Quick question regarding the potential purchase of a pulsar in the Edmonton area

well go and see it and do a fault code test on it first off...

I drove that car before buying my pulsar. BEWARE. That car needs a lot of work to get it running well again. Its obvious that it has been driven very hard since being in canada.

I drove that car before buying my pulsar. BEWARE. That car needs a lot of work to get it running well again. Its obvious that it has been driven very hard since being in canada.

what sorta problems? what price did he offer you? the gentleman selling the car did say he didn't mind if i took it to friend at a nissan dealership and have him take a look at it. So i hope the price reflects the costs of repairs. When abouts did you drive it?

I drove it early in December. It was at night, so I didn't get a chance to look too closely at it, but right off the bat, the rattle from the rocker arms tells me that they are loose enough that even a hard bumb *could* kick one loose***. That car also need some serious tuning. Could be related to the valve adjustment required, could be as bad as the engine being in poor condition (low compression maybe?) But, that thing was seriously lacking in power. Considering that I was able to drive the Pulsar that I bought only a couple of days later, and how much better it performed while also still needing a valve adjustment, I wasn't going to buy that car myself, nor could I recommend anyone else to buy it.

I believe he was asking about $6800 for it at the time... I think... but the overall condition of the car was just not worth it. I also now recall a problem with the aftermarket drivers seat being mounted so far forwards, that even at its rearmost position only very short people might be comfortable driving it.

*** I tell of loose rocker arms due to a needed valve adjustment. I have also experienced the worst case scenario that can come with this problem. Funny thing was that it wasn't due to over-revving, but a good jolt when hitting a pot hole. This rocker arm that kicked loose managed to wedge itself between the camshaft and a valve. This valve that was wedged open contacted the piston, and in turn the piston broke the head of the valve clean off. I now have a fresh engine for that car on its way here. Moral of the story is: if you have lots of rattling in the top end of the engine, fix it immediately.

wow dude i came to the right place for answers, thankyou. Well i did remember hearing the owner make mention that he did recently do a valve adjustment (the car was sitting doa for a bit i guess) But im very leary now. Either or before i hand cash over im goanna take it to a nissan dealership and have a friend look over it. I don't mind a little bit of a fixer up project. But i still need a daily driver. As for the front seat i don't think that will affect me as i am not a tall man. Thats a serious horror story, im goanna have to sleep with the nite light on tonite for sure. Did that happen to your gtir? Thanx again for the torrents of info. I was looking for something like that, little more possitive but still good to have the info.

That sure did happen to my GTiR. I have an engine being shipped here as we speak. I also decided to put in a new clutch while I have the engine out, so I have a clutch on the way as well. Started out in the garage today getting ready to pull the engine from the car. Its a big job and I have other project cars that need lots of attention before summer hits.

I am occasionally in Edmonton, so if you need help or advice I am willing to do what I can.

if the guy did a valve adjustment its a big deal on a gti-r. you have to pull the valvecover, measure the gap, then measure the shim, then order the correct shim to bring the valves back into spec. its not a 1 day job if you don't have new shims handy.

they are not the same as other sr20's with hydraulic lifters.

gti-r's haev noisy rockers b/c of the solid lifters. they also have very noisy injectors and a noisy timing chain. what dgrecco might have experienced was rod knock combined with losing a rocker. a noisy head isnt as bad as u think. i have plenty of valve tap, drive my car hard, drive daily, and i work for a large cement company. i often visit sites with less than smooth roads and have experienced no problems. i've put over 35,000 km's on my gti-r for reference.

Well pending on what the mechanical inspection states, im most likely goanna buy this one. Its been too long since i started drooling over these unconventional little beasts. I would really like to see some of the local guys whips if they are ever in town, or going for a cruise on a decent day or something. Thanx for all the feedback guys, took the edge off a bit.

I am still jealous of the fact that that car still has the original factory umbrella. I absolutely want one.

Next time I am heading through edmonton I will let you know. The Pulsar is my winter car, so chances are if its summer I will be driving a Nissan with a little more "go" to it. In 2 weeks I will be heading through Edmonton on my way to Calgary and if the parts come in I will have a repaired GTiR taking me on that trip, otherwise I will be driving my Acura.

I have seen the car as well. Was generally not impressed with it in terms of condition but other than that I have no opinion.
I would not take it to the dealership but to Reg at Sumaru. Reg knows performance Nissans and is a top GT racer. The dealership will soak you and tell you nothing. Reg knows the GTI-R and should be able to tell you more. To be perfectly honest you could get an unmolested RNN14 for that price straight from Japan. Might be worth considering.

dgrecco, the umbrella is the cats ass. Why not just order one from nissan?
modform, I have been pondering that idea too, monky has one on their website and thats where my dad bought his tommy kaira skyline. He speaks very highly of them. As for the dealership my dad has a friend at the local nissan dealership that would be doing the once over so im not too worried about being soaked. unmollested...lol i wanna be the first to mollest my car, this is true.

seriously have a look at the thread that i put on the site about buying a gtir. it is really helpful and will give yo some tips about what to look for in the beginning.

umbrella's are no longer available to order. monky's is good, my friends have a good working relationship with them. i've seen their operations and met the owner in person as im in japan often.

I think im goanna go the way of importing one myself, i didn't initially wanna wait the 2 months, but im sure ill be plensently satisfied after the 2 months are over and i have my car. Price is also cheaper aswell importing from over seas. Thanx for all the info guys. One other question, say I do import this car to Vancouver, can I have it all pre-registered and insured before I fly down there to pick it up so i can just driver it back?

To transport your car you can get a temporary registration, referred to as "in-transit." quite cheap and they just give you a piece of paper to stick to your windshild proving that the vehicle is allowed to be on the road. To get this you will need valid insurance first, and I can't remember but you may need to already have the import papers as well. Thats exactley what I did. Picked the car up in Calgary, drove it back here to Cold Lake, then was able to inspect it and get it properly registered.

The Alberta Out of Province inspection has to be done in Alberta, at a shop that is registered with the province to do Out of Province inspections. Just a word of advice though: find a shop that is known to be friendly with imported vehicles. I have seen some cars butchered by adding extra reflectors and lights that a specific shop deems necessary. A friend of mine has a skyline that has reflectors in the front and rear quarter panels that are held in by self tapping screws. There are some shops, on the other hand, that will turn a blind eye to such things. They are hard to come by, but there are some inspecting mechanics out there that will make sure your car is mechanically safe to drive, but let some criteria slide in the spirit of keeping a car original.

There is one here. Company out of BC who has been importing for a while. Never bought from them myself but worth a look.
http://www.tyeeimports.com/Details.asp?ProductID=104#

Pretty pricey. I think im goanna go the route of monky's site. The 2 months gives me time to save up some gas money for the awesome drive back from bc im goanna have. Thanx for all the awesome input guys. So stolked I found this site. Now the waiting game *sits and stares at a calender*.............any of you guys have any vids or pics of your cars in action?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efXl2AM6Chg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC5_Dju4XbU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YfKTqrhbbY

Not very goo dvideo but it's all got so far

holy hell dude, i woulda puked all over the dash if i was inside that car. Thats insane, its a doughnut machine! where was this video taken?