CD009 RB Conversion

[TurboTapin]

I had some time so I figured I'd document this, as information out there is very piecemeal and scattered. There's 2 methods of doing this conversion. First method is using an adapter flywheel with original bell housing and second is using regular RB flywheel with milled down bell housing. This will document the second method.

I find there's a lot more pro's then con's with the milled bellhousing method for the following reasons.

1. You're not stuck with a specific flywheel made by only one company. You can use any regular RB flywheel.

2. You cannot purchase an off the shelf twin plate clutch due to flywheel limitations.

3. Adapter flywheels are a fair bit longer. I dislike the idea of adding weight further from the crank and main bearing. 

4. Shifter sits a lot closer to original location. 

5. You can avoid having to deal with dumpster fire companies like Collins Adapters. 

 

Lets start. First step, purchase a CD00A transmission from your local dealer. If memory serves me right, I paid 2600$CDN in July 2022. 

Remove the bits you wont need as you'll need a different shifter kit. 

Next we'll need to remove the bell housing to have to milled down.

Remove the front cover bolts and front cover. Remove the circlip and bearing (Not pictured). Lastly, remove the hidden bolt under the shift linkage cover. This process is well documented in many Youtube videos so I won't delve more into it. Bell housing will come off with some love from a rubber mallet afterwards.

Once removed, drop it off at your local machine shop to have them mill it down 15mm. Before and after picture below.

The starter on an RB does not sit in the same location on the CD009 transmission so the bellhousing needs to be massaged a tad to fit. Some just notch it out completely, but I find it a hack job. I removed just enough meat for it to fit.

I also recut a drain path for oil/water in the original location. 

Next was to reinstall the bell housing and my shifter kit. I went with the SerialNine CD999 Technical shifter. From my findings, it's the closest to sit in the factory location.

Lastly for the transmission, you'll need to measure which release bearing will fit. X-Clutch (Australian Clutch Services) has a nice TSB documenting how to measure it.

TSB-203.pdf

I required a 32mm release bearing with an X-Clutch twin disk. Expect much longer with a single plate clutch. Here's a list of Nissan release bearing lengths and part numbers. If you require more, Collins does sell a 42mm release bearing.

Part number-------------Size

30501-A3800------------12 mm
30501-N1600------------14 mm
30501-U200-------------16 mm
30501-S0200------------18 mm
30501 -B6000-----------20 mm
30501-S0160------------22 mm
30501-K0401------------24 mm
30501-K0510------------26 mm
30501-N1600------------28 mm
30501-N8400------------30 mm
30501-U8500------------32 mm

With the transmission ready, I got to work on the car. Install your adapter plate of choice on the engine. I went with a Collins adapter, but knowing what I know why; I would avoid them like the plague. As the CD009 transmission is a lot bulkier, you will also need to enlarge two areas in the transmission tunnel for it to fit. First, the area where the bellhousing and adapter plate meet (Not pictured) and second, where the tunnel narrows down for the transmission mount. This took a fair bit of work with an air hammer and back and forth with the transmission in place. It's very tight but it fits.

Next up, is to finally get the transmission installed. It was a must for me to have to drop my motor a tad lower by loosening the 4x subframe nuts. Be careful with this as you don't want your motor and subframe to drop to the ground. Just before fabbing a mount, you'll need to measure and adjust your transmission angle in comparison with your differential. You're looking for equal and opposite. As my diff flange sat 2 degree's up, I adjusted the motor/transmission angle to be 2 degree's down. 

I fabbed up a mount bracket with 2" flat bar and a GKTech RB trans rubber mount. The RB and CD009 mount holes are identical and it bolts right up.

Lastly I had to trim the shifter hole a tad. The shifter sits in the original location, but still required trimming for the base. I made another plate to cover it and then covered it with sound deadening. 

And that should wrap it up. Now, sit back and enjoy your 6 speed that should in theory support 1000hp! One last thing I wanted to add is that the CD009 is not a great match for the 4.1-4.3 final drives you find on most skylines. I went ahead and popped in a speedtek 3.3 final drive, but I did drive it with a 4.3 for a short period of time. 1st-4th gears were useless and I'd cruise around 50kmh in 5th gear. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Duncan]

Awesome thread, thanks for posting this up

[TurboTapin]

20 hours ago, Duncan said:

Awesome thread, thanks for posting this up

Thanks, happy to help!

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

You should open up a drive in and drive out service.

(In Sydney, Australia lol).

I would drop off the shit box for this service.

[Murray_Calavera]

Thanks for posting this up, the work is very impressive!

Do you mind saying what the total cost of the conversion was in the end?

[TurboTapin]

On 4/11/2023 at 12:49 AM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

You should open up a drive in and drive out service.

(In Sydney, Australia lol).

I would drop off the shit box for this service.

Haha, summer all year round you say? Count me in! 

[TurboTapin]

On 4/11/2023 at 3:58 AM, Murray_Calavera said:

Thanks for posting this up, the work is very impressive!

Do you mind saying what the total cost of the conversion was in the end?

Thanks! Here's the parts I used. Prices in CDN which is very close to AUD. Cheers!

CD00A Transmission - 2600$
RB/CD009 Adapter - 600$
RB/CD009 Driveshaft - $600
Nissan 32mm Release bearing - 40$
Speedtek 3.33 Final Drive - 750$
CD009 Slave cylinder - 50$
Serial nine CD999 Shifter - 600$