LS1 turbo R33 GTR from down under.

[Buckna]

Hi guys. Thought I'd post up the build thread here as I don't know how to get access to the premium section. And I know some of you might enjoy seeing something different getting built.

The idea came about when I decided I wanted to build something new, as the 350z had gotten boring and was moving onto circuit racing, we'd come to the conclusion that apart from a select few, there are virtually no good looking r33's in australia, and barely any around the world. I knew I wanted it to be wide, low, huge wheels and powerful. Needed to combine everything I'd done in my previous cars and turn it into one good collaberation of everything I've done before plus some new things I wanted to try.

Started off as a R33 GTR shell I picked up for virtually nothing off my good mate callum. Pretty clean shell, missing a few panels, some good bits on it to re sell.






When I got it home, I instantly started removing everything I didn't want in the car, and everything I was planning on modifying.








Now, there where a few things I liked about the GTR, wide guards, great aggresive body line, clean base. etc.
But, I don't like GTR front suspension, It doesn't allow for adjustability, and considering I didn't need the 4wd system, I thought I'd scrap the factory GTR stuff.

This proved a little more difficult then I'd first thought, GTR rails are bigger, strong, and in a completely different spot, so bolting a GTST crossmember to them was out of the question. Then I toyed with the idea of doing a full rail swap from a GTST, and that, due to my limited panel beating knowledge was deemed to hard. So we decided to build a complete custom from K frame so to speak, utilising bits off other nissan's to simplify the process.






This is a comparrison of the original GTR crossmember, compared to the GTST item. As you can see, there is a big difference, joining these together was not going to be an easy task.







Here we started to dummy up one side of the normal nissan setup into the GTR frame. This looked like it was going to be a fairly simple process.. So we bolted it into the car and had a look at where everything sat.





WRONG!. Turns out, GTR stub axles are actually 50mm longer than GTST items. Which essentially means the whole steering rack/lca setup also sits about 50mm lower in the car, obviously to allow for the 4wd system to come through and to clear that huge sump! This setup would probably have worked to drive in and out of the driveway with, but the geometry would be all kinds of whack. It'd essentially be like you've lowered your car 50mm at standard height.. not ideal.

So we continued to cut away at things, and refitted the lca mount 50mm higher (actually a touch higher again, as I figured I'm going to run this car stupidly low I should try correct some roll centre while I'm here)






Now we refitted all the suspension stuff and it looks normal. finally. Although some more minor mods will be done to this setup towards the end of the project, this seems good enough for now. After that it was time to dummy fit the steering rack, move it as far forward as possible without fouling on anything. Also decided to mount the rack up a bit, to help with tie rod angle when car is railed. Once all that was in, measured, and tacked, we started to weld in all the bits we needed, adding plate (3mm) to brace any sections we needed.












and of course, a shot in the car




Now you'll notice the steering rack. Having done an ls1 into an s15 with a mate of mine, steering rack knuckle to starter motor clearance was an issue, here the GTR rack comes out further by about 2 inches and hugs the rail, which is handy, should mean that there are no dramas in clearing the starter.





GTR rack vs S13 rack.

Now that the crossmember is 90% completed, It came time to try and mount the engine.




Engine is sitting on a block of wood in this shot, it's not straight here, as what I was using to measure off was actually not centre. doh. But this is majority of it mounted.
Few dramas of course, the sump didn't clear the middle of the crossmember at the front, so we cut away at that. cleared the starter by heaps, but then was limited as to how far back I could move the engine due to clutch master cylinder needing a home. Most conversions run a clutch master inside the cabin, normally a willwood or something of the sort. If I'm lucky the GTR's 5/8 clutch master with booster should be sufficent for the twin plate clutch the engine will be running. If not, I'll tackle that hurdle when I get to it.





Turns out, along with the 50mm lower steering setup, the trans tunnel is actually shorter in height than a normal skyline one. So the gearbox did not want to fit in the factory tunnel. Not that big of a drama. So it was removed.





Now that all this was dummy fitted in place, it was time to see if the bonnet shut.



good, bonnet clears no dramas. excellent.

Ontop of all of this, I'd also been collecting more parts for it. Stuff like wheels. seats, radiator, turbo etc. I'll post up some pictures of the more interesting stuff.




This is an alloy twin core 75mm PWR radiator, PWR make some of the best cooling products in australia, and this radiator was designed to sit directly under the rad support to allow it to move forward in the engine bay for more clearance. picked it up at a bargain off a mate who wasn't going to use it anymore. Didn't quite fit, but with a bit of cutting, it found it's home nicely.







This here is a R33 GTST shell that has had a front hit, this is what started the project off as it was given to me by a friend of mine "the ibis"
it was a good condition low km (16,000km!!) shell which was missing motor and box and had the obvious front hit. This is good as it will have all the dash, carpet, door trims, window surrounds glass etc I need to complete my build. Ibis has also hooked me up with headlights, the turbo charger, front brakes, and will hopefully be doing the wiring when the time comes.

Speaking of the turbo charger.



Ibis has provided me with a garret 4082S turbo he picked up for $100 a while ago, core is in perfect condition, as are the housings, specs are 1-18 rear housing and .58 front housing, Should hopefully do some damage to tires with the 5.7 litre capacity the motor has!

Other things I've gotten so far are, a fixed back seat, genuine sheepdog racing from the late 90's, have had this seat in nearly every drift car I've owned, I find when you find a seat that just feels amazing, you just can't seem to part with it.
Bride recliner seat, this will be used for passenger, nice n comfy seat, should do the goods, also have a pair of harnesses to go with them.
I have sourced some wheels thanks to JDM GARAGE, work VSKF 18x10 +7 front, 19x10.5 +7 rear in chrome. these sizes should be ideal for what I want to do, they have heaps of dish front and rear, and I have 4 rears in the same size! So that should make skidding on the same wheels possible more often
Some cusco base height fully adjustable coilovers to suit R33 GTST, A nismo pro GT carbon LSD suit GTR. adjustable 1,1.5 and 2 way. Trust extended diff cover, R32 gtr rear brakes and R33 gtr rear swaybar. Also an R34 N/A rear cradle, no hicas. To accompany that there are ikeya formula toe arms, cusco camber arms, GTR axles and hubs, the rear cradle will be seeing an equal amount of modifying, but hasn't been started on yet.

[Buckna]

Fuel system will be a 2 litre swirl pot with twin bosch 044 external pumps feeding aftermarket fuel rails and 80lb injectors.

Full GTR bodykit will be removed. Have sourced a genuine PS kit out of japan. made of flexi glass it's pretty durable, the fit is amazing (although designed for a GTST shell) and the overall look should be agressive, Also have a URAS bonnet vent and a 1660mm wide 3D GT carbon wing.





the wing is nice and wide

anyway, back to the important part of the build.

To mount the engine, I wanted it to be solid obviously, room was very tight and I don't want much room for movement, Plus I also needed to make sure the mounts didn't interfere with my turbo manifolds, luckily the LS1 has been designed to go in so many different cars there are multiple mounting points on the block. I removed the stock SS mounts and made up some plates to bolt to the engine.




I used 5mm plate for these as I didn't want it breaking. To save room I decided on using rollcage tubing for the mounts, I know it's strong and being only 38mm OD it should be small enough to clear manifolds etc. For engine mounts I used 10mm chopping board. (yep the kind your mum uses to make sandwhiches) and cut it into shape. Finding a way to mount it was a bit difficult, but I used the same idea for the mount as the engine bracket itself, and the motor is now mounted. sitting square and clearing everything







as you can see the motor sits about 4-5mm off the bonnet. Which isn't as bad as one would think, due to the motor being solid mounted, plus, I have that URAS vent I can put there if the motor feels like moving around..

that's about as far as the build has gotten so far. Massive thanks to my mate callum for all his time and welding skills.

Also picked this cage up out of an ex targa tasmania R33 GTR.






It's chromoly and has nearly all the bars I was planning on doing, got it off a mate for an absolute bargain
Just gotta work out the best way to get it in now!

That's about all I've got for now, I'll try update this as often as possible.

[Andrew@9K]

I AM TUNED IN! This is interesting

[JosiahP]

this looks like its going to be sick!!

[supratrdlova]

omg.....:0

[hotlavaflow]

I'm here for this one

[da_crew10]

Great work, will b tuning in!!

[redhatchy92]

crazy build cant wait for the rest

[snakes240]

oh im following this one also RedHatchy......should bad azz...

[kalypso123]

This is an epic build...

u should get a premium account tho, i dont think they allow build threads for regular membrs.

[Imarvin240]

SICK! also, that shell is hella clean.

[Future240]

Here is how to access the premium member section.

http://zilvia.net/premium.html

[Buckna]

Bit of an update. More of a couple steps backwards than anything else! haha.

I've decided I want to run standard manifolds flipped side to side, then collect the turbo behind the passenger (LHF) headlight. this didn't seem to be an issue. Except the manifolds I have don't clear the rails...

well, to be clear, they clear the drivers side rail, but, not the passenger side, Probably needs 15mm. Which is interesting. As the other side clears by about 10mm. And I've measured the motor a hundred times, I swear it's sitting in the middle. lol.

So either the headers aren't completely symmetrical, and when I flip them the drivers one on the passenger side sticks out a bit further, which could make perfect sense considering in AUS they have a steering column to negotiate with down there...

I'm now at a cross roads. Do I try source some different stock headers, it seems from a bit of digging at a local shop near my place that ls1 headers between different series all look to be slightly different, and ls2 headers off the new VE look even more different again, with a HUGE cat converter hanging off each side... But, with the cat removed I think I could be in luck. Will report back when I make some progress on this.. but for now, it's T minus 8 hours till my container arrives from japan with all my wheels and more goodies for this build

[tricky_ab]

I don't know how I feel about this one (Since I love GTR's). Actually I'm down for something different.

[HyperTek]

Nice. Seems like it would have been easier to just build up that GTST but you already went balls deep into the gtr chassis.

Not really liking that double spoiler thing imo. Go with one or the other, that original gtr spoiler is beautiful. I say just build a lip for it like the e30 m3 did

[thenooblet]

or this guy(who also has an LS1)

[s14tan]

How are you getting that cage in the car?

[Buckna]

totally not running a double spoiler, that looks dumb as fuck. haha. Was just dummying it there to see how much wider it was and if that height was going to be good.

@s14tran. Not sure. Fml. Lol, Probably cut the front half off the back half at teh joins, then feed the rear half in through the doors, front half through windshield... bit of measuring sees it happening.... if not I'll cut as many bars off as I need to and redo it in the car. Was always planning on putting in a weld in cage, this option just saved me alot of time measuring and cutting and obviously buying the materials.

Container landed today, just did a 20 hour day unpacking it, damn 40 footers. Still gotta go back for more shit in the morning. Many goodies arrived for this thing today, I'm excited

[tricky_ab]

^^ Sounds good!

[Buckna]

Mmm, Well just dummy fitted the rear cradle. Kinda convenient, because I'm changing to a R34 NA cradle, it actually mounts 1.5 inches higher into the car.. Which is ideal.

I have to make some custom cradle spacers to make it all fit. mitchy is onto it. but the cradle looks like it's up high enough to make geometry good.
Going to modify a few more things with it, but should be pretty good all in all once it's done.

So yeah, just waiting on a few things to be made to get the rear end sorted.. Then I'll be able to work out coilover heights.

Got all my wheels and coilovers and stuff for this build excited as.




This is with no coilover dummied up on stock arms. Only just makes it inside the lip of the guard... Once the arms are in and the alignment is done, the wheels are gonna poke a shitload.

Not much progress this weekend as I did 2 20 hour days unpacking the container, then drove to sydney (approx 1050km's) to pick up a C110 skyline for a mate of mine. But on the drive back my bmw X5 shat an alternator approx 4 hours from home, at 10pm. So getting home was a bit of a mission, good thing I know my way around cars.

Hopefully this week should show an abundance of progress.

[alexanderig]

Looks sick subscribed

[Buckna]

no update for today. But I do have a photoshop of the general plan of the car.



Also seems my japan matsuri trip is being canned. least it gives more more time/money to throw at this.

[zurud]

skyline gtr must be really cheap in oz like s13 in the states

[Andrew@9K]

THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER. its looking very nice mate

[Tantwoforty]

its sexy time.

[Buckna]

Hmmmm, seems that I lost alot of photos of this as my phone crashed and last backup i had was from xmas day. fml.

Considering it was too fucking wet to work on any car this weekend, the few minutes it did dry up tonight, I thought dummy fitting the wheels, kit, and everything else would be fun.












just some random snaps.

I'll also note that the front wheels are going to need 20mm bolt on spacers to clear the calipers. The rears are also gonna sit approx 20mm further out when camber is set to 0. So alot of guard work is yet to be done. This is just trying to motivate me into doing more work on it.

[fliprayzin240sx]

If this gets done up how I'm imagining it in my head...this will be one of the baddest R33s out there. The only thing I dont like about this is how its kinda going backwards going from AWD to RWD. I find it ironic how S-chassis folks' wet dream is making their RWD car into AWDs. The only thing left thats a GTR on this thing is the wider fenders.

You changing the rear end too from an R205 to an R200 since you're changing the rear subframe?

[rb20240sx]

Next time get a gts if your gona destroy a skyline. Thanks

[Buckna]

@flipprayzin - yeah, I'm hoping it will look pretty good. Point taken, but, the main purpose of this car is going to be a drift car, for competitions and random streeting/grassroots sessions. I've toyed with the idea of AWD LS1 setup, and came to the conclusion, too hard. lol. The only reason I chose this shell over my other shell, is the price and the fact it had widebody guards already haha. As for the diff choice, it'll still have GTR diff, drive shafts and hubs. they all fit into a R34 cradle. the only difference is the cradle has different shock mounting style, and has no hicas. I find that on a hicas subframe, even with a lockbar, the balljoints still allow a bit of movement when under load. Being a high power drift car, I want to be able to have all my suspension geometry working as it should without unnecessary play.

@rb20240sx, it's very cute you say that. explain to me how it would be different "destroying" this shell, as opposed to another shell. When I got this shell, it came missing panels, no glass, no interior, no running gear, no diff, no front bar. the only thing left GTR in it, was the rear guards, front drivers guard and the wiring loom. How is it destroying it? the shell had been sitting around for 6 years, and was going to be cut up to keep the rear quarters and then send the rest to scrap. In the end I would have used the GTR quarters and welded them onto a GTST, so either way a GTR would have "died". You purists are such fuckwits some days seriously. It would cost an absolute dickload to get the gtr shell I had back to being anything remotely looking/driving like a gtr. you would virtually require a complete gtr to swap everything out of. seems a bit pointless yeah?

[atutt]

Originally Posted by Buckna

totally not running a double spoiler, that looks dumb as fuck. haha. Was just dummying it there to see how much wider it was and if that height was going to be good.

@s14tran. Not sure. Fml. Lol, Probably cut the front half off the back half at teh joins, then feed the rear half in through the doors, front half through windshield... bit of measuring sees it happening.... if not I'll cut as many bars off as I need to and redo it in the car. Was always planning on putting in a weld in cage, this option just saved me alot of time measuring and cutting and obviously buying the materials.

Container landed today, just did a 20 hour day unpacking it, damn 40 footers. Still gotta go back for more shit in the morning. Many goodies arrived for this thing today, I'm excited

Sorry but this just sounds stupid. Especially if this cage REALLY is Chromoly..

Cutting apart and re-welding Chromoly is not recommended. Chromoly is much more sensitive to heat than DOM steel. Welding, grinding/cutting, and then re-welding Chormoly will only harden it further. which makes it more brittle....

If you're going to hack apart a weld in cage and try to refit it back into another car you're better off starting over.
It will be more costly but much safer in the end.

When it comes to cages you only want to have to cut and weld it once.