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~73 Turbo L28 to N/A RB25 240z Project~


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So I've decided to change directions completely. I was at a point where it would take mega squirt or some other form of engine management to get my motor running up to par. The excessively long warm ups and lack of tuning ability was ruining the fun I could have been having with the car so it sat in the garage and was rarely brought out to play. The choice was to mega squirt an already aging motor that would just be waiting for the next road block OR go with a different motor entirely. As much as I love a turbo car there is something about N/A that's just more pure..and reliable. I opted for an RB25DE again. It reminds me of a modernized version of the 432 240z, dual over head cam and all the modern touches while keeping true to the n/a straight six heritage.

 

I had put a DE motor from an R33 in my previous 71 Z project in 2008:

 

IMG_0870.jpg

 

 

This time around I found a RB25DE NEO motor out of a 99-02 R34 Skyline. The differences are roughly 200hp vs 185hp in the R33, solid lifters rather than hydraulic, revised camshafts, with on/off solenoid Variable VCT, a hotter 82 °C thermostat, model-specific coil packs and a revised inlet manifold (the runner diameter is reduced from 50mm to 45mm to increase air velocity and low end torque) in particular the RB25DE NEO which had two inlets going into the inlet manifold. The combustion chamber of the head is smaller so GT-R spec connecting rods are used to compensate as well as model-specific pistons. All in all they are quite a different engine in their own right - a culmination of 20 years of Nissan RB engine building rolled into one. (stolen from wiki)

 

Here she is:

 

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The sound of it is intoxicating :bonk:

 

Edited by ~KnuckleDuster~
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very nice! did you do the install yourself or did you have a shop do it? and where did you source your engine from?

which engine/trans mount did you go with? sorry for all the questions haha :)

I have a local shop I go to for the big stuff like this. The engine came from http://www.sunrisejapanese.com/ I paid right around $1700 shipped for it and I've parted out most of my motor and made $2000, so far so good.  Ill be going with the Mckinney mounts.

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What header you going with? I tried the Fujitsubo header and there is nowhere near the room. I am thinking just fabbing one up. Not long before I attempt the RB25 install again. Had to put it on hold when I left San Diego. Thats ok, got to drive my Z 500 miles on MS3 and L28ET power. Fun times.

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I ran the Coby header from New Zealand in an S14, which some have used in an S30 with a little adjustment. That header you are talking about has similar design and price.

Nice. Yeah it's most likely a Coby knock off. To get the last one to fit I had to cut about 6-8 inches off the end and cut a small piece of the motor mount off. Then I was using different motor mounts which didn't have the motor as far back as it will be with the Mckinney mounts. I'm hoping that means a better fit for the header this time around but I'm betting I will still have to shorten it up.

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The 3.3 ratio R180 diff is going to give the car terribly long gears so I picked up this R200 w/ half shafts from an 82 ZX n/a with a 3.9 ratio, just need to collect up the other bits needed for the swap.

 

Gave it a coat of POR15 and will eventually shine the cover up some too.

 

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R200 Mustache Bar with Poly Bushings, powdercoated lime green (not by me!)

 

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Edited by ~KnuckleDuster~
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  • 4 weeks later...

Worked on your harness a good bit today. I will make a list of things that will need to be done on the car to get a complete install. The check engine light wire is there with the necessary power wire, all you need is a light from an auto store. Also, the "check" wire from the diagnostics port is labeled with the necessary power wire, which will allow the check engine light to blink the codes when connected. All you need for that is a momentary button to connect the two wires.

 

Things that are done:

 

1) removed all unnecessary wires (ABS, A/C, windshield wiper)

2) labeled all under dash wires (diagnostics, check engine light, tach, ign on, temp sensor, fuel pump, start signal)

3) separated knock sensor, backup light, and alternator connectors from lower harness

 

Things yet to do:

 

1) wire up 3 relays with fuses for power

2) change temp sensor connector to work with the L24/26/28 sensor

3) run a power wire for everything that connects to the battery lug on starter (hidden in harness)

4) re wrap some of the untouched harness for looks

 

IMG_20150524_155628_2541_zpsyyqqgqpu.jpg

IMG_20150524_155648_1511_zpscjtziz9i.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Extractors came in today, will need a fresh coat of paint, or maybe header wrap them?

 

gallery_2013_1393_79243.jpg

Now THAT'S beauty.

 

Since you're sticking with NA, are you going to stay with the stock RB25DE TB setup, or go all out with an ITB setup?

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Now THAT'S beauty.

Since you're sticking with NA, are you going to stay with the stock RB25DE TB setup, or go all out with an ITB setup?

I plan on staying with the stock tb and intake manifold for a while. ITB's are definately out of my budget at the moment but I love the idea of it. winstonusmc has a really nice itb set-up on his rb25de.

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I plan on staying with the stock tb and intake manifold for a while. ITB's are definately out of my budget at the moment but I love the idea of it. winstonusmc has a really nice itb set-up on his rb25de.

They're definitely high up there. I've seen some ITB setups around and they're pretty sweet. I actually just took a look at his, and it's definitely a cool get up.

 

Aside from that, thought about doing both paint and wrap? I've always thought about doing so, rather than just using titanium wrap, doing both, I would imagine, makes it so that any moisture trapped will be held in between the paint and the wrap. Wouldn't have to worry about rusting out the headers, then again I don't know how you'll be able to cure the paint though, and I've only ever thought about it, without much more thought.

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