Welcome to part two of our GT-R build series, today we're going to address the goals for the car as well as an overview of the existing and planned parts/work that will be done to achieve those goals!
Ultimately, our goal is to have a reliable podium-finishing car entered in Global Time Attack's Street class, and the equivalent class for Redline Time Attack and Gridlife which largely shares the same rules. That means limited aero, body/interior, and drivetrain modifications, but mostly open engine modifications. We'll be running the GTA spec tire for both series, Yokohama A052's in 265/35/18, the widest tire allowed for an AWD car in Street class. They're an incredible "200tw" tire that I've yet to have any complaints about in my limited experience of having them on the FD.
Now let's get into the nitty gritty: why I bought this car, AKA the parts list! As mentioned in part one, this is a former RH9 Club built car, and now that we've started digging into the engine we can confirm some interesting info about the motor. A friend (thanks Abe!) reached out and let us know someone he knew worked on the car when it was originally imported. It turns out the owner at the time wanted to modernize the engine bay, which included painting over the Top Secret chrome cam covers and replacing the Top Secret Drag R valley ornament, and using the Nitto clear cam cover. I'm a pretty bummed the Top Secret ornament is gone as that was a one-off from when the engine was built, but the cam cover paint was in really rough condition.
POWERTRAIN
R34 V-Spec II RB26 stroked to 2.7L
GReddy T78-33D turbo kit w/ manifold, etc
Trust 87mm forged pistons
1050cc 11mm Injector Dynamics ID 1050x
Trust H-shaped conrod
Trust Camshafts in/ex 272
GReddy adj. cam gears in/ex
Naprec crankshaft balance
Trust 1.2mm head gasket
Naprec engine block bore cleaning
Trust large oil pan
Trust reinforced oil pump
Trust reinforced valve springs
full titanium exhaust
Exedy Hyper Twin plate cerametallic clutch
Trust water pump
Samco coolant hoses
Turbosmart WG45 Gen V Hyper-Gate 45mm 14psi wastegate w/ dump pipe
dual AEM fuel pumps
Koyo radiator
Trust intercooler
generic intake
GREX oil cooler
custom large (5L+?) oil catch tank
Sard fuel pressure regulator
AEM 3-port electronic boost controller
(still has HKS EVC 3-port boost controller in engine bay)
INTERIOR/ELEC
Recaro seats w/ Sabelt harnesses
320kph Nismo "GT-R" cluster
AEM Infinity 506
HKS EVC Black Limited screen + controller
Field electronic torque split E-TS Linear controller
Autometer oil temp gauge
Autometer oil pressure gauge
Autometer water temp gauge
Autometer boost gauge
Autometer fuel pressure gauge
Autometer volts gauge
Momo steering wheel
FOOTWORK/HANDLING
A'PEXi N1 Pro coilovers
AP Racing 6-pot big brake caliper/discs front
Cusco (f)/r strut bars (front strut bar wasn't in the car anymore on delivery)
unknown sway bars
SSR Professor SP1 18x10 +3 wheels
265/35/18 Nitto tires
Cusco (modified) 7-pt rollcage
N1 brake booster brace
Cusco 2-way rear LSD
HICAS delete
BODY
N1 hood lip
N1 carbonfiber grille slats
N1 bumper
N1 chin spoiler
N1 side skirts
N1 rear spats
N1 rear wiper delete
N1 projector headlights
Gr.A style trunk latches
Attain hood pins
unknown fiberglass hood and fiberglass one-piece front bumper
So yeah, one might be able to see why this particular GT-R was attractive to me when I knew I wanted to do a street/track build. Sure, it's now become a "time attack first" build but the existing parts list is very extensive, and would cost significantly more to start from scratch. Yes, there's some wonky stuff done on the car, lots of parts are damaged (especially in the interior), there's some rust, and so on. But all the negatives were livable issues that I knew we could handle fixing or getting fixed. We still got the car for much less than other people and places were asking for "less-comprehensively-but-still-modified" GT-R's.
That said, there's a lot to do. The car is currently at a friend's shop, within which a world-class tuner resides. Right now we're trying to get everything we need together to get a base map done safely, and as more parts come in we'll be cranking up the boost. The surge tank that was ordered from Japan will take a few months to get here so we're trying to do as many stopgaps as we can with the fuel system, but it's still going to be an effort to correct the wiring and get a proper hanger setup for the pumps. The main tank needs drained and cleaned as well, as the drowned Totoro can attest to.
A little before/after action? Sure, these hood pins aren't particularly aerodynamic, but the goal isn't entirely to build a raw racecar that has no compromises since it is a Street class car after all! I'll be blending a bit of both worlds to see how far we can push it without taking every single class rule to the limit.
That's all for now! Look forward to part 3 of the series where we should be following up with the changes/upgrades we've made so far, and hopefully our first track shakedown soon after.
Disclaimer: A lot of this was written in current tense but it's now well in the past at the time of posting. I finally got around to finishing and posting it almost exactly a year later. I'll try to do better about keeping current on this, but we have a lot more work on the GT-R coming up soon!