I don't think I ever done a build thread on here, so here it is in fast forward. This was over 3-1/2 years.



when I got it with a blown KA




cleaning it up



engine bay painted



sold the Works, bought some Volks



got the RB25 and started tearing it down, and putting it back together





parts of to powder coat



puttin it together



getting it into the car with McKinney mounts









first manifold from LoveFab that didn't fit


second manifold that did fit





down pipe made and installed




troubleshooting the ChaseBays wiring harness






OMG it finally runs!!!! On to the dyno!!



17psi pump gas



the way it looks now

Thanks for posting this up. These are always great for the community (especially when there aren't many builds being posted atm). What turbo setup do you have? Very clean car also.

It's a Bullseye Power (Borg Warner) S366 extended tip. T3 .85 a/r hot side

Got to love a clean black car.

thanks. The only eye sores (fuse box lid & cooling panel) will soon be addressed. I'm thinking about doing the valve covers in a white background with Darth Vader heads water print. What do you all think?

Could turn out pretty nice. Just depends on how it all comes together once they are finished. But that is a unique idea. I used to be a star wars fan when I was kid. Would definitely go with the theme of the car. I say give it a shot.

looks great like it was factory almost lol. and i think you might be on to something withe the valve covers.

The motor started smoking the other night, so I have decided to pull it and part it all out. Going back to a KA, something simple and easy. I'm through with RB's. I'm posting it in the classifieds.

Duke89 wrote:looks great like it was factory almost lol. and i think you might be on to something withe the valve covers.

Thanks, I'm just very meticulous and picky which is why it takes me forever to build anything. The valve cover vents were drilled and tapped -8 and the pcv was drilled and tapped -6.

What color smoke? White/Grey?

Air fuels look a little lean towards the top....

Oh my, I didn't catch that! It is 12.5-13?! Was the fuel pump not keeping up or was it a lapse in tuning?

even spoolup looks pretty lean.

cracked pistons? just put some forged units in and call it a day.

am i missing something? where the smoke and cracked piston comments coming from?

this post.

chad b. wrote:The motor started smoking the other night, so I have decided to pull it and part it all out. Going back to a KA, something simple and easy. I'm through with RB's. I'm posting it in the classifieds.

oh im retarded..

well surely being lean didn't help it.. and the amount of timing you have been suggesting is fairly aggressive from what iv'e gathered from your posts.. if its oil smoke are you even sure its the motor?

Giving up pretty easy sir

Na, not giving up. Should have made an update a time ago. After some investigation, I found that the guy I paid to do startup calibration on the car did not set the CAS up properly in the AEM. In the end, it had too much timing. On pump gas, it was only a matter of time until it let go. I have since bought another long block and have not decided if I will build this one or put in back in stock.

oh, and as far as the AFR's, that was from the sniffer at the dyno. My UEGO was reading 11.5-12.0's that day. The side of #4 piston blew out. The top of the cylinder was badly scorched.

just out of curiousity....i take it your "tuner" did not setup the knock table in your aem? you can also use an output from the aem for a knock warning light. i always suggest this when you push motors the way we do!

chad b. wrote:Na, not giving up. Should have made an update a time ago. After some investigation, I found that the guy I paid to do startup calibration on the car did not set the CAS up properly in the AEM. In the end, it had too much timing. On pump gas, it was only a matter of time until it let go. I have since bought another long block and have not decided if I will build this one or put in back in stock.

Damn he didn't sych the timing at all then? just got it to fire up and tuned it that way?

yeah id be finding another tuner.. takes only minutes to check a spark plug... not to mention the dyno in most cases will tell you how far your pushing it if you know how to use it. i setup my knock tables in haltech, however i still only trust what the dyno says and how the plugs look.

The tuner should have noticed what was going on reguardless of what the base timing was set at.. weather the total timing was at 30 degrees or 5 the engine wants what it wants...

Sorry for the rant, just sucks that you have to go thru this because of someone elses short comings.

^ this.

its amazing he didnt check the base sync and shoot the crank to verify timing... i ALWAYS shoot base to make sure it agrees with what the ecu is expecting before tuning.
some motors can take some bad timing and others will blow the first pull.

from your description of the piston it sounds like detonation and a lean mix...your afrs also sudgest this.
find a new tuner this time around for sure...your current 'tuner' isnt doing so well apparently.

Well yea, Carl, apparently. There were many mistakes made. The guy who did the initial startup calibration, and the guy who tuned it on the dyno know one another and I guess one trusted the other. At this point it doesn't matter anyway. I have another motor to go in it car. I just haven't decided exactly what I want to do with this block before it goes in

was the motor built?

if you need stock RB25 pistons and rods. i have a complete set..

No it was a stock bottom end. I've already bought another long block. Haven't decided if I'm gonna build this new block or not.

I'd keep the stock bottom end and install some ARP rod bolts and call it a day. I thought this whole time your previous motor was built. I'm surprised it lasted the dyno session, sell your new long block and replace the your old pistons with mine .. save some money!

Are you being serious? My block that is blown is no good. The top of #4 cylinder is scorched really bad. It would need to be bored and honed. My brother's car is finally of the lift, so I'll be pulling my car over to our shop soon to get started on it. For my hp goals (475-500) I don't really need a built block, and honestly, I'm tired of dropping so much money into this car.


Plus, you can't install ARP rob bolts in stock rods without getting them machined. If I was to do all that, I'd just go ahead and build the motor.

rod resize is cheap...my machinist charged me like 12$/rod.

chad b. wrote:Are you being serious? My block that is blown is no good. The top of #4 cylinder is scorched really bad. It would need to be bored and honed. My brother's car is finally of the lift, so I'll be pulling my car over to our shop soon to get started on it. For my hp goals (475-500) I don't really need a built block, and honestly, I'm tired of dropping so much money into this car.


Plus, you can't install ARP rob bolts in stock rods without getting them machined. If I was to do all that, I'd just go ahead and build the motor.

Yes i was being serious, i didn't realize the block was so bad that a light hone wont remove the imperfections... Your whole demeanor is to save money on this build.. i'm just suggesting options.. like Carl said resizing rods is cheap.. and using stock pistons will work fine, rods are the weak point IMO