Rumnhammer

I don't know what performance products idea of "honing" is but I think it will likely need to be machined, at least 10,000ths off. We tried a bit of emory paper to check for any burrs, etc, but without a proper micrometer to check the bore it was a no go. A crank pulley should slide on smoothy without resistance at least as far as the keyway, this was almost impossible to even get started on the crank nose. I'm pretty sure a compitant tig welder could fix the radiator with a quick zap, it wasn't that bad, but for Joe, the last thing he wanted to see was the radiator damaged. It just added to the stress level. Has anyone on here done the tauris fan on a race radiator? if so, what was your clearance on the shroud from the waterpump? I think next time, we'll do the wiring, since that has taken a back seat to the more mechanical things. I like the reply from PP, " a handful of pulleys may give difficulty"! Yeah, no kidding, I was hoping the pulley install would go smooth to help Joe feel better. I for one felt like a heel for nicking his radaitor. Chris Rummel

If it is very radical changes to what has been posted, start a new thread if it is the same on the basic wiring etc, then just add the differences to the thread. Chris Rummel

Figures, I just let my JP subscription run out last month! I guess I can buy it at the newstand. My mum in law used to get it for me for my b-day for the last couple of years. (cheaper because she lives in England) Will you give me props in the article for helping with the wiring? Chris Rummel

Hi all, very happy to see people adding lots of useful information since I checked in last. This was my intention of this thread, so it would evolve as new info developed to be shared by this community and answer the questions that have come up since I originally posted this info. I'm very chuffed. Also a sad update, on the car that I did for my friend (the one in this thread) he had a bad bad cooling fan relay failure that consequently caught the rubber pad over the hots in front of the battery on fire and badly damaged the wiring in that area. Good thing he had a good neighbor that pulled the hood open and got the fire out with a minimum of damage. Bad news is that he had just got the car painted! Also it looks like it is fixable so his RBZ will live again. Once again cudos for additional info to help this thread evolve. Chris Rummel

Sure, Like I said I want this thread to evolve and anything that makes this more clear should be added. You can never have too much information on something like this. As long as it is quality information that helps make the process more clear. Chris Rummel

Correct, we did get into the Wolf V500 early, in fact ours was probably one of the first ones shipped i'd wager, since they anounced it in November 06 and we recieved it in January 07. Yes back then it came with no map on it at all, good to hear that you can now get it with a base map, that is a huge step forward for them, now all they need to do is post a set of better instructions and perhaps a video for the timing verification and they will be set. The Wolf is a very powerful and flexable system, it has more features then we really needed or really wanted to set up. One of the main reasons we were interested in it in the first place is because it got rid of the MAF and had a built in MAP sensor, that you needed to pay extra for on the Power FC. For our purposes though, the power FC is more of what we were looking for in this application. If anybody is interested this V500 is for sale by owner and also has the Dash tuning display included with it. I'm sure you could get a good deal on it. Then you can contact Racinjitter and get a good base map for it. If anyone is interested shoot me a pm and check with the owner to see how much he wants for it. The power fc is really great, only two real problems with it, one its out of production now, and two is the time involved with tuning it using the commander. it also doesnt' have a lot of the features such as wideband tuning or auto tune etc that the more current systems have, but if you are interested in something to get you going easy and still get a good tune its great. If you are looking for a stand alone at a good price you can always look to the Mega squirt, it is a bit more DIY then most, but you can get a version that does every thing that the more expensive systems do for a very reasonable price. Chris Rummel

We sourced the Apex i from our local tuner Mid atlantic motorsports, and yes they are getting expensive now that the no longer make them. The power fc is a full stand alone that plugs into the stock wiring harness in place of the stock ecu. Pretty much the easiest plug and play out there, with a good base map to get you going. It is a little dated, and with the basic fc you need to retain the MAF, but there is a version that lets you ditch the MAF. The other disadvantage of the basic one, is that you need to program using the commander and the thumb action required gets a bit tedious. The more advanced version is able to connect and tune via a laptop. Chris Rummel

I tried the Wolf V500 for the RBZ and didn't have any luck with it. I got the "plug and play" for the RB25DET and it was that in name only. It didn't come with any base map installed, and the only plug and play thing about it was the plug that plugs it into the stock wiring harness. I tried everything in my ability to get the timing varified (in sync with the engine) and gave up took it to our local RB expert tuner and he had the car for 4 months before he gave up trying to get the timing varified too. I had a lot of help from Ron Tyler including him emailing me a base map he got from Wolf. Ron Tyler is a fantastic guy to deal with so this is nothing negative against him, He did everything humanly possible to help me with this thing, but Wolf leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to support and instructions with this thing. When i buy something that is advertised as plug and play I expect it to be that, and include at the very least a base map for the car it is supposed to be pluging and playing with. They also need to have proper instructions either with the unit or a video online to show EXACTLY how to verifiy the timing, because unless you get past this step you cannot continue getting the car running. I would suggest that wolf takes a look at the MegaSquirt website (actually DIYautotune) as they have a very outstanding video posted online that walks you through step by step with getting the timing verified. In the end we pulled the wolf out, and replaced it with an Apexi Power FC and had no further problems, that thing is truly plug and play, it not only comes with an outstanding base map, (that instantly solved a mysterious idle problem i was having with the stock ecu ) but also has a year of weather programing built in so you don't really have to fiddle with cold start or any of that mess. My friends car with the apexi FC running the RB25DET dynoed at 302whp and runs flawlessly now. Chris Rummel

Andy, that is an excellent addition to this thread, and exactly what I wanted to have happen with this. I want it to continue to evolve with any new additions that make the swap wiring either easier or as in this case more diverse applying to the RB26 as well as the RB25. These additions only make it easier and more clear for everybody. Outstanding and Cheers mate. Chris Rummel

Andy I wish I could help you out there, but I don't recall seeing that on the RB25 harness, probably because the 25 uses high impedence injectors. I think I would have remembered seeing that. Maybe on of the guys that did the 26 would be more help with this question. try posting is as a seprate thread. Sorry Chris

On the in car harness section all the Solid Black wires go to ground and are all connected. Just make sure they are all SOLID black not black with white stripe or anything like that. Going from the ecu pin out If you don't have the inside harness, find the ones that are listed as ground and wire them to go to ground. They are all interconnected anyway, so as long as they are listed from the ecu as ground or are solid black you can safely send them to ground or earth as they say in the UK I usually will run a ground wire from under one of the ecu case screws to ground as well to ground the ecu itself, since a lot of times in these swap cases, the ecu is held in place with zip ties or otherwise not well grounded. Hope this helped Andy. Chris Rummel

This turbo, makes really good usable power, it is not the biggest turbo out there, but it works really good on the street, with lots of meat under the curve. The guy that tuned it, said it was much nicer on the RB then anouther one he had in the shop with a larger turbo on it. Much easier to tune, and a lot more Usable power then a larger turbo, so a good match for the Rb for street use. You could probably get another 40hp or so out of it with larger injectors and more tuning. I believe this turbo is rated at about 350-370 max. Chris Rummel

The stock turbo is good to about 12psi before risking the exhaust blades. it is an T3 exhaust side with ceramic blades mated to a T28 compressor. I used a HKS GT2540 on my friends car it is basically a stock size turbo with larger guts and a steel exhaust impellor. good for a very usable 18psi up to probably 20psi, it is VERY responsive, starts building boost at around 2k rpm and pulls very strong all the way to redline. It is a direct replacement turbo on the stock RB25 manifold and makes a fantastic street turbo. my friends car that is internally stock but with a greddy intake and a 3 inch exhaust makes 305 rwhp at ~12psi with it. We got it off ebay japan it was just over a grand shipped and included a nice divorced wastegate upper down pipe. A good deal because just the turbo goes for a tick over 2k new and this one was in very good condition Under 10,000 klm on it. Chris Rummel

I used one in the RBZ car and it works fine, they are made really well, at least as well as HKS, I'd be willing to say it will take anything you can throw at it. Chris Rummel

if you have a choice between the RB20 and RB25 don't make your choice based on knowledge of the ecu pin out diagram. i would chose the 25 because it makes more power more easily and it comes with the proper tranny to handle as much power as you are willing to throw at it. It is a simple matter to do a search or get a DVD RB manual to get copies of both printouts of the ecu pin outs. YOU WILL NEED TO DO THIS if you are undertaking this swap. If being able to interpret or read a ecu pin out is beyond your skill level, then the $500 would be money well spent. Like I stated at the beginning of this thread, I posted this info with the understanding that the people attempting this job already have a good working knowledge of car electrical systems, reading schematics, etc. If you have this knowledge then the wiring info I posted will make it very easy for you to do, if you don't then, you will need to pony up the cash, since if you screw up the wiring you can turn the swap into a serious headache, damage other wiring, ecu etc, or worse case senario end up with a half done swap that doesn't start run, and you will end up paying even more money, because it is a bigger pain for a pro to go in after the fact and sort out improperly done wiring and fix what is wrong AND get it running then it would have been for the pro to just do it right the first time. In effect if you attempt it and screw it up, you will end up paying more to get it right then if you had just paid someone in the first place. Sorry if this sounds so harsh, but that is the reason I stated the disclaimer at the beginning. it also saves trying to sort out peoples wiring problems, later via email or whatever after they end up with a car that won't start and then try to have me figure it out on line. That just is a waste of time for everybody. Chris Rummel

I'd say that it is pretty close, I'd have to check the manual for the ecu printouts to be sure. In the wiring though, it really shouldn't matter because you will be wiring up the same wires to run the car. ie all the wires that power up the ecu etc are wired up the same, just like installing different radios in a car, even though the radio will have different features you wire it into the car the same way. hope this is understandable. Chris Rummel

If it is the little brown box on the engine harness near where it goes though the firewall, then no I don't believe you need it, if I remember correctly what you are talking about. Chris Rummel

Yeah, it's being used. an update the car finally runs great. In the end we pulled the wolf ecu out and used an Apex i Power fc. After trying the stock ecu and stock ecu's from other cars, and having the idle problem not go away, the Apex i power fc was plugged in and the idle problem was gone! I'm thinking the 90mm throttle body and intake manifold volume were confusing the stock ecu, because everything else was checked. The injectors were changed to 550's and the car dynoed at 302rwhp. Now I just need to figure out the clunking in the rear end??? Chris Rummel

If Brandon gets me to make him one, I dont' think it would take much more time to make a nice batch of them, seems pretty simple. then you guys won't have to worry about finding them, if there is a need it will be filled. Chris Rummel

Well, as soon as I get a chance to have a spare minute to work on the RBZ I'll be mounting the wolf in the car and using base maps that Ron got for me from Wolf. I have total confidence that the Wolf will be ideal for this application. Ron went above and beyond getting me base maps and settings for the V500 especially since we did not get the unit from him. Although I would highly recomend getting your wolf though him, since he was very prompt in getting them to me, and is a very responsable dealer and a pleasure to deal with. The plug and play RB25DET v500 that we got was a very early release and did not have base maps and settings in it. Ron has said to me that future plug and play versions will come with the settings and base maps all ready in place. Having not had time to actually stick it in the car yet, I can tell you that the plug and play kit is very complete, and when it comes with the base maps already in it, install will be measured in minutes! Litterally once you mount the ecu, you just plug in the adapter plug and plug the adapter into the harness and you are done. I''l be posting my results as soon as I get it in there. Chris Rummel

The turbo I fitted onto the RBZ is an HKS GT2540, it is 100% bolt on to the stock RB25DET manifold, it is internally wastegated, it has a metal turbine wheel instead of the stock ceramic, externally it is the same size as stock so it fits well, but it has impeller blades that are 7mm larger then stock, and has an integrated divider on the wastegate. It fits into an S30 swap very well. If you get it, see if you can get the HKS upper downpipe that goes with it it is exellent quality and far better then the stock one. This turbo is good for ~400hp, so if that is your upper limit,(mine was) you will really like it, it spools super fast too, an excellent choice for a street car. Very good power delivery. if you want more power to be king of the dyno, then you may want something bigger, but if you want a turbo that fits well, bolts right on, makes good power then this is a good choice. Chris Rummel

Hey Ron, I recently got the plug in wolf V500 for the RB25DET but have had the worst time finding someone to give me help with it. The old V400 plug in may have come fully set up for the RB but the new V500 just comes with the adapter plug, since it is a universal unit. The plug saves doing any wiring, but what I need help with is initial set up. Think you could help me? I had my friend get this and he got it straight from Wolf in Austraila, had I known that you were a dealer I would have had him get it from you, but whats done is done and I could use a hand getting this puppy set up. Basically I could use some settings and a base map so I can get it running and to the dyno for a solid tune. Chris Rummel

I will pretty soon, we're going to use a wolf ems that deletes the MAF, so if you can wait a bit, I'll have one for you. Chris Rummel

Sounds pretty stupid expensive if you ask me, it's pretty simple to make a set of engine mounts and you can recycle the old L28 tranny mount by welding in new ears for it futher back in the tranny tunnel. Even if you don't have the skills to fabricate these, you could probably find someone to do it for a lot less. $700 is a lot to pay for a relatively easy fabrication job like these. Chris Rummel