Buying a skyline and making street legal?

[joblazen]

Hey, I'm moving to japan soon (okinawa to be exact) and am looking to buy a gt-r. most likely an r33. I'll be there for 2 years and then i'm moving back to the states and i am planning on bring the car back with me. I was just wondering if anyone knew exactly what needs to be done to make it US street legal. Or should I just take it to a professional and pay to have it all done. I'd like to do it myself if at all possible because i'm looking to modify in many ways to make it race ready over time. Thanks

[Gtr2.7L]

Here's the straight skinny. R33's right now are pretty cheap. The economy is down...driving the prices down
...and the prices are already low due to the exchange rate. You can get a good R33 for around 15k USD. A
Yokohama GTR specialtly shop was advertising a one owner R32 with 7000 miles on it (perfect condition for 16k...
You can't beat that with a stick. Anyway...the ONLY company right now that can import the car legally for you
is Motorex (www.motorex.net or www.skylinegtr.com ) The prices for importation on their website.
As for modifications. As long as you keep the original parts...and are willing to pay to have the mods pulled out for
US legalization and then put back in for your personal use...no problem. You can't enter the country with modificiations
that will change the emmissions...IE Cam profile, ECU tune. You can buy the parts over here though....very cheap in
comparison to state-side. You might want to look into just doing the suspension, rims, tires, and brake mods as well
as easy internal mods (boost controller, I/E, oil cooler etc) while you overseas...then doing the rest.
The only disadvantage to that is the quality of tune you can get. No offense to Hiro and the gang, but there are guys who
have been tuning GTR's forever and are damn good at it. As soon as I can get back home, I'll post my recent dyno. Although
the power output was a tad under what I had hoped (I didn't change the cams so I sort of expected it...) the fuel/air ratio
throughout the RPM band was perfect....which gave me beautifully smooth torque and HP curves.

[Gasara]

Are u going with the millitary? I think millitary personels can drive their "imported" cars in the US for up to 1 year before they have to complie with US regulations.

[skylineSTS]

This might sound like a stupid Q, but what happens if you are caught with a Skyline that is not street legal? (if you could be caught at all) Just wondering what the penalties are. Thanx:evillaugh

[JtotheIzzo]

Hey, this is joblazen, i was having some login troubles so i had to create a new name. Thanks a lot, you are now my hero. 16000, you think for a good r33 gtr? That is so perfect. I was expecting upper 20's at least. That would be perfect if i could get one and hook it up nice. I would gladly put the factory parts back in and change it again after i get back to the states. Yes, I am in the military, but i don't know the specifics of bringing a car back. I think they will ship it for me and i won't have to pay for it anyway, but i'm not sure, if so, that's another plus. Thanks a lot guys. I just have to go look around when i get there.

[Gtr2.7L]

I'm not exactly sure about the shipping info yet.....the rules I have seen say the Navy voids the need for bonds, shipping costs...blah, blah....I don't know about the other services.
16K now....I don't know what they'll be in 12 months. Really depends on what the Yen rate is and how the market is doing. Better market, more money floating around, the price goes up....etc, etc.
Anyway...you can almost always find some old guy who's wife is harping on him to get rid of it....or trying to buy a Ferrari and is just trying to sell it.

[joblazen]

Thanks a lot. I'm actually leaving for japan thursday, and i'm planning on buying the car within a couple months. so hopefully it will still be around the same price. If i can get a nice r33 grt for under 20k, i will be in heaven, heh. I just hope i can find one without having to travel to mainland japan, cuz then i'd have to get it sent from mainland to okinawa, which shouldn't be too much, but still some trouble. Thanks a lot though.

[Forsteen]

Hey I'm over here in Okinawa right now for the military and right now I've seen a R33 GTR at 15 k. You can get a R32 GTR for about 8-11 k. I'm seriously thinking about getting a R32 GTR. I only have the GTS-t at the moment. Once you get here look us up. Alot of us are on Kadena. You can't miss my car. I believe I am the only one on Island with stripes. Just look at my website. Anyway good to see you are coming over here. I actually want to hit the mainland and stay.

Cheers

[joblazen]

Oh really, that is wonderful news to me. I am new to the military though, only been in for almost 7 months. I graduated tech school in mid december and kadena is my first duty station. So in about a month i should be getting my signing bonus which is like all going to a car, heh, nah, but most of it will. 15k is perfect, I was just hoping for around 20k or less. But 15k, i was not expecting that cheap. YEah, i would get an r32, but i'd rather a newer car and also i like the r33's looks better, Headlights look better to me too. BUt yeah, i will definately look you up when i get there, sometime. I'm gonna get there this weekend, which is good cuz it will give me a couple days to chill before actually getting into working, heh. BUt yeah, thanks a lot. LAters

[Forsteen]

left blank....

[joblazen]

Alright, thanks a lot man. Umm, my email is [email protected]. I'll be in the 18 MXS Squadron. Umm, really i dunno anything else i will be at, ha. but yeah, thanks.

[Gtr2.7L]

When you go, you should take someone who really understands Japanese so they can tell you whether or not the car has been in an accident. By law they are required to tell you. It may not necessarily be apparent in the way the car looks....but it may affect how the car performs at high speeds!

[joblazen]

good idea, thanks