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If i picked up a R32 GTS4, and decided that i had some money to throw around and decided to convert the engine to an RB26DETT from a GTR R32, how much, hypothetically would

1. The engine cost (i mean everything including running gear and ecu, looms, front mount etc)

2. The Gtr front bonnet and Gtr front bar conversion

3. The labour

ON ROAD

A COMPLETE CONVERSION

HOW MUCH U RECKON WOULD IT COST?

Edited by m0t4v4ll1
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https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/133632-hypothetically-speaking/
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yeah, you'd be far better off buyin a gtr, and then you get the pumped guards aswell and sick butts rims

gts-4s arent that good... too heavy for an rb20. so you need a 26 or something to move that massive weight

gtr is far better value for money

yeah, you'd be far better off buyin a gtr, and then you get the pumped guards aswell and sick butts rims

gts-4s arent that good... too heavy for an rb20. so you need a 26 or something to move that massive weight

gtr is far better value for money

well, clearly a gts4 is shithouse compared to a GTR, hence the conversion

but that doesnt answer my question... how much would a conversion cost?

well looking at some prices a rb26 goes for around 6000. add at least 2000 of other stuff for front mount piing general stuff that is different. I dont know about the 4wd systems pumps if they are the same or not, then body panels etc, say 1000ish, plus labour be at least 2000ish depending, so alot of money. This is only quick estimate as well there could be more hassels.

the cost of doin so would just not be worth it be better off buying a gtr itself.. to get everything out of the gtr into the gts4 you'd need to buy a gtr front cut.. than a rear cut to get the gtr diff and everthing else.. than you'd have to source a complete gtr interior.. just buy a gtr :D

the reason no one can give you a clear cut answer is that pretty much everyone gives up after a while.

It'll cost you around $8000 to do the conversion complete on the cheap (providing you know a workshop that won't charge you labour and you do some of the work... and you can get parts cheap too)... it'll cost a lot more if you're just giving money to someone to do it for you.

With the cost of compliance on R32's under SEVS so cheap, and the cost of previously imported 15yr old rattlebox GTR's so low still, it dosen't make any sense to do it.

I've got a GTS4 with a 2530 strapped to the side of the RB20DET, Apexi FMIC, exhaust, intake, AFC and EBC and it goes great for what it is, better than any other R32 GTSt I've ever driven. If I was to upgrade it, I'd just sell it and buy an R33 GTR (around $25,000 landed and complied these days).

sell it. get a gtr. its cheaper and you get all the up graded stuff aswell.

or buy a sleeper and put the 26 in that. like what i did with my dr30 :(

but. to asnswer youe question id say 3k to do it. not including the engine of corse.

Agree with all the above.

You will need a full R32 GTR front cut for maybe 6-8K to get all the parts you require to do this properly to officially get the engine number changed.

It will be much better to sell your GTS-4 and use the cash to buy a genuine GTR.

You will then own a 100% road legal car with some resale value.

To do the conversion will be a lot of work, cost a lot of money, and possibly create a lot of problems with the law. And it may become just about impossible to sell to someone else later.

Edited by Warpspeed

yeah stagea, laurel or gloria AWD RB25DET's are relatively easy to install (or a regular RB25 with an RB26 sump which you can get off anyone putting an RB26 into a RWD car for peanuts and the stock GTS4 front diff) but then you have the problem of needing a totally new ECU system like a Wolf or Motec for tunability, or settling for a stock ECU.

putting the motor in would be simple enough should bolt straight in once you have the loom and intake stuff as well.

But you would be mad to try and change the body....bonnet, grille, guards and bumboer may bolt straight on, but you would need to cut and weld the rear guards.

you can get rear guard skins for R32's that go on top of factory ones that make it look identical to GTRs.

the only reason I'd make a GTS4 the same as a GTR was if it was a 4 door... so you had a GTR sedan. throw in an auto gearbox and you'll have em all stumped.

  • 1 year later...

Thread bumping time - I've currently got a 25 in my 4 door gts4, have a gtr bonnet already. So apart from the motor itself, what would I need to change to get it on the road and registered apart from the engine/turbo?. I could probably recoup some of my money by selling the 25.

The car already has a couple supporting mods, ie hks front mount,z32 afm, allegedly aftermarket gearset (but I'll take that with a pinch of salt) ,pod, grex oil cooler, and relocator kit. Not after anything else cosmetic wise atm .

On one of the old High Octane DVD's they did the conversion as one of there project cars. I don't think they went into too much detail (but they could have as it was 4 years ago when i watched it). I have some pictures some where.

EDIT!! Found them;

post-27020-1208060075_thumb.jpg

post-27020-1208060216_thumb.jpg

post-27020-1208060241_thumb.jpg

post-27020-1208060270_thumb.jpg

Edited by D_stirls
  • 3 weeks later...

I'm very interested in this. I've got a R32 GTSt up around 500rwhp with an RB25. My friend just picked up an emaculate 1994 (didn't even know they still made R32's then) R32 GTS4 with a sunroof for $600 USD that I found for him, and he will be obliged to sell it to me for that much in about 4 months. I want to find a way to put a RB25 in that bugger so I can swap all my stuff over and have a nice little sleeper. RB25's are a dime a dozen around here (not Stagea ones though), so I'd much prefer that to a RB26 which runs $3-4k even over here. I'm also having pretty severe traction issues even with drag radials (it's a drag/corner carver car), so this would really be a fun project for me. So what are my options for the GTS4?

-Stagea RB25

-RB26

-?

-?

-AWD/2wd block adapter (have no info on them)

Edited by Cjmartz2k

After a little more reading of threads, I've seen mention of an adapter plate you guys have over there for making a non AWD block work with AWD. Any links for these? I realize it will make the motor sit up higher, but I am already running an RB26 ITB intake manifold with an adapter, so hight isn't a big issue with me. It also allows me to still use the plentiful cheap RB25's over here instead of relativly rare and expensive stagea motors. We are really pushing the limit of stock RB25's at the shop I go to. The guy is my good friend too so it's kind of an experiment he would be interested in and I get pretty good prices on work.

The shop owner currently has a stock RB25 bottom end pushing 650hp, and I'm mid to high 500's right now. We have a couple others making mid to high 500's also for a couple years. I know how crazy you guys think we are for pushing 25's that hard, but when they are $300 a pop and I have 2 good ones sitting here, it's a chance I'm willing to take. More info on the adapter plates please! :(

If i picked up a R32 GTS4, and decided that i had some money to throw around and decided to convert the engine to an RB26DETT from a GTR R32, how much, hypothetically would

1. The engine cost (i mean everything including running gear and ecu, looms, front mount etc)

2. The Gtr front bonnet and Gtr front bar conversion

3. The labour

ON ROAD

A COMPLETE CONVERSION

HOW MUCH U RECKON WOULD IT COST?

Your going backwards

If you had the spare cash straight up why didn't you just buy a GTR

I already have a pretty nasty R32 GTSt and have found this GTS4 in awesome shape for $600. It's different, it would be a sleeper, and we have a thing for making big power with stock/cheap RB25's. That's why. I'm not really looking to debate the merits of GTR vs. making this work. There are a ton of 500hp GTR's that I walk all over all the time around here. GTR is a better base, I agree. If I can make 2wd RB25's work, it's a better option for me for what I want to do.

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