Dramier Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 I've had my 300ZX for about a year and a half now, and it was my first true love in cars. 1985 Nissan 300ZX Turbo 2 seater 5 speed manual. Digital guages, all options loaded package car. Everything works with the exception of cruise control. Mainly due to the lack of the little buttons on the pedals. Not sure if it actually works since I haven't bothered with replacing those buttons. Drove it for about 8 months and then I was recalled to the Army for OIF. Right before I left to report, the VG30ET started making a nasty metallic sound. I was basically stock, with a 9" intake, custom MBC and open downpipe. Ran 18PSI without problems, but only in ~40 degree weather. I decided not to pursue replacing or repairing the VG30 engine. Hence why I'm here. No, I'm not looking for a swap, or here to ask questions about which engine or which this or that to use/run/install. I've already made my decisions, and the work started yesterday. The new setup: RB25DET engine, tranny, and rear end. Basically we are gutting the whole Skyline and transplanting everything to the Z31. I'm not doing the work myself, but have a shop doing it instead. They have done numerous RB swaps and already have everything ready to finish this installation fairly quickly. Total cost on the whole project is looking to be around $5000. That's including the removal of the VG30 engine, tranny and rear-end, installation of the Skyline components, and driving down the street afterwards. Plus dyno-tuning and ECU programming. This week the stock components are coming out, and the Skyline should arrive here in the next two weeks or so. If any of you have questions, I would be happy to try and get answers as the installation progresses, and hope to have pictures for all of you as it goes along. Well, aside from that, that's my story. If anyone is interested, I will have alot of Z31 VG30ET parts available for sale from the transplant. If anyone already has an RB25DET in a Z31, I'd love to hear about it. I've seen 240SX's with RB26's, 25's and 20's already, but not a Z31 yet. Anyway, I guess that's "hello". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 welcome to the board, I do have one request though..... post LOTS of pictures, sounds like a cool swap. good luck, keep us informed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-280ZX Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 hmmm....interesting swap. you wouldnt happen to be getting the swap done in tallahassee would you? i thought i heard the owner of Upgrade Performance here talking about doing that same swap. anyway, post lots of pics and let us know how things turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Battleground doing it? sounds like a cool car! mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inZane 240 Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Search google for the 200zr. They are basically z31's in japan that came with rb20s. Pretty neat if ya ask me. 200zr... http://www.fsinet.or.jp/~ranfa/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo2001 Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dramier Posted November 11, 2003 Author Share Posted November 11, 2003 Heh, no this is being done in Georgia. Myself and the car originally from Texas. The 200ZR is actually an RB20, although the only difference between the two is bore, stroke and cc size. You can actually use the mounts, sump, pan, etc from the 200ZR for this installation. I chose the RB25 over the RB20 because it wasn't that much more expensive, but there's no replacement for displacement. Plus the RB26 and the RB25 have some interchangeable parts. You'd be surprised just how much the Z's and the RB's have in common. Both can use Z32 non-turbo clutch, Z32 rear-end, Z32 AFM, fuel pump.. Kind of odd really. In case some of you are wondering why I chose RB over VG, this is my story.. I priced getting at least 250HP without turning up the boost, and with the VG30 you have really thin cylinder walls, weak internals and a weak bottom end. To build it to take my goal of 500+HP, it would average around $5 to $6k, and 500 would be the upper limit before serious dough was necessary. Plus, the VG30 build-up wouldn't even include what the RB install has with it for the same price. With the RB series, you have extremely thick cylinder walls, cast components, and will run up to 600HP reported on stock internals. Not bad at all, and higher HP has been achieved but just not daily driven. The walls are so thick, they can be bored .4 over! Add to that the RB comes with a new tranny, new rear-end with limited slip, (none in my 85 stock), FMIC, new ceramic turbo, and pulling anywhere from 245 to 280HP at the wheels at 7PSI, it's really not even a decision. I don't think the two greatest modification-potentional cars having in-line 6's is a coincidence. So I think it's money well spent, and after that it's time to get that interior re-done, and a nice glossy deep black paintjob, coupled with some nice light black polished lip rims and we'll call it a day. Then I'll drive it forever hopefully, heh. All of that drooling, boasting and primping aside, I'm just glad I can keep my Z on the road and still with a Nissan powerplant (no offense to anyone here). On a side note, I haven't located or heard from anybody else in the US with an RB25DET Z31T. I'm a little nervous thinking mine might be the first.. Heh, I guess that will mean little chance of finding someone who has kept the digital dash with the RB engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 you said a shop is doing it right.. whats the shops name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dramier Posted November 11, 2003 Author Share Posted November 11, 2003 The shop is Augusta Customs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-280ZX Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 might have to hold off on my SR20 swap for a while and see how your RB25 swap turns out if they are doing the complete package for 5K...that isnt that bad...seeing that the SR swap is going for like 4500 right now (at least from the couple of shops i've asked in the area). keep us updated!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dramier Posted November 11, 2003 Author Share Posted November 11, 2003 Well hopefully that $5k will turn out to be good. That's a high-estimate ballpark figure, and we're actually expecting somewhere between $4k to $5k. The clips themselves are going to inflate in price very soon, especially considering they've already doubled in price. The only things we're missing for the install are: Motor mounts. (Got a shop fab'ing those for us.) Rear-end braces. (See above.) Tranny cross-member brace. (Same as above.) Plus we're using an aftermarket clutch, either ACT or Exceedy (sp?). Other than that, everything comes from the donor car. Most of the stuff is simple metal fabrication and not too drastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phailure Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I priced getting at least 250HP without turning up the boost' date=' and with the VG30 you have really thin cylinder walls, weak internals and a weak bottom end. To build it to take my goal of 500+HP, it would average around $5 to $6k, and 500 would be the upper limit before serious dough was necessary. Plus, the VG30 build-up wouldn't even include what the RB install has with it for the same price. With the RB series, you have extremely thick cylinder walls, cast components, and will run up to 600HP reported on stock internals. Not bad at all, and higher HP has been achieved but just not daily driven. The walls are so thick, they can be bored .4 over! [/quote'] Correct me if I'm wrong but I dont think the rb25 can hold 600hp as you say it will. I thought rb25 had different internals than rb26. *shrug* I could be wrong... Stony would probably be the man to ask about rb's though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dramier Posted November 12, 2003 Author Share Posted November 12, 2003 Correct me if I'm wrong but I dont think the rb25 can hold 600hp as you say it will. I thought rb25 had different internals than rb26. *shrug* I could be wrong... Stony would probably be the man to ask about rb's though. I have not personally seen a car running an RB25 at all in the states, so I can't say for sure one way or the other. Hence why I say 'reported'. I have spoken with individuals in Australia and Japan who claim to have, and seen multiple cars on different shop and distributor sites claiming that much or more. I have seen a dyno video of a 1000HP RB25DET skyline, but I don't know if that was on stock internals. So far the highest claimed HP on stock internals that I have seen and reasonably believe is 600HP. I guess we'll find out! Along those lines, there is alot of misinformation in the US about RB's, and I'm constantly amazed at people's ...mmm... misperceptions. Two of the world's strongest horsepower producing cars are the Supra MKIV and Skyline series, both running a solid in-line six cylinder engine. With that in mind, and given the fact that Nissan's 'top dog' car doesn't use anything but RB leads me to believe it is a superior motor to the VG series used in the US. But again, I'm still finding out bits and pieces here and there about the engines, and will soon start learning first hand. If it things go horribly wrong for some reason, I still have the stock VG30ET sitting on a stand (or will be when it comes out of the car this week). Another aspect is making 400, 500, or even 600+ HP daily driven is ludicrous, and not the scope of the discussion. There's always the old hotrod adage: "It made X horsepower last run, but there's no guarantee it will do it again!" There are quite a number of 240SX's running RB series engines over on the NICO forums, and I'm going to head over there and do some brain picking and see what I can come up with. But realistically, only putting the engine in and turning up the boost will really tell the story. EDIT: Here is a forum link discussing the stock internal powers, although it isn't a technical discussion by any means: http://forums.skylinesdownunder.co.nz/showthread.php?s=&threadid=377 Spend some time browsing that forum and you'll see alot of references made to large amounts of power on stock internals. Again, it's difficult to assign a real credibility factor to internet information. Another great source of information that also relates to 400+HP on stock internals: http://www.meggala.com/ There have been quite a few 'magazine' Skylines with RB25's and even 20's putting down over 400HP on stock internals, although again credibility is a factor. As far as 'proving' or 'proof' of it goes, that's about as clear as it gets, but really no different than trying to prove the Supra's engine can do 600HP on stock internals. I guess the major difference for me is that I have seen a Supra do it in the States. Time will tell, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GLHS895 Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 sup! keep us posted. i should be attempting a similar swap fall next year. only, it'll be into an 80' 280zx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigenOut-S30 Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 Sounds like it is going to be a great Z31. I would love to see it. hmmm ... Like in MARCH when we have the south east Z meet over in reynolds GA. That seems like a very resonable price for all you are getting also. Good luck with it... Also take a bunch of pics and VIDS!!.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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