Any Regrets....

[DriftasticS13]

I posted this in the 240sx technical section as well cause I wasnt really sure which category it belonged in more.

Ive been on Zilvia.net for awhile now. I have a S13 that I have stripped down to just a shell pretty much, no motor, no trans, no harness, etc. I was planning on doing a KA-T in the beginning but now I am almost certain that I want to do a RB20 swap. I have looked through countless threads and post about the swap. Now I would just like to see if anyone on here has done the swap and if so are you satisfied with it? is there anything that you regret now that you could have done different?

[MATTs14]

WHen i did mine i regretted that i didn't do rb25 so i ripped it out, sold it, and bought myself an rb25. Spend that extra 600 bucks and do it right the first time.

[leesredgt]

Do a LS1 swap or somthing.Unless your planning on building the RB up,your gonna be disipointed.In stock form there not that fast,well to me there not any ways,not for the money i spent on putting the damn thing in the car.lol

[Sil240]

My swap wasn't the norm.I got screwed left and right....

But I regret not getting a SR/KA-T, I would of been running a long time ago and for cheaper.

I had to rebuild my motor from top to bottom.Wiring issues left and right.

Do it right the first time.

[WhatsADSM]

I kind of echo what was just written. Having even owned an RB20 powered car myself. I got everything for pretty cheap, and it was fun but in the end it was a lot of work for not too much of a gain and a lot of headaches.

Personally I would save the little bit extra cash and just go with the 25 if you are set on an RB. The RB25 is probably the best bang for the buck in the mid range in terms of cash.

Otherwise if you are willing to spend a lot more then the LSx series is going to the best bang for the buck on the high $$ end...

[Neejay]

My swap wasn't the norm.I got screwed left and right....

But I regret not getting a SR/KA-T, I would of been running a long time ago and for cheaper.

I had to rebuild my motor from top to bottom.Wiring issues left and right.

Do it right the first time.

Pretty much the same for me. I got screwed a bit and had to pay a shop for a "budget" swap because I didn't have a place to store my car or motorset.

I just wish I could have done it right the first time, without rushing it. I was low on cash too, since it was a spur of the moment emergency.

[DriftasticS13]

so none of you like the Rb20 huh? kinda puts a damper in my plans. Im not looking for anything stupid fast. I just want a good reliable 250 hp.

[Jadesr20det]

so none of you like the Rb20 huh? kinda puts a damper in my plans. Im not looking for anything stupid fast. I just want a good reliable 250 hp.

Honestly if thats "all" you want get an sr

[blurrbosi]

Get the 25. Why not have a reliable 300 instead.

[Vkoslak]

I loved my rb20 (until I popped it), but over 3 years I had done lots of upgrades which had gotten it to 309rwhp. Fairly close in HP to what a stock rb26 should be at. This may not sound so bad considering the price diff between a 20 and a 26, however, the difference in price was more than eaten up with the upgrades I had performed.

I'm now selling my rb20 stuff and just going with the rb26.

[Sil240]

No.... I love my 20.Now she's a built bottom end, med size turbo beast.With the right tune and injectors, I expect to put down 400hp.

I just got screwed By VENUS AUTO.They sent me 2 blown motors.Then told me to FOCK off...

2nd cyl was out of round by .068"Cams ScoredCam Caps moved around and messed up.Turbo blown

Then I got screwed on the wiring Twice, till I send a totally new harness to CarlH and he did it Right the first time.

This car just got running right last Wed.I've been running like 5 years now with this.She's on the 4th turbo and she just got running correctly. lol

[240slidekat]

the best bang for the buck is probably a built ka. Cheaper and less of a headache.

[DriftasticS13]

Honestly if thats "all" you want get an sr

Honestly cause I think SR's blow......

I hate the sound of them, the headgasket issues, the fact that everyone has one, theyre a 4 cyl., and theyre more expensive....

[Jadesr20det]

Honestly cause I think SR's blow......

I hate the sound of them, the headgasket issues, the fact that everyone has one, theyre a 4 cyl., and theyre more expensive....

I dont let rumors or here-say stop me from trying different things so I will not ask you to back up your claim of HG issues.....Nothing new under the sun trust me not "everyone has one" thats a weak line by now especially when modding a car....all i "hear" about rb25's are is crank collar issues overheating issues blah blah blah but I still bought one to experience it for myself......in my opinion if your buying and rb25 because you "only want 250hp" then you are basically wasting a motor that somebody can actually put to use..... my dos centavos but i wish you luck in whatever you do since in the end we are nissan bretheren

[EVILS14]

do the rb25 you wont regret it just search before you buy and dont look for the best deal

[ST240]

I used r32 crossmember, i bought a full catback, used ka rad and s14 fan, ebay fmic and pipes, and probably spent 2500 CAD getting it running. it isnt a reliable track setup, but it doesnt over heat around the city. havent taken it to the strip yet but im hoping to be in the 13s with vlsd and good rubber. sounds great and its a fun little engine. The rb20 is pretty good bang for the buck id say. But until that turbo spools shes an absolute dog.

IF (and this was a big if) i had more money at the time i would have gone 25 or 26. after comparing everything and weighing everything out, sadly i can say, my next upgrade is an rb26 engine. lol.

[gmac708]

Honestly cause I think SR's blow......

I hate the sound of them, the headgasket issues, the fact that everyone has one, theyre a 4 cyl., and theyre more expensive....

Hmmmm...posting in RB and asking about SR's, and saying "they Blow"...Sounds like you have your mind made up.

I did SR20 in S14 and loved the engine/car. Dyno 248hp @9PSI. No regrets...and I will do it again. Maybe that's why "everyone has one". It really is great first swap to do as well, pretty easy.

[RustspecS13]

I have an RB20 and I love it.

It can rev super high stock, and can take a good beating it just needs some maintenance to be reliable. They also seem to sound the best of all the RB's.

They do have a much better head design then the SR (IE reliability at high rpm) but the trade off is more weight in the front and being a i-6 and old they can go through head gaskets.

Like my car, but I believe that was just due to age and it rotting (the gaskets that is) for a few years while being imported.

But they don't have the best parts availability but they are worth it.

In the end you just have to weigh what you want with whats available. Rb20s can do 250whp with out breaking a sweat.

~Alex

[BoostFab]

My swap wasn't the norm.I got screwed left and right....

But I regret not getting a SR/KA-T, I would of been running a long time ago and for cheaper.

I had to rebuild my motor from top to bottom.Wiring issues left and right.

Do it right the first time.

you are a great example of

[DriftasticS13]

Well i may not be doing the swap...into the s13 anyways. I may be trading it for a AE86 and I may do the swap into it......stay tuned

[Sil240]

What do you want out of your car???

Drag, Drift, street car?How much HP do you want (really)?

Most important....How much do you want to spend?

You gotta remember, when you do a swap its not just get an engine and a car then put them together.

If you wanna do it right and ONCE.You gotta do maintainence before you put the motor in.For the RB you would do a Water pump, timing belt, tensioner & idler. Crank collarMaybe some gaskets. Clutch, resurface flywheel. Front and Rear crankseals. Oil pump.Spark plugs. Then DP, Mounts, IC Piping. RB25 - dshaft Etc etc etc etc......

Think about it, do some research, put it on paper and then make a move.

[rob912]

i love my rb20 but beware some parts are not easy to come by.

my rb felt like taking a dump on me yesterday and if i didnt know some people i would have been waiting for 2 months with no 240.

rb are also prone to heating problems and the 20 in no way has any b****assness its a pretty good bang for the buck as long as you know what your doing.

[DriftasticS13]

I will be building it for drift. I am not new to motor swaps. Im not just going to throw it in there half a** and call it a day. I have done 20v swaps in corollas, 7m swaps, 2jz swaps, 350 swaps, etc and I know better than to trust that the originals are good.

I am looking for 250 -300hp on basically a stock motor is why I am looking at the RB. I want reliability and street drivability. I know the RB can do that with some rather minor bolt ons which I can do as I feel like or when money allows. 250hp in a ae86 is really pretty sick considering a built 4age will make 200 or less.

[nissandrftr88]

I will be building it for drift. I am not new to motor swaps. Im not just going to throw it in there half a** and call it a day. I have done 20v swaps in corollas, 7m swaps, 2jz swaps, 350 swaps, etc and I know better than to trust that the originals are good.

I am looking for 250 -300hp on basically a stock motor is why I am looking at the RB. I want reliability and street drivability. I know the RB can do that with some rather minor bolt ons which I can do as I feel like or when money allows. 250hp in a ae86 is really pretty sick considering a built 4age will make 200 or less.

All you need to make 250 is a rb25 turbo and boost controler

[Sil240]

IMO Putting a RB20 in a corrolla is not a good idea.In fact I wouldn't stick any 6cyl in a rolla, unless it was for drag.

Less weight = Less need for HPLength of the motor = a minusIt would be crazy nose heavy!!!Not to much info on wiring a rb20 in a ae86 either.

Go SR if you wanna do a corrolla.It's smaller and lighter and can easily make the same power.You could probably make 250 on the stock turbo.

[DriftasticS13]

again though i dont really care for the sr20. I have seen numerous rollas with 7m's in them and they do just fine. It would be nose heavy but some decent springs and some wider tires will make up for that. Im still debating on the whole issue. It might even be cool to just swap a KA-T into the little rolla.

[Sil240]

How much are you looking to spend on this project?

I would go for the KA-t before RB20 in a AE86.What about 3sgte, can those me mounted longitudinally?

Or a nice F20C !!!!!! :-)

[DriftasticS13]

no a 3sgte cannot.....

I will be building this car over the course of 3-5 years more than likely from the frame up, so my overall budget will be somewhere around 10g's.

I am not going to spend all 10'gs on a f20 swap you can forget that. vtech is not worth that much

[Neejay]

oh, my bad...I have an RB25 if that changes your thoughts on my opinion posted earlier.

But I agree with the KA-T vs. RB20 in the AE86 (if you really don't like SRs...)

[StricNyne]

regret... i honestly have a lot of regret but i also enjoyed a lot as well, i regret the times when i spent the last bit of money i had on parts, or the massive abounts i did spend on my car, i regret not buying another short block instead of spending a could thousand rebuilding my project, i regret the strain i put on a friend who did so much to help me (jon powell), but i also enjoy all the time my friends spent helping me out, all the places i been for meets or ralleys, all the people i met in my endevours, and all the knowledge i gained working on my car, at times my patience is exhausted but also at times its rejuvenated, all in all its a passion with ups and downs, with a lot of learning