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Hi Guys,

I am looking at getting either a RB26 replacement in my R33 GTST or a RB30 bottom end.

I did a search but I couldn't get the answers for my specific questions.

1) I saw a post that someone actually did put an RB26 engine in a GTST, but how do you do this if the engine is designed for a 4wd application?

2) What would be better, an RB26 or RB30 replacement for my R33 GTST

3) Which would be cheaper, and what price range do you guys reckon it'll be around?

4) What would be the advantages and disadvantages of each.

I would appreciate if you skyline junkies can answer my questions.

Yours Truely.

1. you can modify the sump and take out the front diff, any decent alloy welder should be able to do this

2. which is better comes down to personal opinion more than anything else.

3. if you are looking for cheap, neither is a good option.

4. there are way too many to list. if you are interested in the 30 conversion there is a subsection of this forum dedicated to it.

Edited by TiTAN
1. you can modify the sump and take out the front diff, any decent alloy welder should be able to do this

2. which is better comes down to personal opinion more than anything else.

3. if you are looking for cheap, neither is a good option.

4. there are way too many to list. if you are interested in the 30 conversion there is a subsection of this forum dedicated to it.

How much, off the top of your head, for either option, fully installed, tuned and working?

to do it nicely, in a workshop, drive in drive out either option is $10K+. to be honest you would probably get more fun spending $8K on your RB25 and $2K on partying.

but if you must do it, I reckon go the RB26 into GTST option. it's a pretty cool conversion. something about a GTR motor in a RWD GTST appeals to me. or, sell your car and buy one already done. there are a few RB26 powered R33 and R34s around.

What do you want out of the car? Reliability? Big power? What's it going to be used for? What's done to the 25 at the moment? What's your budget?

I want to use it as a weekend car.

I have 273rwkw with a HKS GT2835 Pro S with all the usual mods (PFC, cooler, exhaust etc).

I wanted to get around the 350rwkw mark, and rather than forging my pistons, I was thinking of getting the whole RB26 block.

My budget is about 12K

I dont understand.. forging the RB25 would be miles cheaper wouldnt it? And for less money you'd get more power.

As in the end, dropping in an RB26, for the cost is going to be FAR less powerful than the current setup!

Spending the rough 10K for the transplant, you end up with a stock RB26. VS a highly modded, reliable RB25 for less :(

I think i said the same thing 3 times just then.. ha

I dont understand.. forging the RB25 would be miles cheaper wouldnt it?

As in the end, dropping in an RB26, for the cost is going to be FAR less powerful than the current setup!

Spending the rough 10K for the transplant, you end up with a stock RB26. VS a highly modded, reliable RB25 for less :(

I think i said the same thing 3 times just then.. ha

-I dont understand.. forging the RB25 would be miles cheaper wouldnt it?

yes it would.

- And for less money you'd get more power.

yes you will.

- As in the end, dropping in an RB26, for the cost is going to be FAR less powerful than the current setup!

yes, if left stock the 26 wont be making 270kw out of the box, though it can get there with only ebc, ecu, cam gears, exhaust. so about the same as current power, and you can flog all the current gear.

- Spending the rough 10K for the transplant, you end up with a stock RB26. VS a highly modded, reliable RB25 for less :teehee:

yes, but some people just want a 26. not much about modding a car is logical. :D if it were we'd all drive prius. there is something a little bit special about an RB26. look, it doesn't make sense at all. you'd be better off spending some money on your 25. but with your $12K budget, and the money from your 25 gear you can do it. I sold my complete 26 set-up (engine, afms, turbos, injectors, intake, piping, cooler, the whole shebang) for under $5,000. then it's just a matter of a few mods, the install work and bob's your uncle. :D

I want to use it as a weekend car.

I have 273rwkw with a HKS GT2835 Pro S with all the usual mods (PFC, cooler, exhaust etc).

I wanted to get around the 350rwkw mark, and rather than forging my pistons, I was thinking of getting the whole RB26 block.

My budget is about 12K

Ok cool in that case its an easy answer, do the RB30 bottem end and here's why:

My mate just went through a RB26 conversion in his GTST and was the biggest waste of money ever. He had around 190ish kw and went to 230kw for around $10k+ (good bang for buck ay?)

For a stock RB26 with labour for someone modifying the sump to get rid of the front diff, then labour to get the old engine out, labour to put the new engine in, a power FC for a 26, labour to rewire the engine, new cooler piping, tuning and a bunch of other little costs, it added up very quickly.

In your case you would be stuck with an engine putting out less power then you currently have, therefore you would have to sell all of your stuff to pay for either a single turbo conversion or put another set of twins on it. However you have a stock RB26 bottem end or a questionable "rebuilt one", how long is it going to last, well the one in my mates car lasted 6 months, so there goes his $10k conversion.

On the other side of the coin you go the RB30 bottem end, you can reuse everything you have for the time being, you just need someone to modify your head to fit the RB30 bottem end. You have 2 options, a standard RB30 that you buy from somewhere, a rebuilt RB30 bottem end to standard specifications (like the RIPS ones from NZ) or a forged bottem end. If your looking around the 350rwkw mark, the RIPS standard rebuilt bottem end will do the job.

They go for a few grand, with labour on the head and engine removal it would set you back easily under the 10k mark (you can even sell your stock 25 bottem end) with money to still spend on whatever turbo you want, GT35R etc. Now you have a bottem end that you know will last, the turbo of your choice on it, more torque/response than the 26 from the extra displacement and still probably more money left over then the 26 conversion.

I know what one i would do. Your choice though.

Edited by PM-R33
Hi Guys,

I am looking at getting either a RB26 replacement in my R33 GTST or a RB30 bottom end.

I did a search but I couldn't get the answers for my specific questions.

1) I saw a post that someone actually did put an RB26 engine in a GTST, but how do you do this if the engine is designed for a 4wd application?

2) What would be better, an RB26 or RB30 replacement for my R33 GTST

3) Which would be cheaper, and what price range do you guys reckon it'll be around?

4) What would be the advantages and disadvantages of each.

I would appreciate if you skyline junkies can answer my questions.

Yours Truely.

1. answer is simple : take the diff out , cut the housing and weld shut the holes . run a rb25det tranny

SSPX0228.jpg

SSPX0229.jpg

SSPX0227.jpg

2. alot of poeple are saying ... there's no replacement for displacement !!!

3. i'm up around 15,000 to 20,000 $$$can. for my swap in a usdm s14 ... but i rebuilt the bottom end of my rb26 with forged pistons and r33 crank !!!

but there's alot more custom shit in a usdm s14 :

- motor mounts

- downpipe to clear the steering column

- wiring harness

- drive shaft

- electric fans ... no place for the mechanic one

- ect...

i think you should be find with 10,000$$$

since your not fare from your wanted rwkw , i would just forged the rb25 !!!

sorry for my english i'm french !!!

P-O

Edited by rbs14kouki

stay true to your gtst and fly the rb25det flag proud!

id personally just forge the 25, cheapest option, especially since youve got all the supporting hardware and mods to make big power. I just love cars with powerhouse rb25dets, i think its the part of me that always goes for the underdog haha. Just my opinion though.

If you must do a conversion, id go the 25/30. You will use most if not all of that 12k on it though depending on the quality of the parts you use. A friend of mine has a 25/30, hes a mechanic and did everything himself except install and tune the power fc and it still cost him over 10k.

Cant argue with the results though, 300rwkws and something like 800nm of torque. Motor itself is capable of about 400rwkws, but at the moment has a small (ish) turbo on it for response and low down pull, and on top of that the sound is just unbelievable :(

Thanks you for your opinions. Looks like I won't be doing the RB26 conversion.

Now, Some of you said to just forge the RB25, and some said to get the RB30 bottom end. Bang for buck, which one is it?

With the RB30 bottom end, the engine should be able to take more punishment and the turbo should spool faster, am I correct? But I have a feeling it'll be more expensive than just forging the 25?

easily more expensive than "just forging the 25". modifications to the block and head to make it all bolt up.

if you don't have a forward facing plenum, you will need one if you want to put a front strut brace on possibly even close the bonnet. all these details are in the RB30 section.

The RB26 route is massively expensive. Anyone on this forum is kidding themselves if they think they wont want to start modifying a standard RB26 engine once its in their gtst. We've all got the bug. I reckon Beer Barron is being conservative with the $10K figure; this would be in labour only i reckon. When you think of the tailshaft mods, sump mods, power steering mods, etc, etc.

Barron is right when he says there is something about the RB26 engine though. It just looks good in an engine bay.

Alternatively, you could save yourself the heartache and just by my 350Kw RB26 powered R32 gtst! You'd be silly not to! :D

See the for sale section.

Shaun.

post-11456-1227822117_thumb.jpg

post-11456-1227822269_thumb.jpg

Edited by Shaun

i have a fully built 25 with all the extras for $12k if your interested.

everything included turbo etc with a manual it would easy do 350 rwkws.

currenty running a auto with hi stall to 330 rwkws

motor done less the 15k of local shopping trips.

Thanks you for your opinions. Looks like I won't be doing the RB26 conversion.

Now, Some of you said to just forge the RB25, and some said to get the RB30 bottom end. Bang for buck, which one is it?

With the RB30 bottom end, the engine should be able to take more punishment and the turbo should spool faster, am I correct? But I have a feeling it'll be more expensive than just forging the 25?

The amount of punishment it can take all comes down to the quality of the parts, how well it was put together and of course how much you abuse it when you drive it.

Bang for buck in my opinion strengthening the rb25 is a lot better. I mean having a fully built 25 and turbo upgrade will still see you around 300 or more kilowatts at the wheels, and thats some serious power.

Its true that if you put the same size turbo on an rb25 and an rb25/30 the turbo will spool a little quicker on the 30 as it has the increased capacity.

The 25/30 will also produce some more torque. So at the end of the day a fully built 25/30 can have a bigger turbo on the side of it than a normal 25 meaning increased peak power plus you will also gain additional torque, but these benefits do come at a larger price tag than overhauling an rb25

In the end if you car is making in excess of 300rwkws and its still not enough, then your as crazy as some of the people on this forum :unsure:

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