Jump to content
SAU Community

Rb30 Engine Block For Rb26 Conversion

leeroy_25

By leeroy_25,
in Engines & Forced Induction

 Share

Recommended Posts

leeroy_25 Community Regular

leeroy_25

Posted
Posted

Hi there guys' Today I finally took delivery of my RB30 engine blocks from Australia! I am in the UK and have been interested to do the conversion for a while.. An opportunity came up so I took it.. After a lot of research and advise I was told the best block was the late non turbo block which would give a good compression ratio with the rb26 head and would also have the correct oil feed and returns already in the side ready to accept a turbo conversion. After much looking around Australia I tracked down a company with a couple of blocks and they said they were both the correct ones with the oil feeds etc.. However when they arrived today and I checked them out I found only one has the oil feed and returns in the side! Would I be correct to think this is not a major problem and I can just machine the holes in and tap them accordingly? Is there anything else the block will be missing that could be a problem or I need to be aware of?

Thank you in advance

Regards

Lee

P.S. i'll think i'll be visiting here a lot of the winter!

Guilt-Toy Grand Master

Guilt-Toy

Posted
Posted

how many blocks did you get?

Yes you can machine them to suit turbo with no issues.

Hi there guys' Today I finally took delivery of my RB30 engine blocks from Australia! I am in the UK and have been interested to do the conversion for a while.. An opportunity came up so I took it.. After a lot of research and advise I was told the best block was the late non turbo block which would give a good compression ratio with the rb26 head and would also have the correct oil feed and returns already in the side ready to accept a turbo conversion. After much looking around Australia I tracked down a company with a couple of blocks and they said they were both the correct ones with the oil feeds etc.. However when they arrived today and I checked them out I found only one has the oil feed and returns in the side! Would I be correct to think this is not a major problem and I can just machine the holes in and tap them accordingly? Is there anything else the block will be missing that could be a problem or I need to be aware of?

Thank you in advance

Regards

Lee

P.S. i'll think i'll be visiting here a lot of the winter!

leeroy_25 Community Regular

leeroy_25

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thank you there.. That is very good news indeed!! I thought that would be the case but figured I would check first!

I got two blocks.. one as a spare. I may sell it on once I have templated the holes into the other block! Is there anything else the block missing te oil feeds will be short on? Or is it all the same other than that?

Thanks again

Lee

leeroy_25 Community Regular

leeroy_25

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi Guys

The shippng was the biggest expense! Cost nearly £800! More than the blocks themselves!

R.I.P.S and some other dude on the UK forum came back and told me the blocks were scrap and no good for turbo applications.. then some other guy has told me hes has done a few like this! What's what?! Both the guy's that told me they are scrap normally sell blocks themselves!?

Personally I cannot see what can be that different.. as long as the pistons, rods, crank etc are the same and I can put the oil and water feeds and returns in then all should be okay right? I will also check the block front face is smooth above the pump is that was the first thing I looked at.. I assume worst case though I could also machine this area smooth?

Cheers Guys

Lee

unique1 Mentor

unique1

Posted
Posted

the flat spot for the lower tensioner is actually BELOW the water pump, i got mixed up and found out it was a s1 after i bought it. Ended up welding up the area and grinding it flat, engine is about to run in a couple of days now so ill see how it goes, shouldnt be a drama at all.

leeroy_25 Community Regular

leeroy_25

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Would you be able to post a pic of the mod you did no the front of the block? I was aware that the smooth area needs to be below the water pump but I have had the cover off to check that yet.. sounds pretty much like I have a series 1 block though! Doh! Oh well.. where there is a will there is a way! Is there an option to put the tensioner somewhere different. I presume if you had to weld up the front face it's not just a case of it being a rough cast finish that needs machining.. but it is the wrong shape?

Cheers Guys.

So much more positive than feedback I have had elsewhere!

R34GTFOUR Mentor

R34GTFOUR

Posted
Posted (edited)

the oil/water feeds are easy to do, definately no worries there. Its just nice to have the stock holes already pre-tapped ready to go, but i wouldnt go throwing the blocks out just yet haha

have a read of the rb30 DOHC guide, it tells you everything you need to know and it has pictures to show you the mounting positions for the tensioner.

Edited by R34GTFOUR

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
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Dose Pipe Sutututu
      Intercooler Choice

      By Dose Pipe Sutututu · Posted

      Plazmaman 76mm Pro Series, done. Data to back it up, I posted up somewhere here a few years back
    • GTSBoy
      RB26 swapped gtst

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      So.....wire it up appropriately. You can't use the resister pack with those injectors anyway.
    • r33.antwone
      RB26 swapped gtst

      By r33.antwone · Posted

      that’s the thing i’m on ID1050s and haltech not getting power due to the injector resistor 
    • Toilet Goblin
      Intercooler Choice

      By Toilet Goblin · Posted

      ahh okay cheers, i was thinking of just going for the m073, think m079 would be way too overkill considering they are same size. 
    • GTSBoy
      HK Premier with plans for slight mods, but keeping clean and simple

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      My first car was a HG. I'm very familiar with them. A mild cam upgrade is a good idea. The 186 is a very flexible engine - meaning it has good torque from down low. You can give up a little torque down low for quite a lot more excitement in the mid range, and a bit more up top - but they are not exactly a rev monster. You need to upgrade valve springs at the minimum. For a bigger cam, you'd want to make sure it wasn't still running the original fibre cam gear. That would be unlikely, given that most of them shat themselves in the 70s and 80s, but still within the realms of possibility. Metal cam gear required. Carbies are a huge issue. The classic upgrade was always a Holley 350, which works, but is usually pretty bad for fuel consumption. The 186S had a 2 barrel Stromberg on it that was very similar to the one on the 253, and is a reasonable thing if you can find one, and find someone to help you get it set up (which is the same issue with setting up a 350 to work nice). The more classic upgrade was twin sidedraught CD type carbs, or triples of same, or triple Webers. The XU-1 triple Webers being the best example. You can still buy all this stuff new, I think, but it's a lot of coin to drop. And then the people able to set them up are getting fewer and further in between. There's still some, but it used to be everyone's** dad and uncle could do it. **Not everyone's! But a lot. All in all, I wouldn't get too carried away with the engine. Anything you do to it without a full rebuild for power and revs will only make it slightly faster. I am all in favour of a complete teardown rebuild, with nice rods and pistons, 10 or 10.5:1 compression, and a clean port job with at least a big enough cam to run 98 with that compression, if not bigger. And if I did that to a dirty old red motor, I'd want to inject it too, which I'd struggle to fight against the devil on my shoulder that would argue for ITBs and trumpets. But the bills would start to mount up, and it will still never make stupid power. OK, a few people still know how to build absolutely mental red motors, courtesy of the work that went into HQ racing and modern knowledge being applied. But even a 300HP red motor is no match for an RB20 with a TD06. So you have to decide what it's worth to you. I'd just put a set of 6>2>1 extractors, a 2.5" exhaust and an electronic ignition conversion/dizzy on it and just run the old girl like the fairly slow old girl that she really is.
×
×
  • Create New...