HR30 Skyline

This is my old HR30 2000GT-EX Hardtop Skyline...

A bit of model history.

Most people would be familiar with the  DR30 Skyline,home of the FJ20ET engine in Japan.As you can see by these pictures,the HR30 Skyline has the same body and interior,but has a different engine. The "D" in DR30 means FJ20 engine,and the "H" in HR30 means L20A engine.

The L20ET is a straight 6cylinder OHC engine,similar to the old 180B Datsun engines,but with two extra cylinders tacked on.(and in this case,factory turbocharged and fuel injected) My HR30 Skyline also have the tuff R200 independent LSD diff.

My HR30...

My HR30 had a 2.4L block,and used the standard L20ET head and manifolds.This is a 'bolt-in' job,and takes capacity to 2.4Litres.My engine had a "low-kays" bottom end,and a reco head and turbocharger.Behind this was a 3 speed auto gearbox,with a VL Commodore torque converter,and modified internals to make it shift quicker and harder.(much like an aftermarket shift-kit does) The turbo was a reconditioned T3. It didn't have the lock-up converter feature,as this is driven by a special solenoid in the box - which mine didn't have being an old Jatco 3 speed.

The interior was in quite good condition for the age of the car,with the original front bucket seats being rip-free.Door trims were also good,Black vinyl,with cloth inserts,the same red  as the seats.  The black dash and carpet were also good.Slight sun-damage on the top of the rear seat was the only fault.

Also shown here are the Alpine 6x9 speakers in trimmed boxes that I got with the car.A 10disc CD stacker was mounted in the boot.

I bought this car from Queensland,and had some drama's getting it swapped to NSW rego...Also note the "2.4E" badge from an Aussie MR30.Didn't take me long to pull that off.

   Early style tail lights were in very good condition also.                        

This is the best picture I have of the HR30 with it's new mags on,till I can get a working scanner!

Below is the same picture. Paintwork looks deceptively good in these pics!

I originally bought this Skyline to put the FJ20ET from my old Pintara into.(check the FJ20 Pintara pages on this site) As mentioned at the top of this page,the HR30 and DR30 Skyline's are nearly identical,apart from the different engines,so I figured my FJ20 would be a bolt in job.

That way,I would have my motor going again,and it would be in a real Japanese sports coupe! What could be better,I thought.Well,over the weeks and months,I began to find things about the HR30 that I didn't really like.The steering is notoriously sloppy in these cars,having the older steering box design,rather than rack and pinion.Yes,I could have got the steering box rebuilt,but I didn't. Also,the interior wasn't as nice as even my R31 Pintara.It was in good nic,and looked good,but when driving,felt a bit clinical to me.

The ride quality was also pretty bad.Riding more like an old 180B Datsun,than a Japanese performance Skyline.These little things began to bug me over time,and added to them was the fact the R200 diff would need a rebuild to cope with the power from the FJ20,as well as a new tailshaft.And the paint job was a bit average,when viewed in the flesh.

I made the decision to sell the HR30,and try and get what I had been wanting since I first had the Pintara.That was an HR31 Skyline coupe.They were a fair bit out of my price range though, that's why I got the HR30 in the first place.

I decided there was no point putting my FJ20 in something I wasn't going to be completely happy with.So that was that,I was going to get myself an HR31.....

After several months without a car,and trying to save my money,I still was a long way short of getting one.I bought a cheap KE55 Corolla (1300cc auto!) as I was sick of not having a car.After a couple of months in that,I found an Aussie R31 Skyline,that had slight front panel damage for cheap.I sold the corolla,and bought the Skyline.I already had all the parts I needed to repair it from my girlfriends R31 Pintara,that I put the RB20DET,and Japanese front panels on.(elsewhere on this site) As I swapped the whole Japanese front onto that car,I had all the stock panels left! I toyed with the idea of bolting my FJ20 into this Skyline,but decided to press on towards my goal of an HR31.

In between somewhere,I got hold of a rare Datsun 120Y 2 door sedan.Before you start laughing,how does 820kg and 400HP sound? That's what I thought! That sat around for a while,before I decided that I didn't have the budget required to undertake such a full ground up rebuild.After all,nearly every single thing on the 120Y had to be replaced to handle the FJ20.Pics of all these other cars soon!

As promised...pics

Another couple of months passed,driving my stock auto Skyline,and then one day,I spot an HR31 for sale in the trading post...It's in NSW rego,it's straight,a genuine GTS-X,has a 5speed manual box,a 3 inch exhaust,and to top it off,it's a black one.That price sounds very cheap though...must be a misprint....better ring about it just in case....

The rest,as they say,is history!!

I sold my Aussie Skyline,and took possession of my black HR31 GTS-X 2 door Skyline.

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