Nissan Skyline R32 GTR - Partial Restore

[Japtastic]

Very slow going over the last couple of weeks. Fairly boring work of finding all the bits of rust and cutting out the rot. Dirty and noisy! Have just been cutting out little areas as I find them.

What's everyone's goto for spraying the arches and under the car once stripped back? Really don't want to strip the whole underside at the moment so not sure how I'm going to blend in the areas I restore and spray with the other areas I'm not doing at the moment.

How I find it with lots of rust and bulging.

Part way through stripping.

Getting there!

 

[Brad93]

Hi all, Seems most forums have died now so really great to find an active one with knowledgeable people. Don't get me wrong, I like the Facebook groups but I much prefer the longer format of a forum, especially for something like a build/restoration thread.

I bought this car from Japan directly around 12 months ago. I knew she was going to be a restoration from the pics and description I got and was also sold for one of the lowest prices I'd seen in a while.

I actually had an R32 GTR before around 2002 along with many other Skylines including a couple of R33 GTST's and R34GTT so I'm no stranger to the mark and Japanese cars in general.

I've always done my own work on cars and have a whole host of tools and gadgets in the garage. I've only recently begun to learn welding though. I started last year with TIG (RTech) and a full nut and bolt restore of a classic Vespa. This went well with some help of the Vespa forums. So with a bit of confidence built from that, I decided a fixer-upper was the way to go!

At the docks.

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A bit of modernisation with a Link G4X Ecu and Surface Pro. Mapping it I find challenging but rewarding.

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Current State!

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So the issue I'm currently dealing with is rust. Like all 30+ year old cars, especially from Japan with lots of coastline and salty roads, it has extensive amounts! Including lots behind the factory underseal and the bodged repairs it's had over the years. Found some really monstrosities!

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At the same time as sorting the rust, I'm going to do a full front-end and rear-end refresh. So that's everything connected to both subframes. I have the front right stripped at the moment with some parts sandblasted and my first ever powder coated part completed yesterday which I'm really happy with. Needs a little bit of cleanup on the areas the bolts or ball joints go through but apart from that it's great.

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I've just finished welding the inner arch as that was peppered with rust and thin metal. So now on to the sills and inner sills. This is really going to test my skills and patience!

I had to cut away the whole outer sill, a couple of inches of the inner sill and around an inch of the floor where it connects as it was all compromised. Also lots of repairs in the lower rear quarter area - a real mess!

So, the first question of many that I will have is about rust treatment and prevention. I have a bit of knowledge about this from the Vespa but still limited as this is a different beast and there are going to be lots of areas I can't get to fully but will have partial access while doing these repairs so I want to make the most of that access.

As you probably know there is a fairly heated debate across the internet in regards to flexible or semi-flexible stone chip type products and whether to use them or not. With the Vespa, I decided against it as it seemed like there were more valid reasons to not do it and to just use a decent Epoxy Primer and then paint over that. Or Epoxy Pimer, Paint and then Waxoyl or similar that doesn't set hard and to just re-apply that as and when needed. Now, of course, this won't be a daily driver and I won't be using this car a lot during winter but it may still see rain and salt occasionally. I know this is a can of worms but what are your opinions on this?

And on to the other part of my question. The inside of the chassis rails and other areas I can't get at to clean and prep. What can I do to at least convert rust and then protect?

Interested as to where you found those
plugs? Assume they are a silicone type material?

 

[Japtastic]

Yeah, quite handy those. Saves trying to find random things around the garage to stuff in the holes.

https://amzn.eu/d/0gugzME5

 

[Japtastic]

Over two months and not a lot has happened

Holiday, work and family life meant no real progress lately.

I have done a few little clean up jobs and ordered more bits needed for the front and rear subframe refresh though.

Managed to get a few hours today to start making more replacement parts.

I’m a little stuck on this part and how to form the metal. Really hard to explain but basically half the part just has a smooth curve but half of it also cuts in/out.

Any tips, please!

 

[Wildefalcon]

Do it in bits. Do the "flat" bits in strips and then weld fillers on the compound curves.

 

[Keithmac]

What year is you R32?, my 1992 GTO-TT is virtually rust free.

Nice car by they way, the Link software on the Surface looks great.

As for rust prevention, I like Dynax S50.

 

[Japtastic]

Thanks, will give that a try.

91 but it’s whole life in Japan until last year living on the coast

 

[Japtastic]

This is the **** I’m dealing with!

 

[Munkul]

Wow.... 10 years ago you'd just have "re-shelled" the car with a donor chassis.... not any more with the way skyline prices are now.

That's a whole load of welding... and patience.... Love r32's though. Easily my favourite skyline.

 

[Japtastic]

Yeah, it really is going to be a lot of work. Luckily a mate is popping over sometimes to help and I bought it as a project with pics of all this so not too unexpected but previous repairs are definitely worse than expected!

Doing this restoration will increase my metal fab and welding skills for sure and will be great when finished.

Yeah, you are right about parts prices. Rear quarters are now £2200 each!

 

[Keithmac]

This is the **** I’m dealing with!

That looks nearly as bad as my MK2 Golf was!.

Just keep chopping it out and making repair panels and you'll get there in the end.

2,200 for a rear 1/4 repair panel is insane really "scene tax" springs to mind.

 

[Japtastic]

Yeah, that's the plan. Just feels very slow going sometimes! Need to keep the motivation going.

Nissan created a heritage program which sounded great when first announced as it meant they would be re-producing all the old bits we needed but the flip side to this was they massively increased the prices of not just the new bits previously not attainable but also all the old bits that were avavaible at a reasonable price by sticking them all in the heritage program as well

 

[Japtastic]

Well, I knew there were some lovely surprises to be uncovered and the rear arch was one of them! I could see the fingers from inside the car so knew about this repair but the inner area was so badly rusted out I just couldn’t leave it while repairing everything else, so fun times yesterday pulling it out which leaves me with this!

 

[Japtastic]

Which was something like this...

 

[marlinspike]

Was that intended to weld over good metal? I can't really get my head round that.

 

[Japtastic]

I think essentially it's a bodge. They probably couldn't get rear arch sections at the time, same as you can't now, so they went with this as I imagine the customer didn't want to pay for two rear quarters and all the labour involved with that. They probably also didn't have the time and/or skill to make the rear arch inner and outer sections that were needed.

They made it worse by filling the inner arch with a rubber sealeant badly so that let a lot of water sit in all the water traps they created.

 

[Japtastic]

A little bit more progress, more rust found and a small patch made and welded. Sometimes it’s the tiny things that get you through!

I’ve tidied up the arch where I cut it. May need to be shaped a bit more before starting to remake the inner arch.

 

[Japtastic]

Some more small progress over the last two weeks.

A small win like this boot section and the bracket that holds the fuel tank and then some further work on the body.

I remade the last tiny rear section of the bottom of the rear quarter and then just made one piece of the inner arch. Getting a bit more used to the stretcher and shrinker but was still using the wrong one at multiple times yesterday!

The inner arch piece took way longer than I care to admit but I think it came out well. Still needs a bit of shaping, cutting, final welding and tidy up.

I think I’ll end up tackling this in 4 sections. The bit I’ve just made, the bit to the left of it and then the 8 inches or so both on both lower sides as they are more complicated.

I have a question on this bottom part of the quarter panel. I have it remade and partly welded on the other side of this pic and this area is prepped with weld-through primer ready for the plug welds.

After all that is done, how am I best to protect it? I still have access to the back side. My plan was epoxy prime, Dinitrol 4941 or similar and then top coat but is there a better way? The other side is spot welded from the factory and I presume seam sealer which of course I can't use pre-welding.

 

[davenport]

Lotta gas gonna go into that...

Hats off for taking it on

 

[Japtastic]

Have taken a bit of a break from the bodywork while the weather has turned. I've also been helping a mate with his MK4 supra.

I've been fighting with removing bushes and ball joints for the last few weeks. There are around 16 to remove just from the rear subframe Each one comes out with a slightly different fight. Much swearing and bashed hands are involved. A combination of flat heads, club hammers, heat, reciprocating saws, the 10-ton press and various press tools. One might come out in 10mins and the next one I could be fighting for over an hour.

If I had known the struggle this was going to be I would have considered buying the replacement parts with bushes already installed but I had placed the order before starting the work so I have a box of Nismo bushes here to use so the struggle will continue

These two kits come in handy. The blue one is a beast and can take me pounding on it with my strongest Dewalt impact wrench with no problem.

I have a question for those of you who have restored aluminium parts. The hub carriers are on mine and have been painted at some point but doesn't look factory. Not sure if they have protection from the factory or not? Either way, they need stripping and cleaning. What did you protect them with after, if at all?




Two OAP's in the hospital