Well, during my travels I have previously lived in Japan for 4 years followed by the United Kingdom for 6. During that time I had a 1990 Nissan Skyline (R32 model) that was my favorite car I've ever had. I had to sell it when I moved back to the US in 2009. I have since moved back to the United Kingdom for a few years, after searching and waiting for a decent R32 4 door, I found one. I was keen to find one that will be able to come back with me to the US when I return in mid 2017. This '91 4 door was the ideal one for me, everything I would do to it has already been done and it has the 2.5 liter engine vs. the 2 liter my old one had. I had to have it purchased in Japan and it was shipped on the 18th of October. I've been watching the boat it's on, it's going though the Mediterranean now after stops in Egypt and Greece. Headed to Belgium next, then Southampton here in the UK at the end of the month. I'm very impatiently waiting for it. Here's a couple of pics from when I decided to get it:




There are a few small things that will need to be changed for my taste. The rims are one of them, not a fan of them at all.
There'll definitely be a picture of it next to the Durango when I finally get to pick it up.

 

She's beautiful!

 

Thanks! It's like the night before Christmas already. The ship has arrived tonight, I'll be eagerly waiting for customs to clear so I can pick it up.


I've got the insurance arranged and everything else I need to drive it home. Got the owner's manual with the documents, good to see one again (I'll add it to the one from my previous I owned).

 

Always loved that gen skyline. And pretty much all skylines actually lol.

 

I agree, the R32 Skyline has been a favorite of mine, but the R34's look great also.

Well yesterday I got to pick up the car! It was a long day between taking the train to Southampton and driving the car back home. It's got a few things to take care of, the power steering pump is leaking and the rear HICAS (High Capacity Actively Controlled Steering) has been disabled but the old steering actuator has a little play in it when transitioning from accelerating or decelerating. Easy things to take care of so far. Here's a picture of it today after I got back from having it on the lift and checking it over.

 

The weather wasn't great today, but I had to get a picture of the Durango and Skyline together. I get a kick out of it that the Skyline sits at half the height of the Durango.

 

Got the wheels I've wanted for it now. They are the GTR wheels from one model newer, the R33:

To top it off, for my birthday my wife had a surprise for me at work that I was forced to drive home with:

 

I've got the HICAS system deleted and power steering pump replaced. The original seemed to be acting up... on top of leaking out of the front pulley shaft seal. The rear steering pump portion of it was capped off, but I found when I opened it up that the pump blades were still there, so it was trying to build pressure while being plugged and may have been some of the problem. Anyways, I installed another pump that I took the blades out of the rear pump portion so it doesn't build pressure:
Pump rear side with alignment bracket for the rear HICAS power steering pressure hose:

Took those bolts out and the rear housing off and there's the blade to remove:

The blades removed:


Reassembled the rear of the pump and left the rear hose bracket off since it's not needed:


Took out the rear HICAS steering actuator and all the hoses that were still in the car. The rear HICAS actuator:

Here's the parts that were remaining removed:

Used a lock bar for the rear that replaces the HICAS actuator:

 

these truly are amazing cars for their generation.


hicas is an awesome system but expensive to repair.

 

Very true on both points. I've always been amazed by how the Skylines have been for the power and technology used, especially in reference to the time period produced at the end of the 80's. The HICAS is a great system for street use and the car having the ability to control itself when limits were exceeded.

Today the steering wheel I prefer came in. It's the Momo Race 350mm. It's replacing the Nardi 330mm one that was on it. I've never been a fan of the smaller diameter steering wheels. The pics don't show the change too well due to the perspective differences in the shot. The Momo Race is the same one my old Skyline had, it feels good to be back with that one:


As you can see in the pics I think the Momo wheel fits the instrument cluster better in terms of viewing the gauges and aesthetics.

I also tackled an issue with the rear bumper today. The lower right side had a spot that's warped and was bugging me:


So I decided to use the simplest method I could think of to straighten it:

That's right, epoxy and a wooden ruler. I applied the epoxy to the back of the ruler and clamped it on the backside of the warp. Let it dry and voila: