This is the story of my DR30 from its rescue from a Japanese Junkyard to its current form.
While Living In Nagoya Japan and studying at Nanzan University i spent some time looking at cars and parts online in case i found something special i could pickup nearby. I eventually decided i wanted to buy a cheap car to bring back to Canada to use as an unusual beater. I eventually settled on an older skyline, i found two cars within my budget, a gc211 or "japan skyline" and the Dr30 that i eventually bought. It seemed that the R30 was a better deal with less rust and cheaper parts. Also the r30 seemed like it would be parted out if i didn't buy it and it seemed too nice for that. These days either would be quite expensive, but i picked this R30 up from a Junkyard in Ehmie for only about 800$. I had a friend handle the exporting and soon after it arrived in Vancouver. I received a quote of 1600$ for rail freight, since the car seemed to be in good running shape i said "F That" and took a flight out to drive it home. Soon i discovered the last registered date was 12 years prior.. and after only a few hours the car was not starting.. Fortunately i had the car in for winter tires to be fitted and after a few days we were able to discover the distributor had gone bad and find a suitable replacement. Thinking we were now good to go i set off across the northern USA back to Toronto, no so lucky.. Long story short i stopped in Montana to have the fuel tank cleaned after the fuel filter kept clogging. Then in North Dakota for an Alternator + thermostat. Finally again in Wisconsin for a Clutch. After that i hopped in the car determined to be the last and drove all day until i was back in Canada. It was late and fortunately my Grandpa lived right across from the bridge in Sarnia. I stayed with him for the night before making my final drive home to Brampton! What a trip!
After all that i had spent ALOT more than i intended and consequently the R30 would be a serious car and not just a cheap beater. First i fitted some old coilovers i had lying around. then a new 85 turbo power interior was found. eventually i managed to find a Turbo FJ20 from an old S12 friend of mine. I fitted that engine with a used HKS T4 turbo kit i sourced from Japan as well as a "C" type transmission and Haltech Sprint 500 ECU. An ARC Intercooler and 3" kakimoto Exhaust was also fitted. At the same time the front end was converted to rack and pinion using S13 and S14 parts with brakes from a Y32 Cedric. The coilovers were also upgraded to Tein HE.
After this round the car sat for a while until i decided to do a 300ZX transmission conversion with OS Giken Twinplate Clutch and Nismo R200 LSD. Finally widebody flares were fitted. to clear the tires turning the front wheel wells had to be pushed back several inches and a number of small rust spots were repaired.
At this point i sourced a spare head from japan and ordered some HKS272 Cams and just about every part Kameari makes for the head, Springs, Titanium Retainers & Bronze guides. I dropped the parts off at the machine shop and told them to do everything! Then the car sat. Fast forward several years later i picked up the head when it was finally finished. But i hadn't been motivated to do anything and the car sat only driven every so often. I decided it was time to get to work on it again and replaced the Z32 transmission and external shifter i didn't like with a Z31 Turbo trans which has an internal shifter, essentially creating an RB25 transmission. I got BFGoodrich Radial T/A's for my Rays Eng Centerlock Mesh. I found a spare motor in japan for a reasonable price and a vintage Hiro spoiler and shipped them out. This year i hope to assemble my built engine and get the car properly tuned as well as hopefully drop it off for a fresh respray!
Lets hope it goes well! Stay tuned for more!
Comments