15K Engine Refresh.

[vdub]

Hello all, I’m refreshing my rb26 and I have about 15k to spend.

Now - 1600apox for the labor to take out and build

And - 1000apox for a new clutch

And - 1200apox for reco on the head

leaves me roughly 11k to dump on the rest of the motor/setup

The car is totally stock besides a larger radiator, new timing belt and 2 o2 sensors.

Not looking to push beyond 330kw because it’s purely a street car and I might need to drive it outside of the weekend.

Where should I use the money to try and make it reliable as possible?

[GTR_JOEY]

Forged rods and pistons

Balance the entire bottom end, ensure good harmonic balancer is used

Sort out the oil issues ie good pump, baffling, restrictor, and baffled catch can set up

Reputable builder

Reputable tuner

Make sure your fuel pump/injectors are 100% serviceable

This is just a few main points

[GTR_JOEY]

Btw you won't have enough money if you haven't already upgraded

ECU

Injectors

Turbos

Exhaust

Etc

[33GTRV]

basic run down for a streetable 26 that i have seen lately:

Built bottom end: $5500

Recon/Freshen up the head: $2000

Turbochargers: $2500

Injectors: $800-1000

Computer and tune: $2500

Clutch: $500-1000

Freshen up brakes and bushes: $1000

Labour: $3000

These estimates are all a little above what you could get it done for, and for good reason. NOTHING ever goes to plan mate, sometimes you need a little extra on block work or tuning or electrical gremlins or a slave cylinder ect ect. To build a tough street GTR is really a 20k+ affair to be done right. I havnt really factored in an exhaust, fuel pump or suspension and tyres as i would hope they are already sorted, like 99% of the gtr's out there.

[GTSBoy]

Oh, and simple things.....water pump, timing belt, water hoses under the plenum etc. All that sort of stuff. It's senseless to refresh an engine and re-install it with old crumbly shit attached to it. But all that jazz adds up to a few $$ too.

[GTScotT]

If you take your time with this and do an EPIC amount of research you should be able to save a lot of money and get the job done much cheaper.

If you are not skilled in the area you should have the motor stripped down to a long motor (cover to sump). For what you describe I would purchase the following items and deliver them along with the motor to a reputable builder:

- Forged pistons and rods (buy these after builder confirms what size bore you will need to use)

- Upgraded oil pump

- New water pump

- New timing belt kit

- Crank nose extension (if pre 94 R32 crank being used)

- Oil gallery restrictors to head

- Quality head gasket (buy this in a kit with intake gaskets etc)

Let the builder do the rest and give you back the long motor all reassembled and ready to put back in.

I am confident this can be done within the 15k budget. If you are SUPER ANAL I think you could squeeze a pair of -9s and a Nistune into the mix too and be 90% of the way to your 330kw goal within the rebuild budget.

Be it myself I am very confident I could get it done, based on my own recent build.

[Sinista32]

Hello all, I’m refreshing my rb26 and I have about 15k to spend.

Now - 1600apox for the labor to take out and build

And - 1000apox for a new clutch

And - 1200apox for reco on the head

Sorry but I think your start point above is under estimated a bit.

But then again I can be totally wrong as labour and parts prices maybe cheaper where you are

My guesstimate is below

Now - 1600 - $5000 aprox for the labor to take out ($2k) and rebuild with parts and consumables you supply ($3k)

And - 1000 - 1500 - 2200 aprox for a new clutch

And - 1200 - 1200 - $2000 aprox for reco on the head

[GTR_JOEY]

As stated above you would nearly need to shop around, there's heaps of stuff going around the forum

If not your next best bet is to buy in bulk from Japan

PM me and I'll put you onto someone who can get you even cheaper parts then the jap sites ie RHD, green line

[Deano 1]

Any reason why it needs to a freshen up? Is the motor blown?

[BrynDETT]

I don't think he needs a 2k clutch for 300kw..npc 5 puk button is only 600.

[Shoota_77]

As above, it always blows out well above what you think it will cost.

Don't rush buying stuff. Builds that have started out like you intend to that then subsequently run out of money go up for sale from time to time. Wait for one to come up and snap it up cheap. People get desperate when their circumstances change and they need money. It's happened to all of us!

PM'd about such an instance.....

[vdub]

Any reason why it needs to a freshen up? Is the motor blown?

Not blown that I know of, head gasket gone /warped head.

Sorry but I think your start point above is under estimated a bit.

But then again I can be totally wrong as labour and parts prices maybe cheaper where you are

My guesstimate is below

Now - 1600 - $5000 aprox for the labor to take out ($2k) and rebuild with parts and consumables you supply ($3k)

And - 1000 - 1500 - 2200 aprox for a new clutch

And - 1200 - 1200 - $2000 aprox for reco on the head

I got a quote from glenn at chasers in melb on a rebuilt motor.

2k to remove engine/head and refit, 1600 reco head. maybe there will be more hidden costs

[JustinP]

maybe there will be more hidden costs

There ALWAYS is, unfortunately.

[Daz]

330 pfft go for 400+

[GTR_JOEY]

330 pfft go for 400+

Add another 5grand at least too

[dkbcleaner]

I just got my gtr freshened up by glen from chasers with new rings, bearings, reco head and all oil control mods and he will sort out exactly what you need. If your going to upgrade your oil pump than a larger sump is a must! Allow around $1500 for sump, as mentioned in earlier post change all your hoses to new ones - approx $600, water pump and timing belt ect.. and as you can see the costs can go up pretty quickly if you havnt done your homework, But glen is good and he will price up everything accordingly so there is no hidden surprises

[dkbcleaner]

Well actually i should mention that hidden costs can come when they strip down your motor coz you never know exaclty what the damage is. In my case the head needed a reco so 1500 dollars there. So 'hidden' in the sense but should be expected really