Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

hey everyone just chasing some feedback from anyone who has succesfully done the rb26 conversion into a r32 gtst.

how mch did you pay?

what sort of power are you putting out?

how driveable is the car being only RWD?

I will be joining the twin turbo club in about a week when my car comes out of the workshop, so just keen to hear of other peoples experiences.

Cheers. Ben

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/123778-rb26-in-a-32-gtst/
Share on other sites

  • Replies 121
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

i realise this, but when gtrs became cheap i had already spent the money on mine painting it and doing bodykit to make it look the way i want, now it just needs to go fast.. Also while its not the cheapest option building a fast car instead of buying one, it is bloody good fun.

Well thats true, as long as you have something to drive for teh few month sits going to be in the shop.

I couldnt see it costing less than 6k and thats if you have pretty good relationship witht he guy doing the work if not its going to be higher. Thing is you tend to think "may as well while im at it" very often which throws costs right up cause nobody wants to do it basic.

Honestly you are better off working on the engine thats in there. The rb25 is not that far off the 26 really and you can get a bunch of power out of it and still have good response if you do it right.

its an r32, probably only has a rb20 in it..

as for the conversion, its not overly complicated, keep the engine mounts, and mounting plates from the 20, and bolt them to the 26, ecu should not be a massive hassle to wire in the stock unit, at a guess, it'll plug into the factory loom without any mods, tho don't quote me on it, but given its a 32, you'll find rhge primary looms are pretty identical throughout the series, and swapping motors is just a matter of pluuging the 26 ecu/engine loom into the factory loom as is..

things you will run into hassle with..

gearbox, forget using the 20 box, you'll kill it in a flash, you'll need an rb25 box, they're about $1500 atm, to get it mounted without butchering a factory gearbox cross member, chance are, an auto silvia cross member will fit up without having to re-drill or weld tabs on as is normally done, you'll also need to sort out the speedo drive, but a navara speedo drive goes straight in and fixes the issue..

the other big issue is the sump, the standard GT-R sump will not fit, you will need to chop the diff off, smooth it down and weld up the old holes that the front diff shaft leaves when its removed, not an overly complicated task, but it takes a fair while of band sawing and sanding it down..

rought cost estimations..

complete cut about 6k

25 box 1.5k

labour?

if you get a complete cut that has the factory cooler, pipe work etc, it should realistically take a good workshop a few days to remove the 20, remove the 26 from the cut, mod the sump, swap over the required parts and drop it back in...

its a pretty straight forward swap..

add to it an exhaust, a new clutch while its all out, and your on the way..

what you can do to make some money back, is sell off the gt-r box, usually they go for about 1k to 1300 bux depending on condition..

trick to it all is finding a good condition cut, and having it come with all the parts needed, but id say, you'll be up for about 10k all up to pull it off..

Edited by Denver

hey denver thanks for all the info mate. Sounds like your pretty clued up on the hole thing. Mine is actually nearly finished, should pick it up next weekend!

I know what your saying boostzor, with the "while im at it" the only extra i got suckered into was a programmable ecu. my cost for the finished project are

complete engine: $5000

labour, including removing rb20 and painting covers candy gold: $2000

A/M ecu $1200

FMIC $200

so im driving out for $8400

I am using redline oil in the RB20 gearbox for now, my mechanic did this with his own 26 powered gts and its been over a year now and still going strong.

haha didnt mean to start an oil brand loyalty war! i didnt realise there was that much difference. Il put the rb20 box to test anway lads and let you know how long it lasts. I could go straight for the bigger box but this is good for experimental purposes

There's also a fair chunk of weight saving in the GTS-T without the front diff, drive shafts etc compared to the R.

Keep the modifications focused on good low down torque, set the suspension up for traction (plenty of squat) and don't compromise of tyre quality and you'll have a very quick and balanced car.

I havent actually heard form anyone who has already done the conversion. Does this mean there isnt many out there or are you all just keeping quiet so you can sneak around looking like normal gtst's. :D

I've done it into an R32 GTS4 if that helps any?

Swapped the motor and gearboxes over and left the GTS4 diffs in place ... has 408rwhp atm and in RWD mode is a bit of a handful :D I think in the end it cost me around the 15k mark but I did a few things like single turbo conversion and PowerFC etc. Good luck with it though - its a shit load of fun as you'll find out :P

  • 2 weeks later...
I've done it into an R32 GTS4 if that helps any?

Swapped the motor and gearboxes over and left the GTS4 diffs in place ... has 408rwhp atm and in RWD mode is a bit of a handful :nyaanyaa: I think in the end it cost me around the 15k mark but I did a few things like single turbo conversion and PowerFC etc. Good luck with it though - its a shit load of fun as you'll find out :rofl:

mine wont quite be that powerful but thats what i was mainly wondering, how much of a handful is it going to be in RWD? Its only a light car. But im sure it will be fun as long as i keep it in one peice haha

been there done that. you'll be in for some fun times for sure.

its been awhile now but i think my std 26 made around 350

with aftermarket management.

and then up to 470 with big single turbo and cams. it was the fastest rwd skyline

in perth running a 11.1 1/4 mile. that may of been beatin not sure.

the conversion is quite straight forward i did mine at home myself.

post-840-1152780329.jpg

Edited by GOT BOOST

hey gotboost. yeah i know your car i have seen it around before. It was one of the cars that inspired me to go for the conversion. So far its going really well. I pick up the microtech ECU tomorow and most of the fiddly things are done like making the oil sump. I am replacing the big end bearings in the motor to be on the safe side. Im hoping to be driving it next weekend at this stage, but these things ALWAYS take longer than expected. Spewing its not done for the cruise!

with regard to the gbox, a friend has a 26 in an r32 gtst with 507rwhp and ran an rb20 box for quite a while. it was daily driven, he did a few track days and took it to the drags once or twice. was only starting to get a bit notchy and noisy after well over a year.

Ben you know my car, though its a gts4 most of the process was the same. Good fun in rwd, but the heavier weight is noticable. Makes 310rwhp with pfc.

Total cost for mine

gtr half cut (brakes, box etc) $4000

labour $500

fuel pump $200

cooler $200

so all up about $5000, then power fc, injectors, Z32 afms and tune, so with that about 6k.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Really, anyone modifying a car isn't being financially smart. We're doing it for the things we love. And honestly, a high revving, light, NA car is actually pretty darn fun. I used to have a Swift Sport, and I miss that thing as a daily, and yes, doing something like some intake and exhaust stuff would have made minimal gains, but would have bought an even bigger smile
    • We are taking pricing back to 2022! The skid pan is nearly double the size of avalon so much better for longer battle runs as seen here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANxdRf3Do2s When: Saturday 14th June 2025 Where: Winton Skid Pan (Winton Motor Raceway) Price: $145 for SAU VIC Members            $199 for non Members Entries: Limited to 26 entrants (Passengers allowed over the age of 14 with a signed disclaimer and same safety gear) Disclaimer: Download  Please electronically sign and email to [email protected] or print and hand in and Driver Sign In. email [email protected] To compete in this event you will require A valid  AASA General Speed licence or (Day license via the AASA Website for $50) MA Licenses are no longer accepted by AASA https://aasa.com.au/  A helmet, long sleeve clothing and it is reccommended a 1KG mounted fire extinguisher (But not Mandatory). Further details within Supp Regs on the enty link. You can bring and have a passenger in the car but they need to comply to the same safety and clothing as driver. Accommodation:  In an effort to try new things and support other country towns we thought a new location for accommodation was worth trying and Euroa was great last time plus its 30 minutes closer to Melbourne. Saturday night we will book a spot at the pub for a couple of quiet drinks.......   Book your accommodation ASAP before it sells out, there are also other options in town if you want to stay elsewhere and join us for dinner Saturday night.   https://euroacaravanpark.com.au/ Address: 73-103 Kirkland Ave, Euroa VIC 3666 Phone: (03) 5795 2160 Entry link with Full Supp Regs to read: https://www.sauvic.com.au/entry/deca/20250614 Bring your car and get to battle others, win, lose or draw. I can guarantee you will have lots of fun. Any questions email [email protected] Entry List: 1. Josh M 2. Anna 3. Luke  4. Katie 5. Martin 6. Tony 7. Alix 8.  9.  10.  11.  12.  13.  14.  15. 16.  17.  18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. Reserve List 1. 2.  
    • Yeah, playing with naturally aspirated is not smart bang for your buck power wise, but then I've never been known for being smart when it comes to cars and modifications 
    • I mean from V8 world there are gains to be made in intakes and such over stock items, but definitely only if you tune them. We're talking about I dunno, 10kw here and there on a 300KW v8, gains made by tuning in the 0.2 AFR that it changes so YES but also no you won't notice it other than the sound. Duct the air as mentioned 750,000 times and you will notice happier IAT's which definitely make a difference N/A. I mean my unsubstantiated guess is you'd go from 140kw with everything stock (after cams) to 145kw with everything and a tune :p
    • I decided to "spend baby spend", and "risk it for the biscuit" 2 Orders were made buying parts that I "don't really need but really really want" totalling $2.5k AUD 1: In stock items (intake plenum and throttle body) 2: The airbox thingie, with no real ETA for them getting more stock, so patience will be required 
×
×
  • Create New...