BLSTIC

$300 is enough to sort the airflow meter/ecu (using some jaycar items), but the remaining $300 isn't quite enough for injectors, exhuast, and things like the oil plumbing and other gear... I may have to bump up the budget a little. It's not ENTIRELY about money... If I lose a few hundred it doesn't really matter, I had my fun, and it's another thing to add to the list of cool things I have done...

New Zealand. I'm not interested in paying anywhere near that much. I would be happy to pay $400 for a secondhand turbo and manifold combo, but no more. Considering you can get brand new manifolds for $300 and almost any T3 for that much again...

Oh and my goal? To make the car faster and gain as much money as possible (or at least lose as little as possible).

Screw it, done some thinking. If I do anything (aside from selling the car) it's going to be the turbocharger. At the lowest cost and with reasonable wank value (and therefor sellability) and performance gain. Both DOHC options get dropped because of the cost, complexity, and unkown value adding. It should be noted that I'm not the slightest bit interested in keeping the car. The ultimate goal is an R32 with a most unconventional engine swap...

Mechanically the simplest is to turbocharge the existing engine, runing ~4 psi with water injection and no intercooler. Jaycar do some interceptor kits that will allow me to tune the engine for this relatively small amount of boost. Injectors and fuel pump may also need an upgrade... I'm guessing at around $1000 for this. Alternatively, I can put a DOHC head on it. It won't have the same amount of mid-range torque as the previous option, and it requires an aftermarket computer. But top end pull will be similar, it will be easier on the (auto) gearbox. Standard fuel pump and the injectors that come with the twin cam head will do. I'm pricing this around $1500 (depending on how much I can get an aftermarket computer for). Also, with the aftermarket computer and lower compression, the next step becomes sooo much easier Twin cam turbo. The ultimate in RB30 mods... Still do-able without removing the engine (depending on what needs to be done for the oil drain), and would cost around $3000 all up. However the combination of more midrange torque/higher redline would definately stress the gearbox. So throw in a manual conversion into the works and it's suddenly looking like $3800. That on top of the $1200 car costs leaves me with a car that cost me $5000 and is worth an unkown amount (how many RB30DET R31's have YOU seen for sale?) First up, the aim of the game is to do something cool, while at least not losing money. So I guess the big question is, how much is a car with each of these mods likely to sell for? Is a turbo R31 with more than $2200? An RB30DE equipped one worth more than $2700, and an RB30DET likely to sell for more than $5000?

Ok so we picked up this S13 for a song because the gearbox doesn't work. The car was confiscated for unlicensed driving so I know it was working when it was last switched off (6 months or so ago) If we leave it for a few days then put it in reverse it jolts (ie goes into gear) but won't drive for long at all (a matter of seconds). Today I dropped the pan and aside from the fluid being really old nothing looked out of place, and the filter still flowed. The fluid level was ok in park with the engine running, but I'm not sure any of the fluid is actually getting anywhere in the trans (otherwise it would work, no?). So has anyone experienced this problem before? What did you need to do? I can drop the valve body off and pull it apart for inspection, but I would rather not. thanks Ben

We have an S13 Sylvia in our backyard with a running sr20de and a non-running auto transmission. We also have a black-top SR20DET in the shed. The plan is to join the two, but we need a working turbo-spec gearbox... If you have one lying around and want it gone, call me on 0411 035 943. Any other parts such as intercoolers, dump pipes, and the like are wanted too. I'm in cairns (north queensland)

So it's not infinitely variable then. That kind of sucks. The NEO system must be variable though...

Seeing as there is no general tech section I thought I would put it in here, as you guys would get the most use out of it... I want to know how the variable cam timing system on the RB25's works. Ie is it switched or continuously variable? If it is continuously variable, does it have a position sensor (Like EGR systems do) or does the computer just guess as to where it is? And is it pulse-width modulated or does it use a stepper motor? If I know how these things work, I can probably make them user adjustable for mere cents...

Good to know it has a timing lock mode. I was hoping it did... On falcons there are two pins you jump on one of the diagnostic connectors to lock the timing. I must google the timing lock procedure... Thanks Ben

Ok I went to edit my previous statement and it let me start, then decided that I idn't have permission... I would like to clarify my statement... Sorry, I think n/a RB20's directly comparable to injected 202's in regards to power. Smoothness, response, economy, and torque spread they are f-a-r better at though (The RB...) It's entirely possible that the three n/a RB20's I have driven were dudds though, as two of them were in cars of dubious heritage (as in they have been set upon by clueless boy racers, and it showed in the quality of their 'build').

I drove a mates RB20DE Cefiro a while ago and it was gutless. As in worse than it should be (sorry, I think n/a RB20's only a single step up from a carby 202 in terms of power). I noted the cam angle sensor was in the full retard position. I thought this was sus so after the 'ear tune' method (holding it at 2000rpm and testing for best response) it ended up at full advance. I didn't like this either so I set it to about 75% and told him to run it on 98. The car ran a lot better but I really want to do the job properly... So what connectors do I have to jump and what is the base timing? The rest of the car is dodgy so I have no reason to believe the CAS hasn't been removed and re-installed incorrectly (meaning that setting it at 3/4 of the slot may not actually be right on this car). Thanks Ben

extrapolating from that the panels in each car collectively way far more than the engine. With a 49% wasteage (going into the block) you can count on not much extra iron being in there at all...

Easy to make a stopwatch reliable (maybe not accurate, but repeatable, which is all you are after for comparison), just practise. The easiest way to make the car repeatable is to not time the launch. Ie go from idle to redline in second gear, but only time from 2000-6500 (assuming a 7000rpm redline). That way you don't have the effect of launching, and you know you are at full throttle the entire time (because there is no guessing as to the exact time in the run the throtte was floored and then lifted again). You are also highly unikely to feel a gain in the 0.1 second region, which a stopwatch will reliably show.

They can rev that hard, but to make the SOHC engine efficient at that high rpm you need to have a fairly wild cam and a decent port job. And they are extremely harsh at those revs too, it's not really worth it. Remember they have a long stroke (99mm vs the rb26's 73mm), so piston speeds are getting up there as well (it's not just the head running out of flow that can stop them). I go by how much power the N/A version of an engine makes when considering what turbochargers to use (as power roughly translates to airflow in most engines). Ie an EF Falcon makes 157kw, an R33 GTS Makes 147kw, and the only twin cam RB30 (Tommy Kaira M30) makes 177kw. So the Falcon 6 is somewhere in the same league as RB's when you are talking about turbocharging a nearly standard engine. *edit: Oh, and I can't say enough about the EF onwards dual stage manifold. Get one if you are still running the EA-D manifold. You will need an rpm switch, a vacuum solenoid, and a computer that you can adjust the ignition timing on to suit the new runner lengths. Exactly what parts are you using? I'm a falcon nut and am thinking about doing something like this as well...*