Need Help With Parts For New Street Engine 25/30

[gold-3lt]

Hi, need some help. I've been gathering parts over the last year or so to build up new engine for my wagon and I am now in a position where i can start buying the stuff that i need to start putting it together ready to drop into the car. Ideally i'd like it done before this christmas.

ok so the aim is to have a very responsive street engine that can also handle occasional abuse at events/track days. but basically it would be daily driven thats the main thing. so not a dog to drive off boost. I'd like to accomplish this on a standard rebuilt cast bottom end and have 230 - 300 rwkw

so here's what I have (i'm a bit tired from work so bear with me)

The car: 87 executive wagon, 68,000km's, gktech no holes intercooler kit, rebuilt 28 spline 3.45 vlt lsd diff with all new bearings and urethane bushes, bigger sway bars front and rear, full urethane re-bush, single piece tailshaft, mf5 non turbo manual gearbox (upgrading to r33), bosch 984 external pump in place of factory pump, braided clutch, diff and brake lines, vlt 1"master cyl and booster, vt brakes front, std rear, standard exhaust (going 3") etc...

and the parts:

1x rebuilt na rb30, possibly decked, 40 or 50 thou over (yet to check and confirm), new cast pistons and cant remember the rest. done about 8 months of driving.

1x (suspected)standard rebuilt na rb30 cast pistons. unknown km's but ran amazing.

1x standard na rb30 in wagon, 68,000, runs well, not rebuilt.

1x standard series 2 rb25det, about 95,000km's (apparently)

rb25 harmonic balancer, rb30 harmonic balancer

rb25 water pump, rb30 water pump

2nd hand rb25 and rb30 idlers and tensioners

rb30e oil pumps on na rb30 engines, rb25 oil pump on rb25, rb30et oil pump.

2x rb25det series 2 VCT heads with standard cams. (will be keeping VCT)

Standard rb25det exhaust manifold blasted and painted (would like a better high or low mount item non cast)

standard rb25det intake manifold cleaned blasted and powdercoated

standard r33 turbo with standard oil and water lines, standard wastegate actuator etc. (will almost definately not end up using as i want larger)

rb25det s2 wiring harness minus ecu

standard rb25det s2 injectors, fuel rail, coils, afm etc..

So what i basically need help with is selecting all the right parts and upgrades i'll be needing. so fair enough if people think go and buy a brand new water pump etc. i will if need be but i could easily say yeah need a new this, yeah may as well buy that brand new too but i want to use the old parts where i can if its safe to do so..

So if people could please advise on what parts I should re-use and what not to re-use that would be great.

I also need some opinions/recommendations for what parts and brands to choose for what im after. and what to use for all the little parts such as vrs gasket kits, seals, head gasket choice and thickness (and compression ratio/quench), head studs or head bolts, sealants and thread lockers, hoses and fittings and any other bits that i have forgotten.

also need to know what i should get done to the head when i drop it of at a cylinder head shop for inspection and cleaning and if anyone knows of any good, reasonable places to take it to in brisbane. i'm leaning towards feeding the oil to the vct internally by removing and drilling the plug that goes in near the front intake cam bucket.

thanks for any advice p.s this is a not a newby thread it is serious and i need to get this engine together soon.

[gold-3lt]

if it makes you feel better pretend the motor is going into a skyline not a commodore. haters.

[KiwiRS4T]

Have you read the RB30 pdf in the section above?

There seems to be some doubt that internal feed for the VCT actually works - I think an appeal for someone who has done it successfully has not yet been answered.

[gold-3lt]

Yeah i have read the pdf and i have also read the whole 300+ page rb30det thread and many others.

I basically know what to do but i'd like to know the stuff that most people arent disclosing such as exact gasket specs they have, what brand, did they use standard new head bolts or did they use studs, were all the gaskets bought seperately or as part of a VCT gasket kit. see what i'm getting at. I'm ready to go out and buy everything that i need while the head is in the shop but i want to know what works best and get a decent deal.

I also need to know if i should re-use my 2nd hand oil and water pumps or buy brand new oem ones. I want to save money where i can in this way as i would like to be able to purchase the turbo, manifolds, injectors gate, haltech etc sooner rather than later. I could easily waste $1000 + on parts that i already have and may not need so to an extent i need to set myself a budget and would like peoples thoughts on this.

[gold-3lt]

I notice you have a 25/30 stagea. how did you go about it?

[KiwiRS4T]

I notice you have a 25/30 stagea. how did you go about it?

You have to use a spacer to join the RB30 block to the awd sump - quite labour intensive.

I too have a cheap rebuild although frankly I would have liked to get rebored, forged pistons fully balanced etc.

For a cheap build you need rings, bearings and also better rod bolts. Use stock manifolds (although I don't know how much clearance you will have on the Holden) stock exhaust manifold will be fine for 300kw - you can run the w/g off the exhaust housing of the turbo. Use stock T/B and fpr.

the decision on re-using parts should be coloured by the difficulty of replacing them if they fail -so water pump and tensioners etc you can use them if they seem ok (but use brand new fixing bolts) but the oil pump is an engine out job and failure could cost you the engine. Depending on price a brand new R33 pump or an N1 with better gears. I picked up a Tomei steel h/g cheap.

Run in with cheap mineral oil and then use a quality synthetic from then on.

[gold-3lt]

Well i bought myself a Link G4 Xtreme ecu the other day to run the 30/25. It's a wire in job so that should be fun..

I've decided to use a brand new rb25det oil pump with crank collar, rb25det or rb30e water pump, rb25det vrs gasket kit, rb30e or rb26det headgasket, arp fasteners, new tensioners and studs/bolts. does everyone use a sealant with gaskets or just use the gasket alone?

New tensioner location above water pump: I want to buy a tap and die set and drill and tap my own thread. best way to do this? how do you drill dead straight? should i use a stud or bolt?

oil restrictors; 1.8mm is factory in rb30. I am thinking of using 1.5mm. thoughts? also what additional oil mods (oil drain etc) does my rb25det head need other than the vct mods??

alternator; I have a vl rb30 and rb25 alternator. havent looked at the plug types yet but i'm guessing i'll need or want the 25 alternator?

Havent yet decided whether to use rb25det or rb30 balancer. i'm guessing the difference is the different belt used for the rb25 p/steer pump? so would this decision depend on what p/steer pump i choose?

Also i want to use new braided water and oil feed hoses instead of the factory hard lines that must be bent. where can i buy the appropriate hose to suit a rb30det and should i wait until i decide on a high or low mount turbo setup?

Just found out that I need to use the heater hose attachments off the rb25det on my rb30 block so hopefully that goes ok. does anyone know where to buy these attachments (the pipes) brand new???

what is a fair/ good price for a basic rebuild of a rb25det head? I have been quoted at over $700 for a basic check/rebuild re-using all the old stock parts except valve guides. this includes a hardness test, valve seat tension test, chemically cleaned etc etc.

all i really want is a checkover to make sure the heads spot on and then a thorough clean and reassemble. should i just get limited work done to it and then assemble it myself including lapping in the valves?

Anything else I can do or anything that i've forgotten?

Edited September 1, 2012 by gold-3lt