Engineering Rb30/26 In Victoria

[Shoota_77]

Ok, I've seen the question asked many times before but not really seen a definitive answer.

I've had dealings before with an engineer for another project so I thought I'd ask him the question.

This was his response-

You are really getting out of your depth here. The R33 engine cannot be modified other
than a pod filter OR intercooler changes. If displacement is changed as you
describe, you need to prove your still meet the emission standards for the age
of your car. In this case a full ADR 37/00 (I believe ) test cost $4000 each
time for a yes or no answer, who knows how many time you will need to test it
before you get a pass. Car companies spend millions of dollars doing this stuff
to have road going cars approved.

That kinda wasn't the response I was hoping for!

I'd love (and have no doubt others would too) to hear if anyone has had any success with an engineer or got away with just telling Vicroads you've done an engine swap.
Looks like my cae will be a track car sooner than I thought....

[R31Nismoid]

The definitive answer has been posted many times before, to summarise: It is not financially viable to get a RB26/30 legally engineered.

The engineer is totally correct and is identical to what a number of users have posted over the years in this section and the Vic EPA thread.

[blk94r33]

$4k+ for emissions testing, or the inconvenience of dropping the old engine back in if you get caught..... Vic govt really loves shooting itself in the foot doesn't it......

[Shoota_77]

The definitive answer has been posted many times before, to summarise: It is not financially viable to get a RB26/30 legally engineered.

The engineer is totally correct and is identical to what a number of users have posted over the years in this section and the Vic EPA thread.

God you can be a clown sometimes..... It's a real shame as some of what you offer can be useful.

Don't they need you over on www.sscommodores.com.au? I'm sure you can add some value over there?

[R31Nismoid]

Sadly, some people just don't get my humour over the internet.

Anyway there is a fully detailed thread about it, in this very section.
You could hit the search and read/find it, valuable info in it that you are unlikely to get in this thread in 3 months... Reason I say is because a lot of those users don't post on SAU much these days, if at all.

[Shoota_77]

Yeah I know what you're saying in that we don't need another "What turbo do I put on my RB20 to make 4000kw" but topics like this change over time. Laws change, different engineers have different "perceptions of the laws" and so forth.

I have used the search function and read the other topics but thought it might be interesting for others considering the same thing to see factual information directly from an engineer rather than "my mates Dad said he knew a bloke that was shaggin Robbo's sister that someone told him that it was legal".

If you get my drift.....

As I said to my engineer, it's bloody frustrating that I will now have to drive my car around illegally due to the short sighted nature of the EPA and the Government. It's in the too hard basket so they just make it impossible to get over the line legally so the owner of the modifed car doesn't bother. The Govt still win anyway as they can then get the Police to focus on finding modified cars so they can fine them and get the money that way.

I don't want my car to be illegal but there's no way I'm paying $4000 to make it otherwise...

[R31Nismoid]

Emissions is probably the only thing all Engineers fear hehe, they all know it's just not worth it.

The same set-up you could rego in NSW and get it Emissions Legal for $300 with a highmount and anything you can think of (long as it passes)... But VIC is just backwards and won't let you do shit.


The only way to really get Emissions approved major mods/upgrades is to go with companies like Walkinshaw or AVO who get their kits EPA approved and go through all the testing, but then that's why their kits are expensive. That's a whole other can of worms as there are ways to circumvent certain things in the testing, but there is no way I'm going to go into that over a forum as it's very much not legal.

[Shoota_77]

PM me then. I might need help!!

[blk94r33]

Email the EPA under a fake alias and say what you're PLANNING to build, and ask them what you need to do to make it %100 legal and a rough cost of it, only way to get a definitive answer.

[Shoota_77]

Good idea, what's your email address? Jokes.

Yeah probably worth a try but I'm assuming the engineer knows the ins and outs of the law. It's his job to know so I would hope so anyway!

But as I alluded to earlier it's amazing how much the "perception" of the law makes. On my last (on hold) project (SR20DET into Datsun 1200 ute) I asked the same question of 3 engineers before one of them saw a loop hole (after I pointed it out admittedly) that we were able to use to get it ok'd legally. They all read into the rules what they believe to be true.

[R31Nismoid]

They weren't sure if a SR20 was legal? Jebus, that's a relatively easy/common one. I think most VASS people only want to do stuff like ambulance and wheelchair certs rather than modified vehicles

You get lucky too cause of the age vs exhaust dB, extra 5 dB us huge room to move

[Shoota_77]

SR20DET is theoretically no good. SR20DE no worries. The calculation is 2.5 X tare weight of the heaviest version of the vehicle (Wagon in this instance) for a non turbo and 3 X tare weight for turbo.

So heaviest Datto 1200 at 740 kgs equals a max turbo size of 1850cc which is why CA18DET is the weapon of choice.

The loophole as such is claiming that the Ute is a "commercial vehicle" which is lets be honest, a bit of a push! It's whopping 500kg payload somehow still makes it passable. But anyway, Datty takes a back seat for now.

[blk94r33]

I don't understand how these laws are written. If a turbo skyline can only go from 2.5 to 4 liters, how can commodores of similar weight be sold stock with 5.7's?

[Shoota_77]

As Ash said earlier, it's all about the ADR's. If the car is built within ADR guidelines then it's all fine. If you modify the car outside of how it was ADR'd then you need to pay to confrim that it should still be considered safe, environmentally friendly (yeah right!) plus other shit they make up to make it even harder.

We (modified car enthusiasts) need a stronger voice in parliament to voice our opinions and give the current members a bit more of an understanding of our culture and why we do it. They currenty just blanket the whole modified car club as a pack of criminals because of the minority that do burnouts in front of schools and so forth. It's easier to hate them and presume we're all the same. Wow, sorry, bit of a rant there!