My new (to me) 1994 GT-R

[GTRPower]

I recently picked up RBMotoring/Jack/Jeff's 1994 silver Skyline GT-R. I've known them for years and I know the history of the car. This car was for sale for a while- ads were placed at 6Speedonline (aka braindamage.com by some of my friends and referred to by me as trainwreck.com). This was one of the later cars Federalized by MotoRex. It was time to get back into a GT-R- my 1992 GT-R had been retired a long time ago. This marks my 20th year of GT-R ownership, of which 13 years are in the US.

It has some fun stuff on it. R34 GT-R parts. Super Taikyu parts. Things like subframes, transmission, steering rack, AC and PS, Super Taikyu NISMO ETS control box and switches for wet/dry ABS and torque split sensitivity with A-LSD. 2.8l stroker engine built by XS Engineering a while back with old man Crower parts in the bottom and Reinik cams, Tomei oil pump and NISMO swing pickup in the sump. Heim joints on all suspension arms. A lot of the "special" parts are not available to the public- factory race team use only. Other more typical stuff- twin Bosch 044 pumps in tank, NISMO intake manifold, divided "Twin Turbo" pipe to reduce/eliminate shuffle, HKS GTRS turbos, clutch pack LSD in the front, big intercooler,two oil coolers and accusump, AEM EMS using MAP, and some Autoselect chassis braces under the sheet metal and all over. And a K/N filter in the OE airbox that's fed by a secondary inlet.

I'm swapping out the brakes, buttoning up the general electrical and basic maintenance. R35 GT-R front brakes, Brembo/Lotus calipers with 345x28 rotors on the rear. Going with new wheels, down pipe and exhaust. Found my old R34 GT-R OE seat in my closet that's been there for about 10 years or more. On the lookout for a R34 passenger seat in perfect condition- I installed that in my white R32 GT-R when I got the pair of them. Jack found me a set of used and recently rebuilt Ohlins FLAG-R shocks and springs- that will go on when they come from Japan via container in December. Mackin Industries was nice enough to help me out with getting wheels which were out of stock in the US- Volk TE37SL 18x10. It will need some paint work- one of the fenders has a small issue (but a small paint issue is a full panel paint), and the front lip needs a respray. Some new trim tape for the NISMO sills. Small but visually important.

FYI my car is registered in Florida as a Nissan Skyline GT-R, with NHSTA release papers always in the glove box. I also got a personalized plate- GROUP A.

Two quick iPhone pics of it at Champion Motorsport in Pompano Beach, FL, being worked on currently. They are refining some of the work previously done by RB Motoring/Sean Morris/etc., getting it up to where I want it to be. Some small details, some big changes. It's not the same car anymore.

[stantonwarner]

She's a beauty. I can't even imagine how excited you must be. What is that green car in the background? 997 GT3 RS?

[JTR32gtst]

Very nice car. Congrats sir.

[GTRPower]

Green car is a turbocharged 997 variant. Can't tell if it's a GT2 or Turbo or Turbo S.

Silver car on the lift next to my Skyline GT-R is a 959. The "father" of the GT-R.

Another pic of the car, on the ground now.

[Valkyrie]

Well, it's a good thing is hasn't been seized by the feds...yet. You realize that Motorex was shut down for cheating the testing process and that only R33s are actually legal, right? Well, then again, it's Florida...

[GTRPower]

Valkyrie-

You really shouldn't comment on things you have no idea about. My car is fully DOT and EPA compliant as confirmed by NHTSA. Go ahead, call them. Talk to Coleman Sachs at NHSTA.

Stop trying to be a IFBA. Nobody cares.

Anyways, back to the subject matter.

At Champion Motorsport's Open House last weekend-

[300ZXttZMAN]

Looks awesome dude congrats!!

[GTRPower]

Thank you.

This is actually my second Skyline GT-R.

My first one was a 1992. Original owner. Been in Sport Compact Car magazine many times. Had a couple of pics in Car and Driver. I have been playing around with the Skyline GT-R for oh, about 20 years, on and off. I've forgotten a lot about the Skyline GT-R but I remember a bit here and there. I might be the only original owner Skyline GT-R guy who owns one stateside and lives in the USA.

That car was also DOT bond released and NHTSA listed as a USA highway compliant car. There were four of us who witnessed the crash testing, two from MotoRex, one from JK, and me, at MGA in Wisconsin. Yes, I have been around the Skyline GT-R in the US for that long...

Plate for my silver Skyline GT-R-

[Valkyrie]

In otherwords, your car is a grandfathered Motorex car. So it's legal by technicality.

Well, it looks nice anyway.

[GTRPower]

In otherwords, your car is a grandfathered Motorex car. So it's legal by technicality.

Well, it looks nice anyway.

Actually, it's an approved car, period. I have the supporting documents to prove it, and they are readily available from the NHTSA upon request. ALL MotoRex cars that have documentation filed with the NHTSA are approved for US highway use.

As of today, ONLY MotoRex cars and the NISMO R32 Skyline GT-R (limited mileage) are approved.

There is no grey area.

People on the forums need to stop posting false information.

[Valkyrie]

It was approved, and then DOT revoked Motorex's RI status because they faked the crash tests by only using R33s. The NHTSA also revoked the R32's eligibility. Hence your legality is a technicality. You can argue about having the paperwork all day long, but the fact of the matter is that as it stands, only the R33 is eligible for non-show/display import.

[GTRPower]

It was approved, and then DOT revoked Motorex's RI status because they faked the crash tests by only using R33s.

Wrong again.

The NHTSA also revoked the R32's eligibility. Hence your legality is a technicality. You can argue about having the paperwork all day long, but the fact of the matter is that as it stands, only the R33 is eligible for non-show/display import.

Wrong again.

According to your user info you are 27 years old. You have a lot of growing up to do. Most 27 year old kids I know have half a brain but you not even seem to have that. I have alerted the moderators to your juvenile antics on my thread. Cheers!

[NolimitZ32]

It was approved, and then DOT revoked Motorex's RI status because they faked the crash tests by only using R33s. The NHTSA also revoked the R32's eligibility. Hence your legality is a technicality. You can argue about having the paperwork all day long, but the fact of the matter is that as it stands, only the R33 is eligible for non-show/display import.

Non show/racing import yes, ownership under grandfather laws absolutely not. I wasnt around for the testing or the process but I spent the better part of 6 months readin NHTSA, EPA, & Customs reg as well as talking to registered importers of different vehicles (not just JDM/Skyline)s as well as a few convos I had in emails with JKEng. R32s and R34s were banned due to shady business practices conducted by MotoRex after gaining approval (don't believe everything you read, question anything you didnt see with your own 2 eyes). As for the legal standpoint, grandfather laws are never a technicality. The industry I work in grandfather laws are a huge part of everyday activity and goings-on. Grandfather laws are there to protect the innocent from legislation and those (individuals or corporations) with more money than the innocent.


GTR: I may need to get in touch with you sometime in the near future. I am in Australia for the next few years and want to see if I can help some friends at home get their hands on some 25+ JDM cars. Would love to hear what kind of experience you have and any pointers would be welcome. Like I said above I've done a ton of research but nothing can replace first hand experience. BTW Beautiful R32.

[GTRPower]

It was approved, and then DOT revoked Motorex's RI status because they faked the crash tests by only using R33s. The NHTSA also revoked the R32's eligibility. Hence your legality is a technicality. You can argue about having the paperwork all day long, but the fact of the matter is that as it stands, only the R33 is eligible for non-show/display import.

Non show/racing import yes, ownership under grandfather laws absolutely not. I wasnt around for the testing or the process but I spent the better part of 6 months readin NHTSA, EPA, & Customs reg as well as talking to registered importers of different vehicles (not just JDM/Skyline)s as well as a few convos I had in emails with JKEng. R32s and R34s were banned due to shady business practices conducted by MotoRex after gaining approval (don't believe everything you read, question anything you didnt see with your own 2 eyes). As for the legal standpoint, grandfather laws are never a technicality. The industry I work in grandfather laws are a huge part of everyday activity and goings-on. Grandfather laws are there to protect the innocent from legislation and those (individuals or corporations) with more money than the innocent.


GTR: I may need to get in touch with you sometime in the near future. I am in Australia for the next few years and want to see if I can help some friends at home get their hands on some 25+ JDM cars. Would love to hear what kind of experience you have and any pointers would be welcome. Like I said above I've done a ton of research but nothing can replace first hand experience. BTW Beautiful R32.

Your best bet is to contact (Sean Morris) aka tyndago. He and I have been friends for a long time and he is very well versed in navigating the treacherous waters of grey market vehicle importation. If I were to import a 25+year old car, I would contact him exclusively, and if I needed to source one too, I would coordinate with Hara at R-International because he has never led us astray (and in the car business that's saying a lot!).

Sean has several blogs- one is http://www.gtrusablog.com and another is showordisplay.com both which have very useful information on not only legalities of GT-R importation but also the hoops he went through to get the NISMO R32 GT-R approved, and subsequent importation of two NISMO GT-Rs late last year. Read up on those pages, and talk to Sean if you need more info.

Thanks for the positive comment. What lies under the skin of that car is far more impressive than the first glance, trust me!

Edit-

FYI, Jonathan from JK is also a guy who promised a lot and delivered short. I remember him promising MotoRex a fully working OBDII system under contract and failing to deliver, thus ensuring MotoRex having future EPA regulations difficulties. At least, that was from my perspective. To this day nobody has designed/implemented a satisfactory OBDII system to retrofit the R33 GT-R. That isn't surprising, because manufacturers themselves have a hard enough time designing one that meets EPA requirements.

[NolimitZ32]

Sweet, thanks for the info.

[edthemanjp]

GTRPower, been a few. Congratulations on a really nice R32GTR. Jacks old car but Sean's baby, I see all the really rare parts made it into your new Skyline GTR. You shouldn't bother too much with haters, they'll just get your blood pressure up. Enjoy your R, ones like your's aren't common!

[AZhitman]

It was approved, and then DOT revoked Motorex's RI status because they faked the crash tests by only using R33s. The NHTSA also revoked the R32's eligibility. Hence your legality is a technicality. You can argue about having the paperwork all day long, but the fact of the matter is that as it stands, only the R33 is eligible for non-show/display import.

Ummm, not exactly.

Let's not poop in someone else's thread, plz. Thx.

[GTRPower]

GTRPower, been a few. Congratulations on a really nice R32GTR. Jacks old car but Sean's baby, I see all the really rare parts made it into your new Skyline GTR. You shouldn't bother too much with haters, they'll just get your blood pressure up. Enjoy your R, ones like your's aren't common!

Ed, it's been, what, a decade? Hope all is well with you.

It's Jack/Jeff's old car with a lot of fresh new eyes on it, changing details and smoothing out the roughness of what we may have once found acceptable but in this day and age find either archaic or just plain ghetto. You know how it goes, when you're staring at a car a lot you never want to deal with it. The only things the car didn't have from when it was last driven were the brakes (Jack had a set of Brembo racing calipers/ 355mm rotors but I wanted something easier to replace so he threw on a set of old OE brakes for transport), shocks/springs (Ohlins two way, I want to say it looked like an older tuner badged kit), and titanium front pipe/exhaust (I really wanted that but Jack had sold it along with the brakes and shocks/springs).

Things that have been changed- old fuel cell foam had disintegrated so the fuel system had to be flushed/replaced. New foam in place, new OE fuel level gauge sender, one new 044 pump (one had a broken positive post). Ripped off the OE rad fan, installed a Mishimoto electric fan/shroud (let's see how long that thing lasts). Reinstalled the Accusump with new plumbing and fixed the leaks on the pressure side. Put a new Tstat in. New steering wheel (NISMO 330F) with Works Bell Q/R and short hub, new shift knob (don't laugh, those OE knobs are stupidly priced), new E brake and leatherette cover/shifter leatherette cover, new trunk interior panels, new radio and Infinity speakers. Ohlins came in via Jack over the new year, but they are ridonkulously sprung (I guesstimate around 1200 in/lbs, about three times what it should be), so they need to be changed out, probably to a straight rate 650in/lbs and a 200in/lb tender/helper at all four corners.

Weird things that were discovered- Nissan OE finish on the R35 calipers is crap, the paint was chipping all over from shipping even with bubble wrap. Champion recoated all four calipers. Also got some Project Mju pads for both ends for street.



Now the nice thing about the brakes is- OE fitment in front (any Nissan dealer can get it, albeit somewhat expensive) and Brembo aftermarket in back (also easy to get from any Brembo dealer). I don't have to worry about sourcing brake parts from Japan. Since the clutch is Igor's old Tilton carbon/carbon spare, and the transmission is the R34 Getrag, all those parts for a rebuild can also be sourced in the US. Raw Brokerage (RB shop) is 2 miles away from me in Orlando, any RB parts are easy for me to get, if the engine goes boom, they can build a RB30DETT (they do that on a regular basis). The only parts that are a pain for me are going to be be sheet metal and interior parts, mechanically it's all easy. No more hard-to-get parts for me, the hardest parts are now spark plugs (NGK iridium JIS heat range 8) but I think we have found those too albeit at a premium.

The only things left to do- get the passenger seat from Japan, find a place for the three switches (wet/dry racing ABS, and two switches for ETS control), and high boost tune. At the moment it's pretty healthy on 93 octane low boost on a preliminary tune, 21psi @7000rpm is about 550whp, over 200wtq@3000rpm/400wtq@6000rpm. Definitely good enough to daily drive.

So all the parts a person touches on a daily basis- seats, controls, etc., are either new, or look new, or are in great working order. This car is a keeper, so many trick parts and fun history for a car nerd like me.

[tyndago]

It was approved, and then DOT revoked Motorex's RI status because they faked the crash tests by only using R33s. The NHTSA also revoked the R32's eligibility. Hence your legality is a technicality. You can argue about having the paperwork all day long, but the fact of the matter is that as it stands, only the R33 is eligible for non-show/display import.

You kids, Think you know. You don't know s***. Here's the facts.

JK Motors - contracted by MotoRex submitted a petition to the NHTSA for approval covering 1990-1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R in 1999. NHTSA requested crash testing. Since R33 was a dual airbag car, NHTSA said that was ok to crash test. R33 was front, rear, and side impact tested. Nick here, and myself were actually at MGA Labs in Wisconsin for one of the side impact tests.

You don't have to crash test a 1990 car to 1999 standards, and all the equipment on a 1990 car is not the same as a 1999 car. NHTSA was fully aware of the differences in the cars. However, things like the engine, transmission location, front subframe, rear subframe, transmission crossmember, are all carry overs from the 1989 R32 GT-R though the 2002 R34 GT-R. Fenders, lights, and other outward items are NOT considered part of the crash structure.

You can actually petition the NHTSA that a vehicle is what is called "substantially similar" to another vehicle, be it year difference or country differences.

After reviewing JK's crash test data, petition, and information, I put in the first compliance package for a car. It was approved Nov 15, 1999 for an R32 GT-R. VCP-17 was published in January 2000. The NHTSA compliance package included about 20 pictures of each car, the modifications, and there is a bond against the car to ensure compliance. Once the NHTSA is satisfied, they give the importer what is called a "Bond Release". From 1999 to when I left in 2002, I did compliance packages on over 50 cars.

The NHTSA reviewed MotoRex/JK original petition for 18 months, then for at least 3 years when I was there, they approved packages and bond releases.


So tell me who was defrauding who? If they weren't doing research on the cars for 18 months, what exactly were they doing? All the car information was submitted to the NHTSA. I visited the NHTSA twice prior to VCP-17 being approved. In DC, in the office of vehicle safety and compliance. We were not trying to hide anything. We were trying to show them everything about the process.

Eventually Hiro at MotoRex stopped doing what he was supposed to be doing, and everything turned into a bit of a black eye for the NHTSA.0-60 Magazine article on MotoRex http://www.gtrusablog.com/2008/07/0-60- ... andal.html. They grandfathered all the last cars that MotoRex never finished or complied. They changed the VCP to limit the cars coming in. I could fight it if I wanted to. I could get them to change VCP-17, but they are so very difficult to deal with. Took 14 months for them to just approve my Show or Display application.

[edthemanjp]

Wow, that long. I Use BKR8EIX, can be sourced at any auto parts store $6-7 each. I push 27 lbs at max and the only problem I have is with leaded fuel. I haven't played with leaded fuel in a while.

Those brakes are nice.

[tyndago]

Wow, that long. I Use BKR8EIX, can be sourced at any auto parts store $6-7 each. I push 27 lbs at max and the only problem I have is with leaded fuel. I haven't played with leaded fuel in a while.

Those brakes are nice.

The NHTSA had everything from MotoRex and JK a long, long time before they approved it. JK was in Baltimore, had R33 and R34 there. NHTSA had every opportunity to go and look at any of that stuff. I should grab all the point to points one day, to see how close the chassis are really. I think they are all pretty close. The trans cross member is in the same place in the R32, R33, and R34 chassis. An R32 driveline and R33 driveline are exactly the same dimensions. The only difference in the R34 is the Getrag is a different length, so the front and rear driveshaft/propshaft lengths change.

Thanks on the BK8EIX. They are a little shorter - 2.5 mm, but what is 2.5 mm between friends. The stock RB plug is a JIS plug or a C. The K is a ISO length.

[VandrelSOUSA]

congrats on the acquisition