2000 Nissan Skyline ER34

[Joss]

Hey all,

I spent the summer of 2015 learning to drift in my E46 Touring. Met some really cool people and learned so much, but the BMW was a car I'd bought to learn in and that's it, I didn't want it to turn into a super expensive project car as my heart was always set on something else for 2016 once I was confident enough in my ability to move on.

BMW Thread, short as it may be.







I took a trade on the BMW for a little Lupo at the end of the summer months as the BMW was in need of an investment to refresh most of the rear end, and it would mean I could start putting money away for my 2016 purchase.

Speaking to Luke and David at OPJP sealed the deal - I had always wanted to import a car for the experience, and having something fresh and rust-free was a priority for me after a shitty experience with an S13 in 2014.

I found my car at a Japanese auction in August, and it left Japan on Christmas Eve 2015.

March/2000 ER34 Nissan Skyline GTX-25

Grade 3.5
120,000km


The car left Japan on Christmas Eve, after the front bumper got crunched loading onto the boat.... Nevermind.

The spec list I could gather from the auction sheet was as follows:

RB25DET NEO
Manual 5 Speed
HKS FMIC
HKS Coilovers
Work VS 3pc 18s
Trust air filter
URAS Monkey Magic kit
A "metal clutch" which I assumed to mean Paddle Clutch.
Shotgun exhaust
HICAS 4 Wheel steering

These were some of the photos I recieved before it left for the UK:















I tracked and tracked the ship every hour of every day for about 9 weeks...



Eventually I got news, the car made it to shore!

Unfortunately customs hand-picked it for a full inspection, taking a full 3 weeks.

THEN ANOTHER DELAY.. The DVLA is the UK's equivalent of the DMV. Typically all import paperwork is processed in around 2 weeks. Mine was 'lost' for 3 weeks, then sent back to me for no reason. I promptly called and demanded it was dealt with as a priority and managed to get a registration assigned to the vehicle within a week.

Being tired of waiting for the registration to be complete, I decided I'm quite happy to pay a fine for driving an unregistered car, so I decided to just go and collect the car anyway and drive the three hours back home with no documentation to make it legal.

The car had just been detailed before I collected:























I'm going to take a 5 minute break, more to come....

[Joss]

So this is what I was greeted with, to say it was surreal was an understatement. I'd saved for 12 months, and waited for 6 for it to arrive, I was finally going to drive MY R34 Skyline.



We fired the car up and I threw some fuel in. It was pouring with rain, the shocks were all dead and bottoming out, the alignment was all over the place, and the front bumper was flapping around and dropping off every five minutes, but I was still ecstatic.

I got some sleep at a hotel that night before the mammoth 4 hour journey the next day to get home.



----------------------

After a good nights rest (very much needed after a 6 hour train journey to collect the car...) I was up and ready to get on the road. The sun was shining, all the windows were down and I was excited to crack on!

Lots of stopping to re-cable tie the bumper



And one to meet some friends about 30 mins from home for some food:



Anddd finally home, big day complete:



So to sit rep... after a 4 hour drive in the Skyline I discovered it needed:

New coilovers (HKS ones were knocking and banging and all over the road)
Alignment
New wheels (all 4 buckled and rotten)

But despite all these unforeseen issues, there's something about collecting the car you've waited such a long time for that stops anything from ruining your day!

We're up to April 2016... More to come..

[Joss]

So, first job: Coilovers.

I picked up some used Driftworks CS2 coilovers from a local chap and got them fitted, and at the same time I was greeted with some unusual spacers (note the locking nuts holding them to the hub!)



Other than that the install was the easiest I've ever done - everything was so clean and rust/grime free!

I also locked out the 4 wheel steering on the rear axle with a lockout bar. The car still hasn't had an alignment to this day but it drives a million times better regardless. I took the car along the coast to meet some friends and push it a little:





Oh, I also did a buy:







18x10.5 ET12 Work Emotion T7R in Work GT Silver.

They promptly went on the car, along with some lowerings:





Amazing how wheels and a drop can change a car.





So I used the car as it was for the summer, and in October I sourced a new URAS Monkey Magic front bumper, some vented front wings and got the front end painted!





Much better

I then sourced some 350Z wheels to use as spares for drifting and took it to a day at Rockingham motor speedway, I've been drifting for a while but this was the first time spendng all day drifting the R34 so I thought I'd go easy and go to an 'open paddock' day rather than a proper track with things to crash into.










So now we're pretty much up to date - the car has gone into storage for winter so now it's a case of sourcing some suspension components, bigger tyres (not a fan of SO MUCH stretch) and getting it sat lower/more aggressively.

Thanks

[Tate]

Love me some 4door skyline action

[190Evan]

Dude , Holy crap. This is so so cool. I can't wait until 2025 so I can import one of these to the states lol. This thing is so clean man good pick up! Is anything done to the Rb?

[Joss]

The RB is still stock other than some breathing mods, a decat and a FMIC. Boost level is still standard. Hopefully I'll be getting Nistune and a GReddy Profec B OLED boost controller over winter to make the most of the current setup.

Thanks for the feedback though!

[DeltaAlpha9]

I love sliding 4 doors. Definitely stoked to see where this goes.

[ABE24]

LOVE the 4 door, i had a r34 gtt myself and it was awesome