Racinjitter Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Here is a link to what I have done already, I will be posting all of my updates in this thread as it seems appropriate. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=109458. Please post any comments there. I will be adding everything (pics) into this thread as time permits. 4/30/06 Started removal of parts today. now she will sit in the air for a few months...Started taking apart the old Z31 VG30E, before I started and about to get dark outside so I quit here. Total lapse time about 45 minutes. The radiator is just sittin there, cuz I am going to start the engine tomarrow and change the oil for whomever buys it. I plan on taking video of the engine running. 5/02/06 After another day, the engine is ready to come out. 5/22/06 Well got the engine out today, As I decided to go out and party yesterday. It was really easy just forgot to take off the crank pulley at first. The new home for the RB25DET!!! 7/20/06 OK so I actually started to work on the car again... Right now I am flipping the engine mounts on the crossmember, Putting a new clutch and all new timing parts. While I am at it I am going through the turbo because I found a MAF screen and plactic in the intake piping. I am first cleaning out the garage though. Here are a few pics of the ride and engine(s).... A couple more pics... The timing belt appears to be unworn/unstretched. Thus confirming the 20k miles that the importer showed on the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 7/23/06 I don't know what got into me lately, but I now have the engine on a stand, the car is being stripped of all the engine bay rust and I am getting all the measurements done for setting it in there. This engine will be a very tight squeeze as the engine alone is about 30 inches and the measurement from the firewall to the core support is 31.5 inches. This should be fun. I plan on cutting the core support out and making some brackets to bake it a bolt in core support like the dodge intrepids are. Well here are some pics.... I am not done removing all of the rust in the primered areas, it started to rain. 7/26/06 Yet another update on my swap. OK, so I took some more measurements today... What I need to do to get the RB to sit in the engine bay... I need to swap the two engine mount brackets on the crossmember so that it moves them in 2" each. 18" 22" The factory engine isloators form the VG bolt on to the RB, so I can use the poly mounts. The only difference between the isloators is the diameter and the length of the stud going through to the engine mount bracket. Well I guess that the two studs is a difference too, but That is only on one side. RB isolator VG isolator Also the distance between the tranny and engine mounts are identical between the RB and the VG at 39.5". Factory tranny mounts will be used. Now I am waiting for the 200ZR rear sump oil pan and pickup. By the time they get here I should have the mounts swapped. So it will also be test fit time!!!! 7/28/06 I'll get around to the engine bay measurements later. Right now I have a bunch of sand stuck to me form sandblasting 90% of the rust out of the engine bay. Pic... 7/29/06 Measurements of the engine bay and the RB engine itself. I think I will not be moving the existing mounts on the crossmember... Instead I am thinking of making this out of 1/4" steel plate...(for mockup) then reinforcing it. Any suggestions? (besides being in actual scale) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 8/10/06 I got some new parts yesterday. The 200zr oil pan and pickup. I put them on after relocating the dipstick tube. I will have to straighten out the tube because the dipstick will not go in or out smoothly. It is quite hard to find a reasonable place for the tube, the coolant-oil cooler is really in the way. I also recieved my guages that I will be using temporarily until i get the chance to make everything for the aftermarket guages. The plug for the dipstick tube is easily removed from the inside of the engine. To install it into the front location i set the plug into the hole and tapped lightly onto it setting it in place. I then grabbed a 1/4in extension and set it into the proper place. Here are a few pics... **edit** FYI http://www.nismoparts.com/catalog/?section=756 is now carrying N1 water pumps, N1 oil pumps, exhaust manifold gaskets, timing belts, idler pulleys and tensioners. The tensioners are the same as VG30's though. 8/13/06 So I did a test fit today... So far the issues are that I would like to have te engine sit down in the cradle about 2 inches further lowering the CG. I think I will cut the existing crossmember down. I also need to change the angle of the engine mounting pates that I made by about 10-15 degrees, this can be done when I cut the crossmember brackets. I will need to make a powersteering hose to run to the rack, and mount the resivior on the US drivers side. There is pretty good clearance all around the engine other than that, I think that A/C could easily be used if I wanted. Well if you have any questions or suggestions please leave me a message. Here are the pics. 9/16/06 Ok so I finally cut the engine mounts for the RBZ31, Now I am waiting for the harness (two weeks). I plan on welding up the new mounts tomarrow, well as long as the test fit is good. Then I will move on to the transmission fitment. Enough talk here is a pic of what I did today. 9/24/06 I did a test fit today, and it looks pretty good so far. I need to bolt up the tranny for final fitment. Aslo there is going to be a revision in the mounting plates that I made. They are going to be an inch longer and the bolts are no longer going to be staggered. like this... So here are some pics of what I got done today... There are just a couple of interference issues so far, most notably the power steering lines to the rack. The other is the steering shaft it clears but not by enough yet... Another issue is the ride height, right now with just the rb in there it seems way too high, seeing as to how much the tranny weighs it will still sit a little higher than factory. No biggie, I plan on getting coilovers anyhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 10/07/06 As Dramier suggested I cut the core support/ hood latch out to get the engine/trans assembly into the car. I plan on making some brackets to weld onto the removable hood latch portion, so that the timing belt will be easy to access instead of removing the whole engine. I finally dropped the whole assembly into the car, and wouldnt you know, I dont need to modify the tranny tunnel at all. But on the downside, I do have to make a bracket to mount the tranny to the trans crossmember, this should be butter to do. Z31 tranny mount on left, RB tranny mount on the right Z31 tranny mount on top, RB tranny mount on the bottom The shifter lines up perfectly in the old automatic hole in the tunnel. There is about 1/4 inch clearance between the steering shaft and the turbo elbow/downpipe. And there is plenty of clearance under the hood. 10/09/06 I made up some brackets for the tranny today. I havent gotten around to putting it in yet, but I am 85% sure it will work with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 10/14/06 So I got everything bolted up on the Z, The crossmember bolts directly in now. It went pretty smoothly only a little bit of prybar action. The turbo elbow has more than a half inch clearance between the heat shield and the steering shaft. I did encounter a clearance issue with the speedo sensor on the passenger side, I will bring home the air hammer soon to fix this issue. I also had an issue with the tranny mount bolts, they were too wide so I ground the head down to the bolt itself. Now I am wondering if the driveline angle is correct. I guess I will have to bring home a magentic angle guage. Here are the pics... 11/25/06 Sorry it has been so long for an update but I have been very busy with the house weddings and wiring. So I got rid of the greddy fmic for a brand new treadstone/spearco fmic. The main reason for getting rid of the greddy is because it was used, and I sold it for way more that I paid for it. Next I swapped the auto pedals for a clutch and small brake pedal. This took all together like 20 minutes, very easy to change over. I am on final mock up and am removing the engine tranny tomarrow to do all of the final welding. Then I put her all together and start the power steering mock up and remote oil filter and cooler. I will be sending the car out then for the FMIC piping and then she should be running. Pics Updates should be coming more often now, Likely every weekend. 11/29/06 Here is a couple pics of the modified crossmember. Right now it is just tacked together, tomarrow I should have it done. 12/10/06 Sorry for not updating sooner, I have a lot to do in the next few weeks. well, the crossmember is finished, and I got a slew of new parts. I got the turbo calipers, hubs, rotors, new rack, new tie rods, new rack bushings and a few other things. I will be ordering Jason's poly mounts very soon also. Unfortunately I wont be able to use the tranny mount that he makes. I also made an interesting discovery about the shortage of turbo calipers. The 1995 infinity J30 calipers and mounts will bolt up and have larger pistons by 1/4" each. Well here are some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 1/15/07 Well I have been looking for the 10mm fittings for the slave master for 2 weeks now and I am at my witts end, no auto parts stores carry the ones I need. I have had a parts guru looking with me, to no sucess. But I finished the crossmember and installed the new rack, rack bushings and tie rods. Once I get the fully treaded 10mm line nuts I can final install the rb and get her running. Pics... 1/21/07 OK i got back to work on the car today, but didnt get much done. I found the 10mm line nuts that I needed at the local dealership. So I then made the new clutch line from the master directly to the flex line on the slave. Pic... Tomarrow I plan on setting the engine for the final time along with the tranny. Updates will come regularly and more frequently in the next few weeks. I final mounted the RB last weekend, and installed the new poly mounts thanks to Jason @ Z31parts. I also installed a unsprung Nismo clutch disc and heavy duty pressure plate. I got a new vertical mount radiator and electric fans to install later. I also bought some new wheels and tires. Rears are 18x10 et 22 with yokohama AVS sports 275/35R18 and fronts 18x9 et 24 and I am thinking of going with either falken azenis 245/40R18 or cooper 2XS, not too sure yet, right now the fronts have 275/35R18 toyo proxes T1-S and fit perfect. I will probably have to roll the rear fenders a little to be sure that I dont cut a tire. Anyhow pics.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 So I got to work on the car and mocked up the radiator and fmic. I am sure that the radiator will be moved more forward and the fmic will be moved wherever. I also located the oil filter block and am waiting for the cooler. The drive shaft with out the rear flange measures 25 3/8" which is being made this week. I plan on wiring up the car tomarrow, but who knows what else I will get done. Pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 Did a little work this past weekend on the car. I put the driveshaft in, put the tranny mount in, installed the full wiring harness, hooked up the oil cooler and a few other odds and ends. So far I dont think that the driveline angle is perfect, so I will fab up a new tranny mount. But the angle it is at right now is acceptable for test runs, and initial shakedowns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted May 3, 2007 Author Share Posted May 3, 2007 Do you ever get that feeling that you have just conquered the world when it is just a small task? That is how I felt when this happened... That was the first startup of my rb25det in the 88 300zx. Now its time to get it back together... 2nd Startup... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 I did a little work to her tonight. I have the radiator installed and the new shocks in the rears done. I will have the fronts on and installed tomarrow night. I should have it on the ground and in the driveway by this weekend. Pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share Posted May 7, 2007 Well I finally got my car out of the garage, only to find that one of the o-rings on the AN fittings is bad. It drips once every few minutes. The radiator hoses are done and in also, waiting for the filler neck. I have all of the parts to finish it up on the way, then off to the exhaust shop for everything else. I have the 3ZR- 1 springs installed also. Pics... Me with the car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted May 19, 2007 Author Share Posted May 19, 2007 Well I drove the car today, It feels ok = needs more boost. Right now I have the boost set at a steady 8psi, but creeps to about 10 under WOT while the VCT is working. I couldnt get the tach working however. Which sucks but oh well. I think I will be upgrading the car most of the summer with little things. The butt dyno reads about 250-300whp. I will get a baseling soon to see exactly what it is. The engine pulls hard through all the gears. The complete exhaust and IC pipes cost me $320. The IC pipes are stainless and the turbo back is aluminized. I have the magnaflow 14834 stainless muffler mounted out back. The bad; I need to take the tranny apart and measure the end play for 5th gear, under power it makes noise. No biggie parts are readily available and easy to get ahold of. Pics and exhaust clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted August 31, 2007 Author Share Posted August 31, 2007 Not much for an update but, I installed a greddy profec B spec 2 and tried to turn up the boost however at 6psi in 4th gear the actuator was bleeding off restricting it to only 6psi. I imagine the I have a setting incorrect, hopefully I will have that sorted out by this weekend weather providing. My dash by Zmech is finished and in transit, should be here by friday. Here is a pic of my dash. Maybe I will have some videos of the car in action by this weekend also. On the way home from the woodward dream curise I encountered a 84-89 vette on long lake road. He was doing a burnout right next to me and he said wanna run that turd? I rev and tell him that I am not going to warm up the tires or turn up the boost, just go on green. So the light turns green he gets a crazy holeshot on me by about 2-3 cars. I make up most of the difference by the end of 1st and pass him by the middle of 2nd, by the end of 3rd I have about 6 cars on him and I slow down for the next light. He completely avoids me and turns at that light. I believe that he was a little embarassed that a nissan could beat his vette. I installed my instrument cluster today and works so far, I havent checked the speedometer or the gas guage(digital sending unit). Here are a few pics... I will be going to the dealer to get my analog fuel sending unit and CLSD seals. Intall of the clsd will probably be tomarrow or the next day and track sometime in the next few weeks. The top boost guage was used for pre-intercooler boost monitoring and the lower one is for manifold boost. I was measuring the pressure drop in the intercooler. Now the top guage is dead as I dedicated its vacuum source to the greddy profec B spec 2 EBC. I will be replacing the top boost guage with a wideband guage/controller. Once again this cluster needs to be seen in person to really appreciate it. It is B - E - A - utiful. Here is a pic that Darren-zmech sent to me after he was done with it. Anyone who wants a superb instrument cluster contact zmech, as you can see He does badass work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 Well I took the car to the strip today and the first 4 runs were under stock boost, the best was... 2.129 60' 5.839 330' 8.899 1/8 @ 79.963 11.454 1000' 13.720 1/4 @ 104.105 The best run I had at 13.5psi was a 2.066 60' 5.723 330' 8.754 1/8 @ 80.936 11.289 1000' 13.551 1/4 @ 104.121 About 150' from the 1/4 mark I was hitting the rev limiter in 3rd gear in all of the runs except for one. Didnt get to weigh the car, but I am pretty sure it is around 3000-3100lbs. Next time I will get the times down further. The first half of the runs I was spinning in 2nd, then the track was prepped and I didnt have any more traction problems. Any how here is a video of a high boost run that I botched the launch, I didnt slip the clutch I just side stepped it and bogged really badly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Well Its been a long time since I last updated. I have installed a Wolf V500 that I bought from Ron Tyler from This forum. I havent got to set a good tune on it due to the winter, but I will have a good tune before I go to the strip the next time. I am sure the dual maps will come in handy also (read flex fuel). Here is a pic from when I first installed it and was testing to make sure I had all of the wires in the right pins. And next to my old ecu. It also came with a harness that plugs into my existing engine harness, making it plug and play. I bought a few new armrests from the dealer for a steal of a price and installed one.... I also was a part of a group buy for new clutch discs for the CLSD r200, so that will be getting a complete rebuild. Thanks to Careless (Raff), I now have a RB30 to start building up and started the tear down this afternoon. The last pic is another member's (scottyMiZ) rb30, which I am storing until he has time to come pick it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 Me, zzzz31 and enjoyrth headed out to the WMZ meet yesterday. enjoyrth was kind enough to take some video for me! We had some fun, especially on the way home. All of these clips were with stock boost. And some motion pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted July 1, 2008 Author Share Posted July 1, 2008 Ok its been a while... I got a few more thing installed and the car is still running with e the rb25det in it. I bought some new butt-holders for the tattered leather I was sporting. They are Recaro Sports, and damn comfy. I got them for one hell of a deal and couldn't pass them up. Otherwise I was going to get sparco torino 2's. Pic of drivers seat... Drivers seat is mocked up, using the original Z sliders. Once I take it for a spin I will weld the sliders together so that they don't slide anymore. I need to move the seat over towards the door one inch, but otherwise the seating position is much better and I can fit in the car with my helmet on without hitting the t-top. More pics.... Yea I'm a whore Butt fan location... I made up a coil bracket/cage for the ls1 coils that I am going to use instead of the factory rb coils. Now I need to pick a spot to mount it in the engine bay. I whipped this little cage up very quickly, so please don't pick on the welds too much. I will replace it when I get more time. Ok, so I forgot to post up the little surprise. (I'm a pic whore) I receive my next surprise tomorrow. Hopefully pics by the end of this month. Got new wheels... Had to test fit the rear wheels on the front before I ordered another set of tires. They are 18x9.5 +15et with 275/35 tires. They will be the same size and offset all the way around making them rotate-able. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 I am finally cleaning up my wiring mess(es). I mounted the V500 in the glovebox routed the DB9 connector to the center console. I started the engine bay wiring, but I gave up until tomorrow. I should have the engine bay nice and tidy by the weekend. Well I went out for a mini photo shoot this weekend, basically to scout some nice areas for the "real" photo shoot. Suggestions and critique is encouraged. Let me know which photos/locations you like or dislike. I don't want to post up all of the pics, so here is a link and some of the photos that I like. RB-Z photo shoot If it asks you for a password, try rb30psi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 New stuff... Well not exactly, I have had the TBO lip for almost a year now. I finally installed it and repainted the side skirts. More pics to come later this weekend or monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Here are some more pics. Been a long time, still no progress. But there are bunches of new parts arriving by the truck load... My truck that is. I recently acquired a complete s13 rear subframe and will be installing it slowly. I need to stop being lazy and go see Butter for some parts that he has been holding onto for me. Also picked up some ARP headstuds for the 25, while the 30 is at the machine shop. In that same trip I ended up with some 1000cc injectors and an aftermarket fuel rail. (Hopefully the 25 fuel rail will mount up to a 26 intake) I wont know until the weekend after christmas though. Now all I need for the 25 to make 500whp is an external wastegate and a good tune. Got some more new stuff. Now to get my ass in gear and put stuff together. So I ripped the suspension from the SS today... I had one T strut and one N/A. So I did a comparison for reference sake. The Serial Nine adapters will work with N/A and Turbo strut tubes. First we have a N/A tube. Notice the diameter is the same throughout the entire length. Next we have a Turbo tube. There is a diameter transition 30mm from the cast knuckle. The transition is 5mm tall and flares out 3mm. Here is the N/A tube (on left) next to the Turbo tube(on right). Ok, so here are the goods... N/A tubes have an OD (outside diameter) of 51mm and a ID (inside diameter) of 46mm at the thread area. There is a small step in ID below the threaded area, but I don't have a tool to measure that far in. Turbo tubes are 51mm OD and have a diameter transition 30mm from the cast knuckle. The transition is 5mm tall and flares out 3mm bringing the OD to 54mm the rest of the way to the top. The ID at the threads is 50mm, again there is a step below the threads that I can't measure currently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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