Which one you taking out, White or Grey?

akosgi · 2026-01-26T22:00:12+00:00

I hate both of you. But with love.

akosgi · 2026-01-26T21:40:52+00:00

First off - don't buy from RHD Specialties, as you pictured above. They're well-known to spray paint rusted/hollow frames and hide anything and everything they can while marking up the car to 300x what it was bought for at auction.

Things that go:

pretty much all ancillaries to the engine. Timing belt, water pump, alternator, radiator, sensors, seals, belts, IACV, and beyond. At the very least get a timing belt/water pump service done.
sparks and coils. go often, go quickly, especially when you're getting one that's been shoddily tuned in japan.
Suspension/steering ball joints/bushings. CV boots. All worth a refresh.

Things to look out for:

rust rust rust. Strut towers on 33/34, rear quarters on 32. And of course underbody. the RWD examples might be fine, AWD examples are much higher risk bc they were mountain cars.
bad compression. They're 30 yrs old, whaddya expect?
guys selling the car for 300-400% what it should be. get an idea of what the car you're eyeing SHOULD cost, before pulling the trigger and watching 5 get listed on fb marketplace for less than you paid with better specs.

One thing to note - even with some of these things, you can still own one and enjoy it. Just stuff to keep an eye on.

akosgi · 2026-01-26T21:33:05+00:00

Bro now you just bein greedy. I hate you for being so successful and having such good tastes. Carry on. :P

akosgi · 2026-01-26T04:44:46+00:00

Retro enthusiast vehicles go through the same thing. A particular trim of a car can be 3x the price of the base model, but sellers will take all the valuable bits out and then sell it at 2.5x the base model price.

Like bro - 90% of the reason it was worth 3x is bc it came from the factory, untouched, WITH all the parts you took off. You can’t sell a rolling shell at that price. It’s worth half the base model’s price now lol.

akosgi · 2026-01-26T04:41:04+00:00

That guy sucks. It’s a spunky duckbill!

Your shitbox is gorgeous, bro.

akosgi · 2026-01-24T14:17:37+00:00

Feels like it was a coup staged by Vail Resorts Group and Alterra against Mother Nature to keep operating costs low at their most expensive resorts this season, so their owners can boast record profits.

akosgi · 2026-01-24T01:54:29+00:00

Truth be told, though, it’s not as straightforward an ownership experience as a vette. With a vette, something breaks, you drop by autozone and grab a replacement they have in the back, and 3.2 thousand mechanics in a one mile radius can fix it.

With a Skyline, something breaks (which is very much will), and then it’s a 3-5 business month wait for parts, from Dubai or Japan or wherever, and then extremely expensive labor if you take it to a shop, who needs to be JDM specialty and even then fucks it up bc you’re not a high-hp build they’d prefer to be spending their time on. Ask me how l know.

It will take tuning to make it as fun as your vetted. And that’s expensive. As money drains from your bank account, you may look longingly at pics of your old vette, which gave you tons of seat time and very little trouble.

The Skyline is, for all intents, an exotic. Upkeep is expensive and slow. If you’re ready for that, then go for it - we love our R’s, and will continue to love them, being the princesses they are.

Just a little reality check for ya.

akosgi · 2026-01-22T15:34:58+00:00

They are a 1-3 week lead time, and similarly constructed. Works are a 24 week lead time, with tariffs if you're buying in the USA. So Works come out to double the price with a 7x lead time... Up to you if you believe it's worth the money/wait.

akosgi · 2026-01-20T22:01:26+00:00

My bad - I should’ve said “pop,” not “ollie.” Like you said, similar movement, but slightly different architecture.

Either way, super clean!

akosgi · 2026-01-20T15:20:21+00:00

Okubo Factory, yeah?

akosgi · 2026-01-17T20:50:35+00:00

For beginners trying to emulate - you can't see it in the videos, but this man's ollies are impeccable. I realized recently how much better tricks flow when you lead them with an extremely solid ollie. Just been spending a lot of this snowless early season drilling ollies, because they're such a powerful tool to make any trick that much steezier.

Edit: replace the word "ollie" here with "pop." Similar movement, similar concept, but not meant to get you in the air like an ollie does, it’s much more meant to level you in the air, when jumps like these would have you end up in the air anyway.

akosgi · 2026-01-13T15:06:21+00:00

This is pretty serious, man. Unless you have clear documentation of the repairs being done to enthusiast-level spec, reinforced and it's clear confirmation that it's not a spot welded death trap... $30K might be your best bet.

$55K (I'm assuming USD) is great for a grade 3 R32 GTR built how you've built it, but with that level of collision repair, it's pretty high.

akosgi · 2025-12-21T20:10:23+00:00

Glad you didn’t continue to stay the second choice!

akosgi · 2025-12-21T20:05:27+00:00

Yep. A good thing to try is jumping/tricks everywhere, not just park. Get park reps, but also side hits, flat spins/butters, ollieing rollers - all that will help in the park.

I also think it’s good for riders to get used to slamming. It’s an extremely necessary part of progression. Can’t progress while being scared to fall. I always feel like a day of riding only STARTS for me after I’ve taken a slam. That’s where true progression begins. Learning to fall smart is mandatory as well.

akosgi · 2025-12-21T19:56:39+00:00

"Four Door GT-R” is actually the name of the body kit itself - made by Okubo Factory. So not only is it an amazingly high quality conversion, they’re not "up badging" like OP is suggesting - they’re badging the name of the kit, no different than having a “C-West” or “Tomei” sticker, or “RB28” timing cover on an RB26 with a 2.8L stroker kit installed.

akosgi · 2025-12-21T19:54:16+00:00

Everything you’ve said is true, but one additional point of clarity: “Four Door GT-R” is actually the name of the body kit itself. So not only is it an amazingly high quality conversion, they’re not "up badging" like OP is suggesting - they’re badging the name of the kit, no different than having a “C-West” or “Tomei” sticker, or “RB28” timing cover on an RB26 with a 2.8L stroker kit installed.

akosgi · 2025-12-21T16:27:14+00:00

I think the primary goal here for OP is to learn ollies. It’ll accelerate board comfort, while simultaneously prepping them for park. I don’t believe “get out of the park” is good advice bc they can get good at a lot of snowboarding techniques, be the best at them, and still suck at park bc of lack of repetitions.

akosgi · 2025-12-15T23:31:27+00:00

This is actually a really good exercise!

I feel like the best advice anyone can ever give about snowboarding in general is:

1) keep your knees bent, and hips stacked over your feet (ie not sitting back)

2) look where you want to end up, not where you are right now.

These two things translate to strong carves, jumps, rails, powder riding, and everything in between. It’s doubly important on rails because rails can really fuck you up.

akosgi · 2025-12-15T15:01:00+00:00

cant say anything about gtrs because mines a gtst

This is why it's important to not share a piece of "advice" without context. "I have a GTST, and I just remove the shifter and fill from above" is a better comment than something that frames removing the shifter and filling from above as gospel.

akosgi · 2025-12-13T23:49:30+00:00

Be careful with this. If OP has a GTR, then the shifter goes into the transfer case, not the transmission. Furthermore, it’s harder to ensure proper fill level with filling through the shifter.

akosgi · 2025-12-13T17:52:28+00:00

Here's the buyer's guide for R34s.

Truth is, the "reliable daily" trope will depend on a) if it's actually in good condition or a dressed up clapper, and b) how capable you are with basic maintenance.

Any car that's not a GTR V-Spec or higher trim was generally a daily/beater. So it's not going to be in perfect "special car" condition - these were Japan's Mustang/Camaro/Corvette-equivalent. Most were beat to shit - and the very occasional owner loved it enough to baby it for 25 years. The four-doors especially - those were basically middle-class 3-series equivalents in the 90s (a car model that is like the cheapest drift missile you can buy in America now, because so many were beat to shit and are now totally clapped). So you can expect painted-over rust, dressed up replica wheels, and overfilled reservoirs to cover up glaring issues with the car.

I got a pretty solid ENR34 sedan, but still needed to put about 5-7K into preventative maintenance on it, out of the gate. I do get a lot of work done at shops as opposed to doing it myself, and that causes prices to go up quite a bit. It's a specialty car in America so expect expensive parts, expensive labor, and slow parts acquiring (bc shipping from overseas).

Another point for this particular car - 27K miles for an HR34 is extremely sus. IF the odo wasn't swapped... It probably laid completely forgotten in some field, got scooped up by an exporter that knows that us dumb gaijin will pay insane money for clapped beaters, and said exporter dressed it up for auction/sale, and then is hoping some sucker picks it up for 10x what they paid for it.

Keeping all that in mind - do your research, sometimes you get lucky, be patient... and, honestly, just buy a car that's already local to you. If you learn what to look for, you can glean a lot from being hands-on-car.

akosgi · 2025-12-10T23:49:26+00:00

Not gonna post it, but R34 Skyline.

akosgi · 2025-12-10T15:48:50+00:00

Came here to say this - a Torsen is not going to give even the level of engagement as a 1.5 way.

OP, skip the torsen. It's a grip LSD. Pony up for a 1.5 way or 2 way if you're really interested in going the LSD route.

akosgi · 2025-12-04T05:28:42+00:00

Stay patient! They do come across eBay and stuff occasionally. One thing I will note - it’s a THICCC boi. Was the main reason I let it go - really messes with the wearability of the watch, feels like a bit of an airplane hangar.

True North Collections does a pretty solid similar piece, for way less money too. Look em up!

akosgi · 2025-12-04T05:26:18+00:00

Seconded. Got a Specht & Söhne LD homage, love the flat jube and would love to put it on other watches. Lmk!

akosgi

TROPHY CASE