delicious in its own right.



And, of course, the first Nissan motor I worked with, the L.



That's 350hp out of a 3.1ish L28 all motor. That motor was designed, what, in the early 60's? Chain drive SOHC 2 valve wedge head sucking fuel through carbs. Understand why most modern engines don't impress me much.

Wait, is the L28 motor the engine in the Datsun 240,260 and 280s? I never knew they were that insane. My dad had a 260z and always raved about the motor. He had webber carbs on it and everything. Yea Modern engines do not impress me the least bit. They are all weak and riddled with emission equipment. My m3 has emissions disabled lol. No cats, no secondary air pump, no cold start, nothing. The only engine that impressed me is Fords SFE motor. 1 liter, 3 cylinders and a tiny turbo making 120hp+. I think it's a really cool design in a cute tiny package lol. I like VW's 1.4L turbocharged and supercharged motor as well. Volvo has a supercharged and turbocharged inline 5 I believe. But yea older cars are just so much more mean and raw. They did not have to put up with all kinds of emissions BS and and regulations. They gave it their 100% effort to build the best. Performance wise, the hellcat's motor is insane. Especially since it's stock. I don't know which government official they had to blow to get a 700+hp car legal for the streets but I'm so surprised they came through. I wonder if they can break 1000hp.

Same goes for new car design. All the cars now look the same. I hate that pedestrian front impact regulation. I rather have my knees blown out by a sexy a** car than walk away after getting hit by some ugly pillow looking car. It KILLS ME to see that hoodline on the new M3/M4. I love how the E46 wraps around the grill. Everything is getting so fat and heavy. I'm still amazed how light the BRZ is though. It's a feather weight compared to mostly everything else.

I think the new M4's motors are pretty impressive. They're clearly detuned A LOT. Won't be surprised to see them 550+hp with just more boost and bigger injectors.

[url]I ABSOUTLY LOVE MERCEDES M103 and M104 MOTORS!! These Swedish tuners, Turbobandit, worked wonders with those engines. They run 900hp all day long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roh1s774-9E check them out

Those rotary engines are insane. If I had a steady car fund with money always going into it, I would love to own a rotary but I know I don't and that will deplete my funds rather quickly.


In the late 60s, honda made a motorcycle with an inline 6. IMO, no other bike or street legal car came close (maybe a little bit close lol ) to sounding this damn good.



I forgot which engine this car has but it's in my top 5 favorite of all time. Old cars are insane.



A stroked out S54 also sounds nice


See, this is my dilemma. NA cars sound amazing but to have a crazy turbo'd car is also amazing. I need both

Yup, the L was a sledgehammer and it still is. I made a die hard V8 guy wet himself firing up a car like this. I didn't tell him what it was, I just had him start it. He still loves his V8s, but his appreciation for Japanese steel went up quite a bit as that Hakosuka rocked on throttle ups.



Now, for the original GT-R you are talking about the S20.



I've never really cared about it or wanted it, but to deny its significance or its due respect would be ignorant. Yes, that was 11000 RPM. Remember what I was telling you you had to do to touch 9000 on the 26.

Now, here is my fave, the engine in the RS, the FJ20. It's not as well known being a very short-lived engine, but IMO it's one of the best peices of iron Nissan put together after the two I just mentioned. The 26, arguably is not as tough as an FJ. I had several cars with them and amassed a ton of parts and a great deal of love for the design.


Like the other old school engines, it can still put it on you.





I'd probably never do it, but I have a very limited supply of RB26 parts, unlike FJ20 parts. I only really want 600hp max and both engines can do that. The RB transmission bolts to an FJ and the diff on the RB oil pan looks far enough back that I could modify it to bolt to the bottom of the FJ. That would piss a lot of people off, though....

Soooo... yeah. The lack of reliability of the RB26DETT is a bit exaggerated. Staying on top of maintenance and fixing the short crank collar issue issue, getting a new fuel filter, a new coil harness from Wiring Solutions, insulating the coil packs, and change all the fluids and belts and you're good to go.

Not for what he was initially wanting to do. Most of the blown RB26s I've seen were abused. It wasn't their fault.

Back to sexy engine noises! Not even a twin cam head on this RB30.

A872B wrote:I've been looking to import a early model r32 gtr for the longest time but the single thing that has been holding me back is the reliability of the rb26. I know the oiling wasn't great on those cars but can that be fixed with some mods? Would that allow it to rev to 9k like the r34 gtr? Would a dry sump oiling system help? I'm on a loose budget so I am probably looking at importing (or buying an imported) 89'. There are a few for sale in my area but it would cheaper to import one. I would keep it stock for the most part to keep it more reliable since I don't feel like waiting for parts from japan and there are no skyline specialists to fix it when something goes wrong.

Hi! So, any updates on this? I also have some experience with GTRs BNR32 and 34, as well as some other popular JDM engines (4G63T, SRs) so maybe I can share something that might help you?

First of all I'd like to agree with themadscientist that the RB26 reliability is really not the issue. I have lived in Japan for years, and I don't hear that as a problem among tuners there... Why? The Japanese really know what they're doing exactly. The reliability issue actually came mostly from the west, which means those are used RB26s which are mostly year 89-90 and were bought for engine swaps. But the thing is, even knowing how old it is, most owners neglect and didn't even bother on checking the engine's health thoroughly. Just get done with the swap and rev it to death!! Another issue is there are not that many knowledgeable RB26 tuners in the states.

I'd like to clarify what themadscientist said though that you should get an R33 or 34 RB26 engine instead. It's true that all 33 and 34 GTR crank collars are the wider version, but the late '92 BNR32 model onwards also have it already. So you are not limited on the 33 or 34 engine only. Besides there are products out there that fixes this like the JUN crank collar, or you can just get a late RB26 crank shaft and install it. TBH I like the GTR 32 more than the 33, its more raw, fun, and lighter. Only downside is its age. But there are some pristine examples of R32 GTR in Japan. Some very low mileage ones that are kept can range as high as a R34 GTR! Yep! Expensive ones are either super mint or nicely high hp modded ones. The GTR BNR34 on the other hand is what the Japanese call "the modern BNR32".

A bit weird there when you said you like it revving 9k rpm like the 34? But you wanna keep it stock? haha! But anyways if you wan to rev like that you will need some upgrades and oh GTR parts are not cheap! OEM and aftermarket parts of these are more expensive than other JDM sportscars! Its like GTR tax as they say. lol. As for the parts, there are TONS of aftermarket support for the GTR blood line, Nissan OEMs are all good as well even for Hakosuka! There are lots of JDM vendors out there like RHD, Nengun, Streeter, etc. So pick one where you are comfortable dealing with. But I heard that there will be more parts coming in soon for the GTR32 in the U.S because of the 25 year rule? Anyways stock FRESH internals are known to handle good numbers, metal gasket is a good idea when going high boost figs. Around 480-600 is already good fun in a skyline GT-R. Added to the fact that RB26s are naturally high revving engines soooo yeah its a sweet experience to say the least.