Full Guide On Installing The Vg30 Turbo To A Rb20

[niran]

Hey guys and girls, I did my vg30 conversion on my rb20 motor, and I didn’t find much information on the topic, however did receive help from a few members on the basic concept of what should be done especially from “Jin man”. Thanks for thatJ.

I thought to write up a DIY on the vg30 conversion as it’s a good turbo swap for a budget price.

Caustion!/Achtung/Attenzione!!!

Follow this guide at your own risk, I will not be held responsible for anything that goes wrong, this in only a guide to the installation and if unsure about any aspects please consult it with a local turbo installer.

What you need Price

1 x VG30 Turbo (ball bearing, Steal wheel/ceramic) $250-350

1 x RB25 90 degree bent elbow $35.00

1 x Socket set (sizes 8mm-20mm) $50-200

1 x Spanner Set (up to 24 mm for the water banjo bolt) $30-150

1 x Screw driver set $15-80

1 x exhaust gasket $7.00

1 x oil line gasket (for the turbo) $6.00

1x turbo gasket for inlet (not sure got with turbo)

1 x turbo t3 footprint gasket (not sure got with turbo)

1-3 friends -

There’s more but these will be the main tools needed, however you will need things such as pliers to remove the clamps and also a box of bandages for all the cuts you receive: P, also a bottle of Degreaser and a bottle of RP-7 are handy.

Step 1

DRAIN ALL OIL, AND WATER FROM THE CAR. Keep it somewhere if you’d like to re-use the water and oil. If not you can put new water and oil when done.

Use the pliers to remove all the hose clamps for the smaller vacuum lines that are connected to the intake pipe and other pipes that are surrounding the turbo. After that remove the larger hose clamps by using the socket set, by memory it should be a size 8-10mm depending on which hose clamp your about to loosen. After all the vacuum lines, air intake and intercooler clamps have been loosened,

Remove the all piping that covers the turbo (intercooler piping, Intake piping).

So far it should look like this.

Next remove the rest of the pipes that are still there

Ok guys so good so far? Ok it should look like this and at this point you should be able to see the turbo easily (if you have a heat shield on your turbo, its best to remove it now so that the turbo consumes less room, so that it will be easier to be take out.

Ok guys the final part of step one, is to remove the bolts on the oil canister (DO NOT REMOVE THE PIPES AS THE OIL WILL COME OUT!) just remove the bolts so that you are able to move the canister out a bit. Also undo the bolts for the silver object that is grounded no idea what its called sorry (if you have one) and keep that aside for the time being. *If unsure what to remove please look at the photo below*.

Step 2

Ok guys next off now we have to undo the bolts that are holding the turbo to the manifold, there are 4 bolts that are holding the turbo there. Loosen them however don’t remove completely off just yet.

After that undo the bolts on the dump pipe which is connecting to the exhaust (mine had 3, but you may have more). Ok the next part is to remove the bolts for the oil and water lines that are connected to the turbo. I’m sorry about this part but I didn’t have any photos from under the car. 1 of oil lines can be removed from the top which is the banjo bolt just between front and rear housing.*the oil lines by memory used an 18 mm socket and the water lines use a 22mm*. After removing the oil line at the top go under the car and remove the other oil line. This one will have 2 bolts on either side pretty sure a 12mm.NOTE! be careful to watch your face as the oil in the turbo will come out and may land on your face so watch your eyes, and this also goes the water lines so be careful. After removing all the water lines and oil lines, the turbo should be held only by the manifold bolts.

Ok now the turbo should be able to taken out, its not the easiest fit to get the turbo out, but by holding the oil canister back and with the help of some mates to hold it in place while you pull the turbo out it should be possible *TIP removing the actuator will make it easier to remove the turbo out again because it will be less stuff surrounding the turbo while trying to get it out*

Step 3

Ok guys now that the turbo is out put it along side the vg30 turbo as you can already see the rear exhaust housing on the vg30 is bigger hence more top end power.

Ok as you can already see the turbo’s aren’t align so now what you have to do is either turn the rear or front housing so that the turbo’s manifold and intake side align up the same to the rb20 front and rear housing. There’s two ways to do this by either turning the front or rear housing... I turned the front housing as all the oil, water, and manifold aligned up and it was just the front compressor housing that was out, about 5 cm from the ground. Ok to do this there are about 6 bolts around the inner of the housing the best way is to use an open spanner to loosen them. They don’t have to be removed just need to be loosened a bit so that the compressor housing is able to spin freely. *please look at the photo below where I have highlighted the bolts which need to be loosened*

Ok now that that’s done you have to swap the actuators over because the problem faced is that the stock vg30 actuator will hit the rb25 90 degree bend and therefore will not work. So remove the actuator that was on the stock rb20 turbo and then put that actuator on the vg30. It may be a bit of a pull to put it on but mine worked fine so it should be good. You can modify the stock vg30 actuator if you like but swapping the actuators over is much easier.

Ok a problem I ran into was that one of the water lines on the stock engine where not big enough to fit the banjo bolt that goes onto the vg30 water hole. Some people cut the water line pipe and then join it with a rubber hose but a problem faced is that if the rubber hose is too close to the turbo it may have a chance to melt. So what I did was remove the water line from the side of the engine block and take it out then I cut the old banjo bolt holder and then welded on the vg30 banjo bolt holder so that it would fit. *CAUTION! IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO WELD DON’T TRY THIS ALSO CHECK FOR WATER LEAKS AND DO A PRESURE TEST TO MAKE SURE THERE IS NO LEAKS FROM THE WELDED JOIN*

Before installing the turbo back on make sure that everything match’s up and that the vg30 aligns up with the stock turbo.

Ok everyone look at the photo below and this is what your engine bay will look like where the turbo was.

The water line that I had to cut and modify was the one on the right. Yours may fit without having to make it bigger. The reason these have to change is because the banjo bolts on the vg30 turbo are slightly bigger then the banjo bolts of the rb20 turbo.

*REMEMBER to make sure that the re welded water line is in line perfectly with the other side. Otherwise you may struggle trying to put the banjo bolt back in with the turbo.*

Also after all this connect the dump pipe back onto the rear housing of the vg30

Step 4

Ok everyone, now everything should be done just double check that all the water lines match up and that the actuator is not hitting the intake of the rb25 90 degree elbow. Next put on all the gaskets i.e. the t3 footprint gasket. Ok to put the turbo in again its not the easiest thing to do but it is possible (many people remove the manifold but I didn’t, but that’s totally up to you). Ok once the turbo is in, put 2 bolts on the t3 footprint that connects to the manifold (don’t fully tighten them as you will have to move the turbo around a bit to put all the water and oil lines in).

After this again go under the car and put the 2 water lines back on the car *TIP- I found it easy to loosen the banjo bolt on the engine block so that I could move the water lines side to side a bit more* after the water lines are done, put the gasket on for the oil drain line and bolt that back up on next go back above your car and put the top oil line back on also. That’s the hardest part done, after all this just repeat the steps backwards as in put back the bolts back on for the exhaust line.

Before connecting back the intercooler piping and intake piping go under and above the car and make sure EVERY! Bolt has been tightened and is not loose. Do a check that everything is done properly and then finally put back all the piping back on, don’t worry if the piping is a bit out compared to the old one that’s because the turbo is slightly longer.

Ok now you should be done and everything should be installed and it should look like the picture below.

IMPORTANT! There is a small vacuum line just under the air intake, and when connecting the intake pipe back on make sure you don’t forget to connect the tinny vacuum line back on.

Finally refill the oil and water in the car and make sure there are no leeks.

Well that’s about it, hope this guide helps any one who wants to install this turbo. If there’s anything that’s wrong with this guide please let me know.

Thanks every one

Niran

[rych]

is the VG30 turbo a direct bolt-on to the rb25det turbo?

[mtopxsecret6]

so is this the vgdett or vgdet turbo?

[W0rp3D]

I dont know if an rb25det in an r33 and an rb20det in an r32 is the same but i found it a lot easier to do lines and some other stuff if you jack up that corner, take the wheel off and do it from underneath.

is the VG30 turbo a direct bolt-on to the rb25det turbo?

I have a vg30 core and exhaust housing with a hi flow rb25 front on my rb25det and it was a direct bolt on.

[RBLUV]

got any power figures?

[niran]

so is this the vgdett or vgdet turbo?

hey mate, the turbo is a VG30det, as the TT one is to small.

[niran]

is the VG30 turbo a direct bolt-on to the rb25det turbo?

hey mate, the foot print for the VG30 is a T3, and so yes it is a straight bolt on, as the R32 and R33 use a T3 foot print.

thanks niran

[heaveyfoot_ skyliner]

hi mate

how is the turbo going ? any proplems with the turrbo you installed ?and where can you get that turbo for cheap price ?

[niran]

hi mate

how is the turbo going ? any proplems with the turrbo you installed ?and where can you get that turbo for cheap price ?

hey man

the turbo is going good, I just need to tune it now so it’s a more responsive, and to get the most out of it. If you are situated in Perth, you can either try on here, or where i got mine from which was KYP

niran

[heaveyfoot_ skyliner]

hi mate thanks for the reply

and how do you tune that cause i got a whining noisy turbo since i have the head gasket done and think its the cause of the noise not tuning is it something with turbo timer boost gauge of 10 psi max on my dashboard any guides or links much appreciated

thnks

[DaShMiEsTeR]

great write up

looking to do this to my 32 soon (have ecu, z32AFM only the turbo left to source!!!)

what made you decide between a vG30det and a rb25det??? better results ? because i heard the vg30 is quite laggy in the lower rpms and to be honest rb20's (unless they have been opened up) have no bottom end response - before the turbo starts to spool.

Though a tune could most probably fix this - what kind of EMS are you running?

Damien

[Ryan180]

I've installed the same turbo on my Stagea (RB25)

Bolted straight on, not mods needed at all.

Works like a charm, hold much more boost than the old standard one. i picked mine up for $250 at SSS automotive.

Cheers,

Ryan

[JiN_MaN]

Only just came across this, Hope its all working out. Glad I could be of some help

[mtopxsecret6]

so how do you tell what is a single turbo or twin turbs turbo off the vg series engines? What markings does the turbo have? As i have two rebuilt hi flowed vg turbos, but now im not sure if their single or twin turbs model?

[niran]

great write up

looking to do this to my 32 soon (have ecu, z32AFM only the turbo left to source!!!)

what made you decide between a vG30det and a rb25det??? better results ? because i heard the vg30 is quite laggy in the lower rpms and to be honest rb20's (unless they have been opened up) have no bottom end response - before the turbo starts to spool.

Though a tune could most probably fix this - what kind of EMS are you running?

Damien

hey every one dam sorry for the extremely late reply for some reason my account didnt get notified that people had posted on here.. um ok the reason i chose the vg30det turbo was because its a tinny bit bigger then the rb25det turbo, but not much, also people said that the VG30 turbo pulled much harder, so i thought id go that option..

to tell you the truth the vg30 turbo does lag as it is from a 3 litre engine and now been put into a 2 litre however once it does kick in, at about 4000rpm full it keeps pullin all the way till red line so dosnt die off.

um yer at the moment i have just brought r32 gtr injectors and will install them soon and do a full tune and hoping to hit around the 280-300rwhp mark so ill let yall know how it goes.

thanks niran

[niran]

yer man they are a great turbo man, and like you said they run boost hard, and for the price its well worth it

I've installed the same turbo on my Stagea (RB25)

Bolted straight on, not mods needed at all.

Works like a charm, hold much more boost than the old standard one. i picked mine up for $250 at SSS automotive.

Cheers,

Ryan

[niran]

Only just came across this, Hope its all working out. Glad I could be of some help

hey man, yer bro thought id mention you, as you did help me alot

thanks agian

[niran]

so how do you tell what is a single turbo or twin turbs turbo off the vg series engines? What markings does the turbo have? As i have two rebuilt hi flowed vg turbos, but now im not sure if their single or twin turbs model?

Hey man how are you going, um on my housing i think it had 45V3 on it, um if your located in Perth WA, best person to go and check would be with ben from kyp, that’s where i got mine off him for i think $300 or so..

but um yer hi flowed would be a beauty some one said the single vg30 hiflow/rebuilt, would perform excellent. also if not i think i had posted a thread before about how to tell whether its an VG30 Turbo and whether its ball bearing/bush, steal wheel/ceramic. Should be somewhere on the "forced induction" area and type in the search VG30

good luck mate

niran

[DC Drift]

you would actually be better of using the vq30det turbo as they are bb and will make more power..

we used a rb25 turbo on an rb20 and it was making 271rwhp on 17psi

so there is nothing wrong with using a 25 turbo iether just personal preferance and budget..

did you get a power figure mate after the install..

i aslo reccomend kyp get all my parts from there... ;D

[niran]

you would actually be better of using the vq30det turbo as they are bb and will make more power..

we used a rb25 turbo on an rb20 and it was making 271rwhp on 17psi

so there is nothing wrong with using a 25 turbo iether just personal preferance and budget..

did you get a power figure mate after the install..

i aslo reccomend kyp get all my parts from there... ;D

yer true, um nah i don’t have power figures as I’ve just brought the injectors of a gtr and now ready to install them, otherwise my injectors will stop me at a certain hp, so thought I’d buy some too and then give the car the tune so i can get the full potential out off it.

niran