Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

hey guys, new here and just getting my 1st skyline,

my question is:

i just got my r34 neo rb25de, stock - direct import, because of my age and cost of insurance decided to stick to the gt model, but once it gets a bit cheaper for me to own

a turbo car, would my best option to get a front cut of a 34 rb25det and do the swap or just build a neo rb25de+t - i am looking for something reliable, how hard would the

swap be?

i know the best option is to just get a gtt but im hoping not to have to replace the car entirely cause im looking to do a fair bit with it .

any reply would be great

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/348312-neo-rb25de-to-det-swap/
Share on other sites

expensive if you can't do the work yourself

wouldn't bother with turboing the n/a engine, if you must keep the car then dropping in a turbo engine is the best idea

you said it though, just get a gtt when you're allowed to

yeah the best option is to limit the mods you do to the NA (or only do mods that are removable), and then once you can drive a turbo just go out and buy a GT-T. you will save yourself a few thousand dollars buying a factory turbo as you would be able to sell your GT for similar money to what a GT-T costs, and it saves you all the time and money of doing a conversion. plus depending on what spec your NA is, you may get things like better brakes, LSD and stronger gearbox, which if you were to upgrade all of them on the NA, plus the cost of doing the turbo upgrade, you'd be getting close to the price of keeping your NA and buying a GT-T as well.

hey guys, new here and just getting my 1st skyline,

my question is:

i just got my r34 neo rb25de, stock - direct import, because of my age and cost of insurance decided to stick to the gt model, but once it gets a bit cheaper for me to own

a turbo car, would my best option to get a front cut of a 34 rb25det and do the swap or just build a neo rb25de+t - i am looking for something reliable, how hard would the

swap be?

i know the best option is to just get a gtt but im hoping not to have to replace the car entirely cause im looking to do a fair bit with it .

any reply would be great

You didn't mention whether it's a Manual or Semi-Auto.

If it is Semi-Auto, don't do the engine swap, just.. just don't.

The smart money is all on "Sell and buy turbo car later" though. It is the best value for money option by far. "Sell and buy R33 GTR when off P's" is even better.

You didn't mention whether it's a Manual or Semi-Auto.

If it is Semi-Auto, don't do the engine swap, just.. just don't.

The smart money is all on "Sell and buy turbo car later" though. It is the best value for money option by far. "Sell and buy R33 GTR when off P's" is even better.

its a 5 spd manual

another question (just tell if its a retarded thought) - would i be able to get a r33 rb25det front cut and then use the neo head from r34 rb25de - and then throw it in my r34.

Why bother? I don't think the oil gallerys line up for the NEO system, and LOL BTW, it's a little more complex than just "throwing it on"...

If you were to go down that path, an R34 front cut wouldn't be much more expensive.

Listen to us mate, if money is your issue, sell the car and buy a GT-T, it will be thousands of dollars cheaper, more reliable, simpler and a shitload easier. GT-T includes different suspension, LSD, brakes and heaps of other stuff, so just doing a motor swap is only half the job.

in all seriousness, don't bother doing up the NA too much, especially if you plan on going turbo down the track. it really is a waste of money compared to selling it and buying a turbo one. just do mods that you can transfer. things like ECU are interchangable between natro and turbo (just by changing the tune), and things like suspension are probably interchangable as well so just keep the stock parts to put back on before you sell it.

  • 2 months later...

Cheaper insurance? As in, cheaper because you don't plan on telling them about it being a turbocharged vehicle?

Why do people come on here asking for advice and then insist on ignoring it, thinking they've come across some secret squirrel way of owning Skylines that no one else in the entire SAU community has ever thought of doing before? Just realised it's the naturally aspirated section, my bad.

Dude, I have done this exact thing... My advice, sell up and buy a factory GTT.

Doing the engine swap is a huge headfuck. Nothing ever goes to plan or to budget. I started out with a $5000 budget, and ended up paying roughly $10000 by the time everything was finished and back on the road. All up, it took about 5 months to be completed, including waiting for the donor car to arrive from Japan.

To break it down for you:

Written off R34 donor car is the best way of going about this as you will need the gearbox (because the RB20 box is a piece of shit), driveshaft and diff because the GT driveshaft won't fit and the GT diff has different ratios. So you need to find an R34 with front-end damage. This cost me $4000, came from Japan with 61000kms on the clock.

Then you need a pull type clutch to suit the new gearbox, I went with an Exedy Ceramic which costed me $1250.

You will also need to supply FMIC, fuel pump, radiator, and boost controller. That there cost me another ~2k.

If you are not doing the swap yourself, labor is going to set you back about $3000. This was the major headfuck part, waiting on the garage to do the work for me. My car was with them for about a month and I am still finding random problems like incorrect wiring for the boost sensor and incorrect installation of the knock sensors which has costed me more money because it has wasted valuable time on the dyno while my tuner tried to sort it out.

After the conversion was done, I had to splash out a bit more on getting a good exhaust system as my old exhaust was a 2.5" designed for the NA. I was lucky in the fact that my car already had the brakes and suspension upgraded so I didn't have to spend any money there (although I did splash out and get coilovers anyway). If your car still has the stock GT brakes then you NEED to upgrade them at the same time. I've probably forgotten a couple of things I needed to do as well.

All in all, unless your car has already been modded so that it is beyond value of what a similar spec GTT would cost (this was the case with mine), then sell the GT and buy a GTT. Save yourself the headaches. I didn't listen to everyone telling me this and it costed me a lot of money and time. For your power target, you are also going to need to spend another few thousand on turbo, injectors, ECU, etc, etc, etc.... The list goes on.

Edited by Hanaldo

Mate, your insurance company will bend you over if you don't tell them about the turbo engine. And do you think the revised insurance will be cheaper on a gt with an engine transplant rather than on a normal gtt?

If you're annoyed at the insurance cost a skyline is not the right way to go, considering small things can come up regularly which cost a fair bit to fix.

The car will also have poor resale value, robbing future you, which future you won't thank current you for.

The mods you've listed are transferable though, so you can keep them. If you go down this path you are literally pissing away 10k, maybe more. For that you can buy an r33 gtst s2, and for another few k you could by an r34 gtt in really good shape. Or you could save up for a house. It's just a waste of money that you won't get back, to make a copy of a car that you should have bought anyways. r34 gtt's have come down 4k in the past 18 months, they're a freaking bargain now.

How many years have you got left on your p's?

Also be careful asking very basic questions unless you're ready for a flaming from the experienced members of sau, or a tongue lashing from a mod after they close your thread. Things like "how do i get 250-300rwkw" have been covered a thousand times, and the answer lies in the FI dyno thread. There are a million different ways each with different perks and drawbacks.

Anyways, despite EVERYONE seemingly turning against you and trying to hold you back from what you want to do, many of us have been there, and we're all just trying to save you the pain of repeating common mistakes

ok so i think ive made up my mind in this regard - despite all best advise ( thanks to all btw) im gonna go with the engine swap - over the next 3 years ( for cheaper insurance ) - does any one have a list of what im gonna need to do - hoping for about 250 - 300 rwkw

i don't mean to be rude or anything, but it's going to cost you a lot more than you think it will. as many have said in this thread, you will need a bucketload of money to carry out the work and of course it will have poor re-sale value. i was thinking of doing the same thing but was advised not to by somebody who actually did do the swap and the conversion in the end, which he said was a regret. plus, you are not going to get cheaper insurance just because it's a non turbo chassis, it's actually the same chassis used by the 25GT-T. if i was you, i would just wait until the provisionals expire, and then invest in a clean R34 25GT-T which will be cheaper than the actual cost of making an N/A R34 a stock R34 25GT-T.

if you're going to mod, just do basic things like exhaust, wheels, etc but try and keep it as stock as possible (even if you keep the OEM parts and whack em on when you're selling, you will retain the cars original value and not lose too much, don't forget.. another p plater WILL pay $14500-$15000 for an R34 25GT that has been looked after well and cared for)

my two cents.

first of all guys - this is not a retaliation and i thank all of you for taking the time to guide me along the right path. and i agree that getting a factory gtt would be the best option.

my situation atm isnt the best and i know that i have already made a massive mistake in my choice of car.

i just got my r34 gt - again because i couldnt afford insurance as i am under 25 (for a gtt) and the car repayments. :(

atm i just manage to afford the 2

the cheaper insurance comes from waiting the 3 years until i am 25 ( not just lie-ing to the insurance company)

and the biggest mistake of all was paying 24000 for my gt - car dealer - because nobody would finance a personal loan so i could buy a private one.

so all in all (again ) i agree that a gtt is the best way to go but im just trying to find a way to avoid forking out for a new car - and loosing a tone on my current car - to be honest in the end id love a gtr - but who wouldnt

and the biggest mistake of all was paying 24000 for my gt - car dealer - because nobody would finance a personal loan so i could buy a private one.

:O :O :O :O :O :O

:blink:

You have been ripped off sir.

:laugh:

Edited by Hanaldo

first of all guys - this is not a retaliation and i thank all of you for taking the time to guide me along the right path. and i agree that getting a factory gtt would be the best option.

my situation atm isnt the best and i know that i have already made a massive mistake in my choice of car.

i just got my r34 gt - again because i couldnt afford insurance as i am under 25 (for a gtt) and the car repayments. :(

atm i just manage to afford the 2

the cheaper insurance comes from waiting the 3 years until i am 25 ( not just lie-ing to the insurance company)

and the biggest mistake of all was paying 24000 for my gt - car dealer - because nobody would finance a personal loan so i could buy a private one.

so all in all (again ) i agree that a gtt is the best way to go but im just trying to find a way to avoid forking out for a new car - and loosing a tone on my current car - to be honest in the end id love a gtr - but who wouldnt

$24,000 for an r34 25gt. i'm expecting to pay around about $14500 all up for mine when it arrives in australia. you should have just saved up more money and paid cash instead of getting a car loan... worst thing you could ever do imo since a car is a depreciating asset and paying $24,000 for an n/a r34 wow, just wow.

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

    • It was a great, but typical track day, and some VB was ingested at the night time debrief 🤪
    • And so, to round this out, I couldn't be happier to confirm @MBS206 has decided to buy the car. He drove down from sunny QLD with a trailer last week and it is off to its new home today. I'll let Matt confirm on next steps but I understand broadly that the plan is to leave it pretty much as is, and just get some quality wheel time with a nicely balanced car that is pretty much track ready. There are a few a jobs still to be done first but nothing too major and I think its a very smart buy Dinner last night at the Paragon with a round of VBs (mostly) for Neil
    • Well, 50 pages and the end of a chapter for this car. We took it out for a shakedown at Wakie yesterday, and everything went well. There were a couple of niggles: - Oil cooler fitting leak - tightened, cleaned, stopped leaking - Radiator cap overflow fitting was leaking....Mark called it, the overflow fitting was threaded in and not tight....tightened, tested and held pressure - Small oil leak at the rear of the block, probably the turbo oil feed - too hot to get at it comfortably but probably just needs to be nipped up - leak at the driver's side rear brake line where it meets the hardline. Fitting wasn't loose, so Matt backed it off and back on, no further leaks - there's also a leak somewhere on the top of the fuel tank, maybe that cross over fuel line - that was has been left to fix when its on a hoist Otherwise than those niggles the car went great, turned great and stopped great so it was a very successful day out. I'm always really nervous when a car first hits the track after a long break, especially with a brand new engine as well but it was great. VID-20251011-WA0007.mp4  Big thanks to @The Bogan who dropped by and helped out, @MBS206 and my nephew Lachlan the apprentice.  Neil's wife Mel also surprised the hell out of all of us by dropping by; she's up in Tamworth these days but was travelling to Melbourne so had plausible deniability for turning up at the garage, it was great to see her but also obviously a bit sad all round.
    • Skyline R33 Series 2 sedan tail lights in excellent condition. These are becoming harder to find, especially in this state.    BOTH SETS ARE IN FANTASTIC CONDITION (REFER TO PHOTOS)    ✅ No broken covers or cracks ✅ Lenses are in flawless condition ✅ All rear mounting lugs intact ✅ Comes complete as pictured ✅ Perfect for restoration, replacement, or upgrade   These lights are ready to go, no surprises just quality OEM parts.   These are definitely one of the better sets we have seen in a while. With minimal wear and tear they will come as you see. Bear in mind they are not brand new they are almost 30 years old now. To find them in this condition isn’t easy they can only be obtained on the second hand market.   Australia Wide Postage Available At Buyers Expense. Silver Set:$850 Grey Set:$850 PM Me for purchase or any other questions  IMG_2166.dng IMG_2165.dng IMG_2172.dng IMG_2173.dng IMG_2174.dng IMG_2179.dng IMG_2180.dng IMG_2260.dng IMG_2258.dng IMG_2259.dng IMG_2261.dng IMG_2266.dng IMG_2273.dng IMG_2274.dng IMG_2276.dng
    • Unsolicited advice? Keep the engine as close to stock as you can. Nothing wrong with adding some boost and making a little more power, but given where you are, you really don't want to try to make it into a monster. I can't imagine the roads are up to it, and the lack of locla support when it grenades will be a ball ache. FWIW, If there is a dyno around that you can access, then brand new injectors are a good idea, which will lead you to (at least) putting a Nistune in it, which will allow you to put an R35 AFM on it, all of which will make it possible to make it much much nicer to drive and live with.
×
×
  • Create New...