JDM R33 Skyline GT-R: Light Refresh to Full Build in Just Two Months
A 2.8L stroker kit proves to be the ideal remedy for a compromised engine block on this custom Nissan GT-R.
Imagine owning an R35 GT-R Black Series, putting it through a series of modifications and then stepping back and realizing something was missing in your automotive journey. That was the case for Phil Nguyen who, after three years behind the wheel of Nissan's modern-day dynamo, felt he needed to reach back a few decades for something less common.
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Jumping Back To The Nineties
Always huge fan of the GT-R badge ever since he was a kid having been influenced by marathon sessions ofNeed For Speedand theFastmovie series, it was obvious what he had in mind. "I wanted to experience the ownership of a true Skyline," he says. "The mission was to search for an R32 or R33, since the R34 was still under the 25-year import law."
But why go with an R33 over its universally loved predecessor? "The R33 was very underrated by the community, including myself," he adds. "The more I did research on it, the more I fell in love with the car." His newfound appreciation for the chassis would boil over when he finally spotted one in person at an event and in Midnight Purple no less. "I knew I had to get one for myself," he recalls.
Sending It
Phil's R33 is fully built but that wasn't his original intention. After taking ownership and getting his initial first experience and some miles under his belt, he brought it to his friend and mechanic, Karim to refresh the essentials, like the water pump, timing belt, etc. "After some conversation we decided to do a twin turbo upgrade and the engine was pulled out for the service," he recalls. Being that this was a used car with over two decades behind it, Phil and Karim discovered it was hiding something. "We found there was a crack in the block that had been JB welded," he says. "I would not want to put that engine back in the car, so the only options were to buy a different RB or full sending it and rebuilding the whole engine."
Reaching out to Tomei USA, it turned out that they had a trio of 2.8L RB crate blocks in stock and available locally. Phil lives by the "buy once, cry once" build credo and made the pricey purchase that's based on Tomei's 77.7 mm forged billet crank, H-beam rods, and 87 mm pistons that stretch displacement from 2.6L to 2.8L.
More Tomei goods were used on the top end where their single valve springs and 262 cams lay under the valve cover, and their turbo manifold, fitted with a pair of their ARMS MX8260 billet turbos, also uses their down pipe and test pipe, with HKS' Super Turbo kit completing the exhaust exit strategy. On the intake side, Muse's formed carbon fiber and titanium inlet pipes snake through the bay with a carbon coil pack cover to match, while the intake manifold and its individual throttle bodies have been completely revitalized by Remade in USA.
