Project RBvipVert is underway

[RBvipVert]

Well I have had this car for almost 15 months now and in the past month I have finally started to make some progress. I have spent the past 6 months aquiring parts and have now started to get the project started.

I hope to keep this thread updated regularly but this car is 160 miles from where I live so progress will be slow. My goal is to get it road worthy in the next 4 weeks and then begin working on the body work and ordering aero so I can get it fitted and the car painted

Parts list:
1994 Vert
R33 RB25 auto swap: New pumps, rear main seal, Nismo thermostat, timing belt and tensioners, misc gaskets and seals
Greddy intake manifold
Top Hat Mount kit
AEM F/IC
Walbro 255
Nismo FPR
D2 coilovers
5 Lug conversion
New stayfast top and rear window
S14 seats
Wheels TBD
Aero TBD

4 weeks ago I pulled the stock motor out and began prepping the bay for paint. I plan to paint the exterior a BMW silver grey or alpine white. I haven't made my mind up yet, so this is the reason for the Smoke Grey bay. It will work with what ever color I paint the exterior.

I currently have the RB motor torn apart and in the process of replacing all the pumps and gaskets cleaning up all the wiring and have the valve covers ready for powdercoat.

Pics

[TIMELSS_vert]

a super made kit and sil 13 fronty would be SOOOO sick for a vip styled car.

there ar three main themes you need to keep in the back of your head...
1) SUPER CLEAN - nice simple lines and nutral colors
2) SUPER LOW - Learn to drive the car like a grandpa and drive with less than 3" of ground clearance
3) SUPER FLUSH - wheel fitment is everything, start reading up cause it does take effort and knowledge to make perfection

Good luck and keep us updated


Modified by TIMELSS_vert at 3:29 PM 5/27/2008

[jspec603]

Very nice start to your project!!! Can't wait to see more soon I hope?! Nice choice on the engine bay color!! Keep up all the good work! And remember, we love pics!

[DeXteR]

And remember, we love pics!

Correction... We DEMAND pics.

Seriously, keep us posted. Many of us are up to our eyeballs in vert projects, but few of us have the time or resources to make progress quickly. So it's good to share your progress with the rest of us, even if it isn't much or often.

[jspec603]

Correction... We DEMAND pics.

Seriously, keep us posted. Many of us are up to our eyeballs in vert projects, but few of us have the time or resources to make progress quickly. So it's good to share your progress with the rest of us, even if it isn't much or often.

Agreed! And for myself, it keeps me motivated to keep up the work! I know I get in a rut sometimes and do nothing but stare at it. lol

[TIMELSS_vert]

^^ agreed

[RBvipVert]

Intake manifold came in. Now I'm trying to get the valve covers done. If anyone knows someone who does chrome/gold plating please pass me there contact info.




Modified by RBvipVert at 2:16 PM 6/12/2008

[jspec603]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so shiny!

[Z Style]

Go with nickel plating, looks better.

[CDubs_350Z]

Looks good! You need to quit slacking and get it done already! HA

[jspec603]

Looks good! You need to quit slacking and get it done already! HA

LOL What he said!

[RBvipVert]

So just a little update here. Last weekend I put the motor back together and mounted the transmission and wiring harness and dropped it in.

Well after putting it in and out the engine bay 3 times to pound on the tunnel at the firewall (much more than I have had to for any 5 speed swapped car) I determined that I have to relocate the tunnel transmission crossmember body mounts as RB auto trans pan hits. So spotweld drill bit and welder here I come.

This weekend I plan to get those brackets relocated, intercoler mounted, and all the charge pipes mocked up and finished. I'll take pictures this weekend.

Hope to get it running the following weekend. I still need to get a fuel pump, pressure regulator, battery relocation hardware, downpipe, and exhaust piping.

I will be running the motor with the stock turbo with a greddy knockoff manifold and a Q45 throttlebody. I hope to have no issues running the stock auto computer. Later after i get any issues i have worked out I want to upgrade the turbo, valvebody and clutch disks in the transmission, and get emanage or something simular.


Modified by RBvipVert at 4:20 AM 6/16/2009

[TIMELSS_vert]

glad to see you're still at it, but seriously, we need pics!

[phulawless]

haha you are doing the same swap i am. i just have one question though...did you finish the wiring harness for the automatic sensors?

[Coolwhip]

how did I miss this RB Vert Build! I'm liking where this is going

[RBvipVert]

haha you are doing the same swap i am. i just have one question though...did you finish the wiring harness for the automatic sensors?

I'll be working on that soon. I had the whole front clip so i pulled the complete harness both engine and transmission. I also have both factory wiring references for the R33 and the 240. It appears to be plug and play since i was able to grab the entire harness. I'll let you know what I find out.

[RBvipVert]

So once again more updates without pictures. The wife had the camera again so the picture police will b**** but oh well. I'll post some pictures when I start getting all the wiring done.

A big thank you to my buddy Dan for helping me with this project, his fabrication and welding skills have been critical in the success of this project.

This past weekend we got the body transmission cross member mounts relocated and the transmission is bolted up with the factory R33 cross member. This was a lot easier than it looked initially. Essentially we just drilled the mount off the body, chopped about 4" out of the center, and bolted the 2 pieces to the cross member attached to the transmission and jacked the transmission up and tacked the mounts to the body. Then removed the bolts that attached the cross member to the body mounts lowered the transmission and welded it all up.

We then shortened the factory drive shaft. This required chopping about 2-2.5" out of it and welding it back together. We were able to get the cuts perfectly straight so it should be ok for temporary use at minimum. I will probably get an aluminum one made by DSS if I have vibration from the modified stock KA one. This saved me $175.00 minimum.

After the driveshaft was finished we mounted the intercooler and started mocking up the charge pipes and ran out of time.

So for the 4th of July weekend I'm taking a break from cars. I had to install a water pump and timing belt on my GS300 this week so I'm going to get drunk and have fun at the lake this weekend.

Happy 4th of July to all the vert owners!!!!

[noobdrftr]

this is going to be a great build

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard!

I've often called my vert "The big black hole in my garage that I throw money into."

I'm vting for the exterior to be the same color as the engine bay, but make it two-tone with white... and a bronze or gold accent (and bronze wheels).

Great color!

[RBvipVert]

Welcome aboard!

I've often called my vert "The big black hole in my garage that I throw money into."

I'm vting for the exterior to be the same color as the engine bay, but make it two-tone with white... and a bronze or gold accent (and bronze wheels).

Great color!

It's deffinatly the money pit. I've been keeping a spreadsheet of my costs. I spent less on the car than I did on the motor swap haha.

Actually I was thinking of painting the exterior the same color as the bay and I'm with you on the 2 tone.

[DeXteR]

[RBvipVert]

Ok...Ok.. DeXteR here are some pics for you buddy. Pics from my Blackberry but they are better than nothing..

Dan finally was able to get my charge pipes all welded and finished. My blow off valve was mounted later and I didnt grab any pictures of it.








Next is wiring. I'm having a hard time finding the R33 chassis wiring schematics so I'm going to have to do some hunting and pecking with some of the wiring. If anyone has the info please share it with me.

[phulawless]

what do you need with the schematics? i basically completed the auto harnes with the exception of 3 wires that go from the ecu to the a/t control unit...

[RBvipVert]

what do you need with the schematics? i basically completed the auto harnes with the exception of 3 wires that go from the ecu to the a/t control unit...

Well basicially I'm confused and concerned.

I have done a 5 speed swap and had no issues, but this is my first auto swap. Since I have not done it before I want to make sure I have my bases covered.

I dont have the factory KA engine harness or transmission harness so I would like to use the RB harness only if possible. I also dont know where the KA A/T control unit is located nor do I have the RB at control unit. I know more about hondas and toyotas than I do nissans so I'm not super familiar with wiring. The guy who has been doing all my welding has built several 5 speed RB swapped 240's and he is willing to help me so that helps.

I may be totally over concerned with this as I have not really looked at the wiring so I may find that it is a lot easier than I expected.

So far I have stretched the MAF and 02 wiring and now need to integrate the 240 chassis harness to the RB motor one. I'd like to figure out what I have to so so next weekend I can get the car running. In the 5 speed stuff I used the lower transmission harness off the KA but with the auto I'm not sure if i need to do the same thing or just run the RB stuff.

Essentially I may just be over concerned about what I possibly may run into that will prevent me from getting the car running. Once its running its coming back to Charlotte so I can finish it. Driving back and forth to Raleigh is becoming a pain in the a**.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[phulawless]

basically for the lowering wiring harness, just splice all the wires from the alt/starter/knock sensors/ and use the KA clips. as for the auto trans. EVERYTHING IS THE SAME INTERCONNECTING PLUG!!! lets see...as of right now my car is running but im getting the driveshaft done at the moment. as soon as its in...ill see if its a fully completed project. but as for the ECU...there are 3 plugs, a/t signal 1,2, and 3. those i have not connected. those are the last three wires to make them work but ill let you know. as for as the A/t control unit, its under the drive side dash. the one you are looking at the passenger side i believe is the automatic speed control unit for the cruise control. at the same im thinking that the automatic control unit from an s14 may be more compatible since the white plug are more closely matched from the r33 and the s14's. i recommend buying the drifting.com wiring guide but if you got any questions. lmk. hope this helps

as for schematics...
http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/240sx/

[RBvipVert]

i recommend buying the drifting.com wiring guide

Yeah i bought that DVD. It sucks imho. The one i have is old so maybe they have a better one now. It doesnt cover what to do will some of the RB interface wires. No sure if it's because mine is auto and the video is for manual. They also move to fast and dont do a good job of identifying all the wires so i kept having to pause and start and rewind to get the facts.

Im working on it all now I hope to get it all done by this evening. Wish me luck.

[240daveTX]

good luck.

i searched everywhere for wiring write ups read them all multiple times then once i felt i had all the info, i did my wiring. had it all right the first time. cars runs amazingly.

[phulawless]

hey my car is running! lmk how everything goes. btw the three wires (14,15 and another i think...) i never wired up. from what i learned, just get the bottom wiring done and over with using the KA HARNESS and your car will run on default shift points. im hoping to actually wire these wires up and get it to run at its potential but right now it runs and im happy lol. oh yeah. get power steering. unless you want freakishly large biceps any help you need lmk.

[RBvipVert]

So I have gotten more stuff done.
Wiring is 98% complete.

[wafflez66]

Lookin' good.