For many enthusiasts the R33 Skyline is still one of the most beautiful cars ever produced in Japan. Even as new models are developed and older ones are updated, the clean lines and unique design elements of Skylines continue to make them stand out from most other cars on the road.

Eric had wanted an R33 for years and when the opportunity came to own one nearly 4 years ago he had to jump on it. His first priority on the build was to focus on performance rather than try to change its appearance (something he was already happy with). This is why aside from a set of Volk Racing CE28N’s and Tein RS coilovers, the rest of the exterior remains the same as it was when it rolled off of the assembly line in Japan.

Photos by Matt Haugness and Ryan Cutuli. Unfortunately, car ownership can sometimes be a bumpy road. Not soon after buying the car did it start having issues. The engine was originally built by the previous owner who had cut corners during assembly. This meant that the engine was a ticking time bomb. The engine eventually blew and it was at this point Eric committed to rebuilding it properly using some of the best parts available for the RB26DETT engine. Since Eric was starting over, he opted for an N1 engine block with an HKS piston kit. Instead of going the single turbo route, he decided to go with twin polished HKS GT2835’s. An Infiniti Q45 throttle body was fitted to the otherwise stock intake manifold. He chose HKS 272/260 cams for the build which were installed in a custom ported HKS Step II head. Just to be safe, he decided to run an AEM water/methanol injection system to keep intake air temperatures lower (to reduce the chance of detonation).

Even though Eric has some of the best JDM parts installed on his Skyline, one of his favorite modifications is the custom oil cooler setup developed by Ray at Garage Autohero. The car had been equipped with a 4″ deep HKS-R four row intercooler so space for a standard GReddy/Trust oil cooler was limited. They had to reinvent the wheel and by using GReddy/Trust components along with Earls fittings they accomplished their goal.

“We went a completely different route than most oil cooler setups. It’s one of those modifications you have to see to understand” Eric says.

In its current state, the car produces 597 WHP on 21 psi of boost. Eric anticipates that it will make more power when he takes the car to John Reed at PSI. Since his current tune is so conservative and on paper his build should produce more power, he’s confident that it will with a more aggressive tune. Eric’s plans for the future are to install a Nismo 400R aero kit and get the entire car re-sprayed a new color. Once the car has been tuned again, he also plans on doing some lapping days and more drag racing. At this point he has no plans of installing a roll bar which means that his passes at the drag strip will most likely be limited to 11.5 seconds. With only one pass, the best he’s done so far is a 12.2 second quarter mile at 119 MPH. This was on low boost and with a 2.108 60′ time.

Eric would like to thank the following people for all of their help with his build: Tim Hatfield at F.A.M.E.in Redmond, WA, Ray Stonehocker at Garage Autohero, Chris at FRSport.com, Adam at Feast, Naser Kamel at Pride Performance, and Sean Morris (aka The GT-R Skyline Guru).

Modification List:

Engine/Transmission

Fully built RB26:

N1 engine block

Polished and balanced OEM crank

Carrillo connecting rods

HKS piston kit

HKS Step II head with custom porting

Tomei beryllium exhaust valve seats

HKS 272/260 cams

HKS cam gears

Tomei head gasket

JUN oil pump

Custom OEM intake with single Q45 TB with AEM methanol injection system

Injector Dynamics 1000cc injectors

HKS fuel rail

Twin polished HKS GT2835 turbochargers

HKS intakes

HKS-R 4 inch 4 row racing intercooler

HKS wastegates

HKS 3.5″ downpipes

HKS 4″ 1 piece titanium exhaust

Garage Autohero custom test pipe

Garage Autohero oil cooler system (Earls and Greddy/Trust parts)

HKS ignition amp with customized HKS plug and play harness

Nismo twin plate clutch with upgraded pressure (good for 675 ft-lbs torque)

Tomei timing belt

AEM standalone ECU

AEM CAS upgrade

ATI 600+ damper

Exterior

Stock

Interior

Tint

Defi wideband/boost gauges

Blitz boost controller

OEM turbo timer

Suspension/Wheels/Brakes

TEIN RS coils

Volk Racing CE28’s 19×10.5 +12

Bridgestone RE706 275/30/19