R33 Rb30 Conversion

[Dahtone Racing]

why bother going all out on the engine and then using a re-mapped ECU

stupid idea if you ask me

[Cubes]

I weighed up remaping the stock ecu..

Morpowa wanted $800 for the initial remap then $500-$600 for any further tunes there after.

I picked up my R32 PFC and Hand controller for $1100.

Initial WOT tune was $100 as the base map had decent afr's, moderate load could be improved on but I wasn't going to waste another $200 on a complete tune as a larger turbo and injectors were soon to be fitted.

In the long run the aftermarket ecu works out quite a bit cheaper, as its so much easier and quicker to tune.

A full tune can be done for $300.

3hrs its quite a bit of time providing everything is running well.

As Mark is trying to get out of it cheap I really think he would be better off selling what he has and putting it towards bolting up a VLT exh. manifold, second hand or possibly new t3/4 turbo, vlt injectors, fmic and exhaust on his R31's RB30E and have the stock ecu remapped. It will easily make a reliable 200rwkw.

RB30ET's make awesome power, much better than many think, when paired up with the right gearing they are quite nice to drive and do go damn hard. Being in a R31 the gearing is 3.7:1 or 3.9:1 depending on if its a manual or auto.

I've began to notice the RB30DET doesn't really work that well unless you run an aftermarket exhaust manifold.

Peak power rpm suffers greatly, throw an aftermarket exh. manifold on it with a set of mild cams and they want to keep on pulling. As Dave found out by reving it just a little too hard. :S

Edited December 22, 2005 by Cubes

[conan7772]

Bloody hard to find used injectors.

Anyone know good places to look ?

[Skyrine-Dave]

ive got an RB26 oil pump in mine and ive noticed my oil pressures are COMPLETELY different to what they were with the rb25 pump

things are about 20psi lower than before, and after doing some searching i found alot of ppl suffered from the problem of excessive oil pressure. now i am wonder if my old pump was stuffed prior to installing on the motor...

either way its runs like a dream and has excellent oil pressure

[Bl4cK32]

interesting is that rb25 to rb20 oil pump seems to differ in pressure. Cubes' rb25 oil pump seems to have a higher pressure than my rb20 pump when cold....

[Cubes]

Skyrine-Dave,

I run the RB25DET oil pump. With a half arsed dodgy sender once its warm. Most of the time its fine, just plays up every so often.

On cold oil pressure sits up over 8 which what looks like 9 if there was a 9 on the stock guage.

Cruise at around 2000rpm see's ~4 on the stock guage but it quickly rises to 6 once rev's are around 3000-3500rpm, once 4000rpm approaches its hitting 7. In 5th at 100km/h it sits on ~5.

Idle sits a needle width above the first line which is 2 I assume.

When the sender is playing up it will sit as low as zero, rev's will see maybe 1 if your lucky. Turn the car off for a minute or two start it back up and oil pressure will be normal.

Idling I can see quite a bit of oil on the cam lobes, give it a slight rev and oil flicks out all over the place, once in my eye as I was looking too close.. :S

Going from a 10w60 Castrol oil to 5w30 oil oil pressure is only lower by 1 needle width, so hardly noticable. With the thinner oil the motor is much much quieter in the mornings. Some how it quietens the slight piston slap. The get the general feel that the 8100 Motul 5w40 oil is best suited to my motor. The motul over the castrol is makes the motor quieter.

Its hard to compare with my old Rb20DET with the rb20det pump as the motor was old, on cold starts it would see oil pressure of around 6, idle was the same as the rb26det pump being a needle width over the 2.

Once reving the most it would hit was ~5, never did it go as high as the rb25det pump once over 4000rpm.

Edited December 24, 2005 by Cubes

[dnb]

URGENT

can somebody please please tell me how many teeth dot to dot on an rb25/30 with the 152 tooth timing belt(tensioner above water pump)

thanks guys

[paulr33]

is there a rough drive in, drive out price for the rb30 bottom end whilst retaining stock parts, inj, turbo, rods, pistons, head etc. just basically checked and ok'd block and swap them over. workshop doing all labour and retune on powerfc

[Cubes]

Having some one else do the labour of remove/installing the motor is always going make the project expensive.

It does make it hard if you don't have or don't know anyone with a garage and a few tools.

Then there's the issue of trying to find some one who is willing to give it a go and not charge you for the research they have to do.

Even though I had done most of the research my engine builder said he doesn't believe in charging for research as its his fault he doesn't know what is to be known about the setup. BUT he did say a motor is a motor, they are basic and there's nothing difficult about what we were trying to do.. being the rb30det. He came from a racing background where they had fiddled with rod/stroke/bore combinations to achieve the best reliability and spread of power so he was not afraid of a little hybrid motor.

On the other hand the place that rebuilt my head previously charged a customer who owned a VL $2000 for research in to the build, bloody rip off.

So be carefull.

Edited January 2, 2006 by Cubes

[paulr33]

yeah whilst i love tinkering and happy to try stuff i am not sure engine building is in my forte, i dont think any mechanical work is. any guess at rouch price.

racepace in melbourne have done an rb31det gtr so they know what the 911 is on doing it. do you think $2000 is a reasonable price, drive in. with block and they swap over, fit and retune

[Cubes]

Pulling a motor out is seriously very easy.

Only a few plugs and wires, nothing difficult at all.

I left the engine build to my engine builder as I was throwing quite a bit of money at it via forged pistons and what not so I didn't want it to go pop. BUT.. .If I were to do it again I would follow Sky30's route, grab a second hand running rb30e and simply drop the head on it. At least if it pops who cares, drop another s/h motor in.

Rough price.. for just the labour of removal and isntall of the motor I would estimate 1000-2000. Then add any stupid charges the mechanical work place decides to rip you off on. They always do.

Edited January 2, 2006 by Cubes

[paulr33]

was his car already an rb30e car? if thats the case then its much easier as you can basicallly take the head off and swap heads, ie don't have to pull engine out, whereas in my case the 25 has to come out and then 30 block on and then 25 bits on top. so more labour getting it in/out. what was the realistic gain and experience you had when you had yours done, ie basically block swap with same turbo inj ecu etc.

[paulr33]

also i get what u mean re: using the 25 head only, ie keep rb30e pistons

[Cubes]

Sky30's was the same as mine.. R32 GTST RB20DET, only difference was I ran the stock ecu at first for the run in, he already had a microtech in.

I did the remove and install. Block and tackle up to the motor, pulled out the radiator, shove a pice of chip board behind the a/c condensor to protect it from any bangs. Remove the gearbox and motor out at the same time, the longest part is taking all the little bits of, radiator out etc.

The trick is not to be afraid, grab little bags and write on them what the bolts are for.

It is comforting knowing that you have a cheap rb30 bottom end under the rb25 head, if it blows you have wasted and or your not up for big bucks. Grab another and off u go again.

Spend 3-5k or something on a bottom end and there's always that worry.

The only down side of the 3ltr is it needs an aftermarket exh. manifold if you want it holding power to 7k, otherwise it falls over after 5.5-6k depending on the turbo.

Edited January 2, 2006 by Cubes

[Bl4cK32]

Yer - big tip is remember where the bolts are

And dont forget all the little extras - new waterpump, oil, coolant, new plugs, new filters etc....it all adds up. I think i spent 1k+ on "little bits" and getting it running

[Cubes]

I replaced all my rubber coolant/fuel hoses. Cost me a good $500 just there. BUT it is an R32 and they are at least 14yrs old now.

Remember there is the issue of engine height if you run the std plenum.

Edited January 2, 2006 by Cubes

[sky30]

was his car already an rb30e car? if thats the case then its much easier as you can basicallly take the head off and swap heads, ie don't have to pull engine out, whereas in my case the 25 has to come out and then 30 block on and then 25 bits on top.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It is much easier to take the engine out to do a head swap, if you know what your doing the engine can be out in around 1 hour, then it is simple to change heads. When you have the engine sitting infront of you on a stand, you can easily get to any bolt, nut or hose, it just makes the whole process simpler and quicker.

[sky30]

It is comforting knowing that you have a cheap rb30 bottom end under the rb25 head, if it blows you have wasted and or your not up for big bucks. Grab another and off u go again.

Spend 3-5k or something on a bottom end and there's always that worry.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is exactly why i did it that way, i got a complete RB30de for $50 and used the complete block, i thrash it to 7000rpm every day without a single worry ( but it still hasnt gone bang).

[mr_rbman]

well just finished putting mine in today guys and i certainly will be the first to admit that i don't know everything but i mangaged to do it with the help of a mate and my dad. I'm not quite finished yet but the main thing i would say is buy some glad sandwich bags and put all you bolts in there seperately and label each one. It may take a little longer but will save you so much time when putting it back in! I didn't take the gearbox out when i took the RB20 out which was probably the biggest mistake i made, it was quite hard lining that up with the input shaft.

[Bl4cK32]

lol...i shoehorned the rb30det + a r33 box at the same time...(then i had to pull the box out after it was all in)