Rb34 / 24U (Rb26 + 800Cc) - Project RB high deck engine (and related builds)

[GTRNUR]

8 hours ago, iruvyouskyrine said:

Was there supposed to be some sort of link in your last post mate?

There should be 2 links to facebook hosted videos.  I wasn't sure if that was going to work or not but the videos are both public.

https://www.facebook.com/tessawhyte1/videos/10213056819396433/

https://www.facebook.com/tessawhyte1/videos/10213832121898511/

These links might work better.

[iruvyouskyrine]

Ahhh they dont work on mobile, but those new links do!

AWD RB33 S15 will be slightly insane haha

[GTRNUR]

Motive DVD took some nice photos of Mercury Motorsports S15 with the RB33 at Jamboree.

https://www.facebook.com/MotiveDVD/posts/10155636991352354

 

[GTRNUR]

Preparation to assemble the next engine is under way.  Waiting for parts is the current game.

These came in a few weeks ago.  Annealed Titanium 3D printed fire rings, replace the stainless wire O-rings.  This change should make for a 100% street-able copper head gasket / o-ring setups.

The cool part about these rings is that they are actually not a round cross section.  They have a square edge base in the o-ring slot and a sharpened radius on top, as well as clearance to allow for thermal expansion differences between alloy and titanium.

 

[GTRNUR]

Update time – The End.

I am sure many of you are aware that a few weeks ago Mercury Motorsport closed the doors to their workshop permanently.  This was a bit of a surprise to me, as I had been hoping the AWD S15 was going to make an appearance at the Flying 500 event at WTAC. 

My RB33 engine is being freighted back to me this week.

This change of circumstances for Mercury has essentially bought my project to a standstill.  While it was my intention to develop the engine design further (and conduct testing with Trent @ Mercury), at this stage I have decided to not tip more money into the project and jump into a new arrangement with another workshop.

 

Personally, not being able to take the project further with Mercury is only a little disappointing. It is also a relief and a huge weight off my shoulders as my time is now able to be greatly freed up for other projects and work commitments that will make instead of costing money.

The current status of things are that my R34 GTR still has the v3 RB34 engine installed, and it is still going strong.  I do intend on running the car at Springmount Dragway (new track near where I live) next year when the season starts again.  I also intend on updating the engine next year with my new full-circle firings, and adding a platinum block brace, and a Quaife front diff next year.  May also need a gearbox upgrade as I am not sure the getrag will survive.

The RB32 that is currently 90% assembled will be completed, sealed up and filled with oil for long term storage.

The RB33 engine that is coming back from Mercury will also get the same updates, and then have the same storage treatment applied to it as the RB32.

I have no plans to restart work on the project for at least a year (if ever), and no intention to sell either of these two engines (unless someone offers me an absurd amount of money). 

I will consider selling both engines and the developed IP for the project to someone that wants to take the project further.

Looking back to when I started this project, I built the first RB26 based 3.1lt just to see if I could do it.  That was the main reason.  I love designing and building things, especially engines.   It was not my intention to go into business selling engines, or to even develop a product for sale. (The project started to head that way though all by itself.)  

 

At the end of the project I not only proved that I could build an RB26, but I developed the largest displacement version of the engine in existence.  Not bad for a guy that works on computer networks for a living!

 

Here are two parting videos.  The first one is of my car with the RB34 and in its current configuration, and the second is of Mercury’s “Nitto”, “First Startup” video of the RB33 (where it was initially intended to go).

That is all.

 

IMG_1973.MOV

video-1476672019_rotated.mp4

[iruvyouskyrine]

Well this is certainly very dissapointing to hear. I didn't know that mercury had closed shop but there was a lot coming out of the rumor mill and none of it sounded good for mercury.

It's a shame that the engines will sit for the forseeable future as their full potential has still never been seen. Hopefully MSM offer you that obsurd amount and stick the 3.3 back in the S15.

Thanks very much for such an interesting read, following the development process has been extremely fun for me, good luck with thatever project you choose to tackle next!

[Nismo 3.2ish]

On 10/31/2017 at 2:30 PM, GTRNUR said:

Update time – The End.

I am sure many of you are aware that a few weeks ago Mercury Motorsport closed the doors to their workshop permanently.  This was a bit of a surprise to me, as I had been hoping the AWD S15 was going to make an appearance at the Flying 500 event at WTAC. 

 

My RB33 engine is being freighted back to me this week.

This change of circumstances for Mercury has essentially bought my project to a standstill.  While it was my intention to develop the engine design further (and conduct testing with Trent @ Mercury), at this stage I have decided to not tip more money into the project and jump into a new arrangement with another workshop.

 

Personally, not being able to take the project further with Mercury is only a little disappointing. It is also a relief and a huge weight off my shoulders as my time is now able to be greatly freed up for other projects and work commitments that will make instead of costing money.

The current status of things are that my R34 GTR still has the v3 RB34 engine installed, and it is still going strong.  I do intend on running the car at Springmount Dragway (new track near where I live) next year when the season starts again.  I also intend on updating the engine next year with my new full-circle firings, and adding a platinum block brace, and a Quaife front diff next year.  May also need a gearbox upgrade as I am not sure the getrag will survive.

The RB32 that is currently 90% assembled will be completed, sealed up and filled with oil for long term storage.

The RB33 engine that is coming back from Mercury will also get the same updates, and then have the same storage treatment applied to it as the RB32.

I have no plans to restart work on the project for at least a year (if ever), and no intention to sell either of these two engines (unless someone offers me an absurd amount of money). 

I will consider selling both engines and the developed IP for the project to someone that wants to take the project further.

Looking back to when I started this project, I built the first RB26 based 3.1lt just to see if I could do it.  That was the main reason.  I love designing and building things, especially engines.   It was not my intention to go into business selling engines, or to even develop a product for sale. (The project started to head that way though all by itself.)  

 

At the end of the project I not only proved that I could build an RB26, but I developed the largest displacement version of the engine in existence.  Not bad for a guy that works on computer networks for a living!

 

Here are two parting videos.  The first one is of my car with the RB34 and in its current configuration, and the second is of Mercury’s “Nitto”, “First Startup” video of the RB33 (where it was initially intended to go).

That is all.

 

IMG_1973.MOV

video-1476672019_rotated.mp4

Thanks for showing us your project, loved it and sorry to see it halted  

All the best  

[GTRNUR]

Quick Update.

I finally got a weekend off work and was able to visit a Springmount Raceway, which is a new drag strip that was built and 1.5 hrs drive from Cairns.

I only ended up doing two passes on low boost. (1.3kg/cm).

First pass was an 11.6 @ 125mph 1.8 60' with a soft launch.

Second pass was a mess.  Launched the card harder and was hit with the ashtray part way through first gear. Accidently pulled it out of 1st early and then slow shifted to 2nd.  11.9 @ 124mph.

I'm pretty happy considering my tyres are nearly 3 years old, and the suspension setup is for corners not straights.  Plus I basically drove the car there and back, and only pulled out the silencer to race.

I'd like to go back and try again some time but need to invest in a tilt trailer so I can trailer the car there and some shade.  

I've got some video which I'll upload to youtube later.  No in-car though as my go-pro had died and wouldn't hold a charge anymore.

Cheers!

[GTRNUR]

My first drag launch in 16 years.  Gentle off the line.  I was surprised it hooked up as using a mild launch control setting and 4500 RPM limit is useless on the street and results in uncontrollable traction loss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xeQ7IT1vxo

I'll upload the second video soon.

[DiscardTheWeak]

Hello Ian, sorry the project had to come to an end, I loved following this. Was curious if you had any comments on how the original RB31 version with the steel spacer and open deck compared to the newer design which used the aluminum semi-closed deck design? You had alot going on at once, so at times I got confused which engine was which and what the goal was for each. I know the original version was more of "sleeper street" configuration, but are there many design compromises that limit it in your opinion, say up to 1000hp? Thanks again for sharing all this, I know its a pain to upkeep a build thread

[Butters]

same guy ? 

 

 

[funkymonkey]

On 03/08/2023 at 12:14 AM, Butters said:

same guy ? 

 

 

haha just watched the video and noticed @Beer Baron's old car!

[robbo_rb180]

Yep

7 hours ago, Butters said:

same guy ? 

 

 

Yep

[GTRNUR]

On 18/02/2021 at 2:51 AM, DiscardTheWeak said:

Hello Ian, sorry the project had to come to an end, I loved following this. Was curious if you had any comments on how the original RB31 version with the steel spacer and open deck compared to the newer design which used the aluminum semi-closed deck design? You had alot going on at once, so at times I got confused which engine was which and what the goal was for each. I know the original version was more of "sleeper street" configuration, but are there many design compromises that limit it in your opinion, say up to 1000hp? Thanks again for sharing all this, I know its a pain to upkeep a build thread

Wow its been a while since Ive signed in for sure.  Time gets away...

Good question.

So much was different between the two designs.  The RB315 was a test to see if I could do it.  Limitations were for the most part due to local machining capability.  Tolerances were an issue. 

The 3.15 used a single OD dry sleeve, and was almost the same as a kakimoto spacer plate engine, except I used a plate design similar to the OS Giken plate.  I did not make the top flanges thick enough either.  I can't be sure if it was machining tolerances, or thermal distortion of the sleeves, but the engine did produce quite a bit of blow by.  The modified 87mm RB30 crank was also an issue, and was no where near as nicely balanced as the forged 90mm crank in the 3.4.

The 34 was a next level build.  The sleeves were stepped for max thickness, and were a semi-wet design breaking though into coolant completely in the block.  Minimum thickness was 3.75mm and max was 5mm with the 90mm bore, and the new spacer plate also fully supported the tops of the sleeves closed deck style.  This combined with far superior CNC machining, and a cylinder hone finish that the machinist does on 3000hp pro stock cars resulted in no noticeable blow by at all.  

In the end the 3.15 was removed to swap in the 3.4.  I discovered the modified RB30 crank had partially sheared the woodruff key on the balancer.  That was all that was wrong with it, but it did make the engine a paperweight at that stage. $1100 to make another crank for an engine with blow by issues was not worth it, considering I'd started playing with all Nitto forged internals instead.

I hope you found this interesting.

 

Cheers,
Ian