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Thanks Santa (the neverending trials of the 400,000klm, 400kw, RB30, manual swapped Stagea)


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GTiR and GTR have solid lifters and ITBs as standard equipment. 26 head on a 30 is the way to go but we are talkn RB25DET or Neo so both is good. In my opinion it is still much easier to build a rwd VL with this setup by not f**king around with various understated costs and the adaptor plate needed for the 4WD sump issues as Tangles has said before. I might word Ska up on it ,lol. Ultimate bogan mobile.

Neo head has soild lifters as well, plus larger exh valves and VCT over the 26 head.

Main thing is decide on what purpose the car is used for and your power goal.

Street you want response and down low torque and 300-350rwkw is more than enough.

I have considered the Rb26 block or complete engine, but I am still swinging towards rb30 with a 1800kg stagea.

When spending $5-10k on a short motor, the cost difference between a Rb30 block+sump adaptor ($1000) and a good 26 block and crank ($500) is only $500 the answer is easy.

iv already started collecting parts and money, got a 4wd RIPS block in the shed with most of the work done, just need to get the galleries modded for the neo vct head as the previous owner of it intended to run a 26 head on it (its new/second hand, never been in a car or had a head on it).

need to figure out what turbo and manifold to go with and an intake plenum. trying to figure out a cheap easy answer for the plenum... dont want to spend big dollars on one as im not really chasing big power but also want one to fit easy. thinking of buying a cheap ebay one, cutting the runners off and having my standard runners welded on rather than modding bolt holes and injectors etc to suit the neo head.

D.

Neo head has soild lifters as well, plus larger exh valves and VCT over the 26 head.

Main thing is decide on what purpose the car is used for and your power goal.

Street you want response and down low torque and 300-350rwkw is more than enough.

I have considered the Rb26 block or complete engine, but I am still swinging towards rb30 with a 1800kg stagea.

When spending $5-10k on a short motor, the cost difference between a Rb30 block+sump adaptor ($1000) and a good 26 block and crank ($500) is only $500 the answer is easy.

Yeah and GTT. Do you have to disable the vct if using certain cams? So your telling me a 25 NEO head is better than using a 26? I think thats debatable. We all know the bottem line on bottem endz, lol. GL with ya build mr.spencer. I reckon i struck out on strokers, maybe simon and duncan could shed some light. Be interesting to know what the specs are on the turbo u will be using. Either which way you will be enjoying the car. :P Just bouncing round some ideas.

Edited by dirtyRS4
Yeah and GTT. Do you have to disable the vct if using certain cams? So your telling me a 25 NEO head is better than using a 26? I think thats debatable. We all know the bottem line on bottem endz, lol. GL with ya build mr.spencer. I reckon i struck out on strokers, maybe simon and duncan could shed some light. Be interesting to know what the specs are on the turbo u will be using. Either which way you will be enjoying the car. :P Just bouncing round some ideas.

Rb26 head has no advantage over the neo head. But the neo does over the 26 head. VCT

26 inlet is better being ITB

I have been reading up on rb30's a fair bit lately, and few have quoted the neo head being the better option

I think most people go either way because if you own a gtr they already have the 26 head. My case, I have a neo 25 to pull apart.

If you have a r33 rb25 head you have the least best option. But all will do job well.

I have spent a fair few $ already on the turbo and inlet plenum, injectors etc to not be bothered changing to anything else

I have gt3076R .82 525hp turbo to answer your question which

My goal is a forged bottom end, plenty of torque and low 300rwkw.

It is a daily driver!

Just to clarify my head is an RB25DE - apparently they have GTR sized valves and I will be using the VVT. The adapter plate is about $500 - I think you can get them in Aus for that too now.

Attached is the elusive SAU RB30 .pdf floating about that has all of the facts and information needed. The .pdf is a good reference and the thread below has dyno results from various SAU members from the forced induction section. Checkout the RIPS vids to put a smile on your dial. :banana:

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Rb....html&st=40

Edited by dirtyRS4
.....What i do know is that logistically adding RB30 gear is not as simple as perceived, from reading the (RB30 forum section) and have always wondered why not go full blown RB30 like bob is going for instead of the 25/30 and 26/30 combo and save the f**k around? The parts needed for this type of build do need a fair bit of overengineering and i know that RB30 blocks are cheap as, hence why people think they should do this in the first place but dont figure in the rest. Just want to see what is best bang for your buck across the board when spending this sort of money. Sorry to question Uncle Duncs opinion, but no one else seems to want to, lol. I still think going on others users builds that you have not factored in a accurate drive in / drive out price. .....

its all cool, this is a discussion forum not a bible!

No doubt there was a heap of stuffing around with the taller block, and I have enough projects on the go - exactly why I got a workshop to do this build.

But there is no way a stoker crank is better value when they start at 5k+ just for the crank - I got the rb30 for a couple of hundred bucks and plenty of people have swapped them for a case of beer. That's a big head start and you still get the extra 200cc and better rod/stroke ratio

Can I ask which RB30 block you guys are using to keep this conversion legal in NSW? If you are using 'other' techniques that you would rather not discuss publicly, i'd like to hear about them via PM if possible :O

honestly not sure what you mean? I got a blue slip for the conversion.

Also, was there any problem with the difference in block height in regards to clearances? eg did it clear the bonnet and strut brace ok?

clearance was fine (big advantage doing this in a stagea vs a gtr). I know lots of gtr people have troubles. The only clearance issue I had is the turbo is very close to the strut brace but that is with a high mount manifold. plenty of space at the motor.

honestly not sure what you mean? I got a blue slip for the conversion.

Well its a motor that was never available in that chassis (RB30) and is greater than 15% capacity so should need an engineering certificate..

Unless you know a loophole of course

ahh fair enough.

the car has many unengineered mods. I have not bothered getting it engineered and would not unless I was pinged. I have been driving it with unengineered mods like 99% of people on here basically since I got it.

I have been finding it harder to get Warrants of Fitness and the last guy pointed out a load of illegal stuff but because he was a Skyline fan and i promised it was the last time he gave me the WOF. The RB30/25 is going in now and then the GTR diff and axles etc and then I will put the car through what we call "low volume certification" with an approved engineer. Then I will go to the insurance company with my complete list of mods and certificate. Cops are quite hot on this kind of stuff here especially with "boy racers" but because my car looks pretty stock and I am really old I haven't had any hassles yet but just need to keep the insurance legal.

  • 4 weeks later...

OK, some updates after some unexpected setbacks (I kind of ripped the exhaust off it going into my driveway with the race car on the back :D )

Got a call saying the car was ready after full boost tuning on Friday night, headed down like a kid on christmas morning.

Jumped in, fuel tank was empty so I headed to the nearest servo, chucked in 60l of Shell's finest, and headed onto the M2 to give it a boot :blush:

The moment I did it pinged like crazy! Backed off, turned the boost back down to 12, floored it again, pinged like crazy again. Grumpy call to the workshop....they organised to open early on sat morning and check it out.

After some checks on the dyno they came to the conclusion there was a problem with the fuel. Drained the tank, put in some known good 98 octane and ran it up on they dyno at high boost (16psi). Absolutely no problems.

So thanks to my mates at Shell for almost killing my brand new Rb30 with crap fuel. I kept a sample and will be getting reimbursement from the dyno and troubleshooting time. Thank god the PFC has a knock light and my ears work. I would hate to think how many people have put that fuel in and driven off assuming everything is OK.

And a big thanks to Hills Motorsport for dropping everything and heading in early on Sat morning to help me out - especially when it turned out to be 100% not their fault.

Dyno result at 16psi (high boost). I am happy to run it at low boost (14psi) most of the time because a) the power is adequate there, and b) fuel is not free!

stagea_rb30vs25.jpg

Also for interest I put on (sorry....freehand!) my last dyno run in red. At the time the car had 12psi boost on a standard motor and turbo with a HKS FCD managing the rich and retard issues. Also had 3" zorst, front mount and manual gearbox.

As I said earlier in the thread I am absolutely over the moon about the results, this is how all stageas should drive :blush: absolutely buckets of torque everywhere, and plenty of power when needed (makes more than my race gtr lol)

This is it for me for mods on the car for now, I am going to enjoy it for a few months. I guess the next thing would be changing the std injectors and air flow meters (both are maxed out which is why we didn't push past 16psi). And a decent turbo if (when?) this one fails.

Oh and I have something very cool coming for the interior but that is a story for another day :D

nice result. what dyno, awd or rwd?

interesting that a rb30/25 manual 1.1bar = 243kw, whereas rb25 ported tomei head auto 1.1bar = 249rwkw / around 239awkw

almost tit for tat

take your choice, nice bottom end rb30 torque, or sweet tomei headness

nice result. what dyno, awd or rwd?

interesting that a rb30/25 manual 1.1bar = 243kw, whereas rb25 ported tomei head auto 1.1bar = 249rwkw / around 239awkw

almost tit for tat

take your choice, nice bottom end rb30 torque, or sweet tomei headness

How can you even make a comparsion when you have two total different turbo's.

And I am sure Duncan's extra torque would blow you into the weeds

lol I don't think this car will be blowing anyone anywhere....its just for getting around :blush:

it was on awd dyno (the "before" run was 2wd)

Damn good result and very nice power curve. Im still serously considerring teh 25/30 into a GU patrol. Power and tourqe like that with standard inj's and afms's is awesome.

Fuel economy would be better now though eh?

no idea about fuel economy yet....my foot has been pretty heavy, double points or not. because its hard not to laugh every time it comes on boost :P

too_much_boost, I've run mine up on 2wd dynos with no front drive shaft often....no obvious issue and I don't see how there would be. Yes 4wd will probably be trying hard (attessa wheelspin vs g sensor arguments can wait for another thread) but a flange spinning hard with no wheels attached is no big deal.

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